True or False: Lost in the Forrest, a plant-themed gift shop in the Twin Cities, was started as a “perseverance project” and a backyard vegetable garden.
Forrest
Forrest Schrader, founder of Lost in the Forrest, is a former Elementary School Special Education Teacher based in the Twin Cities, MN.
When the world abruptly changed in March 2020, Forrest’s school principal challenged the students to commit to a “perseverance project” as a way to try something new and continue pushing through roadblocks or setbacks. Forrest was not going to let her students have all of the fun, so she started her backyard perseverance vegetable garden. This garden, filled with sugar snap peas, basil, tomatoes, and more, sparked Forrest’s love and curiosity of growing plants, which quickly migrated indoors to houseplants.
Our Roots
Without the normal summer teaching jobs (and a smaller plant budget), Forrest began selling her propagations and plants on Facebook Marketplace. A few garage plant sales later, Lost in the Forrest was officially born in the Fall of 2020.
In June of 2021, Lost in the Forrest graduated from an online-only shop based in a bedroom to a small retail space in Edina, MN. That summer, Forrest also took a huge step into entrepreneurship and chose to grow Lost in the Forrest full-time, stepping away from teaching. A few short months later, Lost in the Forrest was repotted into its current location, a much larger space in St. Louis Park, MN at the West End.
Our Leaves
At Lost in the Forrest, we believe that anyone can be (and everyone will be) a successful plant parent given the right tools. We work to give our customers the tools and confidence needed to be successful plant owners. Knowing that there is always more to learn, we love being able to continue experimenting alongside our customers.
A phrase Forrest frequently used in the classroom that’s transferred to the day-to-day at Lost in the Forrest: “Mistakes are allowed; mistakes help us learn and grow.” This saying, mixed with some soil and water, embodies our hands on approach at Lost in the Forrest.