Today we’d like to introduce you to David Slomski.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
With a background in Landscape Management and Sustainability from the University of Maryland, my journey began with my first real plant job, Head of Maintenance for a living wall and living roof company. This is where my fascination with hydroponic planting methods really blossomed. After a few years of dealing with the Maryland winters, I decided to move to St. Petersburg. After a decade of running my sustainability-focused landscaping company, the summer heat became to be too much. My wife convinced me it was time to take my hydroponic side project to a whole new level. In the fall of 2024 I launched Proppy! After a few hurricanes and a few full market seasons, I’ve grown to have my own retail space alongside Coastal House Vintage.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
After starting Proppy in September of 2024, our area was hit with back-to-back hurricanes that wrecked our community. The gameplan for the business was to do as many markets as possible, and everything stopped as soon as I started. Not only did we have to put our lives together post hurricanes, but we also were left with fewer opportunities.
Growth has also been a struggle. While my business is growing my family is also growing. The name Proppy comes from plant Propagations and my daughter, who’s name is Poppy. When she was born, my wife really pushed me to start the business. Since then, we’ve had our second born CJ! Growing a business and a family at the same time has been a challenge!
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Proppy is a vintage-inspired plant shop that focuses on helping everyone grow their jungle! We blend vintage Florida decor with plants in a way that’s inviting and nostalgic, while making it easy to maintain and flourish. You don’t need to have a green thumb in order to have a house full of plants! To make this process easier for everyone we’ve focused on plant propagations, or hydroponic-style growing. Our main products are rooted plant propagations in old-Florida vessels. Think a fiddle leaf Ficus growing from an MCM style decanter or a cascading Philodendron Micans growing out of a commemorative Tampa Bay Bucs Coca-Cola bottle. We also have converted candle holders into propagation tube holders, we mount bottles onto old frames and even wood tennis rackets! We tend to think of plants in a different manner that help bring a vibe to a space.
Along with selling plants, we also host different events and community activations. We host workshops like Prop with Proppy, where I teach how to propagate a ton of different plants and we actually chop up a few plants and make houseplant bouquets. Another is our Repotting Party hosted a few times a year. I invite people to bring me their worst plants and I play plant doctor. Then we fix the issue and repot the plant!
Recently I’ve become more known for Plant Bingo. I’ve been hosting all throughout the Tampa Bay area. Guests play 10 rounds of regular bingo with prizes ranging from 4″ plants all the way to 3 foot tall trees and even Proppy items like sconces and frames.
This year we will also bring back our Holiday Tree Drive. Maybe the thing I’m most proud of, we deliver real-live christmas trees around the holidays. $25.00 of each tree delivered goes to our local food bank. And we even accept donations towards trees so we can provide some to families in the Casa program. Last year was our first one ever, raising almost $980 to the local food bank and 4 trees donated to families in need. With Proppy I wanted to share my love of plants and hydroponics, but taking time away from a busy market season to donate time meant so much to me.
This past April we launched our first ever retail store alongside Coastal House Vintage. Located at 2820 1st Ave N in St. Petersburg, we’re open everyday 10-6, 12-5 on Sundays.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
My first business didn’t take many risks. With a lot of potential for injury in landscaping, I was very risk adverse. I think ultimately that lead to me never really scaling it the way I wanted.
With Proppy I’m much more open to risk and I think thats a huge reason as to why I’ve made it so far to this point. Sometime the risk is worth it, but you have to be mindful.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.proppysp.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/proppy_sp
