Hi, we're Jack and Lev, the founders of Soil Ninja. We wanted to introduce ourselves and tell the story of why, how and when Soil Ninja came about.
We're a couple who caught the houseplant bug a while back, and since then our indoor jungle has evolved every season. Back when we were beginners, there wasn't a lot of information about potting mixes, how they interact in a home environment, what sort of things to add in/avoid and what plants preferred what!
In 2019, when we were repotting our baby Thai constellation, we had to order from 6 different companies to get the various sizes of components we needed. It hit us then, why doesn't anyone sell everything for people like us, all in one place? And better yet, why has nobody formulated a quality mix for all the kinds of plants people like us collect?!
It really was a bit of a lightbulb moment, we knew from day one that it would be useful to our community and if we dedicated ourselves to educating everyone, keeping prices reasonable and constantly learning ourselves, then our new venture might just work!
Fast forward to 2020, Lev had just finished his Masters and Jack was working through the beginning of the pandemic, we decided it was time. We had already researched and formulated our mixes based on the plant groups we had determined were most common, and tested them all out too. We found what we believed was the perfect balance for both plant AND owner needs, and with our prototype packaging already designed, we launched!
We can't lie, the community's reaction was pretty much instant! We found ourselves working all day and night fulfilling orders, so much so we had to quit our night shifts at a local supermarket (sorry Sainsbury's, Lincoln!).
For the next 4 months, Soil Ninja HQ was our living room. Luckily we were mid renovating anyway, so we didn't mind getting it mucky. By then, Amy had joined our duo to help out with our customer service, and she had already been helping shoot and design our Instagram posts from day one, so it was only right.
By late 2020 we had already moved into our very first unit and the business really was gaining traction. Through the past two years, our team has grown and we are so thankful for everyone on the team for pushing our small business to the heights it's reached. But more on them later.
Lastly, in late 2022, we left everything we knew behind and made the leap to the Netherlands. After IMMENSE amounts of paperwork and tasks we still don't totally understand, we then moved to the city of Zwolle to get dirty! Lev & I fill every bag, mix every batch and box every order ourselves, just like we did in our living room back in 2020. We're hoping for some extra help in the Netherlands in the very near future, but we are a bit addicted to the graft so that will be the coming spring :)
So that's our story! It's been a wild one, we can't believe the idea we had while sat on the floor repotting a baby plant has changed our lives this much. It brings us so much happiness to know so many plants in the UK and Europe are now potted in mixes that are formulated by ourselves, and also to have helped so many other houseplant enthusiasts on their journey. Thank you to everyone who has allowed this to happen to us, we are forever in your dirty debt.
1 comment
This is such an amazing story filled with passion, enthusiasm & love! Reading it makes me adore your products and company even more! I’m in and a fan for life. Good luck to you guys!