Plant ladies opening Rooted Soul in Huntingburg

There came a point in Bre and Hannah’s relationship, with their burgeoning houseplant collection, when their husbands said, “Enough.”

“They were like, ‘Look, you have 77 plants in this house right now. You can’t buy anymore,” Hannah laughed.

So, they started propagating them.

“They said that we couldn’t buy them,” Bre explained. “They didn’t say we couldn’t make more from the ones we had. So that’s what we started doing.”

Eventually, Bre dedicated a room in her home to plants, and Hannah had taken over her basement.

Not every plant was a success.

“There’s enough for a graveyard,” Bre admitted about their green thumb failures.

“You have to be okay with letting the ones go that bring you stress,” Hannah added.

Then, there were those eaten or destroyed by Bre’s cat, Ozzy.

What began as a way to cope with the pandemic became a hobby that filled a cat-proof room in Bre’s home and took over Hannah’s basement.

The successful plants led to other health-inspired explorations. The pair, mainly driven by Hannah’s interest in being more toxin-free, began to look into healthy tinctures and other natural remedies for common aches and ailments.

This led Hannah to create a magnesium spray. The Christmas before last, Hannah gifted her magnesium spray made from Dead Sea-sourced magnesium chloride, distilled water, and lavender essential oil from her grandmother’s farm in Mooresville to her friends and family.

“They started asking for refills,” she said, adding that it was then she began to think about a business.

The business concept crystallized in January, when the pair decided to pursue Rooted Soul seriously, spending months preparing for the Jasper Farmers Market season. They were a hit on opening day; their biggest seller the magnesium spray.

“That blew us out of the water,” Bre said of the response.

The farmers’ market experience provided more than sales success. “Every single time after each market day, we would just be so blown away with the love that we felt from the vendors around us that ended up becoming like our own family and friends,” Hannah said. “And the customers that came back every single week.”

They became known as the plant ladies.

“We found the community we had been searching for,” Hannah said.

As the market season began to wind down, the pair considered their next steps. Customers had repeatedly asked about a permanent location, with many inquiring, “Where’s your shop at?” Joe Huddleston, the Jasper Market Master and co-owner of the Dubois County Art Factory, told them to consider Huntingburg’s Fourth Street as a potential brick-and-mortar location.

It was during a visit to Fourth Street to approach a business about carrying their line of magnesium sprays that Hannah met up with Linda and Duane Gehlhausen. The longtime Fourth Street business owners noted that the owner of Bean to Sprout was looking to sell the business and the building.

Hannah and Bre couldn’t believe the location had seemingly dropped into their laps. The building, with its cozy courtyard, was perfect for what they envisioned for the next step in their business.

And they found another supportive community in the Fourth Street merchants.

“Everyone was like, ‘we need you,'” Bre said.

With the location and the support, it was an easy decision to move forward with opening Rooted Soul in 412 Fourth Street. Along with the plants and wellness products featured at their market booth, the new shop will also offer new items, with plans to continue expanding options for their customers.

Customers they consider part of an extended family.

“We want people to come in, feel welcome, get to know them, like genuinely get to know our customers and our repeat customers especially, and then educate people on why the things that we’re providing them are meaningful,” Hannah said.

“I want people to feel safe in here. I want them to feel like if on your worst day of what could feel like your life, I want them to be able to walk by here and be like, I know I can go in there,” Bre said.

The shop specializes in plants that thrive indoors, serve as natural air purifiers, or offer health benefits. Popular items include pregnant onions, which have healing properties similar to aloe vera, spider plants, and various pothos varieties.

They also offer unique planters made from thrifted mugs with drilled drainage holes, which became a hit at the farmers’ market.

The apothecary side features 13 different herbs sold by the gram, oil infusions for hair, skin and gut health, and plans for a do-it-yourself oil bar where customers can create custom blends based on their needs.

“We really are focusing in a spiritual sense as well,” Bre said, explaining how they want to educate customers about the benefits of natural ingredients versus synthetic alternatives.

Both women describe themselves as “scrunchy” rather than fully “crunchy,” meaning they embrace natural wellness while still enjoying occasional indulgences, like sour gummy worms, according to Bre.

In the future, the pair wants to transform the courtyard into a gathering space and plans to host workshops, yoga sessions, and potentially a book club. They want to create a welcoming environment for mothers with children, as Hannah will be bringing her 2-year-old daughter to work.

Their target customers are people seeking authenticity and natural alternatives. “We resonate with the people who don’t seem to fit in in other places. Like the quiet people, the people who would rather spend their time with plants,” Bre said.

Rooted Soul opens on Saturday, November 1, at 10 a.m. The shop hours are tentatively set for 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, but the pair understands that, with the Christmas shopping season, they may need to adjust those hours.

They are excited to take on this next stage in their business and new community.

“This has been our dream since day one — a space that feels like home. A cozy, soul-filled shop where you can browse houseplants, herbal apothecary goods, magnesium sprays, and holistic creations all made with intention and love,” they wrote on the Facebook announcement of the new location.

You can learn more about Rooted Soul at their website here and follow them on Facebook here.