THE ROOT OF HIS PATH
JUICY LEAF’ S FELIX NAVARRO WENT F ROM COWBOY TO PLANT SHOP OWNER
AS A BOY growing up in Texas, Felix Navarro spent his days working alongside his mother and grandmother in his family’s garden.
“While my brothers and sisters were playing with their toys, I was the gay kid who would follow my mom around the garden and learn about plants,” Navarro recalled with a laugh. “It’s been a part of my life forever.”
Navarro said his family was poor and he remembers when organizations would leave clothes and food at their door at Christmastime. That has stayed with him while he has navigated his career and his place in the community. “People come in and ask me to donate to schools,” he said. “I give to anything that is kid- based because those organizations allowed me to get to where I am today.”
After working in corporate finance, Navarro found his niche and opened the Juicy Leaf in Venice in 2009, a plant shop specializing in low- water sculptural succulent container gardens that are eco- friendly and ideal for apartment dwellers.
When he was forced to relocate to Highland Park four years ago after rents skyrocketed on Abbot Kinney Boulevard, however, the 46- year- old was surprised to be met with resistance from anti- gentrification protesters in the predominantly Latino neighborhood.
“There were nights when people banged on my windows,” Navarro said. “I was put on a no- shop list. I went outside and tried to talk to them. I told them ‘ I’m the owner, I’m Mexican!’ and they stopped. I was gentrified out of my old neighborhood in Venice. I honestly thought I’d be embraced here. People told me, ‘ We love that you’re Mexican, but your prices are too high.’ I come from nothing. I didn’t speak English until I went to kindergarten. Anyone can shop in my store. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve taken someone to the dollar store and made something for them. Now that I’ve been here for four years, there is a lot more camaraderie.”
Tell us about your career trajectory.
During college I worked full time managing a convenience store and attended school full time. During summer breaks I worked as a cowboy. I did ranch- hand work: building fences, plowing land for growing crops and working cattle. I graduated from college on a Saturday and started my very first job two days later in the financial industry as a credit manager.
I did that until I was 33 and the financial industry collapsed. I started the Juicy Leaf in my garage, then did f lea markets for about two years. I learned the product and how to sell it. Initially, I would go and hide in the truck because I was so mortified to talk to people. It was hard for me to sell something that I had made. I was timid and shy, but after two years I learned what worked.
So you opened a boutique on Abbot Kinney?
At the time we opened, we subleased a 750- square- foot space for $ 3,000 a month. I hustled and we made it happen. When I left, it was $ 15,000 a month. It was a lot of money.