Learn more about Hayley Figueroa as she shares her journey to entrepreneurship with her Co-Founder Irma.
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Be Bad. Be Bold. Be A Baddie!
Learn more about Hayley Figueroa as she shares her journey to entrepreneurship with her Co-Founder Irma.
Connect with The Dig Box
Episode Sponsor:
Connect with Baddies with Business:
Music By: Tukool Tiff
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Music By: TuKool Tiff
Be Bad. Be Bold. Be A Baddie!
welcome back for another episode of Baddies with Business. We are closing out the season today with an incredible baddie so Baddie, tell us a little bit more about yourself.
Hayley:I am a gardener. My garden bestie and I started this company dig During the pandemic, like most stories start right during the pandemic. I also have a doctorate in public health, so the past two years has been particularly interesting for me dealing with the pandemic on a professional level. I teach and I've had a long career in public. What else I homeschool just found out I have ADHD, which explains a lot of things. The fact that I am very creative and had a ton of interests which is now serving me well in this business. A lot of the interests that are cultivated over the years, I'm actually drawing on them. As part of our marketing and that sort of thing. So for those of you out there who suspect you might have ADHD, please go check because yeah, it's a life-changing diagnosis.
BaddieswithBusiness:Thank you for sharing. Was that something you suspected you had? And was like, let me just go get tested or like, how did that surface?
Hayley:Not A Clue! I am 53 years old and had no idea that this was happening. It was actually through my son that I figured it out. It's he suspected. That he had it, which again, I never suspected really that he had it when everybody was testing their kids. I was like, you know what, let me get this boy tested. And they said he was fine. But back then, testing, wasn't great either. He put me onto this tiktoker and I was like, what? No, next thing I knew I was down the rabbit holes oh my God. And then I investigated some more ensure enough. Yeah. It manifests very differently in women than it does in men. And in high functioning women even more differently, so you become hyper-focused on things. Which is probably why I was able to do the doctorate because the definition of a doctorate is hyper-focused. A whole lot of. Something that can fit into like your fingernail, like that you have a deep knowledge of that much stuff. But yeah, research is really hyper-focused, all of it. But once I started investigating, I was like, oh my God, that's me all over. So it turns out that all the best things about me and all of my accomplishments had been the by-product of this neurodivergence so I'm grateful for it. It just would have been nice to know. Cause you find yourself beating yourself up a lot for not being able to do things the way other people do them, but that's, that's also what makes me really good at the things I'm really good at.
BaddieswithBusiness:I'm glad you shared that. And I also am glad that you like shared it with the community. If you suspect you have it, go ahead and, get tested. And then also I appreciate your perspective on, I found this out, but also everything makes sense and it's not you're looking at it as a deficit. It's actually that makes sense where I'm able to focus in on this and this, where I feel like some people might hear that and be like, oh no, there's something wrong with me. As opposed to no, I'm learning this incredible thing about me that gives me clarity to continue doing the amazing things that I'm interested in.
Hayley:The thing that would have been nice to know is. That I need to find tools that work for me because the tools that work for other people don't work for me. So I'm sitting in a room right now with, I could just look around me and see two or three planners that are partially filled because planners don't work for me. I'm looking at a calendar that's still on January because calendars don't work for me. But I also spent, 40 years saying. What the hell is wrong with me? Like, why can't I do that? And it's because my brain is wired differently, but at the same time, I have friends who call me with issues and they're like this and that is going on. And I'll respond and they'll go. How did you come up with that on the fly? Oh, no. That's just the way my brain is wired. I have. An incredible amount of information in my head that I always called jokingly useless information, but it's not, it's useful to other people, it may not be particularly useful to me in the moment, but I, that's what I'm going, hyper-focusing on things and then retaining that information. So yeah, it's not, I don't see it as a deficit. I think that it definitely makes certain things more difficult, but I don't see it as a deficit.
BaddieswithBusiness:Thank you for sharing that. I do have a question you brought this up as you were talking about teaching and public health, so as you think about all of these things that you're balancing, what was the catalyst for starting dig with your what's your bestie? Was it, I don't have enough on my plate was it like I need to be able to add to balance, how did you find that space?
