Nicole Zaiko is a gardener, who has turned her passion for gardening into a business. Zaiko learned her love of gardening from her family members, who also enjoyed gardening. Her business, We’re Growing Crazy/H & H flowers, was actually founded by and named after her mother, Herta, and grandfather, Hanz. Zaiko discussed what the business was like when her mother and grandfather were in charge, and how she came to take it over.
“They grew field-grown mums, which are chrysanthemums, and that was in the mid 90s. After my mom passed away and my grandpa was older, the business kind of just went to the side,” Zaiko said. “In 2017, I decided to take over selling flowers and stuff at the farmer's market.”
Zaiko expressed that along with her love of gardening, there is another aspect of running her own business that she loves. Being a business owner allows for a lot of flexibility, which includes being on your own time.
“My favorite thing is just being able to make my own schedule,” Zaiko said. “Being outdoors, messing with my plants. And it's just nice to be able to make your own schedule.”
Although Zaiko expressed many things that she loves about her business, she also explained some of the struggles that she goes through as a business owner. As with everything, some negatives come with the positives.
“Well, there are a lot of expenses that people don't realize we have. We have to pay to belong to the farmers market,” she said. “We have a large insurance policy that we need to participate in these farmers markets and to help transport our products back and forth. Especially with plants, I mean, they're pretty messy. My van is always full of dirt.”
Throughout this year, many things have been negatively affected by COVID-19. However, Zaiko expressed that her business and the farmers market was not one of them. The farmers markets made sure that both their patrons and their businesses were safe by doing things such as providing hand sanitizer.
“Surprisingly, the farmers markets have been doing really great. We have a lot of customers that really like to support the local community and local vendors,” Zaiko said. “We had a really good turnout at the farmers markets this year. Everybody was really good about social distancing and wearing their mask. It really was better than I could have expected.”
A big part of Zaiko’s life is spent outside and gardening, but she expressed that her love of the outdoors is something that is not just related to her job. She spends much of her free time when she is not working outside.
“I just enjoy being outdoors - pretty much anything outdoors. I love DIY projects and any other kind of project,” she said.
With her successful gardening business, Zaiko is able to do what she loves daily, which is something that all people can aspire toward.