09/12/2026
……🚨‼️🚨Important Update Alert ‼️🚨‼️……
I wasn’t really planning on making a post like this, but with our time at the Citadel Mall coming to an end, I feel like I need to say something.
I’m tired.
I’ve spent four years building this business and putting an unbelievable amount of my life into creating something different for this community. And lately, instead of feeling supported, I feel like I’m constantly having to defend myself, my business, and—worst of all—my animals from people who walk through our doors with no respect for any of it.
Today was just another example.
We were in the middle of unpacking a massive plant import from Thailand. Our gates were mostly closed, boxes and plants were everywhere, and it was obvious we weren’t operating normally.
A family with small children carrying popsicles walked straight in anyway. I allowed them to stay.
They weren’t looking at plants. They immediately went from animal to animal, getting right up against their enclosures, putting their hands on the glass trying to get reactions, and giving them absolutely no personal space.
Then they got to one of my bearded dragons. They were hovering about a foot over him, crowding him, and one of the children literally tried to pet my bearded dragon WITH THE POPSICLE they were holding.
Seriously. Who thinks that’s okay?
These are living animals. They aren’t toys or props. Imagine a stranger getting a foot away from your face and immediately trying to touch you without asking. You wouldn’t appreciate it, so why is it acceptable to do that to an animal?
All I said was, “Can you please give my animals some space?”
They immediately left and then gave us a two-star Google review saying we were “very unwelcoming” and my attitude was “absolutely terrible.”
Instead of thinking, “Maybe we crossed a boundary,” or “Maybe I should be keeping better track of my children,” somehow I’m the as***le because I spoke up for my animals.
And this isn’t really about one review. It’s just another example of something I’ve been dealing with repeatedly.
People come in who aren’t interested in the plants and have no intention of supporting the business. They go straight to the animals, crowd them, tap on enclosures, try to touch them without asking, and then leave.
And lately, that’s what it feels like The Plant Vault has become to some people: a free petting zoo.
That hurts because this is a plant store. Plants are what I built this business around. They’re what pay the rent and keep the doors open.
Don’t misunderstand me—I LOVE that people love my animals. I love when someone genuinely wants to learn about them and appreciates what we’ve created here.
But compliments don’t pay my rent. They don’t pay the electric bill, and unfortunately, I can’t buy animal food by telling someone, “Twenty people told me my tortoises were adorable today.”
I wish I could.
Small businesses survive because people support them. Buy a $5 plant. Throw a dollar into the tortoise fund. Recommend us to someone. I’m not expecting everyone who walks through the door to spend hundreds of dollars, but a small business can’t continuously provide something for a community while receiving nothing in return.
And if you’re coming specifically because you love the animals, then at the absolute minimum, respect them. Ask before touching them. Give them space. Don’t tap on their glass or try to provoke reactions. Teach your children that these are living creatures—not toys that exist for their entertainment.
And since we’re talking about reviews, I also want to address something else that’s happened several times over this past year: complaints about me livestreaming while I’m at the store.
I’ve been livestreaming consistently for about two years. When someone walks into my store, I greet them. If they need help, I help them. If they have a question, I answer it.
But I run my store very hands-off.
I’m not going to follow someone around asking, “Do you need help?” every ten seconds. Personally, I hate shopping somewhere where an employee hovers over me, and I’ve never wanted my customers to feel that way here.
There have been people who have walked in while I was live, I’ve greeted them, and they didn’t even acknowledge me. They walked around, picked up plants, looked at everything, never asked me a single question, never indicated that they needed assistance, and ultimately left without purchasing anything.
So yes, after greeting them and receiving no response, I went back to my livestream.
I’m not a mind reader.
If you need help, ask me. I’ll gladly help you. But I can’t know that you secretly expect me to follow you around the store after you didn’t even respond when I greeted you.
What makes it worse is seeing negative Google reviews afterward criticizing me for livestreaming or claiming I wasn’t attentive enough. In some cases, multiple extremely similar reviews appeared surrounding what seemed to be the same interaction, despite only one or two people actually being in the store. I don’t know who wrote every review or why, and I’m not going to pretend I do. But watching things like that damage the rating of a small business I’ve spent years building is incredibly discouraging.
And I want to clarify something about the livestreams themselves.
They’re not some marketing strategy for The Plant Vault.
I’ve been doing them consistently for about two years, and they’re primarily about me, my animals, reptile education, and the community we’ve built around them.
There’s so much outdated and harmful reptile-care information out there, especially surrounding bearded dragons and tortoises. If sharing what I’ve learned can help somebody give their animal a better quality of life and help that animal live a long, healthy life, then that’s worth my time.
And along the way, I’ve found an incredible online community. People who genuinely love these animals, love plants, want to learn, and have supported me through some incredibly difficult times personally.
That community has meant more to me than I can really explain.
And no, livestreaming doesn’t really make me money.
But honestly, money has never been why I do any of this.
If money were my motivation, I would’ve gotten out of the plant business a LONG time ago. 😂 I barely scrape by doing what I do.
I do this because I absolutely love plants. I absolutely love reptiles. I love growing things, caring for these animals, teaching people, and sharing what I’ve learned.
I’d rather scrape by doing something I genuinely love than make a ton of money doing something that makes me miserable.
So you don’t have to like my livestreams. You don’t have to like me. You don’t even have to buy anything.
But please don’t walk into a small business, ignore the owner when they greet you, never ask for assistance, and then punish that business afterward because the owner didn’t somehow know you expected something you never communicated.
If you need help, just ask.
I promise, it’s really that simple.
And I want to make something else VERY clear: none of this is directed at the people who have genuinely supported us.
There are customers who have been incredible to me over these four years. You’ve bought plants, recommended us, checked on me when things were difficult, respected my animals, and continued showing up.
I know who you are, and I appreciate you more than you probably realize.
But I’ve fought incredibly hard to keep this place going through things most people don’t even know about, and eventually you have to stop pouring everything you have into a location that simply isn’t working anymore.
So let me make one thing VERY CLEAR:
WE ARE NOT GOING OUT OF BUSINESS.
We’re not disappearing. We’re not giving up. And this is absolutely not the end of us.
We’re simply closing our store location inside the Citadel Mall.
And we’re not closing tomorrow. We’re still here, we’re still open, and we expect to remain open for at least the next couple of months. I don’t have an exact final closing date to announce yet, but by next year, our Citadel Mall location will be gone.
So while we’re still here, please come support us.
Come grab a plant. Come see some of the incredible new plants we’re bringing in. Even a small purchase helps.
Because every bit of support we receive during these final months at the Citadel doesn’t just help us finish this chapter—it helps us build the next one.
And believe me, there is a next.
I’m not ready to tell everyone what it is yet. 😉 But something pretty damn big is already in the works, and the support you give us now directly helps us make that next project a reality.
The way everything has played out at this location has made it clear that it’s time to move on. Instead of continuing to pour everything into something that isn’t working anymore, we’re putting that energy toward something bigger, better, and much more aligned with where I want this business to go.
So don’t read “we’re closing” and think we’re going away.
We’re not.
We’re changing. We’re growing. We’re moving forward.
To everyone who has genuinely supported us over these last four years: thank you.
And if you’ve been meaning to stop by, buy that plant you’ve had your eye on, or support us one more time at the Citadel—now is the time.
We’re still here. We’re still bringing in plants. And we’re still fighting for what comes next.
The Citadel Mall location may be coming to an end, but we absolutely are not.
Don’t forget about us.
Don’t count us out.
Something big is growing. 🌱
