We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Whitney Shea a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Whitney , thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

One of the biggest things we try do accomplish at Green Space is creating a positive customer experience. We want everyone to leave feeling like they’re leaving a second home. A warm welcome, friendly greetings, providing valuable knowledge and answers to questions, and going above and beyond to help. One thing I love the most is helping customers with their heirloom plants. It is a frequent occurrence for us to receive parts and pieces of a family members plant that is in need of a rescue. I love that we are able to step in to help! The joy it brings our customers to see their plants revived is pure magic.

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 have always had a love for nature, plants, animals, you name it! Previously, I was a middle school science teacher. My classroom theme was usually something plant related (Bloom & Grow) and we had several plants in our room. At home we had even more! As an anniversary gift, my husband gave me a greenhouse. I always joke that his intentions were for the all the plants to go live in the greenhouse instead of our house, I saw the opportunity to have even more! During Covid and the transition back to school, I spent A LOT of time in this little greenhouse- learning, growing, testing new techniques, etc.. This school year was undoubtedly one of the hardest years of my life. I experienced more heartbreak and loss that I could bare. I usually sum it up by saying, the only thing that didn’t happen is that my husband and I didn’t get a divorce and we didn’t lose our house. That little greenhouse quickly became my happy place and escape. I had the idea that it would be really cool if I could work with my plants all the time. I could educate people on how to care for them and select the right plants so that they could feel the same joy and excitement that plants brought me.
So, with A LOT of pep talks, at the end of the school year, I did just that! I handed in my badge with absolutely NO business experience but the determination to figure it out and make it work. Now, three and a half years later, we have grown from a mobile shop, to a brick and mortar of our own. Green Space is now not only a plant shop located in the heart of downtown Rock Hill, but it is also a wine bar and so much more! As we grew through the years, I started to build this concept in my mind. I didn’t want just a plant shop or just a wine bar. I knew it needed to be something special and that our town hadn’t experienced.

I wanted a fun space! But also one where people could gather and be social again; where we could experience and build community together. A space where people could gather, enjoy the feeling of a tropical oasis, where we could host events and activities. I don’t think I realized how much myself and people in our town were craving that feeling of belonging and feeling connected again.

Now, we’re becoming a bustling hub of events in our community. We range from class, learning experiences, hosting small businesses, family events, game nights, gatherings, celebrations, music and more. We’re growing daily to create a space that fits the needs of our community and a space where everyone feels welcome.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the biggest lessons I’ve had to unlearn (and that I am still unlearning) is imposter syndrome. The feeling that you’re not “enough” for the job. Coming from the education world, I knew all the abbreviations and teacher lingo. I knew exactly how to structure a lesson to address multiple learning preferences and knowledge levels, but absolutely NO IDEA what any of the business terminology meant. This constantly bogged me down in meetings and conversations. I also didn’t have a background that was specific to horticulture or botany. Both of these notions frequently got in my own way. However, in the wise words of my late grandfather, “there’s no such word as can’t”. I have treated this journey like a shark, there is only one option- keep moving forward. Ask the hard questions, for help, for further explanation. Do the hard work, the extra homework, the things that no one will ever know you did to beat that feeling of being an imposter. Because if you weren’t ready for the opportunity, you wouldn’t have it.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Resilience has always been a word I admired. To be able to pick yourself back up after being knocked down is never easy and I don’t think we get there on our own. I don’t have one major story about a time I was resilient, but there are many tiny milestones along the way that I think about frequently. Because in these moments is when I really wanted to give up. I wanted nothing more than to walk away and be done. But to be resilient takes strength, practice, experience, and a tribe. Those tiny milestone moments, felt like mountains at the time- when I was rejected from a plant teaching program, when cried the entire way home because the plant truck I had dreamed about wasn’t going to work, when the space I had all mapped out fell through. It is in these moments where I grew the most. These moments are when I learned to lean on my family and friends, my experiences and theirs, take advice and press forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://green-space-plant-co.square.site
• Instagram: @green_space_plantco
• Facebook: Green Space

Image Credits

Hannah Billingsley