Hello and welcome to the life of an entrepreneur. I am Jan McCarthy with Entrepreneurial Voice and we're broadcasting live from skidrowstudios.com and we are real radio on the internet and we're here every Tuesday at 11 a.m pacific standard time and today we're here to talk about what the life of an entrepreneur is like and we'll be sharing business tips and resources and and really just what how do you how do you get launched how do you get started what are some of the things that you might be coming across as an entrepreneur and if you have questions you can call us and you can speak to myself or my guest who I'll introduce in just a moment but the number is 1-800-893-9560. And today I am interviewing Angela Price of Eden Condensed. Welcome Angela. Thank you it's great to be here. It's great to have you. So Eden Condensed is the name of your company and why don't you tell us a little bit about what your company does. Well I am a garden designer and my company specializes in small space urban gardens primarily organic vegetable gardens and gardens for smaller spaces. Like patios balconies small yards and I love creating gardens anywhere. And you also have a line of really fantastic adorable because I have a couple terrariums too that are available right? Right I also am I call myself a terrarium artist and I create a hand-blown glass miniature terrariums they range in size between two and five inches and they usually have little seats. They are tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny tiny like that to make people happy. And they do. They're really, really cute. So go to her website, Eden Condensed, and you can see dot com and you can see what they look like. I have a couple. One had some scenes of the holiday and another one has my favorite, an elephant in it. And they're just so cute and really, really great. So how did you get started? I mean, we're let's take it, take us back to like when you were a little girl and you said, I'm going to grow up and be an entrepreneur and do gardening. Maybe not. So how did, what led, what was your journey? Well, my father was an architect and he was very influential in my love of gardening. He loved to garden and we had a large vegetable garden in the house that I grew up in. And that was incredibly influential for me to be able to go out and see things grow. And I've always just been fascinated by plants and flowers and how the seasons changed, even growing up in Los Angeles. And I've always been fascinated by the plants and flowers and how the seasons changed, seeing the subtleties of the seasons. That actually wasn't my original career goal. Originally, I wanted to go into the theater and be an actor and a director. And I went to college for that and did some of that after college. And then I realized that I really didn't want to be a starving artist. So I had been doing Renaissance fairs for several months and I came home and my mother told me to go get a real job. And I'd also had some retail experience and ended up doing a lot of the things that I did. And I was like, I'm going to do a lot of the things that I did. And I'm going to do a lot of the things that I did. And I'm going to do a lot of the end of that. I was laid off three times in December of 1997. And then I had to leave the United States in December 1997. And then I had to leave the United States in December 1997. And a career actually in human resources. And I spent nearly 20 years as a human resources professional and training and working with supervisors and managers on management development and love that job. Unfortunately, near the end of that, I was laid off three times in a six-year period due to the economy. And I was feeling kind of not satisfied with that career. I felt the need to get back to my artistic side. And I thought, you know what, I really want to start my own business. I want to be my own boss. I want to make my own schedule. And what else do I know how to do? And I'm like, I know how to garden. And I can do this for people. And people always ask me for advice. And so I thought, why not start a garden business? And so I love to research, educate myself. So I took horticulture classes and formed Eden Condensed. Well, I love it. And of course, I love your company, as you know. But you bring up so many important points that many would-be entrepreneurs or entrepreneurs that are already making it happen, you know, have to face. And that, you know, sometimes, and we've talked about this before on the show, and you and I have talked about this. I mean, it's not a secret or anything, but the days of having a job, it's not a secret. It's not a secret. It's not a secret. It's not a secret. And so sometimes when, and your mother probably thinking and saying, go out and get a real job, you know, that that would offer you security and something that you could count on because, you know, that's the generation she came from. But there is no security. And as an entrepreneur, of course, there's no security there either. But you have more control of making that happen than when you're doing it. And so I think that's a great point. And I think that's a great point. Your future is in someone else's hands. And so, and sometimes that is the catalyst that actually leads someone into that next step of doing something that they really want to do. And I love that you went back and said, okay, what's my artistic side? What do I want this business to look like? And what can I do? And it wasn't just doing something that you love. It was, it's also really solving a problem. And filling a need for the urban lifestyle. Right. Especially since, I mean, like in downtown Los Angeles, for example, or even in the Santa Monica area, there's so many more condominiums and live work spaces where people, all they have is a balcony. And to be able to create a small garden there extends the living space. And it allows you to kind of go out and commune with nature, even if it's in a really small environment. And even if it's in a really small environment, it's still a really small environment. And so I think that's a really important thing. And even inside your house, being able to have house