Meet Felix Navarro | Designer

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

Hi Felix, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
There are sooo many things and people that helped me keep my company alive but ultimately I would have to say my determination to not fail was the most important factor. So many times I’ve hit a wall or was in a situation where I thought I was done for but I would crawl out of bed and keep fighting no matter what obstacle I was facing.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think the thing that sets us apart from other plant stores is our knowledge of what a healthy plant should look like. We hand select every single plant that comes into the shop. The plants have to be healthy and visually look perfect to make the cut. We also are very knowledgeable about the plants we sell. We lose sales many times because we want people to be successful with their plant babies. We ask very specific questions about the environment and lighting that the plant will be going too. If it won’t work we let our customers know. We also make sure we warn people of any poisonous plants they might be interested in purchasing. We have been around 15 years and we definitely have an aesthetic. Getting to where we are today has not been easy. I feel like sometimes people see how hard I work and how passionate I am about what I do and that’s the formula for success. I can honestly say it’s taken an army to grow this company. I have had many friends and family help me financially when I’ve hit barriers and thought I was finished. Countless friends help build, work by my side, make deliveries for me when I had no one else, go on trips with me so I could use the hov lane, help me move my company countless times, and just give me hugs and encouragement when I was soo tired or just crying from being soo overwhelmed. It’s taught me to be humble and grateful. The most important lessons I’ve learned along the way is to never ever give up. If you ever want to open a small business and you are doing it without investors or the capital to start it the right way, make sure you are 1 million percent passionate about your business. If you don’t live and die for smoothies don’t you dare open a smoothie shop unless you have the money to pay someone sufficiently enough for them to care. I also learned that a person should never ever stop learning things, never stop growing and to only work with people that will question what you do and not just tell you what you want to hear. I want anyone reading this to know that we are not fancy. Anyone with any budget can come in a get a super cool gift or plant for themselves. I come from nothing and we will give anyone our greatest attention regardless of budget. We also do not discriminate against any human regardless of age,sex, orientation, religion, culture, or anything else I may have missed. We celebrate all humans.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Lol right now I wouldn’t let a friend visit. Prior to COVID I have to be honest I’m always working so I would never let anyone visit for that long. I feel like 100 percent of my friends would tell you that I would never take more than a day off for anyone. On a typical day dependent on the person I would take them to a nice restaurant but my husband and I loved to entertain from home so more than likely unless they had a specific wish list our main goal would be to sit and just catch up. You get to an age where that’s the best thing.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
The person I want to dedicate this shootout to is my husband Felipe Abrahão. He has taught me sooo much about being patient and to understand that we are all different. He has a way of making me feel calm and also makes me feel so comfortable to just be myself. He is very independent, super creative and extremely talented. He also has an extraordinary voice and sings beautifully. He started to help me with the company about 3 years ago in in a very short period he changed so many ways about how we do business in a very positive way. He had no exposure or training in the plant world. He very quickly learned all about plants and how to create stunning arrangements. He is from Brazil and had only been here for about 5 years and he mastered the English language. He is my hero and I love navigating this thing called life with him. I feel like as a team we are also unstoppable!

Website: https://thejuicyleaf.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thejuicyleaf/
Linkedin: http://www.LinkedIn.com/thejuicyleaf
Twitter: https://Twitter.com/thejuicyleaf
Facebook: http://www.Facebook.com/thejuicyleaf
Yelp: http://www.Yelp.com/thejuicyleaf
Youtube: https://www.YouTube.com/thejuicyleaf

Image Credits
Renata Meirelles