In 2019, Matthew and I took that giant leap and left our comfy, “safe” jobs with steady salaries and medical insurance for the very unpredictable adventure of a small business. We opened 3 months before the pandemic and 3 months after the pandemic started, my dad abruptly passed away with Covid. Full transparency, I was afraid we’d be immediately poor, have to sell our home, not be able to provide for our kids… but my dad would say “jump Jimmi, don’t look back.” In the midst of my sorrow, joy came with our baby girl, Talia. What a start!

It’s hard to separate our personal lives from our business because we are so passionate about The Flora Culture. We love plants, design, and people. Our lives are intertwined with our journey. We’ve had many growing pains. Retail is very unpredictable and volatile. But at the heart of this is the human experience, our desire to seamlessly enjoy nature, incorporated into our environment.

Biophillia explains our innate human desire to connect with nature and this is at the heart of everything we do. From the intentional selection of our vessels in the shop, pairing it with the right selection of plants, to the large installations, we take pride in designing with nature.

Welcome to our journey. Thank you for joining us.

Jemine Leigh Oakes