plants or an herb garden, those are things that people can do and that I do as, you know, as my company to help people create inside their homes as well as outside. And you're, yeah, you're really making it possible for them to have something that they loved and maybe that they even grew up with and make that possible. So did you, when you were thinking about that, saying, taking your love of gardening, did you do market research? Did you do say, okay, well, what is needed in the market today? I did a little bit of it. I spoke to a lot of my friends and colleagues, people that, you know, especially with, I had, was in entertainment at the time. And since I had been laid off, it wasn't a, you know, it wasn't something that I was quitting to go do, you know, this, this job, people knew I was leaving. And I started to talk to people about, you know, if they had a garden or, you know, what is it that they wanted? And I found out that actually a lot of people were, you know, they were, you know, they were, you know, a lot of people are afraid of their gardens or, you know, people would say, I have a black thumb or I kill everything. And my feeling was, you don't have a black thumb. You just don't know how to take care of it. And that's something that I can, I can help people with. And a lot of people lived in smaller environments, whether it was a apartment or condominium. I really like working with people who have their first homes or with people who are downsizing and moving into smaller homes where they still want to have a garden or have an edible garden. And that's something that, that they can create. So I found that there really was a need there. Well, you really helped to identify what your customer was before you started. So what, going from, going from, you know, working and, and, and being an actor and all of those things, starting a business, what kind of experience did you have or knowledge or mentor you have? Because it's not that easy. I mean, a lot of people say, oh, I'd like to start a business, but they have no idea where to start. So we have a call, I think. Yeah. Hello. Welcome. I'm sorry. I can, we must have lost him. Please call back if you, you didn't hear our welcome. Um, so what, how, how did you know what to do? Because a lot of, like I said, a lot of people start and they really don't know where to, where to go from there. Uh, they're going, okay, I want to have this business, but it's more than just that. You have to register your business. You have to get a bank account. You have to pay taxes. You have to do all of those things. So how did you get started with that? Well, my husband's an entrepreneur, so I had him as a mentor there. Um, you know, as I said, I love to research and I think the internet, is amazing. So I don't know how businesses started before it. I don't know either. Um, my father was an entrepreneur. I don't know how he figured out how to do everything. And plus I had been having been in human resources. I, part of my job was to learn about business and to learn about the businesses that I was representing, but working for a large corporation is a lot different than working for yourself. So it was finding out about, you know, I got books from the library and books from the bookstore and looked at them and I was like, oh, I'm going to do this. And so I went on the internet and went on to places like LegalZoom and learned how to register my business and, you know, set up a bank account and do all of those kind of basic business things. You know, it's great to do all the creative stuff, but you also have to, you know, where's the money coming in? Where's the money going out? And did you really think about that? I mean, did you put together a big business plan and, and really kind of project what, what you're going to be making and all of those kinds of things? Or did you... Did you just fly by the seat of your pants a little bit? I flew by the seat of my pants. And you're still flying. Especially the first year. I mean, a lot of it's been learning as I go. And I was fortunate to find a good business coach who had a plan of walking through everything from coming up with a mission and a vision for the company to creating a business plan in a sense, which really helped solidify what I wanted to do, who my customer was, where I was going to find that customer. Right. And those are really important things to do. And it doesn't always mean that you have to have a business plan that is 50 pages long or 500 pages long, but having some sort of vision, some sort of plan for where you want to go and knowing who your ideal customer is. And it sounds like you really targeted that by saying, okay, I'm going to, I mean, there's gardens and there's gardens and there's gardens. there's gardens, but I'm going to really focus on that first time person who has always, you know, has a house, first time buyer of a house and, and now has space to have a garden or someone who's in an apartment would really like to be able to, to be able to have that. And, and I can help them to create that. So those are real important factors that you did that, that is good information for every entrepreneur to, to know. What I love about the profession that you chose is it's really like starting a business. Starting a garden is like starting a business. Right. What have you learned from that? Like what are, what are the steps that you've learned from growing a garden and nurturing it and all of that? Well, I think you have to pick the right foundation. And I think a lot of that is picking who your core customers are. You can't be everything to everybody. Well, I mean, and which you're absolutely a hundred percent right, but I want you to show how a garden is the same. So like picking the right foundation, like you just said. It's like picking the right soil and nurturing your customers, having come from initially a retail background, customer service was very important to me. And I think that's kind of where I excel in nurturing my clients, being able to listen to them, to be able to put them in the right environment. Like when you plant a plant, you can't just stick it any place. You have to