From Plant Hooks to Plant Empire - Looks Like Work, Season 1, Ep 8
If you’ve ever tiptoed around calling yourself a founder because your business “just kind of happened,” this episode is for you.
Elisheva Manekin, the industrial designer turned founder of Loop Living, didn’t set out to build a plantware empire. She just wanted to make better plant hooks. But over the past 11 years, that blurry idea grew into a thriving, sustainable business—and in this conversation, she takes us behind the serene Instagram feed to share what it really took to get there.
We talk about letting go of bestsellers that didn’t feel aligned (yes, even when they were profitable), how niching down unlocked her brand identity, and what it’s like to finally say, “I have a company”—with pride, not a question mark.
And if you’ve been dancing with burnout while trying to do All The Things™, Elisheva’s take on control, perfectionism, and letting Shabbat be a built-in digital detox might just shift something in you.
What We Talked About:
Going from IKEA-vibe clutter to focused plant design
Letting go of bestsellers that didn’t align with the brand vision
Building a real, sustainable business (not just a side hustle with receipts)
Hiring a team as a recovering perfectionist
Using clear metrics without letting them define your worth
Burnout as identity—and the slow work of detaching from it
Instagram as intentional strategy, not just pretty pictures
And why she doesn’t call herself a designer anymore
Why It Stuck With Me:
Elisheva said something that hit me right in the founder gut:
“You haven’t gotten anything done—but you also haven’t gotten sleep done.”
Same, friend. Same.
Running a business isn’t about looking like a boss. It’s about asking better questions—like the one Elisheva asks herself (and teaches her team):
“Is this worth the time for the sale?”
Sometimes the answer is no. And sometimes the answer is: it’s worth it because it’s not about the sale. It’s about the brand, the team, the way it feels to finally say “I have a business” and believe it.
Listen In If:
You’re growing a product-based business and feeling pulled in a thousand directions
You secretly wonder if your business “counts”
You’re craving honest, practical insight that doesn’t pretend success is effortless
“You haven’t gotten anything done—but you also haven’t gotten sleep done.”
Listen to this episode on Spotify | Apple | Wherever you get your podcasts
Resources & Mentions:
Catch up on previous seasons of Looks Like Work wherever you get your podcasts: Spotify | Apple | Podbean
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