We recently connected with Tory Erpenbeck and have shared our conversation below.

Tory, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I am significantly happier as a business owner than I’ve ever been at a job. The only advantage that I personally see for having a “regular” job over being an entrepreneur is having that steady paycheck that you can count on and knowing for certain how much money you’ll make in any given week/month. There are a lot of unknowns and variables in running a business. But really, at a “regular” job, you could be laid off or fired unexpectedly at any time. So is it really that much more stable?

I wish more people would take the leap and work for themselves. Most people will spend their whole lives working to make someone else’s dreams come true. The freedom, sovereignty, and fulfillment that come with pursuing your own dreams and building a business are worth exponentially more than the perceived stability of a 9-5 job.

Tory, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My name is Tory Erpenbeck and I’m the owner of Native Yardening, LLC. I work to educate and empower people in North America to use their yards for ecological conservation rather than the harmful status quo of lawns and traditional landscaping.

I received my Master of Science degree in Sustainable Design in 2021 after deciding to make a career change from art & design/marketing to ecology and landscape design. My business initially started as a project for grad school about the impacts of lawns on climate change and grew from there. My professor for that course said something that has stuck with me ever since and has inspired my business – she said, “Climate change is a marketing problem.” Along with just being a profoundly true statement, it made me realize I could use my background in design and marketing combined with the science and skills I learned in my graduate studies to make a difference in the world.

Native Yardening is a hybrid online/offline business.

We sell organically grown US native perennial plants to customers in the Greater Cincinnati area (we’re currently unable to ship plants but hope to in the future!) Native plants can be hard to find for sale. Most of what’s sold in the average garden center or nursery is native to Europe and/or Asia, with many of these species being invasive. However, plants that are native to the region they’re growing in perform better and need very little maintenance or resources like water. They’re also essential to wildlife, providing more nutrition than non-native plants. 90% of all plant-eating insect species globally are specialists – meaning they depend on one or a few species of plants to complete their lifecycle. Think of monarch butterflies with milkweed – that’s how 90% of herbivorous insects work. And currently, 1/3 of all insect species are at threat of extinction. All of Native Yardening’s plants are grown without pesticides or other added synthetic chemicals and are grown in repurposed containers to reduce plastic usage.

The bulk of our offerings are digital, such as our signature online course Gardening for the Future where students learn tools and techniques to transform their North American yard into an ecological oasis. The course combines pre-recorded content, worksheets, guest lectures, and live Q&A calls to educate gardeners at any skill level about how to heal their soil, plant the right species for their region and site, save water, and create a garden that’s low maintenance and helping to save declining wildlife at the same time.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I do actually have a secret for beating the algorithms on social media. Make content that people will want to share! Teach people things, share tips and tricks, show cool behind the scenes stuff. Whenever someone shares your content, you get exposure to their following who might also share it and it snowballs from there.

The other important part that goes hand-in-hand with that is making content that gives people valuable information for free before they buy. If someone can scroll through your page and learn a ton about the niche of your business, it will make them trust you more and also think “Wow, if they’re giving this much value just on their social media for free, their paid products/services must be great!”

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

We’re taught our whole lives that time = money. So if we spend more time working, we should be making more money, right? That’s what I thought at the beginning of starting my business. But the reality is that this is only true for hourly workers. As an employee, you’re selling your time. But as a business owner/entrepreneur, you’re selling value. Spending more time on something doesn’t necessarily make it better. Using your time to execute the most important tasks that have the highest return is the best way to work as an entrepreneur. If you’re working crazy hours just because you think you have to, you’re just going to end up burnt out.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.nativeyardening.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/native.yards
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/native.yardening
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-Aq6qFKNDJYCHIS_fivVlg/
• Other: @native.yards on TikTok