Small Business Spotlight: Arrows Aim
Leeann Fox’s transition from hobby grower to downtown shop owner. Arrow’s Aim is cultivating plants and growing creativity and connection in Mount Vernon.
Story By: Sabrina Diamond
Downtown Mount Vernon is home to a growing number of small businesses built on passion, creativity, and community. One of the newest additions, Arrows Aim, brings a fresh burst of green to 1st Street with plants, pottery, and workshops designed to connect people within the local community.
For owner Leeann Fox, the business journey began long before she opened her brick-and-mortar.
“Everything about my business has been a natural evolution of my own hobbies and finding the needs of a grower, facilitating them, and then being able to share that with other people,” Leeann said.
In 2020, she seized the opportunity to turn her lifelong love of the natural world into a profession.
Her early years were spent building connections at local pop-up markets and makers' events. Along the way, Leanne discovered that her creativity didn’t stop with plants, and so she began making pottery inspired by them. Eventually, the chance to move into a space in Downtown Mount Vernon allowed her to expand. Now, customers can find larger plants, classes, fertilizers, and specialized services all under one roof.
Community has always been the heart of Arrows Aim.
“Getting to know my customers and interacting with them on a very regular basis, and being able to respond to requests and finding commonalities between us, has absolutely been a huge community builder for me,” Leeann shared. “ It’s been profound, not just on a professional level, but also a personal one.”
This fall, Leeann is planning mounted plant classes, terrarium building, and cactus staging, alongside collaborations with other local services, including aura photography and readings in October and wreath-making in November.
“I want this to be a place where people can come and engage,” she expressed.
The shop name carries its own story inspired by her shiba inu, Arrow, and the 1971 animated film The Point.
While entrepreneurship always comes with surprises, Leeann felt well-prepared thanks to her background in operations and her adaptable nature.
“I’m always banking data…between that and being someone who is naturally creative, it’s really easy for me to dive into something new and adapt,” Leeann said.
Whether it was building her mobile greenhouse or opening her retail storefront, she’s embraced every challenge with the mindset that when opportunities present themselves, she is able to commit and hit the ground running.
Looking ahead, Leanne is excited to continue growing her plant mobile and deepening her roots in Mount Vernon.
“I see the potential that downtown Mount Vernon has,” she said. “And I believe that I possess some of the Spirit that can contribute to a lively downtown.”
Be sure to stop by and give her a warm welcome to the community!