Hayley:I just don't have enough on your plate. That has never been an issue. I actually, when I found this out about myself, I said to my friend, same friend, I said to her, this makes so much sense. I kept saying. Like to friends and relatives, I'm just waiting for my life to slow down, so I can relax. And then I realized it wasn't my life that wasn't slowing down. It was me that wasn't slowing down. So yeah, no, it definitely wasn't about not having enough on my plate. I always have more than enough on my plate. It was more born out of so I have this blog, the urban academic on Instagram that I've had going for a little more than three years now. And I started getting all these DMS at the beginning of the pandemic I don't want to go to grocery store, I I'm concerned about food shortages and all these like very anxious, worried people. And they needed help. Like where do I start? What do I do? So I try to help where I could there. And then my friend Irma, who is my my partner She and I, throughout the pandemic, we bubbled together, our kids homeschooled together, she's family basically. And so we were talking a lot about food security. We were talking about COVID, what it means to leave your house and be out in the world and that sort of thing. And we wanted to help people. And initially we had looked at maybe starting an urban farm here in Greensboro, North Carolina, where we are. And then quickly found out that land was both expensive and not necessarily ideal, because we needed someplace that had sun access to water, didn't have a soil that needed to be remediated, because chemicals and things, it just became a lot. And so we were like, and then the other part of that was, it was a local thing, right? So we would only be able to help people locally. And that's not something we wanted. We wanted to be able to help people everywhere. And so that's how this this company was born. So dig is a garden gift and subscription box company, which means that unlike a farm where you come to the farm, we bring the farm to you essentially. So every month we have a theme this month's theme would be for our anniversary. We were incorporated in May. And for our anniversary, of course, there's this celebration in this box, right? It's a few of our favorite things. So in that box, it has the seeds that we love a self care item that we love, just things that reflect us. Other themes that we've had are hot for our peppers, love apples, which are actually the one of the original names for tomatoes. So that was our tomato box. And so what we do is every month we send out five seed varieties and planting medium plant markers. And then for our premium box, we get sent all of that plus a tool and a self care item. And in the past, our self-care items have been things like lotion, bars, and nail brushes and incredible artists and soap that's made locally for us. And then we have tools like heat mats and really heavy well-made hand tools that you would hold onto for like generations. All of these things together should give you a garden experience that, Allows you to either get started or to level up your garden if you're a seasoned gardener. And so we thought people are not leaving their house, they're not going to the store. So mailing this to them would make the most sense. And that's how we became a subscription box. So I often refer to it as stitch fix for your garden. The description.
BaddieswithBusiness:The phrase that you use, we're bringing the garden to you. I really liked that where you just open your door or go to your mailbox and it's right there. All the things that you need to get started. In that box, do you also include I'm sure you include instructions.
Hayley:So there are instructions, there are descriptions for the seeds, the each individual seed. It will tell you how to plant the seed how long it'll take to harvest any interesting qualities to the seed. If it's pest resistant or whatever, and we look for varieties that you don't get in big box stores, right? So when you go. Somewhere around February, they start rolling out the seeds and you go into these big box stores and the same varieties, in every big box store, we try to avoid that. Because if that's what you wanted, you could just go to the store and get it right. So we wanted to provide something that was more unique. And more than that, we also, when we sat down and put this company together, we were very deliberate. And when I say deliberate, incredibly deliberate. We came up with core principles for our company. We came up with some goals that we had. One of the things that was really important to us was to preserve ecosystems and to make sure that we always honored the earth, that we weren't taking more than we were giving back. We wanted to make sure that whatever materials we used were sustainable or recyclable at the very least. And we wanted to preserve things like ancestral seeds or see if that were in danger of becoming extinct. So we look for those types of seeds and we'll see more of those in the. In the coming year in year two, which I can't believe we're closing in, on out our first boxes in October of last year. So we're coming up on a year.
BaddieswithBusiness:That's beautiful. So there's a couple pieces like not taking more than giving back and also honoring the ancestors and some of those vegetables or materials that may have, been extinct. So I love just the intentionality and coming up with principles and values. I think that's a really powerful thing as well, because, sometimes we get this idea and we just jump into it as opposed to pausing, to think about. Not only our why, but also, some principles and goals and values around that. So I appreciate you naming that Hayley and for those who are listening I need to think about principle and values. Yeah. Take a moment to pause and just reflect on not only your why, but like the reason that you're doing this and those you're hoping to serve, and also the story that they can tell about your venture as well. So thank you so much for sharing.