have the right sun and the right soil. The right location. The right location is everything. Right. Absolutely. And, you know, knowing how to, how to grow that customer too, that you don't necessarily, you know, make your money in that first customer, but it's in when they call you back to redo something and they need a little bit of time to do it. And I think that's a really good tool. It's like your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are your needs are a plan. You know, do these plants work well together? Is this one going to make that one wilt and die? And then when something's not working in your garden, same as in your business. Sometimes you have to pull it out. Exactly, exactly. And then you're going to have other things come in and start to encroach, like weeds and bugs. And how do you get rid of those? Absolutely. So I think it's so there's so many similarities of having a garden and then also having a business as well. So really taking many of those things into account. So you kind of learned all of those lessons when you were a little girl and you were hanging out with your dad in the garden, you know, and he was already teaching you the business lessons that would serve you in the future. Absolutely. And I think it's really important. Really, really great. Now, you love mostly the edible gardens. I think the edible gardens are probably my first love to be able to plant a seed, see something grow. I also love to cook. So to be able to watch it come to fruition and then pick it and then make something wonderful with it, you know, with the explosion of farmers markets and the attention paid to. You know, whether produce is genetically modified or not, when you plant your own garden, you really are in control over what you're eating and what you're growing. And one of the things I always tell my customers is that you should grow what you like. Don't just grow kale because that's popular, because if you're not going to eat it, it's it's going to end up in the trash. But if you love tomatoes, let's grow tomatoes. Yeah, that sounds great. And really listening what you're saying, too. And I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. I think that's is really listening to your customers and finding out what it is that they need versus just because this is the popular thing to do. So I like that. What was the biggest challenge that you've had in starting this business? I think probably the marketing part of where do I find customers? Because that was something I'd never really done before. When I initially started my business, I asked for some of the materials that I could use. And I found that there was a lot of three volunteers among my friends of, you know, let me do a small garden for you. If you pay for the materials, I won't charge you anything on top of that, just so I can start to get pictures for a portfolio and testimonials. And then I offered a raised bed vegetable garden on gilt.com. And I ended up getting like 20 customers for that, some of whom have continued to be my customers over the last several years. So a lot of it was sort of hit and miss. And now I'm much more particular about where I market, especially since I really understand who my customer is now. Yeah, no, I think that's brilliant. And that really is a great way. It's great advice for any would be entrepreneur thinking about getting started. You don't have a great big budget, right? To just go out and spend and, and, and like you said, there's, there's still a learning curve. And even if you very clearly identify who, what you think is your ideal target customer, you may find that it doesn't always align with who you thought it was, and who it actually is. Right, I, you know, and I can give you an example of that, especially in doing gardens. A lot of families want to grow vegetables for their kids. And so I initially thought, well, young families with kids would be a great customer. For mine. And it turned out a lot of families with young kids simply don't have the time or the energy or the the funds to expend on a on a garden at that time. So that's why I really focus on, on customers who are kind of starting out or customers on the other end who are downsizing, and maybe their kids are off to college, and they have more disposable funds. Yeah, yeah, no, I think it's great. But but the way you started by, slowly building up and saying, Hey, let me, let me help you design your garden. This gives me this is a win win for both of us. And the fact that allows me to take pictures and get those testimonials, but then you're also doing something really awesome for them. Right. And it also is not only just you, you learning about or not getting that information of the testimonials and and pictures and everything. But there was also learning, I would imagine on Okay, well, this is a different kind of light and a different kind of light. And so I think that's a great way to kind of space. And these are the challenges that I'm having to deal with, in terms of growing this particular thing that maybe I didn't have back whenever I had my own garden, or I, or what was happening when you were growing up or things that maybe you didn't have to necessarily really take responsibility for, right, you know, so you didn't necessarily know until you're actually doing it your yourself on a regular basis. So that was probably really great to find out some of the where the weak links were the cracks in the site. So to speak, so right. And as I learned things of knowing to ask the questions at the next customer, because there may be similar similar issues, right. So I think it's I love how you're how you started out and how you were growing. And, and how you continue to overcome and even being very creative in what your marketing is in the beginning. So what do you think that? So when you started out your you started out just being an independent consultant? Did you have a website? Did you have a did you have a store? What did you have when you first started? When I first started, I had a website, and which I still have, and I'm actually in the process of upgrading my website now. But I found a really great