Perfecting the Partnership, with Holly Barton and Amanda Cox (Part 1)

When Holly Barton and Amanda Cox lost their dad, they wanted to start a business where they could simply be together and have fun. But soon enough, clients were calling to ask them for huge orders of rentals they just didn’t have. In saying yes to everything and figuring out how to make it work, Greenhouse Picker Sisters grew, as has their sister relationship.  But it hasn’t been without disagreements on how to run things.

Holly Barton and Amanda Cox are the owners of Greenhouse Picker Sisters, a specialty rental company based in North Carolina.

Transcript

Holly: Do I really mean it when I say that we’re family first, if this crumbles and we lose everything at the expense of our relationship or vice versa, like, because we still want a relationship, are we really going to let it go? Because we’ve been there.

Dana: Welcome to Hustle and Gather, a podcast by inspiring the everyday entrepreneur to take the leap. I’m Dana 

Courtney: and I’m Courtney 

Dana: and we’re sisters and business partners. 

Courtney: Yes, it can get messy. 

Dana: Making big decisions with your big sister can be hard. How do you determine what to do when you disagree? 

Courtney: And how do you accept that sometimes, seldomly, you’re not the one who’s right. 

Dana: So welcome to Perfecting the Partnership. In this series, we’re learning about what it takes to work together by talking with other partnerships to understand their dynamic. 

Courtney: And today we’re joined by Holly and Amanda, owners of Greenhouse Picker Sisters, a specialty rental company in North Carolina. They are fifth generation pickers with the love for all things vintage and unique. They have a stylistic eye for all things design, are fully invested in their client’s vision for their special moment, and also offer their beautiful marketplace for parties, baby showers, bridal showers, or any kind of small event. We are truly lucky to have them in this industry and lucky to call them our friends. Holly, Amanda welcome to Hustle and Gather.

Holly: Aww, that was very sweet, made my day for sure. 

Courtney: Yeah. Fun fact, when we opened the Bradford, you guys for the rental company that did our grand opening. So, and that was your first event.

Amanda: Yeah, that was, I know we look back on those pictures and we’re like, oh wow. We really brought the junk.

Dana: You really dug into that vintage, very vintage, but it was totally the style then. 

Courtney: Like a Gatsby theme 

Holly: It did work, but we did roll up in like a vintage truck full of stuff, and we’re just going for it and no idea what we were doing.

Dana: So tell us just a quick little bit about what got you guys started and, you know, in the industry. 

Holly: So we got started about seven years ago and we were just in a really bad place. We had just lost our dad and we really needed something that brought us some joy and some vision back to our lives. So we decided to rent our family’s collection. And it was a very fun thing. We started with photography’s, got asked to do weddings many times and we said, hell no, we’re never doing that. People, with the event industry are, that’s just too much. And then we started doing small weddings and realized that we really loved it, went to the beach for our very first wedding and fell in love with it. And we’re like, oh, we can actually do this well and have a lot of fun with it. And hopefully in time, a long time make money. Eventually. 

Amanda: And then it kind of developed into getting crazy messages from clients like Dana. I remember this, holly called and said, okay, so Dana from the Bradford just called and she wants to know if we have a hundred wooden chairs.

I told her we did. I know we don’t, so you and granddad need to start hunting for wooden chairs. like 75 of them, we only have like 25 and it’s like in two months or something crazy. And so that’s how we kind of grew our collection is just as our clients have needed stuff we said yes. And then gone and got it.

 

Full Episode Transcript

Hustle and Gather is hosted by Courtney Hopper and Dana Kadwell, and is produced by Earfluence.  Courtney and Dana’s hustles include C&D Events, Hustle and Gather, and The Bradford Wedding Venue.

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