Careers at FGMN Nursery

Work in plant health.

FGMN Nursery is plants, tissue culture and the beneficial insects that keep plants healthy. We're based in Lafayette, New Jersey, we ship all over the country, and on January 1 we get the keys to our new plant shop. Do we have it all figured out? No. Is there a plan to figure it out? Also no. We try things, keep what works and laugh at the rest.

ApplySee the jobs

At a glance

Where
Lafayette, New Jersey
Open roles
6
Hours
Full or part time. Tell us what works for you.
Pay
Ranges below. Tell us what you're looking for.
Benefits
Paid time off and a staff discount
Apply
Email careers@fgmnnursery.com with your resume.

01 · The jobs

One job to lead.
And the team around it.

We're not hiring in a rush. We'd rather wait for the right person than fill a spot, so read what each job needs. If it sounds like you, apply. If the timing's off, we'll keep your application.

Store Manager

Full time · Lafayette, NJ

On January 1 we get the keys to an empty shop in Lafayette, New Jersey. We need someone who has run a plant shop to help turn it into the place plant people drive out of their way for. You'll run it day to day, but the real job is growing it: what we carry, the events we host, the team we build and the customers who keep coming back. There's no playbook yet. You'd help write it, side by side with the owner.

Pay range$55,000–65,000 a year

The job, in detail

What you'll do

  • Run the shop day to day: open, close, the floor, the register and the plants
  • Choose what we carry with the owner, then buy it, price it and keep stock counts honest
  • Plan workshops, events and reasons for people to come back
  • Hire, train and lead the part-time team
  • Track sales, margins and what customers ask for, and bring it to a weekly check-in
  • Bring ideas to grow the shop, and see them through

You need

  • At least 3 years working in a plant shop, nursery, garden center or greenhouse
  • At least 1 year leading people or running a shop or department
  • Deep houseplant knowledge, aroids included, and a feel for what plant buyers want
  • You can explain technical plant science (light and humidity, root health, pest life cycles, how a predatory mite finds its prey) so anyone can follow it. and teach your team to do the same
  • Experience buying, pricing and managing inventory
  • Comfort with the numbers: sales, margins, what sells and what doesn't

Even better if

  • You've grown a shop's sales, events or following, and can tell us how
  • You know growers and suppliers in the Northeast
  • You've worked with tissue culture plants, beneficial insects or integrated pest management
  • You can teach a customer the why, not just the what

Answer these in your email

  1. How many years have you worked with plants professionally, and where?
  2. Tell us about something you did that grew a shop or department. What did you change, and what happened?
  3. Picture a new plant shop in its first 90 days. What would you do first, and why?

Good to know

The shop has a resident parrot, who has opinions. Being comfortable around birds helps.

Email us about this job →

Face to face with customers

Every one of these jobs is teaching as much as selling.

Retail Associate

Full or part time · Lafayette, NJ

Help customers, look after the plants and keep the shop a place people want to linger. This is a teaching job as much as a selling one: you'll learn the science behind plant care and which bug handles which pest, and before long people will be asking for you by name.

Pay range$16–19 an hour

The job, in detail

What you'll do

  • Greet customers and help them find what they need
  • Water, groom and rotate the plants
  • Ring up sales and hand out order pickups
  • Keep shelves stocked and the floor clean

You need

  • You show up when you're scheduled, every time, on a regular weekly schedule
  • You know plant care in depth, or you're set on becoming highly educated in it and will put in the study to get there
  • You can explain technical plant science (light and humidity, root health, pest life cycles, how a predatory mite finds its prey) so anyone can follow it. This is the heart of the job
  • You're friendly with customers, even busy ones

Even better if

  • You've worked in a plant shop, garden center or other retail
  • You keep houseplants of your own
  • You don't mind getting soil on your hands

Answer these in your email

  1. What houseplant do you know best, and what's one care mistake people make with it? Explain why it goes wrong.
  2. A customer asks why we'd sell bugs to get rid of bugs. Explain it the way you would at the counter.
  3. Tell us about a time you helped someone find exactly what they needed.

Good to know

The shop has a resident parrot. You'll be introduced.

Email us about this job →

Live Selling Host (Palmstreet)

Part time · Lafayette, NJ

Host our live plant sales on Palmstreet. Every show is part sale, part science class: show each plant up close, explain what it needs and why, answer the chat as it scrolls by and make it worth sticking around for. To everyone watching, you are FGMN. No pressure.

Pay range$18–25 an hour

The job, in detail

What you'll do

  • Host live sales on Palmstreet on a regular schedule
  • Pick and prep the plants for each show
  • Show each plant up close and talk through its care and what makes it special
  • Answer viewers' questions in real time and keep the show moving
  • Hand sold plants to packing with the right details
  • Tell us what sold, what didn't and what viewers asked for

You need

  • You're at ease on camera and can keep a live show moving
  • You know houseplants and their care in depth, aroids especially, or you're set on becoming highly educated in it and will put in the study to get there
  • You can explain technical topics live and unscripted (light and humidity, root health, pest life cycles, how our beneficial insects work) so any viewer can follow. This is the heart of the job
  • You can work some evenings and weekends

Even better if

  • You've sold live on Palmstreet or a similar app
  • You have a following among plant people
  • You can make a viewer laugh and learn something in the same minute

Answer these in your email

  1. Pick a houseplant you love. In a few sentences, how would you sell it on a live show?
  2. A viewer types: "Why are my new leaves coming in small and pale?" How would you explain it live, in under a minute?
  3. Have you sold or streamed live before? Where, and how did it go?

Good to know

Live shows run when plant people are watching, so expect some evenings and weekends. We'll show you how our shows run.

