On this episode of Fierce Lab, Tara talks with Donna Letier, the co-founder and CEO of Gardenuity, a wellness company that offers personalized indoor and outdoor garden kits. Donna explains how gardening helps improve mental, physical, and social health, discusses the value of habit stacking, and gives insight into how companies are taking a more holistic approach to the health of their employees by focusing more on mental health. At the end of the episode, Donna provides some great gardening tips and tricks.

Gardenuity

Part of the wellness market, Gardenuity aims to make gardening easy. They offer outdoor and indoor desktop garden kits that are individualized to the grower, and they choose plants based on the location, season, and time to harvest. All gardens come with corresponding items, including recipes and ways to bring enjoyment and wellness into your daily life.

The founder story

Donna shares how she and co-founder Julie Eggers created Gardenuity. The two had worked together for more than 15 years and decided they wanted to grow a business together. They believe gratitude, which is found through wellness, can change the world. So, they began researching and found an opportunity to flip the 90% failure rate of first-time gardeners to a 90% success rate.

Why gardening is good for the soul

Research shows that gardening is a conduit to mental, physical, and social health. Being a part of the growth process helps people foster an appreciation for different seasons in life and change their overall outlook. Donna talks about the benefits of habit stacking — a simple 10- to 20-second add-on to your routine like checking on a garden in the morning can set the tone for the day and feed a growth mindset. Donna says when you nurture a garden, it in turn nurtures you.

Embracing gardening and mental health in the corporate world

Donna discusses how companies are increasingly evaluating the benefits of having healthy, happy employees and more holistically considering mental, physical, and social health. Gardenuity offers workshops to nurture conversation and connection within a company or between a company and its clients. The stigma around mental health issues such as depression and anxiety is decreasing, making people feel more comfortable about asking for help. In fact, some insurance companies offer wellness dollars that can be used to purchase garden kits, and some doctors prescribe gardening to their patients.

Gardening tips

Donna and Tara close the podcast with some easy gardening tips such as ensuring your plants have great drainage and the right soil. Donna also suggests using mayonnaise to dust your plant leaves to make them shiny and Instagram ready.

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