Stalk Market CO
Stalk Market CO is a Colorado-grown plant shop owned by a group of three dynamic women, Leah Brown, Grace Noe and Alisha Capps. It all started when Grace and Leah met working as directors at their former company and would spend every weekend plant shopping together, bonding over their love of plants. They would say, almost jokingly, “we should open our own plant store!” Until one day the opportunity actually presented itself. The stars aligned and the rest is history! Grace and Leah saw so much support from the community and felt that they wanted to continue to share their love of plants with anyone and everyone, so they decided to bring in another plant obsessed friend, Alisha, as well as a second location. Since 2021, they have expanded and grown to two different locations, the original location at Edgewater Public Marketplace in Edgewater, CO and the other in Olde Town Arvada, CO. In each of the shops, they stock a wide variety of plants - common to rare - to liven up your home and enrich your life.
The INTERVIEW
Q: First things first... what is the name of your business and how did you choose it?
A: Stalk Market CO! We chose this name because it felt very planty but also very puny which describes us pretty well!
Q: What excites you about the community of Women-Owned Wednesdays?
A: Women empowering other women! As women we have a hard enough time being taken seriously in business and when we stand together, we are a much stronger community.
Q: Where did the idea for Stalk Market come from?
A: As plant shoppers, they saw first-hand how expensive this hobby can be and wanted to provide inclusivity for people from all walks of life to be able to enjoy the benefits of owning house plants without the high price tag that most house plant stores charge. It was very important for us to be able to share the love of houseplants in an affordable way for customers and community to be more inviting.
Q: Who or what inspires you?
A: We were raised by strong independent women who inspire us daily. We also find inspiration in each other, we as a group have very different backgrounds but also have very similar morals and beliefs. When we don’t see eye to eye (which is rare), it’s easy for us to understand where the other is coming from, and we make decisions as a team
Q: How do you start your day?
A: Very early with lots of coffee. We spend lots of early mornings at the greenhouse, hand selecting plants for our customers. We pride ourselves on having a wide variety, quality, and value.
Q: What have been the most important factors that you have learned with the success of your business?
A: Standing firm on what we believe in, learning from mistakes, striving for perfection but understanding that sometimes you have to “let good enough be good enough.”
Q: What have you failed at recently and how did you overcome it?
A: We tend to sometimes bite off more than we can chew but have learned that we need to give ourselves a little grace and realistic timelines to ensure success.
Q: What advice would you give your 17-year-old self?
A: Work hard, don’t be so hard on yourself, take the risk, and follow your dreams! There’s never a right time for anything but what’s meant to be will be.
Q: What are your favorite online resources for your business?
A: Instagram and plant community boards have been huge for us! We like to stay current on what the plant community likes and learn something new from our community every day.
Q: Share what you do daily/weekly to include personal development in your life for growth?
A: We give ourselves a few days off each week to make sure that we are feeling our best so we can give our best.
Q: What are the top tips you'd give to anyone looking to start, build and grow a brand or a business today?
A: Trust yourself and never lose sight of why you wanted to start your own business. It’s not easy, but it’s worth it.
Q: What is your motto or mantra that you live by?
A: Plants make people happy! There are so many benefits to owning houseplants and we love to watch people light up when they talk about their collection.
Q: What do you do to unwind and take time away from your business?
A: We enjoy spending time with family as well as good ol’ retail therapy.
Q: What vision do you have for yourself in the near future, personally or professionally?
A: We see ourselves opening more locations and connecting with our community through more workshops, events, and gatherings.
Q: How do you support other women-owned businesses?
A: We host many women-owned vendor pop ups at our Edgewater location so that other women- owned businesses can have a platform to showcase and sell their products when they may not have a store of their own to do so.
Women-Owned VIBES
Our guilty pleasure is: Stickers! Ordering stickers for the stores that we like and knowing they will be coming home with us.
Our most listen-to podcast, song or artist is: Ashanti is one of our faves. She’s a queen!
Greatest gift we have ever received: The gift of unwavering support of our business from our friends and family that we received and still receive.
Three things that we cannot live without: Plants, coffee, and dogs.
Most useful advice our mothers have given us: Always stay true to yourself and your beliefs.
The coolest person we’ve ever met is: Each other! We love our friendship between the three of us.
Lake, Mountains, Beach? If we could choose all three, we would, but we all love the mountains.
Quality we cherish most in a friend is: Honesty, reliability, and support.
The title of our autobiography would be: “Where Did All These Plants Come From?”