Email us about this job →

Customer Care Specialist

Part time · Lafayette, NJ or remote

Answer our customers by email and chat. Where's my order, what's eating my plant, which bug do I need, and why. Warm, clear and quick, like a friend who happens to know a lot about mites and can explain them.

Pay range$18–23 an hour

The job, in detail

What you'll do

  • Answer customer emails and chats about orders and pests
  • Help customers choose the right treatment, using our guides
  • Take care of order changes and problem reports
  • Tell us what customers keep asking, so we can fix the cause

You need

  • You write clearly, warmly and with correct spelling
  • You stay patient and kind when someone is upset
  • You can explain technical plant science (light and humidity, root health, pest life cycles, how a predatory mite finds its prey) so anyone can follow it. This is the heart of the job
  • You know plant care in depth, or you're set on becoming highly educated in it and will put in the study to get there

Even better if

  • You've done customer service by email or chat
  • You garden or keep houseplants
  • You like solving a puzzle

Answer these in your email

  1. A customer writes: "My order came and it just looks like a tube of sawdust. Did I get ripped off?" Write the first few sentences of your reply.
  2. Tell us about a time you turned an unhappy customer around.

Good to know

We'll train you on the bugs and the pests they handle.

Email us about this job →

Behind the scenes

The careful work that makes everything else possible.

Packing & Shipping Associate

Full or part time · Lafayette, NJ

Pack and ship our orders, including living insects that need to arrive alive and well. Careful, steady work at the bench, and very satisfying when the last box is sealed.

Pay range$17–21 an hour

The job, in detail

What you'll do

  • Pack live insect orders so they travel well
  • Pack plant care goods and supplies
  • Print shipping labels and check every order against its slip
  • Keep the bench stocked and organized

You need

  • You show up when you're scheduled, every time, especially on shipping days
  • You can stand for a shift and lift boxes up to 30 pounds
  • You check your work before it leaves your hands

Even better if

  • You've packed or shipped orders before
  • You keep a steady pace on busy days without cutting corners

Answer these in your email

  1. These boxes carry living insects. What would you check before sealing one?
  2. Tell us about a job where getting the details right really mattered.

Good to know

Live insects ship on set days of the week, so those days are the busiest.

Email us about this job →

Insect Rearing Technician

Full or part time · Lafayette, NJ

Raise the beneficial insects and mites we ship. Feed the cultures, keep them clean and healthy, and make sure every batch is ready to go out. Expect to develop strong opinions about humidity.

Pay range$18–23 an hour

The job, in detail

What you'll do

  • Feed and look after the insect and mite cultures
  • Keep rearing areas clean, at the right temperature and humidity
  • Check quality and quantity before anything ships
  • Keep simple, accurate records

You need

  • Study or work in biology, entomology, agriculture or a lab, or real experience raising living things
  • You keep careful, honest records
  • You can stick to a care schedule, including the days it isn't convenient

Even better if

  • You've worked with insects or mites
  • You notice small changes before they become big ones
  • You're fine working with very small creatures, up close

Answer these in your email

  1. What living things have you raised or cared for, and how did you keep track of how they were doing?
  2. A culture looks off one morning: fewer insects than yesterday. What would you check first?

Good to know

Living cultures need regular care, so we'll work out a schedule that covers them together.

Email us about this job →

02 · What it's like here

Three things we stand on. Everything else, we're figuring out.

Science first

Everything we sell and say starts with how plants and insects actually work: roots, light, humidity, pest life cycles and why a predatory mite does what it does. We experiment constantly, keep what the evidence supports and drop what it doesn't. You'll learn a lot here, and you'll be expected to.

Customers are friends

We'd rather teach than sell. When someone's plant is struggling, we explain what's going on and why, in words they can use, and we're straight with them even when the answer is no.

We try, play and do

We'd rather try something this week than talk about it for a month. We play with new plants, new methods and new ideas, and we keep moving forward, a little better each week than the last. Some ideas flop. We own them, fix them and laugh about them.

03 · Fair warning

What drives us up the wall.

Better you hear it now than in your first week.

Coasting

Doing the minimum, or waiting to be told. Living plants and insects don't wait, and neither do our customers.

Blaming

When something goes wrong, we want to know what happened and how to fix it, not whose fault it was. Own it, fix it, move on.

Complaining without a fix

Point out the problem, absolutely. Then bring at least one idea for solving it, even a rough one.

Staying quiet

If you see something we could do better, say so. The idea you keep to yourself is the only one that can't help.

04 · How hiring works

No rush.
Just the right people.

  1. 01

    You email us

    Send your resume to careers@fgmnnursery.com with the pay you want, the hours that work and your answers to the job questions, written the way you'd explain it to a friend.

  2. 02

    We read every one

    Start to finish, by a person. If it looks like a fit, we'll email you.

  3. 03

    We talk

    About the job, the hours and the pay, with a look around if you're local. Bring your questions. We'll have a few odd ones of our own.

  4. 04

    We decide together

    If it's right for both of us, we pick a start date that works.

05 · Apply

Tell us about you.

Send us an email with your resume. Write it like you're talking to a person, because you are.

We only use what you send to consider you for a job here. Please don't include your salary history, criminal history or age.

Email

careers@fgmnnursery.com

What to put in it

  1. Which job, in the subject line
  2. The pay you're looking for
  3. Full or part time, and when you can work
  4. The earliest you could start
  5. Your answers to that job's questions (open "The job, in detail")
  6. Your resume, attached, or a link to it or your LinkedIn
  7. That you're 18 or older

Each job's "Email us about this job" link starts the email for you, questions included. If the timing isn't right now, tell us if we can keep your email for later openings.

FGMN Nursery is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applicants of every background and don't discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, marital or civil union status, pregnancy, veteran status or any other characteristic protected by law. If you need an accommodation to apply, email careers@fgmnnursery.com.