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

Hi Leilani, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking.
When we first started our business in 2018, we were 28 years old and had been planning towards opening up our shop for years at that point. Neither of us had been to business school, and although we did skim a few books, it was mostly determination that got us here. We knew it was risky, but we were so excited that we didn’t focus on that. We bet on ourselves and believed that with hard-work we would succeed. Fast forward eight years and I love thinking back to that time. Starry eyed and all-consumed in making our dream a reality.

The pandemic was all hands on deck and we were actually busier than we had ever been. We hit some major milestones and honestly felt like the trajectory of growth would continue this way. The post-pandemic landscape brought on some real challenges however and we needed to pivot fast which ultimately resulted in moving locations during a time when we were actually not doing so well financially. We took a huge leap of faith and decided to bet on ourselves once again and take the risk. Although these years following the pandemic have felt like somewhat of an uphill battle for brick and mortar retail, we still choose to keep going. The truth is, we love what we do and we believe that although it is risky at times to keep going, we believe in ourselves and our abilities. When you truly love what you do and you want to keep doing it, risk doesn’t fill the forefront of our minds, success does. Or maybe that’s just the beauty of optimism…or nativity, we might never know.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Botanic + Luxe is a lifestyle destination for dreamers, lovers, and seekers of all things
beautiful. Founded in 2016 in Santa Cruz, California by lifelong best friends Ariel
and Leilani, B+L offers a thoughtfully curated collection of home goods, jewelry,
personal care, and plants – our favorite home accent – created to inspire a world
of soulful living.
We’re a women-owned business grounded in community, we believe in
supporting small, independent makers, and take pride in every item that fills our
shelves. B+L is a warm and welcoming reprieve from daily life, an inspirational
mood board of earthy and luxurious finds that have been intentionally selected
and personally vetted to enrich and add beauty to your life. We can’t wait to
meet you.

Ariel and Leilani grew up on the beautiful island of Kaua’i, Hawaii, first meeting on
the beach as babies. Our childhood was magical and full of imagination, playing
shop, building tree forts, and adventuring through the lush landscape.
Entrepreneurs since day one, we sold tropical flowers and plumeria leis collected
from our backyard jungle, always dreaming of one day opening a business
together.
We later moved to California to pursue our personal passions – Ariel studying
landscape architecture and Leilani holistic nutrition. When our lives aligned once
again, this time in Santa Cruz, we knew it was the right moment and location to
open our dream shop.
B+L is an authentic extension of our love for handmade goods, community, and all
things beautiful, growing with us as our lives evolve alongside it – from marriage to
motherhood and more. We’re grateful for the deep roots we’ve planted in our
community as small business owners and thank you for being part of our journey,
we wouldn’t be here without you

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?
We want to thank our business advisor, Larry Hebert from the Small Business Development Center. Larry has stuck by our side and shown unwavering support for eight years. We wouldn’t be here without him!

Website: https://www.botanicandluxe.com/

Instagram: @botanicandluxe

Image Credits
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Nominate Someone: ShoutoutSoCal is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.