Today we’d like to introduce you to Valerie Benner.
Hi Valerie, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I am lucky to have been born and raised in San Diego. My parents would take me and my three siblings to walk along the Lily Pond in Balboa Park, always ending up in the Botanical Building to stand amidst the sea of tropical plants. This is where my love of nature and plant life really got its start.
My dad is from Michigan and my mom immigrated from Indonesia to Canada at seventeen. Oddly enough they met in Papua New Guinea as adults, married and eventually settled down in San Diego. I think they were trying to recreate their time in a lush tropical climate because there were always monstera plants, money trees and a seemingly unending supply of orchids in the house.
During college I had a hard time deciding where I wanted to go with my education. I changed schools three times until I ended up studying Medicine at an International University in Poland. After six years there I graduated with an MD. I moved back to the US and felt lost about where I fit in my chosen field. Working in the hospital didn’t feel right and it got harder and harder to pretend that it was.
I had tried several different avenues at that time but that lost feeling only grew heavier. So, I made the decision to put my happiness first, and moved back home to San Diego in order to figure out what that meant.
I moved back in with my parents, who still had their extensive plant collection, which I eventually started helping them care for. It was this nice meditative act that helped get me out of my own head, and I found myself really enjoying it.
I eventually moved out and a few of my parents’ plants came with me. Then more plants moved in, and then many many more, until it started to feel like my own personal jungle.
Then, out of nowhere my dad saw a post on Nextdoor from someone asking for help styling their house with plants. He encouraged me to reach out and I figured I would give it a shot. I just thought of it as a fun project and not something that would ever lead to a business. But word of mouth spread all from that one first client, and I slowly started to get more and more referrals to help with plant design and it just kind of grew from there. Four years later, and now I’m a full time plant designer. I never would have seen that coming but I feel so lucky for things to fall in place like they did.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
No, I definitely wouldn’t say smooth. The start of Living Sanctuary was very organic but keeping it going was a different struggle. It was hard to keep moving forward when there were all these doubts and guilt about not using my medical education properly. Sometimes I still feel like maybe I should go back and pick up where I left my medical career. The hardest part has been trusting that I made the right decision and to just keep doing what I’m doing in the face of all those negative things we tell ourselves.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
My work with Living Sanctuary Design is mostly all plant-based. It involves design with plants, preserved moss and even seaweed. When I started I was focused on helping people bring more life into their homes, but I’ve since expanded and you can now see my work all over San Diego. I now have my designs not only in residential spaces, but in medical offices (how full circle is that), retail spaces, pop up gallery exhibitions, on custom surfboards and in collaborations with other local artists. You can see one of my moss pieces on display in a collaboration with Cloud Club Collective in terminal two of the San Diego Airport.
I get excited exploring how to incorporate other materials like rocks, grasses, branches and seaweed into my creations which keeps my work fresh, and my mind constantly stimulated. I have a lot of other new ideas that are in the works so I’m excited to get those out this year.
We’re always looking for the lessons that can be learned in any situation, including tragic ones like the Covid-19 crisis. Are there any lessons you’ve learned that you can share?
I’ve learned two big lessons over the last few years, a professional one and a personal one.
Professionally, I learned to appreciate the power of plants on a deeper level. The pandemic changed our relationship with our home and made us realize how essential our environment is to our mental health. A strategically placed plant, not only can change the aesthetics but also the overall flow and energy of any space. Plants have so many therapeutic benefits from elevated mood, increased creativity, and of course cleaner air. For many people, incorporating plants into their space is one of the most affordable and accessible things we can do to make a difference in creating a happier and healthier mindset.
Personally, I’ve learned how much humans need each other for support. Even just a few words of encouragement can make a huge difference in someone’s life. I’ve been lucky enough to have a community of people around me that have helped me get through the harder times to where I am today. It’s easy to feel isolated these days so opportunities for people to get together and learn how to support each other are more important now than ever.
Pricing:
- Custom Moss walls range from $70-$125 a sq/ft
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.livingsanctuarydesign.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingsanctuarydesign/
Image Credits
Mindy Benner
