April Mall never planned to turn her love of plants into a business. At first, caring for plants was just an after-work escape from her full-time job as a nurse. She even used the health of her plants as a barometer for her own mental and physical health. “ When they start becoming a little bit wilty and unhappy, I know that I am not doing very well because I’m not very motivated,” April explains. During the COVID-19 pandemic, when nursing became even more stressful, plants helped her stay grounded and maintain daily routines.
But soon, her hobby started to take over—both in space and budget. The kitchen table was covered in plants, and she and her husband, Daryk, were spending more and more money on new varieties. To offset the cost, April started selling propagated plants. The response was overwhelming—so successful, in fact, that April and Daryk quit their jobs, built a greenhouse, and made Unsolicited Plant Talks their full-time business.
Finding special loans
With the plants outgrowing their house, April and Daryk needed more space to scale their operation—but expanding wasn’t cheap. That’s when April stumbled upon an unexpected funding source. “ I found that NASA actually gives these loans for agriculture,” she says.
Daryk estimates it cost about $35,000 to build their first greenhouse. But their rapid growth didn’t stop there—just months later, they needed to expand again. To fund a second greenhouse, they took out more loans and borrowed from family and friends.
In total, their initial investment was about $100,000. The risk paid off—within a year, they had repaid all of the borrowed money.
Growing an online community
Before Unsolicited Plant Talks became a full-time venture, April shared her plant journey on social media. “I used [Instagram] as a diary—a journal of my plants and my photos,” she says.
Her candid story-driven posts struck a chord with fellow plant lovers, and before she knew it, she had built a thriving community. By the time she and Daryk launched their business, they already had an engaged audience—giving them a head start many new businesses don’t have.
Figuring out logistics
Selling plants online meant figuring out how to ship them safely—a process April and Daryk had to learn as they went. Since they had no control over how packages were handled in transit, their best option was to make sure the plants were as secure as possible before shipping.
Eventually, April designed a sturdier, custom-branded box that kept the plants in place and eliminated the need for extra cardboard supports. “ We’re cutting our time in half when it comes to packing, so that extra time gets put into growing more plants,” April says.
Scaling with help
As orders skyrocketed, April and Daryk found themselves working exhausting 12-hour days, seven days a week. “ We went from shipping 30 to 100 plants a month as a side hobby to shipping 600 to 1,200 plants a month,” Daryk says. They quickly realized they couldn’t do it alone.
Hiring staff and learning their strengths and weaknesses was a game changer for Unsolicited Plant Talks. Now, with two additional full-time employees and occasional part-time help, they finally have room to breathe. They’re investing that saved energy into growing their online community.
To learn more about their journey from side hustle to seven-figure business, listen to the full interview on Shopify Masters.