graphic designer who kind of got me when it came to the branding piece of my business. And that was really, really, really, really, really really important to me being in a visual business that my logo and my colors and the photographs, they really had to speak to what my business was. So that way customers would be able to connect with that. So can I just back up for just a minute? So you just talked about branding and not everybody gets that. Not everybody understands that when they first start out with their business. They don't really think about that brand. How did you, did somebody advise you to that? Did you just know this has to incorporate all the things that are me? I think that was one of those things that just came naturally to me. I think becoming, coming from an artistic family and having, you know, an artistic background myself, I had very specific ideas as to what I wanted the kind of visual aspects of my business to look like, but it was finding somebody who was able to realize that for me. And I think that's really important when you're, when you're starting a business is that what does that business look like to you, to your customer and having a professional, you know, kind of outward facing part of your business so that when customers look at your website, it feels professional. It feels like the business that connects with them in some way so that they're willing to, you know, click on the email link or pick up the phone and call you and find out more. But it's still very authentically you. Yes. And that's important. Yes, absolutely. And instead of just looking to what others are doing when you're starting out and saying, oh, well, they're doing that, so I must be doing that too, or they're doing this. And, and so I'm going to incorporate that into my business. And I'm not talking about just copying, but just not really clearly identifying who you are, what your brand is, what you want your business to represent, just thinking, oh, this is what's popular or this is what other people are doing. So that must be what I need to be doing too. Right. So very clearly defining that. And that was very innovative on your, your part to, to recognize that that was important. And maybe your, your theater background really helped you with that because you had to know what your secret sauce was and who you were and what, you know, how you would stand out and, and, and actually even how to market yourself. Right. When you were doing that as a, in the entertainment industry, because there are a lot of you out here. That's true. All right. So I didn't mean to interrupt, but that just seemed really, that important point that I wanted to make with how important branding was. So we can continue where we left off if you'd like. Now I have to remember where we left off. Let's see. We were talking about, yeah, now I can't remember either. Oh, the beginning about what things I had put in, in place. Um, so having the, you know, the, the, the website and then kind of determining what my service is, what my resources were, um, and also determining because I'm a solopreneur, um, I didn't have a whole staff of, you know, gardening assistants behind me. And that's one of the reasons that I have stuck with doing small spaces. First, I really like doing small spaces, but plus it allows me to really, um, become one with the garden space. I'm not just designing the space and turning it over to other people to install, because when I go out and plant, I'm not just designing the space and turning it over to other people to install, because when I go out and plant, I'm not just designing the space and turning it over to other people to install, because when I go out and plant, I'm not just designing the space and turning it over to other people to install, because when I go out and plant, that's part of my art. And, you know, I always say that, you know, gardening is sort of like my art in the dirt. Yeah, your canvas. Right. Um, how long, how long have you had, when did you start Eden Condensed? It's been almost three years. It'll be three years, um, in June. So social media wasn't quite where it is today because it changes every single day. We didn't have Instagram. then, I don't think. And maybe Twitter was getting up and going, but hadn't reached the masses that it's doing now. So you had your website. Were you doing social media? Did you know how to do social media? Did you have a Facebook? Did you page for your company? How did you get started with all of that? What did you choose and why? My sister-in-law showed me how to do Facebook and I'd had a personal page that I almost never used. And I thought I should probably, because Facebook is more visual, I set up a business page there. And in doing some of the kind of early business coaching learning that I went through, I felt that Facebook was really the best way, social media, to connect with my potential clients or to connect with people because I'm a local business. I still wanted to be able to connect with other people, to answer garden questions, to show people what I was doing. And so Facebook has actually been really great for me. And then I expanded into Twitter. I do Instagram a lot more now than I did before, primarily as I'm going around town and other people's gardens of taking pictures of plants that I find interesting or interesting visual things. And then when Pinterest came along, to me, that's kind of the ultimate, you know, visual social media. Yeah. Because it allowed me not only to create kind of vision inspiration boards, but also to be able to post pictures of my gardens, as well as my terrariums, you know, which I sell through my Etsy store and to be able to connect with that because a lot of the social media platforms connect with each other too. Right, which is really nice. Have you found one to be, more helpful than the other? I think that Facebook and Pinterest are probably the most helpful for me. And have you set up metrics to help you determine that? Or is that just kind of a guess from the? I know just based on the metrics that I get through my Etsy store that most of my traffic to my Etsy store either comes from Facebook. Right? But