Today we’d like to introduce you to Ashley LeClaire Scheiding.
Hi Ashley, 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 backstory with our readers?
Hi! It’s Plant Daddy Ashley! What started out as having “too many plants” and wanting to swap with others grew into a whole planty fam, as I call my amazing community! I wanted to celebrate my April 20th birthday, in a planty way and going big is the only way I know how! I contacted a few locally run establishments to see if they were cool with having me host a plant swap. Veledrome Coffee in Ishpeming was an immediate YES! I was stoked & created an event! To my surprise, people showed up! Then more showed up, and then the local news showed up to interview me! Shoutout to Jesse who has been apart of my planty fam since the beginning and brought the camera crew of TV6 News! I couldn’t believe the turnout! A ferret even came by!!! After that, I would host plant swaps at any local establishment that would want to. No catch, just plants! Spreading love through a passion project. When I was young, I would always be in the garden with my Grandma Mona. Her windowsills were always lined up with seed pods of some sort & she would always send neighbors home with seeds! Today, everywhere I go in the UP, I run into my planty fam and leave with more heartwarming stories. Whether they are updating me on a plant I gave them from a plant swap, they saw me on the news wearing their locally made goods or just planty questions in general. I love it all! I now have 6k members in my planty fam and co-host the biggest Plant Expo in The Upper Peninsula of MI with the amazing Kathleen Blanchard. We are both 2 hard working, busy mothers & love every second of it! This year was our 2nd Plant Expo, doors opened at 10AM and people were lining up at 7AM! My heart could just explode from all of the love! I am excited for every opportunity that arises!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Just like anyone else “rising to fame” is just pure hard work. People always ask me, what’s your secret? I tell them, there is no secret. Just be genuinely passionate! I’ve done plant swaps in parking lots out of my toyota camry trunk due to covid restrictions & had a blast doing so. I always say, even if one person shows up, that’s a success to me! I have regular working jobs, nothing was “given” to me. I am just me and that’s how I’ve gotten as far as I am today!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I always get asked “So what do you do?” I just sum it up to being a Vibe Creator! The energy I bring is unmatched. I give my passionate enthusiasm to being half filipino. I am bursting at the seams with love and get excited to spread love, make people laugh & genuinely enjoy trying out new things. I love interesting people & I love to be an interesting critter myself!
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
I am always down to collab, pop up, show up, hype people up! I can be reached through my Facebook Group “Plant Daddy Ashley”, Instagram @plantdaddyashley or my e-mail plantdaddyashley@gmail.com
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plantdaddyashley
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/plantdaddyashley