Hayley:That was really important to us. To have some core values that, that, we wouldn't lose our way. We're not saints where we're here. It's a business, to make money. But we never wanted the money to rob us of our humanity or of our obligation, to the environment, to the earth, to the. We have obligations, and it's easy to get clouded by profits and we never wanted that to happen. So we started there.
BaddieswithBusiness:I also love this connection. That I'm observing with you where you said you're in public health, and then also you have this company that's thinking about, it may not be out there as like public health, but it's still like the health of people through vegetables and just like getting back to the land and spending that time with the land and then connecting that self care. That's just something I'm observing and a connection that I think it's really dope. So if you could share more about like your history with the land and just like your, where did your love of gardening began and cultivate?
Hayley:Every time this question is asked to me in any situation, it goes back to daddy. So my father was an avid gardener. We lived in New York. That's where I'm originally from. My parents are from the Caribbean. So as my business partner, she's Puerto Rican and grew up here. And so culturally, you just grow things, back home, you open the door, you need a lemon, there's a lemon, right? You want a mango for breakfast? There's a mango, right? And so it is typical when people from the Caribbean come here, it is typical for them to plant something. My father took over, we had a third of an acre that we lived on and he took over probably half of that to plant things. And he grew things I just don't even know to this day, how he got them to grow in that climate, but he did it. So I've been out in the garden since I was about six, seven years. Right up under him. Cause I'm a daddy's girl. And whenever he needed help, it was. That would go out there. The rest of my family, they're indoor cats. I'm an outdoor cat. My mother would look through the door, but she would never really come outside. And he would be out there sun up to sun down every day. And when he was working, he'd come home, even in the dark, he'd go out there with a flashlight and look at, and see what was growing and what have you. It was like he came alive when the weather started to work. So that's where it comes from. And then I think what fuels it is the fact that I am a public health, professional, that I have a background in healthcare and developing health programs and that sort of thing. I recognize how important it is for us to get our hands in the dirt. I'm also, doctor really trained, which means that I look at research. Like that is meaningful for me. So I pulled articles to look at the impact of, soil on humans and what have you. And there are microbes in the soil that have been compared to Prozac in efficacy in terms of treating depression. If you look at the fiscal activity involved in gardening that it'll get your heart rate. It's weight bearing exercise, which is great, particularly for women around osteoporosis. It's been there have been studies that show that it's useful in managing blood pressure and blood sugar. For those of us who are on the backend over 50 it's incredibly good for building strength, maintaining strength and flexibility. I was out actually most of Saturday and again, Sunday just pulling things and planting things and, cleaning up the yard and that sort of stuff. And that was when. I was winded for a lot of it. And today I'm feeling it, my, my muscles are protesting. But I'll be back out there this weekend again, it's great exercise. It's a great space for bonding with children. I mentioned that at homeschool, so that is a lab. It is biology. It is chemistry, physics. Having a kid help you build a trellis that's physics in action, having them help you figure out how to deal with the pest biology and chemistry, or figuring out something as simple as when, in order to figure out if your soil as well draining, you dig a hole, you pour water in it, and then you time, how long it takes for the water to be absorbed. That's a whole experiment for. Yeah. And that's not something they're doing in a regular school, but it's meaningful and it's applied and it helps them to understand all those scientific principles. It's for mental health, apart from the soil microbes and the Prozac like effect on depression, it is incredibly effective at grounding. So people with anxiety can benefit from it. People with depression people with ADHD who have cards, hard time focusing gardening is really good for that. There's a lot of activity in a garden there, insects and animals, the plants, there's a riot of color, fragrances textures. There's so much that you can learn from a garden and that's year round. Even when you put your garden to bed, there are still things to be learned during that period.
