Meet Wendy Walraven | Owner/ Founder

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

Hi Wendy, is there something that you feel is most responsible for your success?
Our customers service is the factor behind our success. We thrive to serve others as we’d like to be served. Loving people is so important to us. The world needs more love, intentionality, patience and understanding.

What should our readers know about your business?
Eclectic Plant Goods is a small family business. My husband Marshall and I are the ones that pretty much run the whole show. We have two girls that help us when we need them. As of right now, EPG is a pop-up and online plant shop – we collaborate with other small businesses, set up our plants and sell them. We also have an online shop that is finally going to be shipping nationwide. Then we have a HUGE surprise coming VERY soon and I just can’t wait to share it! We specialize in exotic, hand-picked plants (tropicals and cacti), soon we are going to have custom hand-mixed soils, we also do interior plant designs/interiorscapes for home/businesses. The other half of EPG (husband Marshall Walraven) has a horticulture degree and is a landscape designer, so that’s another thing we provide. We do all the plant things! Lol.

People say – they love and want to shop with us because of our intentionality with them, knowledge and quality of plants. I take these things very seriously, because a lot of times the people that shop with us have shopped around the city.

I believe that the way we live daily really shows in our work. We live a pretty sustainable and simple life. We want to show our children how to live a blissful life without all the extra things the world tries to tell us we need. We want to show them how to grow their own food, so gardening is a must around here – we also remind them that recycling and repurposing helps the earth – even if it’s just a little bit.

All good things take time and they have their highs and lows. We are so grateful that the plant community has welcomed us with arms wide open. We are proud to say that no one will find beautiful, healthy and happy plants anywhere, but here with us! We grow some ourselves in our greenhouse and others we hand pick out of state bi-weekly, bring them home, inspect them (for the second time), clean them (because they are sprayed with harsh chemicals) and won’t sell them until we know for sure they are stable and ready to go home to our customers.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
We love everything about Atlanta! I’d hate to narrow things down, but my top four must visit spots are Elsewhere Brewing for some amazing food and if you’re into beer/cocktails – they’re your people. Ponce City Market is also great. A variety of things to do and shop. The High Museum is a MUST! And lastly, Atlanta Botanical Gardens is a dreaaammmm! Especially for the planty folks.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to give my grandmother (Rosa Arreola) a huge shoutout for teaching me and passing down all the plant and nurturing abilities. She was literally the queen of DIYs and grow all the things.

Website: Epgatl.com

Instagram: @eclecticplantgoods

Facebook: Eclectic Plant Goods