International Women's Day

Taylor Lindsey, also known as “The Plant Plug,” is a community-centered entrepreneur that focuses on tending not only to the plants she sells, but also the needs of her community. She provides plant and urban gardening education, connects people to resources, and helps foster a network of South Central residents that are working to create a thriving community. 

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Taylor is a Creole, Black, Indigenous, African American, and European woman whose family has roots in Louisiana. When she was younger, her family moved around a lot until her parents found a home in South Central Los Angeles in the 1990s. At that time, there was a lot of stigma about living in South Central, especially from the media. Flourishing into an adult, she found all the negative stigma to be nothing of the sort and fell in love with the entrepreneurial spirit, the cultural connections, and close-knit family ties in the community.

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While growing food in an urban environment can be difficult due to a lack of access, gentrification, cost of living, and inflation, Taylor was inspired by past generations and began transforming her parent's backyard into a mini-farm from the ground up. Growing 70 plants during one summer increased to growing 10,000 plants a year. She decided to use her experience to teach people how to grow plants at home for a low cost by reusing and repurposing materials. 

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The Plant Plug is based on plant education and encourages people to connect with their food by growing it at home. At The Plant Plug, Taylor not only teaches people how to grow plants, but also about the stories and cultural ties behind them. Taylor centers community, creativity, and a healthy work environment over profit, a model very different from her previous job. Through The Plant Plug, Taylor has been able to hire a team where she fosters an environment of self-sufficiency and longevity by providing basic economics and business training opportunities for others, including her team members.

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Taylor assures others that there is a lifetime to reach your goals and plenty of room to change those goals along the way. Her message to other women of color is, “You're often unfairly expected to carry entire families and communities, that is not your job. Be as present as possible. Be as kind to yourself as possible. Don't let anybody say that you're aggressive when you're just trying to survive. You're not alone on this journey.”

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