Today we’d like to introduce you to Karla Gallegos.
Hi Karla, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My passion for plants started with organic gardening in 2012. It all started with community service getting my hands in the dirt, and I fell in love immediately after. From there, I started working with HG SPLY Co. in 2013, and I found myself adding interior and exterior plants to their restaurants. As the hospitality group grew, little did I realize I was growing my own business maintaining plants for our shops. I finally grew into my own position as Director of Horticulture & Design for UNCO Hospitality. We facilitated 7-8 locations with plant care for their interior and exterior spaces. In 2020 I decide to give myself a name instead of being the plant person with a watering can… this is how The Planting Hand bloomed. In Feb 2022, I opened the doors to the plant shop off lower Greenville next to HG SPLY Co., where my journey began. I continue to work with my partners on restaurant design and construction. We also maintain 11 restaurants under UNCO and are opening our doors to other businesses seeking plant care options inside their spaces. In our shop, we offer interior plants from beginner-friendly to experienced plants, unique pottery styles to spotlight your plants, and hand-selected craft items that compliment your plant friends and space. We offer workshops monthly to educate plant parents like our Plant care 101 class, Propagating class, and more, tickets are available on our website.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
All the challenges, from learning how to run my own business quickly, ensuring we make sales to meet our monthly expense goals, to the slower months in the year that we have faced… I think a big obstacle for me is moving in a more organized professional mindset. I have always been a person with a “do it myself” mentality and leaning on those for their guidance has been a big learning experience. I’ve always been a go-getter, and asking for help has aways been a struggle for me, but I am getting better every day. Accepting the good days and bad days in a positive way is something I’m learning right now. Every day is hard, long hours, big project, bigger commitments, and with a small team of 3 amazing women we can only handle so much. I’m grateful for all the learning experiences that have come my way, and continue to stay open to hold a positive outlook for my team.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I wear a lot of hats in my day-to-day work life. I’ve always been a creative person from a young kid. I’m a Pisces at heart and seek to learn new things. I went to school for fashion merchandising and thought that was going to be my career, I worked in retail for about 4-5 years before I ended that in 2012 to work in hospitality which was where I stumbled across HG SPLY Co. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did and immersed myself fully to understand the daily operations. On the side, I signed up for community service, which is where I learned to garden. Signed myself up for Yoga teacher training and have been practicing ever since. I also loved to draw and paint pretty much anything that I can use my hands. Through the restaurant world in 2019, my business partner came to me with an idea to create a pop-up event at one of our concepts Leela’s Wine Bar. The first one was our Christmas Pop up, and boy was it a success. I curate and decorate the experiences for each event, and usually, they last from 4-6 weeks. We played around with Valentine’s and then experimented with a summer pop in 2021. I can now say I’m known for throwing over-the-top month-long pop-ups, 3x a year (Valentine’s/Galentine’s, Summer House & Holiday). I love seeing the excitement from our team members and the public. What sets me apart from others is my ability to visualize an experience and bring it to life both in the pop-up events and when designing a restaurant concept with my partners at UNCO.
What do you think about happiness?
Life makes me happy. Ever-changing experiences we go through in life are something we should be happy about. Never should we be scared of them. We have the power to create our life. Traveling to areas unknown and experiencing new cultures brings me joy. I love finding connections with mother nature to teach me something new. I love going to the beach, the mountains, the jungles. I just recently I tried surfing in El Salvador on an all women’s retreat last December, and for someone that couldn’t swim, I was terrified and thrilled for it all. Connecting with the sea brings me happiness, being around trees and plants in their natural habitat. I can get lost for days. My cats also bring me so much happiness.
Contact Info:
- Website: theplantinghand.com
- Instagram: @theplantinghand
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theplantinghand
Image Credits
Kaitlyn Clapp Photography