BaddieswithBusiness:I appreciate your story and also resonate with it from like all of the benefits and then benefits I'm learning about. We share this connection of being like daddy's girls and also with fathers, that garden. So I was right out there. I'm like, what are we doing now? Oh, we're building a greenhouse. Why are we doing a greenhouse? When are we doing this? And I feel like there's so much that. For granted when I was younger, that when I got older, I was like, oh, I actually appreciate this upbringing because I now can tell my friends, like this is when things are in season in North Carolina. I don't know the same about other places, but I know North Carolina, or, daddy living by the Almanac. He was like, I gotta get my Almanac. I gotta get my Almanac.
Hayley:All of this.
BaddieswithBusiness:Yes. All of that. I'm curious from you, are there learnings that you have learned about yourself? You've learned about being in business, but also learnings that some of those folks that are part of the subscription, like learning that they share with you all about themselves, about their journey. Can you just share a couple of things?
Hayley:This has been incredible on so many levels. My business partner. Always says we learned something with every box. Like every box has been a lesson, whether it's been a lesson in marketing or finance or supply or whatever, there's been a lesson in every box. And then as far as what we've learned about ourselves for me, I discovered that I have a knack for marketing. I had no idea. In public health, we do something called social marketing, which is based directly on, or, customary like business marketing, the four Ps of marketing and what have you. And so I knew that, but I had no idea that I could do like small business marketing without help, and I can, and I have, and it's been successful. Because I'm a creative, there are certain things that I'm drawn to. So like Canva for doing our marketing. I could live in candle all day and saying happy in it. It's addictive to me. Like I'm in there all the time. My business partner detests it. Like you could no pay Irma enough to do this kind of thing, but I thrive in it. She thrives in the actual doing of gardening and I thrive in doing this. Not that I don't enjoy it. Absolutely love gardening, but I knew I could do that. So I didn't know I could do this. I've also learned that the dark side of ADHD is If our shipping date is the 20th, then on the 19th, I'm running around like a chicken with their head cut off. So I know that I have to put systems in place to make sure that I have everything ready to go on shipping day. Otherwise it gets pushed back a day, which is not good. So yeah, I've learned a ton of stuff. I'm a really good resource. Incredible at sourcing things. I can get good deals and I can build good relationships. I'm talking to people that I've seen on TV, in the past that are like gardening experts and whatnot. I'm talking to them like, they're my next door neighbor, I didn't know. I could do that. I've always been very introverted. I am very introverted, but when it comes to this. I'm so excited about it that, if you'll talk to me about it, I'll talk to you about it, but yeah, so those are the things that I've learned that then I have those skills that I didn't realize that.
BaddieswithBusiness:And I think that's a really important thing that you're pointing out that I hope the listeners are also like being attuned to. So you mentioned I love gardening, but I knew I could do that, but I'm learning about marketing and these other things. And so getting that insight and just leaning into the. I don't know if it was uncomfortable for you, but some people, like I had to lean into this thing that might, that felt a little uncomfortable and now I'm comfortable. I'm living my life, my dreams and Canva, or I'm doing these things that I never imagined I would do.
Hayley:Yeah. The interacting with people I've always shied away from that sort of thing. Like the networking part of it. And I almost don't recognize myself doing this because, part of what we've had to do through this whole process is ask questions. And I've never been afraid to say, I don't know, I've never been afraid to ask for help, but to ask strangers that's the scary part. And so I can remember starting our Instagram and not having access to all the good news. I'm sitting there trying to make reels, which in itself was like a whole learning curve guess. Oh my God. And I'm trying to make reels and put the light, fly music on it. And I can't get to the fly music. Where is it? And then there was this woman she makes like body butters and stuffs, SAS operations, I think is her name. And she's. And so I just reached out and I was like, Hey SIS, where do you find the fly music? Cause I can't find like help me out. She hit me right back. And all of a sudden, this whole world was open to me in terms of music and being able to make cool reels and stuff like that. I would never have reached out to a stranger like that years ago. That's just something I've come to recently. And some of that I think is probably maturity and it gets to a certain age. You don't really care whether, you don't care what people say or think know you just don't care. You just gotta do you. So some of it may be that, but yeah, that, that's amazing transformation. I would never have thought I would do that, but the benefit behind it was amazing.
BaddieswithBusiness:Yeah. You got the fly music and you also broadened your network.
Hayley:Yeah, because she can reach out to me for something I can reach out to her for something who knows. Maybe I'll feature her products in the box at some point. Does she make self-care stuff?
