Right now, we are living through some of the most tumultuous political times our country has ever known. I'm David Remnick, and each week on the New Yorker Radio Hour, I'll try to make sense of what's happening, alongside politicians and thinkers like Cory Booker, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, Tim Waltz, Ketanji Brown-Jackson, Newt Gingrich, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Charlemagne Tha God, and so many more. That's all on the New Yorker Radio Hour, wherever you listen to podcasts. When the going gets tough, the tough get growing. From Marketplace, I'm Sabri Beneshore in New York. We are back again today with the Marketplace Economic Pulse, where we look at the economy through the eyes of all kinds of different people and businesses. And today we go back to Kristen Summers and Ivan Martinez, co-owners of Tula House, a plant shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. They rode the pandemic plant boom and the aftermath. Then they pivoted to also do design and installation. And now they're facing a whole new world of challenges and still coming out on top. Small businesses have been dealing with a lot over the past year, whether it's tariffs or most recently high fuel costs. Does that kind of stuff apply in plant world? It does. Yeah. I mean, where we are up in New York, we have some local vendors, but for the majority of the plants, they come from Florida. So definitely, you know, fuel prices affect those costs. We also sell pottery and tools and just household equipment. And a lot of that comes from overseas, too, from the UK or Japan. So that we saw a big hit during, you know, even the holidays. And we've had to raise our prices over the holidays because of all the tariffs. You know, it's not just the plants. It's everything that comes along with the plant. So the pottery and the tools and, you know, the soil, all that gets affected by the economy as well. Rent in New York has been the nemesis of many a business. And your neighborhood Greenpoint has seen a lot of growth in recent years. I mean, is it hard to run a plant store while paying New York rent? Yeah. Hence the evolution of our business model. You know, especially when the pandemic hit, we're husband and wife. We have two small kids. It hit us pretty hard that we needed not to have all of our eggs in one basket So building the service business alongside the retail business was even more important And even so now as we go into renegotiating our master lease next year, we don't know what's going to happen. So it's hard, but it's also wonderful because we're also in New York City and there's always another space. But I mean, we love our space, so we don't want to have to go anywhere. or have it doubled on us. But we don't know, especially in Greenpoint, as you mentioned. This neighborhood, we've seen a lot recently of small businesses getting pushed out. Before we go, for all the plant parents listening, what is your top piece of advice to take care of indoor plants? You say one and I'll say one. Okay. I always invite people to think, I always congratulate them that they have now graduated to be Mother Nature. Right? So like, congratulations, you are now Mother Nature. And so bring it home. And if you don't know what I mean, then step outside and feel the wind and feel the rain and you'll get it. Kristen's always more eloquent than I am. I would say that in New York, plants give you a moment to like stop for a second and look at your environment. Because we all just get in whatever the cheapest apartment is that we could find and then you want to plant, but then you don't think about, oh, where's the light coming from? And do I live in a basement apartment? And like, maybe it is really dry in this apartment. So plants give you a second to see what your environment is and find the real plant that works for you in your space. Kristen Summers and Ivan Martinez run Tula House, a plant shop in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Thank you both so much. Thank you. Real pleasure. We be right back Tree music Hockey Sex Of bugs Regardless of whether we looking at science or not science we bring a rigorous curiosity to get you the answers And hopefully make you see the world anew. Radiolab, adventures on the edge of what we think we know. Wherever you get your podcasts. Marketing tools laten je producten opvallen en geïntegreerde presentoplossingen besparen tijd voor starters en groeiende bedrijven. Zowel online, persoonlijk, als onderweg. Shopify is gemaakt voor ondernemers zoals jij. Meld je aan voor je proefperiode van 1 euro per maand op shopify.eu. We are less than a month away from graduation ceremonies on college campuses across the country this spring. And graduates are entering an uncertain job market. Data out this week from the National Association of Colleges and Employers shows expected hiring for new graduates is actually up from a year ago, about 5.6 percent. But the unemployment rate for young people with college degrees is still elevated. This week, we're going to hear from several students navigating this. And we start today with Megan Bailey, a computer engineering student at the University of Central Florida. I think as a kid, I kind of had all of the stereotypical traits of a kid who wants to be an engineer. I was always trying to build stuff. I always just wanted to create something and do something that was like very creative and like different from what I've done before. So as a kid that was like, you know, making potions and now it's, you know, getting to write programs and design hardware. I'm really interested in like things like satellites and like the communication networks and especially with like the acceleration of AI. And I'm really curious to see how we can like expand access to communication technologies. The entire time I've been in college, I've kind of just been focusing on getting a job and getting a job because I was really, really scared of, you know, what seemed like the black hole of like graduating and not having a job, which has, you know, seemed to be a very real possibility. I feel very lucky that I was able to secure a job in like the field that I want to be in I just feel pretty uncertain about you know longer term what the future is because I think you know, we're seeing like more and more junior level positions being eliminated. And, you know, the bar seems to keep getting higher and higher for entry level positions. AI is definitely, you know, a real thing to be considered, especially in my industry. But I think, you know with engineering and with software there's always something that's the newest thing and so you can't you know be scared of it as an engineer you have to recognize that the industry is about change and the future is not a certain thing the current state of the economy is something that i honestly try not to think about too much because it stresses me out so bad i try to just put my head down and focus on the things that i can control and like the actions that I can immediately take. It's very confusing at best. And in general, it just creates a feeling of a lot of pressure and a lot of uncertainty. I just want to be able to pay my bills and not worry about it. That was Megan Bailey, a graduating senior at the University of Central Florida. In New York, I'm Sabri Beneshour with the Marketplace Morning Report. From APM American Public Media. As the Trump administration ramps up its crackdown on immigration, more people are making the difficult decision to leave the United States. I'm Rima Jerez, and this week on my podcast, This Is Uncomfortable, we're asking, what does it really cost to leave the U.S. when you're undocumented? And what can life look like on the other side? I have to look around and remind myself that this is not a movie. This is my life. I am able to cross borders that I had never allowed myself to dream of. Be sure to listen to This Is Uncomfortable wherever you get your podcasts.
