We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Hinners. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily below.

Emily, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Before we lived in Savannah, I had a job in North Carolina working in the greenhouse of a large family-owned garden center. It was one of my favorite jobs I ever had, and I was good at it. I learned so much working there. When we decided to move here in 2018, I started looking to find a similar position––but the job I wished for didn’t exist here! There were no dedicated houseplant greenhouses or shops in Savannah. So I worked in foodservice for about a year, all the while getting deeper into my houseplant hobby and figuring out how to create the vocation that I wanted. I felt pretty sure that nobody in town was doing what I was aiming to do, and that people would be receptive! After all, lots of folks are into houseplants.
In September of 2019 I launched the Instagram account for Cast & Grey Botanical. I intended to work as a houseplant consultant at first, helping people care for their plants. But with a little bit of networking, I was soon asked to do a pop-up shop at a local boutique. I didn’t feel ready, but I gathered up and repotted plants from my own collection to sell. The event was a success, and things started to fall into place! I was selling plants again, and it just felt right.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

A question I get asked a lot is how I got into selling houseplants. My short answer has become “It was a hobby that I monetized.” And that’s honestly pretty spot-on. I’ve been into houseplants since 2014, when I lived in Seattle with my husband. On a whim one day, I bought a couple of half-priced succulents at a sidewalk sale near my work. The lady who sold them to me told me I only had to water them once a month, and that sounded easy enough.
When I realized they were surviving well, my windowsill quickly filled up with more plants and our home has never been the same since.
The experience that I try to create with each of my customers is a sense of accessibility. Keeping houseplants can be intimidating! But I think it’s a skill that a person develops, and if someone is interested in having houseplants, I do my best to make sure they feel as confident as possible.
Part of making plant care accessible is *how* I sell plants at Cast & Grey Botanical. In addition to selling in person at pop-ups and markets (and our future retail space), my entire inventory is available online at my website, castandgrey.com. People can sort by categories such as “beginner friendly”, “low-light”, and “pet-safe” to find the right plant for them, and can order accessories such as planters, tools such as pruning shears, or fun add-ons like stickers. They can even have a plant repotted into one of our planters, and then have their order delivered, by me, four days a week. If a person prefers to order for pickup, they can do that too––from my home office or from an upcoming event. I’m always just an email or DM away if there are questions.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I’ve been told by customers on many occasions, that they were referred to me by someone who described me as “nice”. And yeah, I guess I am nice! I try every day to run my business on a foundation of kindness and compassion. I’m sure I fail sometimes. Humans are complicated. But, at the end of the day, people are more important than plants. So you’ve got to be as nice and as kind as you can be.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I started Cast & Grey Botanical in September of 2019, I of course had no idea what the next year was going to look like. By late February of 2012, I had done my first solo pop-up shop and my first market, and had a couple more markets scheduled for the following month. I had done my first commisioned job––curating decorative plants to adorn a local boutique, and had even partnered with them to have my plants sold on their shelves. And they were selling well!
We all know what happened next. The world seemed to shut down. Shops had to close their doors. Many people had to stop going to work. The pandemic was here.
I had to take my plants back home to my apartment. But what was I gonna do, just sit at home and stare at them?
I made an announcement on my Instagram: “Now Delivering! Right to Your Door.” I started selling plants through my Instagram stories. People would DM me about the plants they wanted to order, I would send them an invoice, and then offer a free no-contact delivery, often same-day or next-day!
I didn’t meet many of my first direct customers face-to-face until much later! Ordering has now been streamlined through castandgrey.com, but I’m proud to still offer delivery for orders large and small.

Contact Info:

• Website: castandgrey.com
• Instagram: @castandgreybotanical
• Facebook: @castandgreybotanical

Image Credits
Rachel Hazlett / Ruby & Me Photography and © 2019-2022 Emily Owens Hinners.