Nelly Garcia said she couldn’t contain herself when she found out her company was accepted as part of the 2026 cohort for the Brookfield Shops retail incubator program.
“When I got the email, I was screaming and shouting in excitement,” she told the Landmark. “You’re just overwhelmed with so much joy. You’ve worked so hard, and you’ve risked a lot in this process, this journey, and to see that somebody sees you and notices you? And it’s a community that you have a special place in your heart [for]? I don’t know if the words will do it justice.”
Garcia is the owner and operator of Down to Earth Herbal Infusions, a store selling organic loose-leaf tea, herbal bath and body goods and tea-related accessories. The shop also offers a tea bar at farmers markets and other pop-up appearances, so customers can try the custom tea blends before buying them.
“It’s a family-run wellness brand, and it came from a desire, mainly, to slow down and reconnect with what truly matters. It was created during a time of a personal and professional transition, a time of reflection. I always knew I wanted to start my own business, but I didn’t know what theme to go with,” she said.
At the time, the food manufacturing company where she worked was undergoing acquisition.
“There are so many what-ifs, right? At that time, I was like, I don’t want to be at the mercy of the what-ifs, and I want to have a little bit more say in what I do,” she said. “My morning routine was drinking my tea, journaling, doing the stuff I usually do. This always has felt very good to me, my tea ritual in the morning, and that is actually inspired by the woman in our family.”
The “deep respect” for nature and, specifically, loose-leaf tea that Garcia said her grandmother, great aunts and mother passed down to her is what inspired Down to Earth, she said.
Garcia said she became aware of the incubator program after participating in its farmers market.
“We did so well in the first year at Brookfield, and we were very well embraced by Brookfield, so we have kept returning ever since then,” she said. “Last year, we did 95 events. We participated in 10 or 11 markets, and Brookfield has been our core market that we plan our schedule around.”
When it came time to pitch Down to Earth to the selection jury for the Brookfield Shops, Garcia said she felt both nervous and excited.
“We had to present our business plan to the board, and it was kind of like, how do you get the message across that it’s something that you’re so passionate about and hit the key elements of the business in a small amount of time?” she said. “That was a process of figuring out the words to say to share the journey of the building of the business.”
Now that Down to Earth has been accepted and is scheduled to open in June, Garcia said she’s most looking forward to joining the tight-knit community of vendors, which includes three returning groups.
“When we do the farmers markets, we talk to [other vendors] a lot. What works, what doesn’t work, so there’s a lot of value that goes into these small business initiatives that I can’t say enough [about]. Just, to have that support and community around you, that is very much needed, in anything you do,” she said. “Community is so important, and we’re very excited to be able to share our products with this community.”
