Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jen & Brandi Burnham . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jen & Brandi, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
Brandi would probably say that I am hopelessly optimistic. But the truth is, I just choose to see good. She and I balance each other very well. She helps me remain real and true to us as a team.
The world is negative enough without us adding to it.
And as moms, it’s our job to teach our kids to keep a positive outlook, even when things are not in your favor. The world society, the community, jobs, life work, school… They’re not always going to go our way and being a negative person certainly doesn’t help when those situations arise.
We are firm believers that everything in life happens for a reason, and maybe that just makes it a little bit easier to remain optimistic?
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Lush Leaves was born because my wife thought I had too many houseplants lol!
Brandi and I started Lush Leaves in December 2019. We began selling out of our driveway and during the pandemic that was the safest way for people to shop and bring some joy to their homes. So we grew… Which meant we needed to grow more plants!
We currently have a state certified nursery in our backyard where we grow a majority of the plants that we sell in our shop. Our shop is home to 13 other local makers as well!
Supporting local economy and local creatives has been one of the most important things to us, since we started our business. We have received nothing but kindness from our community and encouragement And we like to pass that on as often as possible.
We took a hit two weeks ago when we lost our greenhouse to a passing storm. Our growing operation is at a standstill until that is rebuilt and supplies are re-purchased to get growing again. Thankfully my Mother in Law started a Go Fund Me for us and it is helping.
We are fortunate to have the shop space, because we had plants there that we could continue to propagate from.
On top of those we host monthly plant related workshops, which are a variety of topics such as this month’s Container Bog Gardens (feed me Seymour!)
And last, but certainly not least we host an event called The San Marco Market. Which is dedicated to local businesses only. It’s the only market of its kind in our area. We decided to have a market where the local creatives had a fair shot at selling, rather than allowing nationally backed brands into the market that could undercut any of those artist prices and out sell them. When we support local it directly feeds our local economy… And there’s nothing more important than that right now .
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Honestly. I couldn’t name specific qualities, but I can tell you this have a person or a team of people that have your back!
Brandi and I are a team no matter what. What I lack, she makes up and vice versa. She is my biggest cheerleader and motivator. So have someone like that in your corner!
Be tenacious… Keep pushing, regardless of how many knows you may hear. If it is something you are passionate about and you act with integrity The process will pay off.
Finally integrity the world is really messy and there are days where we see an extreme lack of an integrity in like businesses. We believe in that above all things, because without that you simply sell out and when you put your heart and soul into some thing selling out isn’t an option.
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We collaborate with a lot of other local businesses. And, like we mentioned, integrity says it all. Collaborations don’t always mean that we are best friends. However, we have to respect another person or business to be able to collaborate with them. Tying your own business to another person for any collaboration is a big deal so if we feel like it goes against our morals, the heart of our business etc. then we are very cautious in collaborating.
However, we are very lucky to know so many incredible people in our community that are trustworthy and working toward the same goals we work toward.
For many of us this is how we pay our bills and feed our families and it makes you take your business a little more seriously when it’s more than a hobby.
As we mentioned, we took a major hit two weeks ago and are really trying to recover from that and keep pushing. We’ve made a promise to the vendors in our store, and to our customer base to continue providing the best service we can, and the best plants that we can at the most fair prices in town .
We plan on being here for a long time.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.Lush-Leaves.com
- Instagram: @lushleaves77
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LushLeaves?mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Other: https://gofund.me/e53dc54e
Image Credits
All these photos are picture by Brandi, or myself. These our our plants, our family (it’s a family business), designs that we work on, and our branded logo.
