We caught up with the brilliant and insightful David Bird a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

David, appreciate you joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard.

My really small business is all about the “plants”. Exotic plants, rare plants, unusual plants, any plant that has been overlooked by the large corporations that sell plants. Which seems to be every lumber yard, grocery store, box store and I saw plants for sale at a gas station. I think their goal is to sell it before it needs water. I walked into a store, and the associate was scooping crushed ice out of a 5 gallon bucket into the top of the sleeve with a Phalaenopsis orchid in it. That was the best way to kill it. We start the plants, water and feed the plants, pot the plants, market the plants, educate the public on how to grow the plants, and sell the plants. And, then we help them when they have a problem with the plants. We teach classes, give demonstrations, in person. Our goal is to guide our customers through their plant growing journey. We have customers for life.
I consider myself a ‘grower’ first. Produce a plant, that everyone would want to buy, because it has the best blooms or the best foliage and maybe good roots. My daughter, Vashti, puts a photo of it on facebook, maybe tells its story or where it originates from and then where we will be to get it. We don’t have a store anymore, we don’t sell online. The customers may have to wait until we come to their town for an Orchid Show, or a Garden Show or I’m giving a speech at a Botanical Garden. Then in the spring, summer and fall, were at the Farmer’s Markets every Saturday and Sunday. During the week, we caring for the plants, watering, feeding, repotting and organizing them for the next sale.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started growing orchids at the age of 16. I went to college to study Horticulture. I probably spent to much time in the greenhouse and not studying but, I did get a BS degree in Horticulture and a wealth of experience in growing plants. I worked at numerous botanical gardens and loved public Horticulture. But the orchids won out and I went on to start my orchid business in 2001. When my daughter, Vashti, finished college with a degree in Marketing, I asked her to help me in that side of the business. We gave tours of our growing facility which was under lights in a cave( underground mine). We taught classes, gave demonstrations, hosted parties and meetings and even had a wedding in our cave with the plants. Then we moved the operation to a greenhouse and sold exclusively through markets and shows. Now were growing under lights in a shop where we have more control of the growing requirements of the plants. Most customers that know Bird’s Botanicals, will be getting the best selection of orchids, the weirdest tropical plants, the most gruesome carnivorous plants and the cultural information on how to grow all of them successfully. Now, 23 years later, the business has gotten better. Vashti has been the creative marketer, getting more followers, better quality, and more cool plants than ever before. I’m searching for new plants, traveling to find new ideas and giving more speeches. Were still having fun.

What else should we know about how you took your side hustle and scaled it up into what it is today?

My wife, Lindy and I were working full time and raising 3 kids. I was growing and selling orchids on the side. I would deliver plants in the evenings and grow the orchids with grow lights so I could see them at night. On days off, I would sell at the farmers market. I made an extra $30,000 one year, with almost no extra expenses. After I paid the extra income tax, I didn’t have enough to expand the business. So, I told Lindy I had to quit my job or quit growing orchids. She asked what I wanted to do, and I said grow orchids. She said to go for it and if I’m not successful we could eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, again. I quit my job, flew to Hawaii to buy more orchids from my buddy that was also growing orchids. I asked for his help, while hiking on Mauna Kea at 11,000 ft. in a snow storm. I shipped the orchids home, started selling them and worked on getting lights for the cave where I was going to grow them. I remember not sleeping much that year, mostly worried about having to eat the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I grew the business on the theory “pay as you go”. I would not go into debt and not borrow money. Looking back, I could of grown the business faster if I would of borrowed some money, but I survived the years the economy wasn’t that good. Plants are still a perishable luxury item, especially orchids.

How did you build your audience on social media?

Vashti developed and maintains our facebook page. I feel younger people, like herself manage, maintain and have a better understanding of what we should put on social media than someone older like myself. Vashti posts once a week, usually on Thursdays alot of pictures of plants. Usually what we will be bringing to the show or market that week. Maybe a plant that is blooming for the first time or something rarely seen is posted . This generates interest and enthusiasm and makes people want to acquire it. Vashti will post and event, an upcoming class or dates for where we will be in the upcoming months. Since we don’t have a brick an mortar store, this is our best way to communicate what were doing and where will we be. Sometimes were not that accessible and that makes it harder to make sales, but it also makes people want our plants even more. Since there may be a limited supply of certain plants, I’m learning some of our plants may be worth a higher price. Vashti sees this added value and what plants are selling for on eBay or Amazon and doing a better job of pricing our products. This old dog, can still learn some new tricks from the younger ones!

Contact Info:

• Website: birdsbotanicals.com
• Instagram: birdsbotanicals
• Facebook: birdsbotanicals

Image Credits
All photos credit by David Bird except the photos of me, then credit Vashti Kern.