definitely not just your Etsy store. Right? But definitely your Etsy store needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs your needs amazing and what you do is very visual so having something on there that can allow you to really showcase that is is really important too so when you set up your website and I'm just kind of going in different places as I as I think about it because I have a lot of questions and it's so interesting to to find out how you got started and what you're doing and how you made decisions as you went along so you decided that you were going to have these services did you start out with your terrariums uh no okay so when you started out with these services of creating these gardens how did you come up with what you were going to charge um a lot of it was based on how much the you know raw materials were going to cost me and then adding in not only my what I felt was a fair labor cost in installing those but then also being able to do a markup on those products and you know I did some research into what especially with my garden the raised bed garden boxes that I do I did research into what some other companies were doing um how my the quality of my boxes compared to theirs and other services that they might be providing and came up with what I felt was fair and reasonable for those products and that's something that people really struggle with um I don't know how I don't know what where your prices are in terms of um whether they're on the high end or the low end or the middle end or or just what they are but I know that sometimes entrepreneurs struggle with their time it's one thing to say okay the cost of this box is a hundred dollars it may be 500 it may be 30 I don't know but you know I'm just making up a number and then uh the average mark up on this is say 50% and so I can reasonably charge $200 for this box and that's very easy to grab a hold of and feel confident about. Time is a little more esoteric and just difficult to be able to price out. How did you reconcile that in your head? Did you have the confidence to say my time is worth this? Especially maybe having come from a job where you were paid. How did you reconcile that? Because I see that women struggle with that a lot actually. And I struggled with it too especially at the beginning of wanting to give too much away for free. I knew that when I was out on a job site that that was time that I should charge but it was all of that pre-work of doing the design, doing the design design, doing the design design design design design design design design design the research, going out and shopping for the plants, ordering the seeds, ordering, you know, working with my carpenter. Those were things that initially I wasn't really charging for. And I realized that that's, you know, that's income that's being lost to me. And so I think in the second year of my business, I really started to work on how many hours am I actually working on each project from the minute that the customer calls me and asked me to come do a consultation to when I actually finish the installation and realized that I was giving away a lot for free. So my mantra last year for 2013 was don't give things away for free. And so I think that's really important for entrepreneurs to look at is where are you spending time? And, you know, I think that's, I think that's, I think that's, I think that's the most important thing for entrepreneurs to look at is where are you spending time? And, you know, I think that's the most important thing for entrepreneurs to look at is where are you spending time? And, you know, I think that's the most important thing for entrepreneurs to look at is You know, you think about a lawyer who charges for a phone call, for a letter, for an email, you have to almost break it down that way. Right. No, it's, it's super important. And you, you have to, there, there are certain things where you have to recognize that maybe there are some things that you give away for free in order to get something else, like maybe give away a consultation. And, and that's understandable because until people get to know you and you build that relationship with them, you're not going to be able to give away a free consultation. it's hard for them to just or even know what you're capable of doing. It's hard for them to say, oh, yeah, I'll go ahead and pay you $100 an hour or whatever it is that you charge. Right. And I do free and I do free consultation. Right. That's something I still do. Right. And I think I think that's really wise and smart. And I knew that you did. So but that's not giving away your business for free. That's actually sort of investing in your business and and not just going out on every call. Oh, let me come look at your place. And and and then saying, sure, but but qualifying at first to make sure that this could be a potential customer and and identifying that. And then if it seems like it would. I mean, you even think about service personnel that come out to repair your dishwasher or something. It's might be a twenty five dollar service call or fifty dollar or something like that, maybe more. But then it's applied to the service. And so I think that's a really good way to do that. And I think that's the cost of of the product should they move forward with that, you know, if you need a repair or something along those lines. So I think those are good tips for would be entrepreneurs or even ones that are working in the in the field today, working and not knowing exactly how to structure that. So that's that's great that you recognize that you were giving away way, way, way too much for free, but also recognizing that sometimes there's a little bit that you give away in order to get more. Right. And and even identifying what those what those prices were in a in an appropriate manner. If you had to say one thing that you wish someone had given you advice about, and I don't want to necessarily use the term failure, but something that if they'd given you advice, you may have listened to and wouldn't have gone down that path. What would it be? It's funny that we talked about time and money, I think having better