Exploring Life & Business with Kaylynne Leggett of The Houseplant Hippie

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kaylynne Leggett.

Hi Kaylynne, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
This business and the plant truck had been an idea in the back of my mind for a few years now. I knew it was something I wanted to try to create, but I just didn’t know the time frame of it all.

I moved to Brooklyn for a couple of years to pursue dance as a career and take classes, and during this time I also worked with houseplants as my full-time job.

I had seen a successful plant truck done in Brooklyn and Chicago on a larger scale and thought to myself “That’s exactly what I have been wanting to do!” When the pandemic hit and I was forced to head back to North Carolina, I just decided “You know what, what do I have to lose? I’m just going to go for it, start this houseplant business that I have always wanted to start, and I’m going to build this truck.”

I didn’t want to invest in a big truck for my first go around so I did some research on what I could haul with my Jeep. Once I found out that I could haul a cargo trailer as big as a 7’x14’ I said “That will do!”

Once I purchased the trailer, I tried to figure out what needed to be done to make it a good space for plants to be in. So, I had the skylight installed for lighting, a window for airflow and communication, a slatwall to offer diverse shelving options, and wired the trailer up to my Jeep. Once the painting was done, she was ready to hit the road!

In between the time of the truck launch, I started the Houseplant Hippie LLC and started working on developing the social media presence for the business so that when the truck hit the road, people would already know who I was and what I was about.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Everything worth having doesn’t always come easy! The road definitely had a few bumps in it. Creative generating and idea making is all fun, but then there comes the part where you turn it into reality. So, when the idea of the “plant truck” turned into a purchased cargo trailer, there was all the up-fitting that came with it too.

From having the skylight installed to figuring out how to create shelving that could be portable/multifunctional. From hitches and wiring to leaks from the skylight. At one point, I wasn’t even sure if the trailer would be ready by the top of Spring. As a matter of fact, the leak from the skylight that ruined my first round of wiring happened two weeks before the trailer was supposed to run for the first time. By then, because the trailer had become filled with bookings, I was almost certain that I was going to have to cancel the first month’s events. Thankfully, the issue was able to be fixed two days before my first event and ever since then, the trailer has run smoothly! Well, mostly. I’m still trying to figure out how to back up a 7 x 14 without running into anything. lol.

As you know, we’re big fans of The Houseplant Hippie. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Houseplant Hippie is a multifaceted houseplant business. The main purpose of this business is to advocate for people to prioritize self-care by providing their spaces with positive vibrations, high frequencies, and clean air. Plants are the best way to introduce those variables into your everyday life which is why I advocate for them so much.

The goal of this business is for everyone that comes into contact with Houseplant Hippie to walk away with their new plant(s) feeling confident and comfortable. The services provided are houseplant home calls, home and business consultations, delivery, installation, and maintenance. Seasonally, I run the Hippie Truck, which is a mobile plant shop that has become the most popular area of the business. I am excited to expand as I continue to work with creatively moving into plant design and maintenance.

Every new plantscape installation excites me because I can really get my creative juices flowing to design each space in its’ own unique way. And of course, I will be so excited to bring the Hippie Truck back out to the community in Spring 2022!

Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Yes…. that’s there’s never a perfect time to start a business, so just do it! Creating this business in the middle of a pandemic made me have my doubts. But the support that our community has had for this business in its’ beginning and all this year has been incredible.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.thehouseplanthippie.com
• Instagram: @thehouseplanthippie
• Facebook: @thehouseplanthippie
• Other: https://linktr.ee/thehouseplanthippie

Image Credits
@big.wavestudio and @jbhphoto