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

Alright, Weina thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

Growing up as a child in Jakarta, Indonesia, I was always charmed by plants, animals, and design/crafts. Then, I moved to San Francisco, California, to pursue and earn my Bachelor of Fine Art in Graphic Design with focus on branding and packaging design.I’ve always been interested and innately connected with nature. So, I volunteered with different non-profit organizations around sustainability while working in different graphic design studios for 15 years.

One of the organizations that captured my interest and started my study on native plants is Theodore Payne Foundation, a non-profit nursery that is dedicated to the preservation of California Native plants. They had me at hello! I fell in love with the beauty and purpose of native plants for our habitat and the rest is history. I became their outreach coordinator to spread the word about native plants creating different events and engagements activities in my community.

9 out of 10 leaf-eating insects, including our caterpillars that turn into butterflies and food for birds, can only eat plants that are native from the region because they’ve been co-evolving together for thousands of years.

The study and outreach works inspired me to start my own business combining my passion of native plants and design skill/experience to create awareness and advocate native plants through creating custom living botanical centerpieces or mini-habitat tabletop gardens, eco-friendly and educational gift products, hands-on workshops, garden tour, and unique pop-up botanical service with my mini-trailer for special events at wineries, botanical gardens, festivals, etc.

And lacking resources for people to learn about native plants, I transformed my own garden (both when I was in California and now, in Portland, Oregon), as both an educational piece for the community and my source of joyful inspiration, turning it from lawn into a sustainable, lively ecosystem for bees, butterflies, birds, and other wildlife. And that’s how Poppy & Finch was born; it only took me 40 something years to find my purpose.

My business also helps apartment dwellers to come up with creative botanical solutions using native plants to help them become the steward for our habitat through their balconies so they become the corridor for our habitat in the urban landscape. There’s only 4% pristine habitat left in the US so what we plant in our city plays a crucial role for our habitat.

Last but not least, working and learning from nature, specifically with native plants, inspire me to accept and honor our natural resources from our own region as I learn to accept and honor myself the way I am so I can show up authentically for our habitat and community!

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

I am proud of having a very niche business that educates people to become stewards for our habitat through creative botanical solutions that are sustainable and beautiful. My business is a lifestyle to empower people to become the change they want to see for our habitat in the urban landscape. My work emphasizes the beauty and versatility of native plants through my unique products and custom offerings/workshops/experiences.

I am teaching people to learn from nature and to redefine beauty because a lot of gardeners comes from a European and manicured or temporary perfection mindset instead of a long term sustainability for our habitat by using native plants!⁠

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

I learned that money can’t buy happiness but loving what I do is happiness. Although, I love design and had a great salary working in graphic design studios for other people over 20 years but I was always stressed out. There was always a pressure to come up with creative concepts in a short period of time for something that has different values than mine.

That’s why I volunteered for non-profit organizations around sustainability while I was working at design studios to find my purpose. My volunteer work is very rewarding and I feel good about being part of the change I want to see for the environment.

However, I don’t regret all my design experiences. As stressful as it was, it brought me here. I gained a lot of valuable experience to become an entrepreneur and resilient.

Now, I am 50 and my business is thriving. Although, it has its own stress having my own business but I make my own decisions based on my values and it teaches me to become a better person for my community and the environment. I wouldn’t do it any other way.

Last but not least, it is also never too late (too old) to start something!

Have you ever had to pivot?

I learned that whether it’s business, career or life, you have to pivot all the time, I am learning to embrace it and see it as an opportunity to grow rather than resisting it.

I just turned 50 and it was the biggest pivotal chapter in my life. I was so grateful that I found a brick & mortar space for my business where I can host my workshops and custom/private events.
At the same time, I took 2 part-time passion jobs as a result of all my hard work building and connecting with different communities that go hand in hand with my business, protecting the environment and empowering people to help our habitat in the urban landscape. The first one is with Crag Law Center, as their Outreach and Development Assistant. It provides free and low-cost legal services to people who are working on the ground to protect our environment, climate and communities. The second one is with the Backyard Habitat Certification Program. As their Outreach Technician, my role is to share their program and resources to empower people to help our habitat in the city to naturescape their outdoor space.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.poppyandfinch.com
• Instagram: @mypoppyandfinch
• Facebook: Poppy & Finch LLC (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100059898401224)

Image Credits
Christina Hall Photography Tanya Pavlova Photography