25. Eliza Blank | The Sill (modern houseplants)

Eliza Blank is the Founder & CEO of The Sill.
Although Eliza grew up in a Massachusetts household full of plants, it wasn’t until she moved to New York City to go to school at NYU that she realized how important they were to her. After moving into her high rise apartment in the city, she was desperate to find a way to bring nature back into her life and realized it was a big part of her wellbeing. As she took frequent trips to the park to get her nature fix throughout the rest of her time in college, she never forgot how much she missed that connection with plants. After graduating and spending a few years as a brand strategist, moving from apartment to apartment in NYC, she realized that there wasn’t a consumer brand designed to solve the pain point of discovering, buying and taking care of plants. That’s where she got the idea to start The Sill.
Today at The Sill, Eliza and her team have built one of the largest community driven-brands for houseplants on the market today. They have a simple yet powerful mission - to enrich people’s lives through a connection with plants. They go-to market both online and through their 5 brick and mortar stores and are creating thousands of new plant parents each month. In addition to a beautiful product and website, they drive an engaged community through their social content and Plant Parent Club, a membership that unlocks discounts and access to online workshops and events.
Tune in to hear Eliza's story!
As a special offer for our listeners, Eliza is giving you 10% off all of The Sill’s products through the end of October. Use code Founder10 at checkout to add some plants to your life.
EPISODE TOPICS: 

• (2:34) The Sill snapshot today
• (4:12) Background and founding story
• (9:46) Plant benefits
• (11:58) Initial platform launch
• (13:56) Supply chain
• (16:36) Brick and mortar store experience
• (20:26) Customer profiles
• (23:25) Covid impact
• (24:35) Customer acquisition
• (26:45) Community and brand
• (30:09) Competition
• (32:31) Manifesting the future
• (34:20) Hiring
• (38:02) Investor lessons
• (43:00) Mentor lessons
• (45:03) Eliza's wellness stack
• (52:08) Emerging trends
• (53:26) Eliza's founder nomination 
• (54:01) Eliza's startup manifesto 

The Sill - thesill.com

• Follow Eliza (@elizablank) on Instagram // LinkedIn
• Follow The Sill (@thesill) on Instagram // Twitter
• Eliza's learning and resource recommendations 

The Founder - www.thefounderpod.com 

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Don't have time to listen to the full episode? Read the 5-minute version here