Maybe it’s too soon for one of those “2023 Wrapped” messages, especially in our world of retail and customer service as it feels like the better part of half our year builds to what happens in these last few weeks. We’ve poured months of energy and time and care into thinking about how we could make this season our best yet. So much is yet to happen, so many plans and dreams have yet to be realized, and before we know it, it will be January 1, 2024. Blink and you’ll miss it, which is why I want to take a few moments to mark this time, right now, before the new year officially begins.
As I’ve been reflecting on the moves we’ve made and the things we’ve done throughout 2023, I keep coming back to three words.
Love. Magic. Intention.
If you know me well, you know I’m obsessed with Growing Floret, a documentary series streaming on Discovery+ following the journey of intrepid flower farmer and entrepreneur Erin Benzakien. Floret has become deep nerd territory for me, coming close to overshadowing my love for Star Trek and the music of Kylie Minogue.
Often the stories shared in Floret hit differently each time I watch. In season one, episode three, Erin is gearing up to launch her new book, A Year in Flowers. She was nervous, anxious, and tightly wound leading up to the big day. The morning of the launch, the Floret team is standing in a circle, and after taking a deep, collective breath, they say those three words: Love, Magic, Intention.
I’m recognizing a kindred spirit in those words and the many things we did with sincere intention this year, whether we realized it at the time or not. Here’s just a few of the highlights:
We renovated 42 in-ground planting beds throughout downtown South Bend in collaboration with DTSB Inc.
We styled and planted 43 giant, high-tech, spherical terrariums for classrooms across our community in collaboration with the South Bend Community School Corporation.
We’ve been planting thousands of native plants in former lawns and landscapes across South Bend while lining up a fully booked spring season for 2024 and being further ahead in planning and logistics than ever.
We’re also teaming up with fellow “lawn conversion” firms working in other areas of the country to host an empowering webinar in early 2024 for aspiring independent ecological designers and managers. The goal: share what we’re learning so the work of turning lawns into something better can happen more easily, more quickly, with more people, in more places. It sold out in less than a week, and we already have a wait list for another session. (Technically this is an early 2024 project but it launched in 2023.)
We pulled off a massive change in the Shop for the holiday season after months of careful curating, sourcing, ordering, and planning. If you’re not sure what a “shop flip” entails: we take everything off every shelf, deep clean and reorganize, and bring out a fresh wave of special holiday gifts we’ve been collecting and preparing for months, waiting for this very moment to be able to share them with you. Oh, and it all happens over two days and it’s all hands on deck. My Fitbit tracked 20,000+ steps in the Shop in just a single day during this year’s flip.
We launched our first season of private holiday events on October 1, Wine and Wreaths, and were fully booked with 15 events within 48 hours. Ditto when we launched two off-site offerings in collaboration with Ironhand Winery in South Bend and Craft One Half in Mishawaka.
We started planting a few crops at Botany & Field, the second location we picked up earlier this year just a few blocks away from the Shop. We’ve planted a few specialty junipers for holiday wreaths and a row of lavender for dried bundles to sell in the Shop. They have a long way to go before they begin to generate substantial harvests, and I’m already dreaming of the magical day when we’ll be able to tell our customers, “Your wreath was grown just down the street.” This brings me immense joy to envision. That said, we didn’t get as far on the Field as I’d hoped this year, and while it can be attributed to a variety of factors, ultimately it suffered from a deficit of intention (which was directed in so many other directions this year, as you’re learning now). We plan to change that in 2024.
We launched a Small Business Support Group in collaboration with other local entrepreneur friends. This community has come together quickly after meeting monthly since July, and there are now close to 50 local, independent businesses owners on the email list who are likewise craving community and connection.
A significant accomplishment in 2023 is the growth in our team in breadth and depth as we created and hired two new assistant manager positions for the Shop: Melodie, our Plant Stylist, and Ari, our Plant Care Specialist. We also elevated Lindsey, our Lead Designer, as she stewarded an impressive expansion of our evolving lawn conversion and native plant programs. Jenna evolved this year from our Community Catalyst to Brand Catalyst, taking a more active role in our communications and marketing including all digital media formats.