advice on how to manage time, when doing a job and how to cost out that time would have helped me a lot and would have helped a lot of kind of some of the early missteps that I took. And what are you most proud of with this business that you've started in the last three years? Well, I think it's been amazing to see how it's grown and to see that I'm actually able to work for myself and to be able to come up with new product ideas and new service ideas for my customers. I really love my customers. And it's been amazing. The people that I've met, and I think the learning part of it has been one of my favorite things. That's great. Now you, we talked about the terrariums, and that was a product that you brought on later. And you're constantly thinking of new products or services or, or different arms. I mean, in order to grow your company, that's really what we have to do is we have to think about different ways that we can go. And so I'd kind of like to just talk and explore with you a little bit about, you know, what's your experience with the terrarium and what's your like, what was that epiphany that led for you to, to bring on the terrariums or other things that you started doing and, and where you're wanting to go in the future. But before we get into that, I'll give you a moment to just kind of think about what your answer is and, and what you want to say. I'd love to invite our listeners to call in the numbers 1-800-893-9562. And we'd love to hear from you if you have questions for myself or Angela. So thank you. So, how did you decide, what made you decide, oh, I love these terrariums. This would be a great, this would be something great to do. Well, two things. I love miniatures. And I, when I was in fifth grade, about a hundred years ago, my teacher, Mrs. Richardson, I still remember her, did a terrarium project for the class and we all had to make our own terrariums. And it, I, I remembered that about how do I, you know, I love small gardens. I love miniature things. How do I combine those two? And suddenly terrariums seemed to be coming more popular. And I'd seen a lot of terrariums with air plants and glass globes. And I thought, well, what can I do with that, that I can make it different, unique. And I happened to meet a woman who is a glass blower and she and I partnered to create the, these miniature glass globes that are hand-blown out of Pyrex glass, which is what your measuring cups are made out of, and to be able to create little scenes inside of them, I started experimenting and I thought, well, you know what, I'll open up an Etsy store and see what happens. And then I started doing some kind of artisanal shows in Los Angeles and it's been great to meet more customers and to meet, I've actually gotten a lot more garden customers because of the terrariums because it's a way to get myself out there and it's a good marketing tool. Yeah, no, and they're great. I would imagine that would be great and I was just going to ask what are the different places that you've sold them besides online because there's definitely, I mean, if you just stumble upon them online, they're great, but you're not even 100% sure how they might transport or or!! Just to look at that and then you find out as you talk to them more, find out that they could possibly be an ideal client for you. Right, people always want to talk about their plants or what they have growing when they see my setup in my in my booth as well. That's a great way. So what if you can? Are there things that your what your plans for the future with with going forward? your plans for the future with going forward? One of the things that I've always been really fascinated with is in the kind of edible garden space is growing herbs. And I've been looking at ways to kind of incorporate that into the culinary arts because I also love to cook. Right. And so I thought about cocktails and the craft cocktail craze that's going on now. And I'm not a mixologist, but I love fun cocktails. And so I thought, how can I mix growing your own herbs and making your own cocktails and having something fun with that? So I'm actually working on an herbal cocktail cookbook and herbal cocktail kit, which will hopefully be out in early fall. That sounds great. Well, it sounds like it would be a very natural, natural to be able to evolve into that and and capitalizing on a little bit of what's popular, but giving your own mix. Your own spin to it. And also talking about that you continue to bring in these things that you love. So, again, that's part of your branding. And it's also what is your secret sauce, too. So the fact that you bring in the terrariums, we don't realize how often we pull from all aspects of our life to bring that into our business. So pulling from the teacher who first gave you, shared with you. How to do a terrarium and you taking that love of of that and then manifesting it into what you're doing now with the terrariums and then thinking about you've mentioned a couple of times how much you love to cook and create and being able to take your love of gardening and and love of having, you know, really nice, different kind of cocktails and combining that. I've had the the pleasure of drinking one of those and they're divine. So our listeners need to definitely stay tuned to to what what comes up is coming up in the future with your your craft cocktails. So that'll be that'll be really fun to to watch that that portion of it grow, too. Now, would these be and having the cookbook, I think, is just really incredible and and awesome. Now, you've been online, you've participated in artisanal shows, work as a consultant. What made you feel like you were going to be a part of the artisanal show? What made you decide to go that route rather than just go opening up a whole garden center, which a lot of people do whenever they think gardening, you know? Well, I actually did open up a shop in the Silver Lake area last year or this rather than 2013, because I'd had a retail background. I thought, oh, it'd be so cool to be able to have a store and be able to sell my terrariums and offer my garden services. And so, you know, I've been doing that for a