Who we are

The seed that would grow into Flourish first sprouted in a San Francisco backyard in 2011.

Brandi Chalker was then the co-owner of Urban Bazaar, a Fair Trade gift boutique in San Francisco’s Inner Sunset neighborhood. Her burgeoning succulent obsession led her to open a small plant nursery in the store’s backyard. She started making and selling succulent terrariums, and within no time, people asked her to teach workshops on how to make them.

So, having no idea what she was doing and no inkling that this one decision would come to define her career for the next 15 years, she said yes.

Brandi did her research, learned how to care for her succulents through trial and error, and leaned into her innate creativity to produce beautiful terrariums. She developed a curriculum to teach others about plant care and design. She began offering workshops to the public and to businesses. And now, 15 years later, she’s taught at least 20,000 people how to make succulent terrariums.

Brandi has taught Flourish’s popular workshops as team building experiences for companies like Meta and Google, for small non-profits and schools hosting staff bonding events, and for the public at world renowned institutions like The Conservatory of Flowers, The San Francisco Botanical Gardens, and the Academy of Sciences.

One of her favorite things is seeing people light up when they’re around plants - fully grown adults turn back into curious children, delighted by plants and all the neat things they do. Her joy in working with plants is infectious, and she’s proud to say she’s turned thousands of people into “crazy plant people” just like her.