Many of you receiving this letter today are a Botany Backer, a program which launched eighteen months ago in July 2022. At the time, we were in “fundraising mode,” and we were asking you, our community, to support us mostly on blind faith. We were a new business without a proven track record. We had dreams and drive and aspirations, but we hadn’t really “done much” yet.
As a Backer, you helped us through the early days of learning what it means to be, and how to run, a sustainable, local, independent business. You allowed us to get to this point a bit wiser and with a few less scars, honing our hope, optimism, and pragmatism along the way. Today, it feels like we're more focused and moving with greater intention than we were even six months ago.
You allowed us to learn what it means to exist in this space of entrepreneurship. You allowed us grace to fail and to learn. You allowed us to dream, to grow, and to try new things. You allowed us to discover ourselves a bit more, and that, dear plant lovers, is invaluable. Thank you, sincerely.
It’s in this spirit I have one final update to share with you today. I believe it’s time for the Botany Backer program to evolve, and thus the program will be ending in just a few days at the end of 2023.
The Backer program as it is today feels like it has run its course as our journey this year has brought us to new places, new opportunities, and new ideas. So many things feel fundamentally different about who we are as a team and a business, like we’re on the edge of a grand new adventure. You stepped up and showed up for us, and it’s because of you Botany is still here today and I’ll soon be able to tell you what’s coming up in 2024.
Wow.
As I like to say, it takes a village, and I’m so grateful you’re ours. Backers, customers, neighbors, friends, family, fellow local business owners - all of you.
Our success belongs to you more than anyone. We’re here because you show up for us, and we’ll keep doing our best to show up for you.
If you’re a Backer, what happens next?
If you’re a monthly supporter, your subscription and subsequent billing will end no later than December 31, 2023, and you will receive a confirmation email from our website host sometime before the end of the year.
If you are an annual supporter, you’ll be receiving another email from me with further instructions after Christmas.
The best news in all of this: we’re not done growing. It also doesn’t feel like we’re in fundraising mode anymore or like we’re asking you to take a blind gamble. Today, so many things we’ve been dreaming of are real, and when you compare that against the list of things we still want to do, I believe our best days lie ahead.
I’ll be back in the new year to share more about our 2024 Season Pass, and you can add your name here to be the first to learn about this new offering. I think you’ll be excited for what it includes. The Season Pass is the successor to and evolution of the Backer program, and it will be packed with access to exclusive goodies, experiences, discounts, swag, special events, and more. Stay tuned.
As I leave you today with Growing Floret playing in the background (me only half-listening while I write), I notice the music change. I pause my writing, and Erin’s voice begins to share this intention over a montage of beautiful scenes.
“I hope that wherever you may be and whatever you may know or not know about growing things, that you might still give it a try. Put your hands in the dirt. Feel it’s cool touch. Plant a seed. Give it water and sunshine and warmth, and most importantly, give it all the love you have. Wait, and watch what comes up. You will bring something into the world, and no matter what it is, it will be beautiful. And that matters.
Love that. Share that.
This work isn’t about growing plants. It’s about growing ourselves. You, me, all of us. Together.”
Thank you for sharing Botany’s story and being with us on this journey. I’m grateful to be on this adventure with all of you, in this place and at this time, and to be able to share the many superpowers of plants with more people. My favorite superpower: they remind us we’re connected and help us to connect. That’s what they’ve been doing this entire time. And I love that.
No matter what happens next, I’m grateful for everything we’ve learned and experienced this year. It has been filled with moments of love, magic, and intention, and I’m planning to carry that forward.
Cheers to these final moments of 2023. We can’t wait to put our hands in the dirt with you in 2024.
With Gratitude,
Ben | Botany Founder & CEO