long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, long, I did it as a pop up kind of temporary shop for six months and realized ultimately that I did not want to be in retail. You know, it was a very different thing. Right. I mean, it was it was fun. I met some interesting people, but I don't think I did the really the research into the clientele that was there and whether they would, you know, want to buy or could afford my products. And so it was one of those experiences that it was a great experience, a great learning experience. But I think I I like doing the sales online and having other people sell my things. So, you know, I then focused on getting my terrariums into a couple of stores. And having that that flexibility, too. Right. Well, I love that you you were able to do it, take that risk, but not risk the farm. Right. And as an entrepreneur, those are the things that you kind of need to think about and and decide whether ultimately some people I mean, a whole garden center. And I'm thinking large scale. I wasn't actually I'd forgotten about your pop up store, but I was thinking like, you know, a large scale garden center where you go and you buy all of all of the plants and everything. And that's certainly a much bigger undertaking and requires a much bigger financial investment. And that's not to say that it's not right, that it's right or wrong. It's just a different way of thinking. Right. And I think that's a great point. I think that's a great point. I think that's a great point. Right. So you felt like you could do what you were doing better by starting out by doing it online instead of going that other route when you first started out. Right. And I just feel like I could reach more people in a more concentrated way that I didn't want to necessarily be out there selling plants, but it was more of selling because I consider myself more of an artist than a, you know, a landscape designer. Right. Okay. Yeah. That sounds great. I mean, I love I love the thinking that that took you there. When you were first starting, were there naysayers? A lot of people were really positive. I think my there were some people who were afraid for me kind of financially, are you going to be able to keep up? I mean, I had been a, you know, in an executive position for a long time. And I think I'm going to be able to keep up with that. And I think that's a really good point. And I think I'm going to be able to keep up with that. And I think that's a really good point. And I think in HR, and to be able to kind of throw away that regular salary for the risk of not having a regular salary, made some of my relatives a little bit nervous. I still get occasionally, you know, the are you going to have a real job. But I would say for the most part, I have met more people who are supportive and encouraging. And, especially when you're in a position where you're not having a regular salary, you're not going to have a regular salary. And I think that's a really good point. I think that's a really good point. a lot of the women entrepreneurs that I've met because of focusing on being an entrepreneur. And how is that how you've dealt with the naysayers is to just really align yourself with other people who are in business for themselves and, and really focusing on that? Or how do you deal with it? I think that's a lot of it. I think you've hit it there. But I also listen to the naysayers too, because there may be a grain of truth. I mean, I think that feedback on on your business is incredibly important. And you can't always get feedback from those people who are always saying, Yeah, that's fabulous. Go do it. There's sometimes you need to get feedback from those people who can be a naysayer because there may be a grain of truth or there may be a grain of truth in the worry that they're having that you need to think about. So really think about where it's coming from, right? Whether it's coming from a place of just being fearful and, and encouraging. And incorporating their own fears into it, or whether there's something important that you kind of need to listen to. I think that's really great advice. Right. To do that. Because a lot of times we do just kind of turn the cheek like, oh, they just don't know what I'm going through. And it's hard to hear feedback too, especially when it's constructive criticism. That's been a big thing for me of being able to, when things aren't working of getting people involved to find out why something doesn't work or getting advice on how to make something work. And I think that's really great advice. Right. And I think that's really great advice. Right. It needs to be helpful in order for it to work better. Well, it doesn't always make them right necessarily. It just means that sometimes maybe they're seeing something that you aren't. Right. You know? And if it helps you to, to do that, then it can be, it can be really, really great. I also think it's really important to have a group of people that you trust as almost like an advisory board that when you have serious questions like when I was going to open this pop-up shop I really spent time talking to those people that I trust that whether this would be a good idea or not well like we just said too though it was a risk and you never know especially with pop-up shops and so many very very successful companies have started as a pop-up shop so it is a really great way to kind of test the waters without getting in way too deep you know so maybe it didn't work out but that doesn't mean that there wasn't a lot learned from it and that there wasn't some real positives that came out of it you know so I think I love that that's so available today you know so it's great. Now who inspires you? My husband because he's always had his own business and it always amazes me to be able to see how he interacts with his clients and how he deals with cranky clients and adversity sometimes so that I find really inspiring and the fact that he really supports me That's really important to have and I'm so glad that you've been able to find that and and being able to recognize him being able to respect what you're doing just as you respect what