A NOTE FROM SHANE
FEBRUARY 5TH, 2020
I feel for the first time in a while that I am able to take some time to write out my most recent update about my perspective on the place I truly do call home.
First things first, some updates...
• We are hiring 2 additional shipping team members with the goal to have them trained and beginning work by mid-February. This should let us greatly improve the number of plants we can post each week. (FINALLY)
• Each week, we plant more and more plants for Spring 2020. Right now, our greenhouse has roughly 30,000 plants in it growing... and one day they'll ship from our greenhouse to your house!
• There are several new plants on the website that have been added over the past 2 weeks and we have at least 6 additional new plants we'll be adding throughout the remainder of February.
• A lot has changed in the way we do our operations here at Gabriella Plants, giving more people greater responsibilities within our core mission. These operational adjustments have led to a record low number of orders with issues, at under 1%!
• Lastly, Miriam, my wife, is full time with us now... helping with order issues and other requests/emails. We're still learning the ropes of how to best work alongside each other, so please be patient on responses and know that we are working to get back to everyone as quickly as we can.
As the Founder and President of Gabriella Plants, I'm truly proud of the work our team has done so far in 2020. We have planted a record number of new plants, helped set up our shipping team for success with only that 1% of orders with any issue rate among so many other accomplishments.
Since launching Gabriella Plants, I've tried to make what we do different than the traditional agriculture industry in several ways. Whether it was the creation of published Inventory Updates, personal touches like the packed by cards, the way we package has almost become an industry standard in itself... I always had the goal to be different and unique.
Not only do we have high standards and do all the concepts outlined above, but we've always tried to take care of our team as best we could. For employees who are full time and past their initial 90 days, in 2020 I rolled out paid time off policies.
Not only do we offer competitive pay, but we genuinely love what we get to do. That's why I was so truly humbled and thankful that I was able to construct an additional monthly bonus that is based on the number of hours each person worked in that previous month. This is a way not only to show people that regardless of their role/position/rate, that their work is crucially important to the larger mission of Gabriella Plants... but it also emphasizes that when the business thrives, we all succeed.
A year ago today, I was still likely packing orders after hours or with the help of friends on and off the clock. One year later, January 2020 was the biggest month on record, our team is growing and I'm always looking upwards and onward as I know and believe that Good is Ahead for us and our customers.
I'm so thankful for you reading this and for such an incredible team.
Your friendly grower,
Shane Maloy
Founder of Gabriella Plants