BaddieswithBusiness:Yeah, I love this. So ask the questions. If they don't respond, you ask somebody else ask, but at least ask the question. What's the harm they say no, or they don't respond. You go to the next person.
Hayley:So I once read an article that talked about how terrible black people are at networking. Just terrible. It's a hold over apparently. Or this was the theory that it's a holdup. From enslavement and how we'd be punished for asking questions or we'd be punished for not knowing something. And then after emancipation, there was this whole idea of you don't want to appear ignorant, so you don't make yourself vulnerable. And then you don't know who's for you and who's not for you. And then, so that ancestral memory and trauma has lived with us all these generations. And so there are really legitimate reasons for why we're not good at it, but we have to get good at it.
BaddieswithBusiness:I can definitely resonate with that because I'm thinking about instances where those were the two examples I use. I don't want it to look like, I don't know what I'm talking about. So let me go do some research, let me figure something out or let me ask the other person of color. And so we'll be right there together. So I definitely resonate. I definitely resonated what you shared.
Hayley:Listen. Whoever has the knowledge you go out there and you find it and you get the knowledge because without it you're stuck. Just swallow your pride and ass. This is the worst you could do is say, I'm not telling you, that's the worst, that's the worst response you could really get is not telling you anything. And I've gotten it. I have gotten that from people for sure, where they're like, yeah, I don't share that information. Okay. You go on, then don't share the information. One of our core values is collaboration and cooperation over competition. We believe that there's enough business for everybody. There's a whole lot of people in this world. There's a whole lot of people in this country. There's a lot of people in our state. You cannot possibly serve all of them. So if you want to hoard knowledge, you do that. But I don't think karma looks favorably on people, who make themselves obstacles to others. So though do the right thing, help other people. And you'll be helped in return. You just don't ever know. Funny enough, I had a chat with a young woman who was in a similar situation to one I had been in years ago, we chatted. And next thing I knew we got a three month donation to host a giveaway. I had contributed to her cause some months earlier, not expecting anything back and relationships, right? Yeah. Okay. So you know what I'm saying?
BaddieswithBusiness:I know what you saying. I know what you said. Y'all it's important to ask the questions. You could get a no, that's fine. You think about other people to talk to. If you need some body to talk to slide up in my DMs y'all. I will answer Hayley will also answer it. Cause I have slid up in her. So feel free to reach out as you're sharing I'm also curious about the baddies that have been there with you. So how have you defined baddies? Who are the baddies that have answer your DMS have been along for the ride even before the right story? With the Dig.. Who do you want to show some love to right now?
Hayley:I absolutely have to show love to Kreative Kymona. Who's on Instagram. She is one of the most talented people I've ever known in my life. This woman does leather craft sewing. She actually has made lotion bars for our box. And that was that's relationships. She actually worked with me about 110 years ago. We were both working at the YWC of Brooklyn. And we've been friends ever since. And so when I was starting this, I was like, oh no, I don't know if this is a good idea. She was like, do it. And I was like, yeah, I don't know. She was like, do it. And then she walked me through things like marketing on Instagram. She walked me through things like how to host my first giveaway and just all that kind of stuff. And then she contributed stuff to us. Like she gave us stuff at the beginning so that we wouldn't have to spend capital on self care items. She just gave them to. She even cover the shipping. Like she was amazing. And then AD florals. So Alexis, Denise Green also worked with me at the, Y I was the director of a women's health program. Kymona was my number two and Alexis was she was an outreach coordinator for breast cancer. So nothing related to anything that we now do, but the relationships I've known Lex for 17 years and I've known Kymona probably for 20 21. It's just being decent to people, and caring about people that has. Undergirded those relationships, we've all of us been able to reach out to each other for anything that we needed. Yeah. Relationships are everything and relationships will take you places that your skill can't or your money can't. Yeah, it will open doors and they will close doors to the doors. They should not be open. Yeah, we live in die by relationships, whether we realize it or not.
