Amborella Organics Origin
How did Amborella Organics get its start?
My husband, and co-founder, Brennan, grew up gardening with his grandmother. Each summer, they would grow tomatoes. After she passed, he continued gardening on his own. Being in the garden, watering the plants and experiencing the smell of the tomato leaves would transport him back to the time he shared with her. He was struck with how vivid the memories were, and how special it was that he had a relationship with gardening because of her. He wanted to create that experience for other people.
As he was watering, he noticed how the flowers were kinda like lollipops—the bulb and the stem—the lollipop and the stick…he wondered if there was a way to make lollipops that would grow plants.
Years later, he shared the idea with me. I saw it as much more than an idea. It was amazing, and I thought we had to build a business around it!
Inspirations for business or product
I was a journalist at the time and writing a lot about sustainability—plants being the focus of many stories that I was covering at the time. Brennan grew up at the beach surfing. Being in the water gave him this feeling of responsibility and love for nature. It was these shared values and an entrepreneurial upbringing along with the daydream in the garden that ended up being the catalyst for Amborella Organics and the seed-bearing lollipop stick.
First sale?
Our first sale was at a book launch party for The Flower Chef. I interviewed her for a story and told her about Amborella. She suggested we roll out the business at her event. At that point, we had been testing recipes with a small batch candy maker and germinating the sticks on our own. We went for it. We built the website the night before, brought our lollipops for people to taste, and got our first press coverage and wholesale account that night.
Biggest risk taken?
The moment where we decided to give this idea a shot. The risks continue, but they change—building the team, investing in our commercial kitchen. There are constant risks. You have to get comfortable feeling uncomfortable.
