Community Highlights: Meet Maddie Bowers of Jungle House

Today we’d like to introduce you to Maddie Bowers. 

Hi Maddie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers?
Thanks so much for having me! Well, I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and moved to Nashville in 2013. My husband, and business partner, moved from Amarillo to Nashville around a similar time. We started Jungle House in 2020 without any official experience in the houseplant or gardening industry. Both of us have worked in the service industry for the majority of our lives. I began a plant collection in 2017 and honestly killed so many plants. I really loved what they brought to my home, but had tons to learn about caring for plants. After much failure, the plants began thriving! I grew our collection and began propagating plants. Mainly, those plants were shared with our friends or sold on Instagram. We dreamed of selling plants full time, but truly never expected it to be our reality so soon! Once 2020 hit and we found ourselves with free time, Jungle House began.

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?
Growing a small business will never come without its struggles. The first few months, keeping up with inventory & generating sales in a pandemic world with no standing customer base was a huge struggle. I am so grateful to our friends at Living Waters Brewery. They have been a champion of our small business from letting us pop up outside their shop 1 week after launching, to now offering plants for sale within the brewery. We cannot thank them enough! And, new struggles arise constantly (hello supply chain issues), but learning to float with them instead of against them has allowed us to find creative solutions and keep growing. We also use the phone-a-friend lifeline a ton and are grateful to have community support. 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Jungle House sells houseplants, but we are focused on inclusivity and accessibility. We ensure that everyone who wants plants can afford plants. Growing plants ourselves helps keep our costs lower, so we can get plants in everyone’s hands. Plants are for everyone! we also specialize in rare/unusual houseplants. They are a blast to grow and collect. We love sharing these hard-to-find plants with our customers and hope to expand our offerings next year. 

What makes you happy?
We love spending hours in the greenhouse with our plants. It’s truly a labor of love and we are honored to share them with our friends and customers. It’s still so surreal that we get to sell plants for a living. We are so thankful for the immense support the Nashville community has shown us. Outside of growing plants, we love being outside and spending time with our dogs. You can find us walking through Shelby Park, rock climbing, and hanging out in the backyard. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: myjunglehouse.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jungle_house_plants/?hl=en

Image Credits
Victoria Quirk