Meet Kerbi Howat | Business Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kerbi Howat and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kerbi, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
Before I had kids and, specifically, when I started my business, I was way less risk-averse. For me at the time, the fear of regretting not taking a chance on myself was riskier than the business itself. I was looking for a type of satisfaction in my career that I hadn’t been able to achieve and I needed to take that risk in order to find it (and I did). I didn’t have as much to lose back then, so if I needed to start over, I easily could. Now, I have people that depend on me- my children but also employees. I feel that pressure every day and I’m much more conservative in my risk taking. That’s not to say there is no risk, since entrepreneurship carries inherent risk and can feel like a daily gamble. The question really is, how much risk are you comfortable with? You can’t escape it entirely.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I own a Nashville-based business called Flora. It launched in 2016 as a pop-up plant shop and evolved into a brick & mortar a year later. The shop is located in East Nashville and offers a beautiful selection of high quality interior plants and planters, as well as some home goods, like books and candles. Customers get a full-service experience in the shop, which includes complimentary potting, customized plant care cards, gift wrapping, and home delivery. We also host workshops and events regularly throughout the year.

Flora also offers Plant Design services for residential and commercial spaces looking to complete their interior design with plants.

Personally, Plant Design is the most exciting part of the business because there’s nothing like transforming a space with living plants. I love getting carte blanche in a new cafe, office or home and having the opportunity to change the look, feel and experience through plants. I also love merchandising the store; it’s always exciting to find new things that I think our customers will love and putting together gift ideas, especially around the holidays.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If the weather is nice, I always make sure to have a hike or two on the itinerary for visitors. My favorite hike is the Mossy Ridge Trail at Percy Warner Park. I also love hiking at Beaman Park.

Coffee: CREMA, Elegy (great breakfast too!)

Restaurants: Lou, Frankies, Shotgun Willies, Folk, Lyra, Mitchell Deli

Drinks: Tiger Bar, The Fox

Shopping: The Good Fill, The Getalong, The Bookshop, Grimeys

Places: The Belcourt

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I owe my friend and former business partner, Kate Holl, immense gratitude, because I don’t know if I ever would’ve had the courage to start my own business had we not partnered together. We worked together for two years, which was enough time for me to build the confidence in myself to carry the business forward alone. She moved back to her home state of Wisconsin to open a similar business, Wildewood, and it’s been a joy to see where our separate paths have taken us over the past 6 years.

I also owe a lot of gratitude to my very dear friend Megan Gill of The Good Fill (Nashville’s first zero waste refill shop). Megan and I met because she started her business as a pop-up and we would host her at my shop. Over the past 6 years, we have bonded over the trials and triumphs of running our businesses and becoming moms throughout it all. Now I consider her one of my closest friends and I’m so grateful to have her in my life. Running a business can be isolating and there are specific challenges to what we do. I am so grateful to not only have a great friend, but also a friend who *gets it*.

Website: https://www.floraplantshop.com

Instagram: @floraplantshop