Meet Ina Musgrove | Owner of Flourish East

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

Hi Ina, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Before I started Flourish East, which is currently a house plant retail and consultation business but is starting to evolve into including educational consultations, I was working as a Naturalist at a school in Grant Park. I’ve always loved being a teacher but, and I’m sure every educator in this country can relate to this, I started to experience burnout on a really intense level and I knew I had to make some changes in my life. I wanted to commit my time to experiences that bring me joy without the level of stress attached that I was experiencing in my previous career. That was the beginning of my inspiration for starting Flourish.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
First of all, I really try to make sure that Flourish stays local and remains sustainable at all costs. We propagate almost all of the plants we sell in my home in East Atlanta and the containers we plant them in are all found at thrift stores around Georgia. Sustainability and supporting local economy is important to me. Also, as I mentioned earlier, I’m starting to include educational consulting into my business model. The time I’ve taken away from the world of education has really made me miss teaching, so I’ve found ways to continue on my journey as a plant lady and to continue my naturalist work as an educator.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well obviously we’d spend a lot of time in East Atlanta Village. I’d take them on a tour of all of my favorite restaurants in the village for cocktails and snacks. My go to’s are Argosy, Gaja, The Earl, Midway, So Ba, and OK YAKI and we’d have to stop at Joe’s for a shot of espresso. I’d also hope we could catch some good music or comedy in the village, depending on what’s going on while they’re here. I love to take people new to Atlanta to Elmyr for a grizz, I kind of feel like it’s an Atlanta right of passage. Outside of the village, I frequent music venues like The Eastern, Terminal West, The Variety Playhouse, Star Bar, and sometimes The Fox Theatre and I love a visit to the High Museum of Art.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Without a doubt it’d be Grant Park Cooperative Preschool and all of the wonderful people who have worked with me there throughout the years, but especially the director Candace Dupree. She was a mentor to me for many years and when she finally took on the role of my director, she continued to support and inspire me, as she still does to this day. I always find myself thinking “What would Candace do?”. I would not be who I am today or where I am today without her.

Website: www.flourisheast.com

Instagram: @flourisheastatl