he's doing is really important and how do you motivate yourself every day you know because when you had the retail store there are certain hours that you had to be there right but being online and and how do you motivate yourself to to think of new ideas and things like that? I mean I try to keep a a schedule I write my goals down every week so that way I know kind of what my path is for the week but a lot of it too is when you're an entrepreneur you can get stuck behind your computer is getting out and going to networking going to things like the mastermind that you have and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and and garden yourself as a as a way to just in enjoy and kind of step back? Or do you find that that's a little too close to your your business? No, I love to garden and I my garden is sort of where I experiment a little bit, especially in my vegetable garden, because sometimes things grow, sometimes they don't grow. And that actually helps me with my my customers, too. So that's your R&D. Right. Right. I was fortunate to be hired by Demand Media last year to do a whole bunch of gardening how to videos, which I set up in my front yard. So I ended up doing a lot of experimenting and a lot of planting because of that. And so that's been a lot of fun. That's great. And are those videos where they are they on your website? Some are on my YouTube channel, which is also under Eden Condensed. They're also under ehow.com and sfgate.com. And I have a little series called Garden Space, or you can look it up as Eden Condensed. Great. We'll be tuning into that. What is your what is your motto? Is there something that like you said last year, it was don't give away anything for free. My motto is growing and creating abundance. Oh, that really ties right in with with what you're doing as well as as well as your business itself. Right. I want to you know, I want to get in front of more customers and open myself up to more opportunities. Well, if anybody wants to go check out anything that Angela is doing, go to her website, Eden Condensed dot com. And they can also send you an email as your email address on your website. It's on my website. But it's Angela at Eden Condensed dot com. Just easy enough. And we still have just a few minutes if anybody wants to call in and ask any questions at 1-800-893-9562. We'd love to hear from you. I love quotes. Do you? I think it seems like you you might. Is there a is there a quote that is your your favorite quote that you feel like is kind of I mean, it's great to have a motto. But there's also quotes that kind of keep you going. Well, now you put me on the spot, so I can't think of anything. But actually, on my website, I have several quote garden quotes that I really like. Oh, OK. So if we want to know what those are, we just go to the garden site. But yeah, I'd probably have a hard time. There are a few like the Winston Churchill. I think it is never, never, never give up. But I can't always remember the full quotes that that I like. Just be before we go. I've got a few more minutes. But what? How do you handle you're wearing all the hats and how do you balance your your time doing that? I know it's hard because when you're, you know, a solopreneur, you do you know, you've got the finance hat and the business hat and the shipping hat sometimes. I'm pretty good at balancing my time. But I've also learned that there are if there are things that I really don't like to do or that I'm not good at. And I think that's a really important thing. And I think that's a really important thing. And I think that it's important to outsource those things like doing updates on my website. By the time I get in and figure it out and make the mistake and have to redo it three times, it's much easier for me to have my web person just do it, especially the cost of that. Finance things, bookkeeping, things like that. I try to outsource if I can. You know, I sometimes get my my teenage kids and their friends involved with shipping, too, or, you know, I try to outsource if I can. And I try to outsource if I can. You know, helping me out on some of those things. That's always great. You know, child laborers. Are there skills that you think have really helped you to be successful that you have? Did you think about, oh, these are the skills I have when you started your business? I think being very mindful of customer service was very important to me and listening to being able to listen to customers needs and kind of what they're saying behind what they're saying. So that to me was a big thing. Also being able to. I'm a procrastinator, but I'm an organized procrastinator. So being able to kind of keep organized and to juggle several different projects at the same time, I don't believe in multitasking necessarily, but I do believe that you have to be able to have a good system in order to keep track of different projects that you're working on. You're ahead of the curve. They're finding out now that multitasking is not the way to go. And. You knew it all along. You've already been been practicing that. Well, one of the things that I always like to ask everybody in and you know me well enough to know probably what's coming. But what is your best business lesson that you would like to share with our listeners? I would say that it's important to. Find if you're starting a company is to find something that you're really passionate with, that it's easy to, you know, pick something that you're good at. But over the long you have to be able to stick with it over the long run. And there's a lot of studies now that, you know, you get going and you're really excited and then you hit a plateau. And how do you get beyond that? And I think that if you have that that passion behind what you're doing, that helps you get through the rough periods and keeps you motivated. I love it. I love it. Sounds great. Go forward with your passion. Well, thank you so much, Angela, for being on the show today. And we're going to have to close now. But thanks. It's been a pleasure. Thank you. I got the eye of the tiger. I am dancing through the fire. I am a champion. And you're going to hear me roar.