Today we’d like to introduce you to Aubrey Iwamoto.
Hi Aubrey, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
Echo Garden Nursery was founded by Hi Duk Lee. He also founded the Korea Town district of Los Angeles. Mr. Lee passed away about four years ago and left this nursery to his daughter Helen Lee. I began going to Echo Garden regularly after my own father passed on Halloween in 2021. I found comfort and purpose in gardening. Having both lost our fathers, going to the nursery to hang out with Helen and the plants was a comfort to me. Echo Garden was my safe space and often the only reason I would leave the house as I worked from home. Helen needed to pursue her own interests but wanted her father’s legacy to be passed on to someone whose heart was in it and who she thought would succeed.
When I learned Helen wanted to sell the business I told her I would love to take it on but I didn’t have any money, I have [student] debt. She texted me the next day and offered to do a lease-to-own kind of situation and things progressed from there. The property is rented but the business will eventually belong to me and my amazing husband Bill Zsunkan. This couldn’t have happened without him and his tireless support and efforts. I saw a psychic in early July at the Lotus Festival and she told me I would have my own very successful business later on in the year and it would be near water. A few weeks later my husband and I were making arrangements with Helen to take over the nursery located across from the Sparklett’s Water plant. It’s strange how something so wonderful can come out of something so tragic…and how accurate this psychic was!
Now we have a great relationship with the college up the street (Occidental), the book store Pop-Hop where we have been doing window displays, and a weekly Sunday Market where we host small businesses and cat rescues in our parking lot! The vendors pay a fee but the rescues do not. They needed a venue, and since we began the weekly adoptions around 30 cats have found their forever homes! Our goal is to be a nexus point in the community that is a safe and inclusive space!
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
During our first week of taking over the nursery temperatures hit 110! Learning anything new, especially with such high stakes and during intense weather is extremely overwhelming. The stress of making rent is real. Especially since we don’t have the boon of a busy Spring and Summer to float us through the Winter. I know community involvement has helped us a lot. During the Fall semester we did weekly popups on the Occidental college campus and the Sunday Market/ Cat Adoption we host each week has brought us a whole community of people who want to support small businesses and/or have a small business of their own!
All of these things are blessings but come with so much work. It can be exhausting. I seldom have time when I am not at the nursery, shopping for the nursery, reaching out to vendors, organizing and advertising for the Sunday Markets, managing social media, packing and preparing for the Occidental popups, trying to keep up with my remote legal assistant work (which I did before taking over the nursery), all while trying to maintain and nurture relationships with friends and family. It’s hard, but despite the challenges, the entire experience has been extremely rewarding. I’ve felt very isolated since the pandemic began. The nursery has given me a sense of purpose and community that, being entirely outdoors, feel safe.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
My husband and I met at and graduated from the same college, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. Our degrees are from Tufts University, as SMFA is Tuft’s art school. So we both have a background in fine arts. Our school also emphasized the importance of self-sufficiency and community. After graduating we did a lot of handy work, art department for film, and other odd jobs. This eventually led to creative projects done for famous musicians. I designed and made costume pieces for Beyonce’s grammy performance, as well as doing interior design and custom work for Ty Matthews (Rick James’ daughter), Kay Michelle, and Keyshia Cole. I actually briefly traveled with and managed Keyshia. My husband has a background in music and often worked with me while working for these artists. It’s been a weird, long, and winding road! So given my background, the nursery may seem a bit random, but I have always wanted to own my own business and be a center point in the community. There is so much potential in that space! Echo Garden Nursery is located at 4515 York Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90041 in the neighborhood of Eagle Rock.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Now that my father is gone it all seems to center around him… Probably the times when I felt free to be myself. Which was always with him. Slouching low in the passenger seat while driving through the desert to California (from Arizona where we lived). Both of us wearing his aviator sunglasses and singing along to the Eagles or Fleetwood Mac from one of his many mix tapes.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/echogardenla/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EchoGardenLA
