Latest news with #DallasArboretum
Business Insider
a day ago
- Business
- Business Insider
My Porch Pumpkins business started as a hobby. Now, it makes 6 figures, we're franchising, and I'm coaching entrepreneurs.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Heather Torres, the owner of Porch Pumpkins, a Texas-based seasonal decor delivery company. It has been edited for length and clarity. Shortly after my youngest son was born, I went crazy with pumpkins. I'd always admired the beautiful seasonal decorations that the Dallas Arboretum displays each year, and when he was little, I decided to start trying my hand at creating pumpkinscapes at home as a way to keep him — and myself — busy. It wasn't long before I got good at it. Really good at it. I won a local award for Best Yard in 2013 and just kept trying to one-up myself. Eventually, my friends started asking me to create displays at their houses, and I got the idea that maybe people would pay for professional pumpkin displays during the fall season, the way they do for Christmas lights. The idea stayed in the back of my head for a few years while I was busy as a stay-at-home mom raising my children. But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit and everyone was stuck inside, it felt like the right time to try to make it a small business to earn a little money and use my talents. I decided I could bring the pumpkin patch to you! I previously worked in the restaurant industry and knew I didn't want to make one-off custom designs. I wanted things to be super simple, so I created four different packages at different price points for customers to choose from. The most popular package is the smallest display, which costs $325 and includes about 30 pumpkins of varying sizes. Our biggest package is for the true pumpkin lover, and it includes two 50-pound pumpkins, bales of hay, and all kinds of decorative extras for $1,350. We offer delivery and removal services. You can set up your own display, or we can do it for you. We just celebrated our fifth birthday, and I never could have imagined how things would take off. It used to be just me and my husband doing deliveries. Then I started hiring other moms I knew to work as part-time display designers and delivery drivers. I hired three people in my first year, and we completed just over 250 displays. Now, we have over 20 people on our team, and we completely sold out in 2024. My goal was to decorate 1,000 porches, and we ended up doing 1,052. It has worked out so that, now, I'm busy from August to December, but then I'm pretty much done in the spring and can be fully present to volunteer at my kids' school and do all the things a mom does, like try to cook dinner each night. This year, it became increasingly evident that people were gravitating toward this business and were really interested in my approach. I get emails all the time asking to pick my brain, so in March, I started coaching other entrepreneurs about how to start their own seasonal pumpkin businesses. I charge $4,500 for two hourlong sessions teaching you all the lessons I've learned along the way — from sourcing pumpkins to creating the decorative displays — and in just the few months since I launched that service, I've helped 12 people, mostly women, launch their own pumpkin businesses across the US. We had the foresight to trademark our name and logo, so all the other pumpkin businesses popping up have different names. But we're also beginning to franchise, so soon, there will be official Porch Pumpkins locations across the country. The whole process has really been a gift for my family. I'm just so excited to see how much we can grow from here.
CBS News
12-03-2025
- General
- CBS News
First female, Hispanic chair takes the reins at the Dallas Arboretum: Women's History Month
EDITOR'S NOTE: CBS News Texas is highlighting how women are breaking barriers and making a lasting impact in honor of Women's History Month. This includes the new chair of the Dallas Arboretum, who's planting seeds for other women to come. The smell of beautiful flowers filled the air Wednesday at the Dallas Arboretum. Its new chair, Regina Montoya, is making history. "To be the first woman and to be the first Latina is so, so special," Montoya said. Men have served as the chair of the Arboretum since it opened in 1984. Montoya is not only a Harvard-trained lawyer but is also of Mexican descent. "It's telling women who are Latina, girls of color, that everything is an opportunity here," Montoya said. "That's the best part about being involved here because I know people are welcoming, and I hope maybe when people see me here, they know that this is an arboretum for everyone." The Dallas Arboretum's Women's Council was founded in 1982, and the Council opened the Woman's Garden in 1997. It's a space designed by women for all to enjoy. The Dallas Arboretum's CEO is also a woman. Montoya hopes it's a place where young women and girls can find inspiration. "NASA was here, and they had all of these NASA astronauts, including some women astronauts," Montoya said. "That's what the Arboretum does. It is a magnet for people to come here, and those are the role models." She aims to be an example for other women and show them they can blossom into the careers they want with determination and vision. "I just want to be sure that young girls and women have that opportunity to know that the sky is the limit," Montoya said. "I would say to young girls, this is an area that you should consider being part of and looking at as a profession because you have a lot of opportunities." The woman who's making history has a new strategic plan for the Arboretum, focusing on excellence in education and the environment, as she brings the 66-acre botanical garden into the 21st century.
