
Hi, I'm Nikki! Here's the thing about me: I've always been that person who couldn't be pulled away from nature. Growing up on a farm in rural Pennsylvania, I had acres and acres of forest and fields to explore. As a kid, my parents practically had to drag me inside for dinner because I was too busy examining every flower, chasing butterflies, and getting completely lost in the woods and meadows that surrounded our home.
We had this amazing garden filled with vegetables, fruit trees, and berry bushes everywhere. I'd spend hours there, watching things grow, learning what made each plant thrive. Even back then, I noticed something important: being around plants made me feel genuinely happy. More energized. More alive.
Fast forward to adulthood, and that love never went away. If anything, it got stronger. I became really intentional about what I brought into my life. Chemical-free skincare. Non-toxic cleaning products. Organic food. I wanted my home to be a place that supported my health, not silently worked against it.
So naturally, when I started looking for plants for my own space, I assumed it would be simple. I mean, plants are natural, right?
Wrong.
The research process was absolutely exhausting. I'd find a gorgeous plant, get excited, then spend 45 minutes digging through contradictory information trying to figure out if it was safe. One website would say it's fine, another would list it as toxic. The ASPCA database would say one thing, botanical guides would say another.
And here's what really got me: even the few companies that had "pet-safe" or "non-toxic" sections treated them like afterthoughts. A tiny corner of their website. Limited selection. Nothing special.
Nobody was actually specializing in this. Nobody was making it their mission to help families like mine bring nature into their homes safely.
I kept thinking: if I'm struggling with this, and I've been obsessed with plants my entire life, what about everyone else? How many people are just avoiding plants altogether because the research is too overwhelming? How many are unknowingly bringing dangerous plants home to curious cats or adventurous toddlers?
And that question is what changed everything. Because I couldn't unsee the problem anymore.

