Today we’d like to introduce you to Serene Cha.
Serene, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started The Succulent Corner with my family around March/April 2020. It started with just a couple of succulents. The little corner in my bedroom that housed 2 to 3 succulents was soon housing 30 or 40 succulents as my confidence and love for succulents grew. I was the first one to initiate our idea of opening a little plant business with my family who was starting to feel isolated and was having time with all the new restrictions in place due to COVID. What was a personal love for succulents grew into a family business. I love succulents as they are fairly easy to care for as long as you do not overwater and have all the basics in succulent care down. I feel that succulents are something anyone can enjoy – having something to care for, especially succulents, may just bring joy into people’s lives as it did into mine.
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?
As we started in March/April of 2020, right when the COVID-19 outbreak started to happen and restrictions were imposed, it was not easy. In-person events were all cancelled, vendor fairs, and plant fairs which we had planned on being our main source of marketing and getting our name out there, were no longer available spaces for us to grow our business. With us being a small, family-run business, we had to think of new ways to reach people, such as social media and, most importantly, referrals. In addition, as we ship live plants all over the US- our first testing trial was difficult as they did not arrive in top condition as we had hoped. However, as we experimented and continued to test, we were able to figure out the perfect way to ship our succulents across the US in top condition. Furthermore, caring for a couple of hundred live plants is not an easy feat – especially when there is a constant need to adapt care for our succulents depending on weather conditions. We grow most of our succulents in natural light outside, where they can grow to their best potential – which is not an easy task.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am currently a student in my gap year and will be attending UT Austin this coming Fall. Go longhorns! For me, community has always been something I have been involved in, especially non-profits. I have been involved with UNICEF and various clubs since I was in high school, have worked as a medical volunteer coordinator for a local DFW rescue, organized fundraisers for rescues and animal shelters. This year I was able to launch a nonprofit I am passionate about. The organization I launched is called Cambodia Learn 4U, a program in which we connect rural impoverished students to college students in the US for weekly lessons on English. I have also been teaching the violin for quite some time and love teaching and my students – it has been so rewarding. I hope to pursue a career in the medical field as I have always been an advocate for health and wellness in our society. I believe community service and giving back, which are critical for future generations and our society.
Contact Info:
- Email: succulentcornertx@gmail.com
- Website: www.thesucculentcorner.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesucculentcorner_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thesucculentcornertx
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheSucculentCornerTX
Image Credits
The Succulent Corner Paige Rance Photography
