1. What’s the quick origin story of your brand, and what makes your product or positioning genuinely different from other options in your niche?

Jessica Janik-De Gennaro: Shop Succulents started in a pretty unconventional way. I left my job in the restaurant world at 30 with no backup plan—just a clear desire to build something of my own. I started selling anything I could find on marketplaces, and eventually realized I wanted a real brand with a real product.

When I began searching for my niche, something that had strong demand but limited representation, succulents kept popping up. I honestly didn’t know what a succulent was at first, but I researched, found growers in San Diego and started building the business from the ground up.

What sets us apart from other sellers is the level of care we put into both our succulents and our customer experience. Even our packaging process reflects that commitment—we literally throw test boxes across the warehouse to make sure our plants can survive a trip across the country. It might not seem like a caring act, but it’s one of the ways we ensure customers receive healthy, intact plants every time. We’re also deeply invested in helping customers after the purchase. We answer questions and help diagnose any issues that come up in the months after getting the plant.

2. Since launch, what have been the 1–2 real turning points for your brand-specific decisions, pivots, or experiments that noticeably changed your growth or profitability-and what did you learn from them?

Jessica Janik-De Gennaro: The biggest turning point for us was fully leaning into marketplaces. As we expanded onto new platforms, with Temu being our most recent addition, we were introduced to entirely new waves of customers who might never have found us otherwise. Early on, we realized that each marketplace has its own ecosystem with its own rules, algorithms and customer behaviors. Once we committed to truly understanding how each one “ticks,” our growth became far more predictable and scalable.

A second major turning point was shifting more focus toward our own website. When you’re doing the bulk of your volume through marketplaces, it’s easy to overlook the importance of your direct site, but building it out has given us more control over our brand voice, customer experience and storytelling.

3. Which 2-3 channels drive most of your revenue right now (for example SEO, paid social, email, marketplaces, influencers), and what have you learned about making those channels work in your category?

Jessica Janik-De Gennaro: Marketplaces are, without question, our biggest revenue drivers. We actually started selling on Temu back in February and it opened the door to a completely new level of visibility and customer discovery that we haven’t experienced before. In our first four months on Temu, we sold 3,500+ plants—which was nearly half of what we had sold over the previous decade on another platform. And since then, our sales have more than tripled that.

We also sell on Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s and several others, and we white-label for companies like Urban Outfitters’ subsidiaries and CB2. Each marketplace requires its own strategy, from participating in deal activity to using their internal ad platforms. Our biggest learning has been that marketplaces aren’t one-size-fits-all—you have to respect each one as its own business model and optimize accordingly.

4. How are you thinking about search in 2025 – Google, AI assistants like ChatGPT, and other discovery platforms? What, if anything, have you changed in your content or site to stay visible as AI search grows?

Jessica Janik-De Gennaro: The search landscape is evolving so quickly that the goal is less about getting ahead of it and more about staying aligned with its direction. We’re continuing our standard SEO efforts, but we’re also shifting how we present content so that we’re more visible in our category—something that matters even more in AI-driven search results. We’re also investing more in social media, which wasn’t a major focus when we started 15 years ago but is now essential for both discovery and relevance.

5. What do you do to turn first‑time buyers into repeat customers and advocates? Are there specific experiences, content, or community touches that work especially well for you?

Jessica Janik-De Gennaro: For us, turning first-time buyers into repeat customers really comes down to being genuinely present and supportive every step of the way. Customers often need guidance long after their order arrives, whether it’s how to acclimate a new succulent, figure out if they’re watering it too much (or too little) or diagnose out why a plant isn’t thriving in its new home.

We’ve built our customer experience around that ongoing care. We answer DMs, emails and marketplace messages quickly, and we provide personalized advice that comes from actual humans, not automated replies. We’ll ask for photos, help diagnose problems and even walk customers through step-by-step fixes to save a plant. That level of hands-on support not only gives buyers confidence but also makes them feel like they’re part of a community that wants them to succeed.

When people see that we care just as much about their plant’s long-term health as they do, it creates loyalty. They come back to buy again, but also to ask questions, share updates and recommend us to their friends.

6. If you had to write a short playbook for an ecommerce founder one stage behind you, what would you double down on over the next 12 months – and what would you stop doing entirely?

Jessica Janik-De Gennaro: I would encourage founders to take marketplaces seriously. They can feel intimidating because each one operates with different rules and expectations, but that’s also why they represent such huge opportunities. But on the flip side, don’t try to be everywhere at once or chase growth through too many disconnected initiatives. It’s easy to think that selling through as many channels as possible will maximize growth potential, but it can actually do the opposite. Choose one marketplace at a time, really learn its rhythms and actively participate in its programs, deals and ad tools. Stick to it if it’s working, but don’t try to force growth if it’s not happening.