Meet Leeann Fox | Tropical Houseplant Nursery Operator & Ceramicist

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

Hi Leeann, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
The process was definitely not linear, but more an amalgamation of ideas and circumstance. Ultimately, I saw the prefect storm of challenge, opportunity, and privilege, and it pointed pretty clearly to jumping right in. Shortly after the pandemic started, I quit a job I had poured myself into, but had consistently found was deeply exploitative of my creative energy and ability to just *work really hard.* I was also simultaneously finishing a degree in sociology with a focus on the American carceral system and had come to the serious realization that the nonprofit industrial complex was not going to be the sector for me to effect change. The sort of final piece to the puzzle was that my hubby and I had just managed to scoop up a piece of land that already happened to be zoned for commercial agriculture. So, I know that all sounds sort of disjointed, but to me it was so obvious: this was my chance to start a business founded in purpose. From the absolute get-go, Arrows Aim Greenhouse was born with the intention of becoming a worker-owned cooperative, providing tangible economic outcomes and entrepreneurial opportunities for formerly incarcerated folks, by connecting communities through something everybody loves: growing houseplants.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
On the creative side of Arrows Aim Greenhouse, all of our products are designed with the intention of being a teachable medium as people are brought onto the team. It’s really important to me to create opportunities for future worker-owners to explore professional fields that are personally fulfilling or are maybe otherwise financially or socially difficult to break into. I actually started in ceramics *after* starting my business. Creating ceramic planters and plant care tools seemed like a really fluid way to expand into the idea adding expressive and teachable skills in a way that makes sense for Arrows Aim. Personally, my work is largely informed by my knowledge as a grower in terms of what houseplants need, but I also think that, like nurturing plants, ceramics translates well in terms of personal growth, expectation management, patience, and forgiveness (ceramicists will know what I’m talking about!). I’ve also started getting into woodworking with the same purpose of teachability and self-expression. All of the different mediums I bring into the business are intentional and I’m sort of the test pilot, hoping to find things that will stick for the people I’m building this business for.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Living in a rural place, on the north end of Whidbey Island in Washington state, it’s all about finding the gems. What I think is most exciting about this area, is that there are an incredible amount of young entrepreneurs who are carrying PNW traditions in new ways, from farmers, to restaurateurs, to artists. Without a doubt I’d be sure to give out-of-towners the full tour of island creatives: we’d pop into a dyeing or flower arranging workshop with Grass Becomes A Wave, head over to Meet Market to soak up some creative atmosphere, and visit the Whidbey Clay Center gallery. It’d be a must to snag a drink at Overboard and go for bbq at Orlando’s. And even though it’s one of the most visited parks in the country, Deception Pass State park for hiking and sunset views cannot be missed.

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?
When the mission and vision for Arrows Aim was coming together, I was making a lot of personal observations about how much the lessons I’d learned from growing plants mirrored the ways we could show up for each other in our communities. Patience, transformation, resiliency, there were so many parallels between thriving plants and thriving people right? So, digging into these ideas, I started finding other folks who were also exploring those same concepts, who are also focused on community care, action, and abolition. That’s how I connected with the incredible artist and activist jackie sumell and their project Solitary Gardens. Finding jackie’s work and seeing these ideas put into action was so inspiring and validating, and has ultimately lead to making connections with other people and organizations all over the country who are finding ways to actualize transformative justice through our relationships with plants. I see us as seeds scattered across a landscape that will just naturally grow together, intertwining into something bigger. I’m so grateful for it.

Website: arrowsaim.com

Instagram: @arrowsaimgreenhouse