Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Gonzalez.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I’ve always considered myself pretty lucky. I grew up in a home surrounded by strong, hardworking women who were also incredibly creative.
Before Plant Bingo, there was Sticker Fairy. I spent a lot of my time creating stickers from my artwork, selling them on Etsy, From there, I started getting more comfortable with the idea of creating and being part of events.
I later partnered with a friend to host a paint-and-sip event that also included vendors. I really enjoyed bringing people together, creating an experience, and seeing everyone interact with the vendors and activities. Looking back, I think those experiences helped lead me toward Plant Bingo without me even realizing it at the time.
Then my mom decided to become a plant vendor, and that’s actually where the idea for Plant Bingo came from. I wanted to help her sell more plants, but I also thought it would be fun to create an event where people could shop for plants while playing bingo.
Originally, I thought I would only host a couple of events. Then, one night, the Instagram page completely blew up. One day I had fewer than 100 followers, and the next morning I woke up to more than 4,000. That was the moment I realized, wow, people really like bingo and plants!
My very first event had fewer than 20 people, but I had so much fun doing it. From there, Plant Bingo slowly grew into something much bigger than I ever expected.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been so many hiccups along the way. I’ve dealt with everything from a thunderstorm at my first event, supplies not arriving on time, and even having my entire setup table fall over in the middle of an event.
There have also been times when I’ve forgotten an entire box of plants, had to cancel events, or gotten dehydrated and dizzy from being out in the Houston heat. I could honestly keep going!
But somehow, all of those experiences have become part of the story. Overall, it’s been such a fun ride.
The only part that still hurts my heart a little is when I see a beautiful plant or pot that I absolutely love and realize I can’t keep everything for myself!
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Houston Plant Bingo?
It’s not your ordinary bingo—it’s Plant Bingo! 🌿
You get to enjoy all the fun of playing bingo, but with plants as the prizes. It’s an event you can enjoy with friends, a date, or even on your own. What started as a small idea to help my mom sell her plants has grown into a community that brings together plant lovers, small businesses, and people who may not even be big plant people but just want to try something new and have fun.
I also love being able to give local vendors a place to showcase what they create and connect with new customers. What I’m most proud of is seeing the people around me start and grow their own businesses and knowing that Plant Bingo has given them a platform to do that. My sister and niece became vendors selling books and book-related items, even my friend’s dad became a vendor selling his woodwork. Seeing people, I know turn their talents and hobbies into businesses has been one of the most rewarding parts of creating Plant Bingo.
At the end of the day, it’s about bringing people together, supporting local businesses, and creating a fun experience around something as simple as plants and bingo.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I would have to say the road trips with my mom, grandma, and sisters to my grandpa’s ranch. He lived about six hours away from us, so it was a long drive with just us girls packed into the car. We were all stuck together for hours, enjoying each other’s company and, of course, sometimes arguing because we were cramped up together!
The best part was finally arriving at my grandpa’s ranch and seeing that all of my cousins were there too. I should probably mention that my family is mostly girls, so having a whole bunch of girl cousins together at a ranch meant we always had to come up with our own ways to entertain ourselves.
We would walk around the ranch looking at my grandpa’s chickens and cows, explore, and just make up random things to do. When you have more than eight cousins bored at a ranch, you get pretty creative!
One of our favorite things was sitting in the back of an SUV with the door open while one of the older cousins drove back and forth around the ranch. Another time, we thought it would be fun to chase some of the chickens around—until the rooster got loose and started chasing us!
Looking back, those are some of my favorite memories because they were so simple. We didn’t need much to have fun. We just had each other, a ranch, and way too much time to come up with crazy ideas.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://houstonplantbingo.square.site
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/houstonplantbingo
