This week on Party’s Over Podcast, we were lucky enough to interview Amalia & Taylor of East Pine Plant Shop in Portland, Maine. They were so sweet to us and sent us home with sun catcher crystals and cute plants - things we continue to look at in our homes and are reminded how much we loved this interview. East Pine Plant Shop sells both plants and home goods on their website. These are the perfect items to spice up your home or gift to a friend!
Learn more here: https://www.eastpineplantshop.com/
We were lucky enough to record in-person with Amalia & Taylor and receive a tour of their current space: a living space that turned into a full work space with a bedroom / living room - a room they called their “tiny house.” Their other two rooms had been completely taken over by the business, which quickly turned into a full blown jungle in their apartment. Getting a behind the scenes look from our guests is one of the best part of these interviews!
Amalia and Taylor both grew up in Maryland, but did not cross paths until their early adult life. They met while working at MOM’s Organic Market. After eyeing each other for six months, they finally went on their first date.
Since meeting, they haven’t spent more than one week apart. “But yeah, I mean, I think from that point on, it was like trying to figure out how we could really live a life together that we fully enjoyed. And I will do both of our passions,” said Taylor.
Amalia had been coming to Maine during the summer months with her family all of her life. She knew it was going to be in her plan to end up here one day. When she first met Taylor, he coincidentally was into lighthouses and had Portland Headlight as his phone’s wallpaper - what are the odds?! Her next mission was to bring him to Maine.
“My family has this running joke that when you bring your significant other to Maine, if they don't like it, they didn’t pass the test and it’s not meant to be. But, he came up and he was like, this is it. This is where I want to be. So two years later, we moved up here.” - Amalia
Amalia always had two dreams: to move to Maine one day and to own a plant shop. Why not do both at the same time? And why not during a pandemic?!
They kept trying to build their dream idea of a plant shop in Maryland, but every place they tried to put it into, they were trying to make it “Maine.” So they thought, why not start this in Maine? “We didn't know what to think when we moved here because it's just intimidating coming into a new place with a brand new business. It's like all so new and just to be welcomed with open arms was incredible.” - Amalia
By the time they arrived here, the pandemic was in full swing and it gave them time to really focus on their business and create the perfect space for them. With everyone being shut in their homes, it was a great time to start a plant shop and help people in the community really love their space as well. “At the end of the day, if you’re shit inside, you want the outside to come in, right?” said Taylor, “a plant is something that you can care for, that takes you out of your head and not only makes your space look great, not only improves the air, but really improves you and your happiness. So absolutely, I think it was kind of like a match made.”
As we have been learning in some of our more recent episodes, you can’t ever really plan exactly how things are going to go or where you will end up in a year. It is all about adapting to the situation you are in and making the best of it.
Something that stuck out to us when we heard about East Pine Plant Shop last year, was that we were invested in them as people and as a couple and then, we fell for their amazing products. We discuss how feeling like investment and bond with company owners is not really something you can put in a business plan.
What’s to come for East Pine Plant Shop this coming year? Well…
They just moved into a new, much larger space in South Portland and we are so excited to visit! They will be adding more personal experience for their shoppers: in home visits, home growers hits, plan your plants & space with the team and so much more!
We discuss so much more on this week’s episode and we hope you all tune in! We are so excited for Amalia & Taylor and we are along for the ride!
Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/partys-over-post-grad-podcast/id1485118804?i=1000512335812
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2BuwglVNaRrv9AxwTWobgA?si=vheT3Hw7TP2P6UNqKTi19g&dl_branch=1