BaddieswithBusiness:I love that. So shout out to those Baddies and other baddies that you may not have mentioned that are showing you love on this journey. Shout out to them. And I like to just pause to get. To not only give you your flowers. So like we're showing you love or learning about your journey, but also to give each other our flowers. Because as my mom says, like when I'm dead and gone, like you can put flowers around, but I won't see them. And so I'd rather see them while I'm alive and, above the ground. So baddies those are your flowers and we are showing you love in any other Baddie that is supporting along the journey.
Hayley:Yeah. One thing that I have taught particularly my daughter is when you see another woman and she looks beautiful or, her hair is just on point that day or whatever it is. Say some, you never know what people are going through. And that little bit of acknowledgement can change their whole day, their whole perspective, and what did it cost. To say those shoes are fly. I really liked them, or, oh my God, your hair is beautiful. What did it cost you? Nothing.
BaddieswithBusiness:Yeah, sure. I'll show love relationships. That is if I had to put our conversation, it's relationships, collaboration, just putting yourself out there. That is what we're all about. As you think about. Where the dig has been like thus far and where you all hope to go in the next two, three years, what does that place and how can the community of baddies and friends help you get there? Starting from the day they hit play on this episode.
Hayley:At the time of this episode, we are delivering to about a third of the country and and the virgin islands. Which was, that was amazing, to get a customer from the Virgin islands. So we still have two thirds of the country to go. Share this with other people, share our website, our socials with people. The dig box comes in two sizes. One is a seed box. The other is seeds, a self-care item and a tool. If you know somebody who's interested in starting. Get them this box. If you know someone who's an avid gardener, get them this box. We also have a kid's box. So if you want to expose children to this, if you know of organizations that are planning to do gardening children our, we also have a nonprofit, which we haven't really. Boosted yet, but scattered seeds and scattered seeds is all about teaching people, how to grow their own food and be food secure. And for children to learn about how food grows and hopefully change their nutrition. If you know of organizations that are doing this kind of work and they need supplies, send them our way. If you know about EBT programs that are looking to provide people with seeds and such send them our way. We actually had someone inquire about that. And that led to the launch of our essentials box by the airing of this episode, that will be on our website. The essentials box is specifically for people with EBT who are looking to have a garden that. Meet a variety of needs. So it brings five seed varieties across a number of different vegetable families that will provide you with protein, vitamin C, calcium, all of those things that you need. And it, you can pay for it with EBT.
BaddieswithBusiness:I love that. So scattered seeds, so y'all just plant that seed. You see what I did that's a seed that's planted and we're going to sow and water that later. So share. We want to continue supporting if you know, someone that is interested, give that to them. I know you mentioned that you are a subscription. Can I get one box and send it to someone or would I have to sign them up for the subscription.
Hayley:We are a gift and subscription box companies get a one-off of any of our boxes. We change our kids box every quarter. And then but the rest of them change. If you're unsure about a subscription, go ahead and get a gift box. You can subscribe and cancel or pause at any time. We have had people in the month, since we started pause their subscription because they were moving or pause because they were having some financial difficulty. We never want our subscription service to be a burden to anyone. We totally get it real life. If you can't afford it right now, pause it. It doesn't cost you anything to pause it. Downgrade if you're at a, if you're at a premium box downgrade and the dig light box, which is a lesser costs or cancel, if you need to, we'll still be here, you can always come back and we'll be happy to have you. But we never ever want this to be a source of stress.
BaddieswithBusiness:That is good to know. If folks are like on the edge of their seats and they're like, where can I go and find you and follow you? Can you share your social media handles? And then also your website. I just want to flag this for folks. This is in a description of the episodes. You can scroll down and you'll see it in the description. So Haley, where can people find you on the web.
Hayley:We're real easy. The dig box.com. And on Facebook and Instagram, we are the.
BaddieswithBusiness:Awesome. So that is everything. This has been an incredible conversation and I have thoroughly enjoyed this because of my love of just being connected to the ground and dirt and soul and all of that. And we are coming upon my favorite season, which is spring and strawberries and all the good vegetables. I'm just so excited. So this is just this is a great way to wrap up the season. And so Hayley, I do something to close out the episode with a baddie benediction. So that can be a poem, a quote, if you want to sing whatever it is, but how would you like to close out this episode?
Hayley:I will just say, may your nails be dirty? May your feet be muddy may your plate be full with fresh things from the garden.