We were lucky to catch up with Natalia Garcia recently and have shared our conversation below.
Natalia , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today How did you come up with the idea for your business?
Before Covid changed the world I had a 8-5 job which I liked but I knew it wasn’t something I wanted to do all my life. Right when the world shut down I was already looking for something else, something where I could do more and make a difference, but when things got really bad my job and management created extra stress we didn’t need, from cutting our hours from one day to another without any warning to micromanaging everything we did and didn’t do at home. To make ends meet my husband and I started doing instacart, amazon, door dash, you name it. We soon realized we both wanted to have more freedom but we needed a plan. On April 2021 I lost my job, and it was a blessing is disguised. I took some time off to recoup and rest but soon I found myself bored and wanting to do something for me. I had plants way before it was cool and my social medial was very focused on photography and plants so I had the idea of just selling a few of my extra plants I had, I reached out to a local grocery store and asked if I could have a popup sale during mothers day weekend and they agreed. I sold out both days and I have several people reaching out to see if I was going to sell more, so the following weekend I did another popup at a different spot and I sold out again, and that’s when I realized I wanted to share my love for plants to my community. I started booking more popups and sales and things just grew faster than what I expected, and my husband started helping me and eventually joined me full time. On November 2021 we opened our store and it has been the most amazing adventure of our lives, sharing our love for plants and their healing power has been very rewarding. I’ve met so many new people, and our shop has become a safe heaven for our community. All of the brands we carry are women owned businesses (local) and we offer classes, workshops, popups and special events.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Our store has become a safe space for our community, we make sure everyone who comes feels just at home and even if they never had a plant before we make sure we educate them and help them choose the right one for their environment. Being the first plant shop owned by a Latina it was very important for us to create a space to showcase other local talent specially within BIPOC community. From classes to offering our space to other makers to sell and/or teach their craft. We are more than just a plant shop. We truly are a community center.
Several of our customers have become closed friends, they have seen us grow and they have supported us since day one. They love visiting the shop to hang out and destress.
We have created a plant community that is always supporting us and we truly wouldn’t be here without them.
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
We have always been a plant shop that helps and educated people on what plants they can get according to their environment, we make sure we ask how much time they are willing to spend on the plant and we go from there. That has been something that people love about us, we aren’t just about a quick sale, we make sure we set them up for success and they keep coming back because we take the time to teach and we always keep learning.
We also have opened our shop to other creators and together we have hosted workshop/classes/popups where we showcase their talents. From local vendors to group art therapy, bookclubs, anything our community needs we try to be there for them. We recently hosted our first plant swap (those usually happen in the city) and it was amazing to be able to open our doors for other plant people to come and meet each other and swap plants and share knowledge.
How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?
We went all in, Once my husband (Luis) decided he was all in with me we used our savings (we were on the process of buying our home and we actually got reapproved) but we decided to give it all to our business. We cashed our 401K and savings and a small loan from my mom and we got to work. As we grow we’ve gotten other small business loans as well and that has helped us keep growing and bringing more inventory.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.buenavibraplantshop.com
- Instagram: @buenavibraplantshop
- Facebook: @buenavibraplantshop
Image Credits
All photos belong to me. I run all our social medias.