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

Rachel, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Let’s jump right into the heart of things. Outsiders often think businesses or industries have much larger profit margins than they actually do – the reason is that outsiders are often unaware of the biggest challenges to profitability in various industries – what’s the biggest challenge to profitability in your industry?

This is a funny question to answer today because I looked at my business bank account this morning and was trying to figure out where all the money went. Then I remembered that I paid taxes and rent and insurance and worker’s comp and the phone bill and utilities and I had to buy more paper bags and more taxes and payroll and and and and. It’s hard to make a profit in any small business because there are a billion things that cost money to run a business and all of those costs go up, often. I had a customer tell me a few months ago that she remembers when my prices were low. I laughed and said I also remembered when my costs were low. If the price of gas and groceries goes up, you should assume that everything else is going up as well.

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 come from a long line of greenhouse people. I have been surrounded by plants as a job for all of my childhood and most of my adult life. It’s kind of in my blood. I also have the desire to be own boss in my blood…I don’t do well working for other people. Ask my dad. For years, I knew I wanted a store but I wasn’t sure what kind of store it should be. I wanted it to look like a cozy house where everything was for sale; the books, the plants, the decorations, etc. I was vacationing with my mom and sisters in 2019 and walked into a teeny, tiny store packed full of plants and pots and I knew instantly that this was the type of store I wanted. When I got home I started looking for retail space and opened The Living Room in December of 2019. It looks like my actual living room, tons of plants and pots and decorations and books, and it’s all for sale. I love being at work. It’s beautiful and calm there. I have amazing co-workers and fabulous customers. I love helping people figure out which plants will work best in their homes. I love learning new ways to grow, plants and my business!

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

Well, it’s not that great of a story. I used credit cards. I opened three that had deferred interest rates and racked them up. I was able to pay them off before the high interest kicked in. I was pretty thrilled about that. Plus I got a lot of airline miles with them.

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

I wasn’t managing my purchasing manager very well and she spent ALL my money. ALL of it. That was very humbling to realize that it was entirely my fault. So, I changed the ordering procedures, stopped taking a paycheck, put us on a major spending freeze and started saving like crazy. In about six months we had recouped the mistakes but we are still very careful about how much we spend. I truly think that if huge mistakes are made by employees it is due to lack of training or uncommunicated expectations. I try to remember this when I’m feeling frustrated or annoyed.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thelivingroomplants.com
• Instagram: the_living_room_plants
• Facebook: the living room plants