Meet Jessica Nelson | Small Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jessica Nelson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jessica, what is the most important factor behind your success?
I feel that passion is the heart of my brand’s success. From the beginning, my love for plants, particularly succulents, fueled my journey, which organically evolved into a business. Passion also helps me maintain my creativity and enables me to endure hard tasks or things that may be boring or dull.

What should our readers know about your business?
Something that sets my business apart from others is that I sell both locally grown cacti and succulents as well as some rare exotic imports. I am most proud of the quality of my plants. I do a lot to ensure that they are in their best condition and arrive to customers safely. In the future, I hope to be able to expand into a greenhouse! Plants have always been a hobby of mine, and I began making succulent arrangements for myself and posted some pictures to social media. Some people reached out to see if they were available for purchase. This sparked my interest in the business aspect, and I later ventured into Facebook marketplace, Etsy, and eBay as places to sell my plants. It definitely was not easy. As a business owner, you want to be able to provide the best value, so I had to search for and find the best suppliers. There was some challenge initially in figuring out how to package and ship plants. When I started importing plants from other countries, I had to figure out all the requirements for customs. Also, perhaps the hardest part of any business is keeping all of your customers happy. This is very difficult, but I am proud to say that my feedback from customers is 99% positive! I have learned a lot about learning. There are so many things I didn’t know and don’t know, but I have learned how to ask the right questions, do research, and find answers to whatever problems I have. I want the world to buy plants – they make the world greener and people happier! The world is full of a wide selection of strange, beautiful, and unique plants.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
We have a Mexican restaurant here in Escondido called Frida’s Tacos that serves amazing tacos, and they offer great prices on Tuesdays. I also love Asian food, so we make sure to try the many options available here in San Diego. I feel like a trip to San Diego is incomplete without a visit to the beach. Moonlight Beach and La Jolla are probably my two favorites. Moonlight Beach is especially fun to walk along.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My husband has always supported me in pursuing my passions. He was the one who recommended that I quit my old job and pursue my business full-time. Both of my parents are pretty business-minded and have always been examples of hard work. They were also my first customers! Additionally, my brother runs his own small business and often helps with delivering packages to the post office. Basically, everyone in my family has been supportive of me and my endeavors.

Website: https://succulentselection.etsy.com/

Instagram: @thesucculentselection

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSucculentSelection