330 Homes Fall 2021

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by MORGAN MCGRATH and photos provided by LEPLEY & CO.

MI R A CL E GROW Indoor plants are a mood booster you need.

inside the Massillon Train Depot followed in November. Plants have provided a positive fresh start in his life, so he advocates for homeowners to get houseplants to improve their well-being. And many happily do. “A lot of customers … they’ll say things like, I needed a little boost of serotonin today, so I came into the shop, ” he says. Lepley offers some tips on how to pick out houseplants to enrich your life and home. Northside, 21 Furnace St., Akron, Depot, 13 Penn Ave. SE, Massillon, lepleyandco.com

H ouseplants are lovely to look at, but research has also linked them to better mental health. Studies have shown that plants lift your mood, reduce stress and have a calming effect. Justin Lepley attests that. “It gives something outside of ourselves to really focus on and care for,” he says. “Oftentimes, that reflects our own self-care and mental health.”

Graduating from Case Western Reserve University's School of Law in May 2020 amid the pandemic spurred Lepley to seek something more. He used his downtime to start selling plants from his personal garden out of a stand he set up in his Akron yard and named it Lepley & Co. Business grew so much that

Lepley expanded to local suppliers and opened a

Northside Marketplace location in August 2020, and a location

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