Oh man, oh, man. Plant Club has been such a part of my identity that to conclude the journey, it took a long hard look at where I am, who I am and what I want to do in the future. I think, truthfully, it had been a coming along for a while. So here’s my honest look at why I decided to move on.
I started Plant Club in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, and initially, it was just for a select few people. They enjoyed the human connection and fellowship. Over the next few months, it grew like wildfire, and I had some tough lessons to learn as a new business owner. The number one lesson was not making a financial loss. I was so focused on the gifting part that I lost sight of keeping myself afloat. The next lesson was how to pack 30, then 40, then 150 boxes at a time.
Over time as COVID started to retreat, people started spending their income on restaurants again, and many people who had become obsessed with plants during that time left the hobby behind. This meant that we had a lot of drop-offs. I, unfortunately, am not business minded and would take each cancellation personally. I know that’s unfair, but I realised it wasn’t the greatest for my mental health.
I love Instagram and making connections. I hate pushing products and convincing people to buy said products. If I’m not a sound financial brain, I’m even less of a marketing aid. Each month it became harder and harder to announce what people had received in their boxes to create more sign-ups.
Over time my Instagram following grew and I really enjoyed creating content and spending more time on the app making friends. As a mini-influencer I also found that I could create an income through my content curation and I enjoyed the creative outlet it gave me.
I also started to take a lot of joy in the educating people in indoor plants and wrote a book ‘Jungle Problems’ and created an online course ‘The Jungle Guide’. This took up a lot of my time and I found it extremely rewarding.
With all that being said, when a friend asked me one day ‘how’s plant club?’ I found myself answering ‘I’ts time for me to move on’, an immense sense of peace overcame me and I felt a weight lift from my shoulders.
I have gained so many skills from running Plant Club for 4 years and I have made so many connections and friends that I have no regrets. I’m extremely grateful to the people who signed up and who entrusted me with filling up their jungles.
But no fears, I’m still here and am available for advice, camaraderie and friendship.