Meet Pipphy Xiao | Business Owner & Artist

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

Hi Pipphy, every day, we about how much execution matters, but we think ideas matter as well. How did you come up with the idea for your business?
I started Pipphy’s Curiosities to pursue my goal of having a business that satisfies my personal passions and ambitions, while also being altruistic towards others. With this in mind, my company is focused on the curation of goods and services that brings happiness and peace to our customers. I go through great lengths to find the right items at the right moment that can achieve these goals. Right now, those are pairing carefully selected plants with one-of-a-kind handmade wood fired planters. The result are remarkable pieces created from a blend of something from the natural world with something human made by an artisan.

The company was founded in 2020 during the peak of the COVID pandemic. My husband and I were living in New York City at the time. We had only been living there for five months when the lockdown started. And once it started, like everyone one else living there at that time, we basically stayed inside our home twenty four hours a day, six days a week. We only went out once a week for an hour to buy food and essential supplies. The streets were empty except for discarded masks and disposable rubber gloves littered everywhere, and quiet except for the sound of ambulance sirens picking up the sick and the dead. I have never seen New York City so empty and I’m not sure I ever will again.

So while I was confined to our apartment every day for months, I resolved to start a company that, in some small way, could bring peace, comfort, and happiness to people’s lives. I looked to my past and the things I loved because I believed that the things we love are what connect people together. For me, I have always loved plants and beautiful planters. I’ve grown up around them because my parents and grandparents collect both. Wherever I am, I always have to have these things in my life, as I know many other people do too.
I chose to go with planters and plants because during the lockdown I had fallen into a daily ritual of caring for my plants that I had purchased to put into my handmade planters. I love ceramics and sculpture and another goal I have is to work with up and coming artists and artisans to promote their creations. Lastly, I had been reflecting and reading about the world view of Wabi-Sabi, which centers on accepting imperfections and change. My company was formed with these goals and ideas as the foundation.

What should our readers know about your business?
I’m proud that I’ve been able to find great people to work with and customers who I enjoy communicating with. It’s challenging to find people who have a similar mindset and who also make products that successfully capture emotions and ideals that people can identify when looking at or interacting with that product.

There are three components to this relationship: the customer, the artist/maker, and, me, the business person who serves as a bridge between the customer and the artist. I think of myself as an intermediary who is weaving together strands of expectations and desires of the artist, customer, and myself. I want to provide a unique sensory and emotive experience that one cannot find in mass manufactured products. It is not just a product I am selling. The planters are one part of a pairing that I create. The planter, paired carefully with the right plant, creates an entirely different experience for the customer – and this is what I strive for with every sale I make. These planters though similar in appearance to each other, are actually unique because of the wood fire process they go through. No planter looks exactly the same as the other, and the look can never be repeated exactly again. The planter is unique, the plant is unique, the pairing is unique, the customer is unique, and from all of this comes a unique brand experience for all involved.

I love this aspect of my business and it provides an endless source of motivation for me to keep going when times get tough. And there are lots of tough times for a small and new business. But I believe in what I’ve created with Pipphy’s Curiosities.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Okay, so I live in the Bay Area and what’s great is the variety of activities one can do out here, and many different locations in which to do them. When friends visit us we usually suggest hitting different places that offer different options. San Francisco is the obvious choice when one wants to be in a big city. It’s beautiful both architecturally and geographically, the weather is great, and there is still enough cultural diversity there to connect to the city’s past. My absolute favorite place to go in the city is the Conservatory of Flowers in Golden Gate Park. It’s not too big but it’s jam packed with an incredible variety of plants and flowers from all over the world. It’s essentially a big greenhouse so you really feel the moisture when you walk in but it adds to the mood of navigating around the space and taking in all of the exotic offerings.

For a coffee and breakfast, two places come to mind that are not the typical breakfast spots but are representative of local businesses making great food and coffee. I go to The Mill in NoPa for coffee and tasty pastries and breads. My favorite foods there at the moment are the Egg-In-A-Hole and the Pistachio Blackberry twice baked croissant. I also love the breakfast sandwiches at Devil’s Teeth Bakery. They’re dense and delicious. And for a sit down I like to take friends and family to Alnico in the Mission District. Alnico serves up American brunch done Filipino style in surprising dishes that are utterly satisfying.

For lunch or dinner, it’s Brenda’s for their French Soul Food. My favorites are fried chicken, shrimp and grits, and gumbo. Really, I have enjoyed everything on the menu and have a hard time deciding each time I go there because I want everything on the menu.

To walk off the food I actually recommend driving out to Point Reyes for the scenic drive and hikes. Of all the beautiful places in the Bay Area, this place is among the most beautiful. And when the weather is hot, and unfortunately, it seems as if it’s getting hotter and hotter out here, I love to go down to Carmel, which seems immune to hot weather. It’s a quiet little town with a nice beach, friendly locals, and the 17-Mile drive along the coast is a favorite.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Pottery Artist as well as my business partner, Wenqing Liu I will be mentioned in my story.

Website: https://linktr.ee/pipphy

Instagram: @pipphys_curiosities

Other: https://www.instagram.com/pipphys_curiosities/

Image Credits
image credits to Pipphy’s Curiosities and Wenqing Liu