Today we’d like to introduce you to Erin Leonard.
Hi Erin, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
Becca Coleman first started the farm when she, her husband and oldest daughter moved to Chattanooga in 2015. She left a 10+ year career as a wedding photographer to create a life that got her out from behind the editing screen and back into nature. About two years later, after the adoption of her second child and the birth of her third, she began looking for help with the kids and the farm, and that’s where Erin Leonard came in. She was just moving back to the Chattanooga area after leaving for a couple of years and was looking for a creative outlet and saw the perfect opportunity in Joli Jardin Farm.
We began growing the farm and the business by introducing Chattanooga’s first flower truck, the Blumenwagen, a 1978 Mercedes 608d, an Austrian firetruck, turned camper, turned flower truck. We operated as a mobile, pop-up flower market at markets, local businesses, and public events around town until the pandemic shut down all of our regular outlets. We were fortunate to be able to continue operating our business by pivoting to front porch deliveries and a contact-free, roadside farm stand where we could sell our flowers and figure out the next steps. Our brick and mortar storefront was such a serendipitous find, and alongside our good friend, photographer Jessica Pope, owner of Venya Portrait with whom we share the space, we were able to open the shop of our dreams and since moving into it a year ago, we’ve been able to expand in so many different directions. Our ultimate goal was to create an European-style flower market with flowers sold by the stem, and we’ve since filled the space with products from small businesses and makers from around the world. It is truly a labor of love.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes and no. In a lot of ways, it feels like a match that was meant to be. We share the same goal and are working very hard to achieve it, and I think that can be incredibly hard to come by. But this certainly hasn’t been the easiest time to grow a business, and managing a brand new shop on top of our farm with a small team is a very delicate balance even when the world is calm. Obviously, life during the COVID pandemic has thrown us a lot of curveballs, but with every challenge, mistake, or win we learn how to improve our processes. Starting a business always comes with a learning curve, but the last couple of years have been especially unnerving. We’re fortunate to work with flowers, a medium that have proven to bring people a lot of joy and comfort in times that have been quite scary.
We’ve been impressed with Joli Jardin Farm & Flower Shop, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Joli Jardin is a flower shop located in downtown Chattanooga. Our focus is locally grown, sustainably sourced flowers. During our growing season, from March to October, most of the flowers offered in our shop are grown on our farm, and many of the others are grown on farms also local to the Chattanooga or North Georgia area. We are open to the public six days a week selling flowers by the stem so folks may pop in and build their own bouquets, but we also offer a unique collection of products ranging from locally made skin and hair care from Natty Naturals, to houseplants and garden tools, to crystals and tarot cards, and any other curiosities to suit our whims. Our brand is a direct reflection of our personalities, and there is so much freedom in that. We also offer floral design packages for weddings and other events that are unique to each of our clients.
Much like the products we sell, the space itself has been carefully curated to represent who we are and where we want to spend all of our time. We’ve taken great care to make our shop/studio beautiful and inviting and not only do we hope that everyone enjoys spending time shopping there, but we also offer studio rentals for photographers, parties, workshops, and lots of other special events.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
All of my favorite childhood memories involve water… the beach, public swimming pools, etc., but one of my favorites is when I was about eight and just barely tall enough to go down the tallest slide at White Water Park, I nervously walked up all the steps with my dad and when it was about my turn I almost bailed. My father said it was fine if I wanted to go back down but gingerly explained to me that I had made it all that way up the steps, that I had put in all that work to get there to take a risk that would likely be the most exciting thing I had done in my short life thus far. That my mom and younger brother were waiting for us at the bottom of the slide, and that I needed to consider whether or not I felt scared because I was unsafe or because it was a new experience. Truthfully it was a little of both, but ultimately I decided to do what I climbed up there to do, and my tiny body went airborne for a few moments when I launched myself off the top of the slide, but the accomplishment and the thrill of it was worth all of the fear, and honestly it’s a conversation that I think about all the time.
Contact Info:
- Email: jolijardinfarm@gmail.com
- Website: jolijardin.co
- Instagram: @jolijardinfarm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/jolijardinfarm
Image Credits
Becca Coleman, Erin Leonard
