Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Wesolowski & Chasity West-Ward.
Hi Kristen & Chasity, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Our friend, Jamie Allen, did a great job helping us summarize our journey:
Open Air took root during a very challenging season, launching in March of 2020, just as the pandemic hit. But by focusing on slow and healthy growth, it has blossomed into a full-service plant-design studio that transforms hospitality environments and community spaces.
We met while serving in management positions at an Atlanta-based restaurant. Both of us realized we came from families that admired entrepreneurship. But we also discovered something else about each other: They grew up “with our hands in the dirt” in families that valued gardening and farming — Chasity on a large cattle farm in Woodbury, TN, and Kristen on what her family called “the 12 acres” in Schenectady, NY.
Knowing inherently the value that plants and greenery bring, we set out to grow a business that gives clients a sense of daily rejuvenation — creative, social, and even spiritual. Open Air won its first client in August of 2020. Since then, its “very satisfied” client list has bloomed to include some of the best-known names in Atlanta’s culinary, coffee, and brewery scenes, as well as shared workspaces and the City of Decatur.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
As with starting any small business -it has not been a smooth road (nor will it ever be!) When we first began, we said “yes” to nearly every inquiry we got. It took time for us to hone in on the specific services we wanted to offer our clients and which services we definitely wanted to omit. We now focus on interior houseplants and exterior containers only which allows us to have our focus in a smaller area and give clients the best service we can.
We have grown at a rate that we never would have expected, and managing that growth while still expanding has been quite the challenge! We have an actual team now, and managing both the team and ourselves is a lot to juggle. But it’s exciting and we learn something new every day to improve.
Then there is the constant obstacle of working with live plants in an ever-changing climate. Things can change in an instant with no warning, so educating ourselves (and our team) to be able to recognize, triage, and manage those issues is a primary focus for us. The physicality of our profession on top of managing the business and a wide range of clients with varying needs is a lot. It’s truly never a dull moment for us!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
We are a plant design business that specializes in interior houseplants and exterior containers. We are most well known for our work with various retail shops, restaurants, breweries, and coffee shops around Atlanta. We also do work with office spaces and residential clients.
Our work is often thoughtful and unconventional. We love complimenting a business’ aesthetic with our designs. We get to know our clients and what they bring to the table and do our best to match that energy with plants.
We have a variety of maintenance services that we tailor to our client’s needs: ranging from weekly to quarterly visits (and everything in between.) We always make honest recommendations and keep open, transparent lines of communication with the people we work with. Being from the restaurant world – we offer hospitality-driven service that is unlike most businesses in this field.
We built this business from the ground up with no overhead and put all of our profit into the business for the first year. It was literally a labor of love. We are continually amazed by what we’ve created and the continued success we’ve had. We are most proud of the knowledge we’ve gained and the continued satisfaction that we’ve been able to provide our clients.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
Chasity loved horses and spending time in nature as a kid and everything else that comes with growing up on a farm in Tennessee. She is passionate about photography and has a degree from SCAD. Kristen grew up in upstate NY and loved hiking through a nearby state park and spent a lot of time playing music, reading, and writing – leading her to obtain a secondary English Education degree.
We both were a little “rough and tumble” growing up. Never afraid to try something new or get our hands dirty. We’ve both always enjoyed plants and it was a topic that we bonded over when we first became friends. It’s been awesome to transform a common interest into a business together.
Pricing:
- Free consultation & estimate for new clients
Contact Info:
- Website: openairdesign.studio
- Instagram: @openairdesign
