A Texas mother transformed her love of pumpkins and designing into a profitable business that earns as much as $10,000 per day during the season.
Heather Torres, the creator of Porch Pumpkins, shared the story behind her thriving porch-scaping business on The Koerner Office podcast with Chris Koerner. She specialises in designing and installing stunning pumpkin displays for homes.
In an interview released on October 2, Torres described how she got the idea when she noticed her friends spending a lot of money on professional Christmas decorations. With a background in decorating her home with pumpkins, Torres took the plunge in 2020 and launched her own business.
Pumpkin Paradise: The Story Of Porch Pumpkins
Her company has grown rapidly thanks to her dedication and the help of her talented team of designers and delivery drivers.
"My first year in business I expected to design 30 porches, we did 250 in 2020! This year we will provide 1037 pumpkin displays to Porch Pumpkins clients in the Dallas Fort Worth area and Houston," Torres tells PEOPLE. "We look forward to continuing our growth and will add Austin in 2026!"
Her website boasts an impressive array of packages, ranging from small to large displays and priced between $325 and $1,350. Due to high demand, she is no longer accepting orders for the 2024 season.
In the interview, Torres mentions a viral Instagram video from September 26 that shows her rushing to finish an order. She told Koerner that she personally completed 21 of the 50 orders they had that day. The host commented, "That's a $10,000 day," and Torres agreed with a smile.
Porch Pumpkins also provides cleanup and removal services that can be scheduled before or after Thanksgiving. About 65 percent to 70 percent of her customers choose this option. Torres donates all of the pumpkins she receives back to local farms for animal feed, and the leftover straw is also given to a nearby farm.
Torres, who lives near Dallas in the Rockwall area, delivers her pumpkin displays to six zip codes throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston areas. Koerner praised her for creating a new industry of luxury pumpkin displays.
"What inspired the name is, I have been decorating with pumpkins for a long time. In 2013 when I stayed at home with my oldest son, he was a little 7-month-old, I went crazy with pumpkins," she explains.
Growing The Pumpkin Empire
Torres deeply understood how to care for pumpkin decorations and prolong their lives. "I used to put them in my landscaping and what I learned is, if you put pumpkins in landscaping they will rot faster than if you put them on a porch. I knew this because I've had years and years of decorating my home," she said.
"So I knew that I wanted it to be very clear that we would be putting pumpkins on your porch so they will last longer," she adds, which is how the name Porch Pumpkins was born."
Although people now contact her with business proposals, Torres started by promoting her services through word of mouth among her friends. This promotion eventually led to a few successful partnerships.
After someone with 80,000 followers posted about Porch Pumpkins on their Instagram, Torres' phone started ringing with requests from strangers who wanted her services.
Women have repeatedly proven their entrepreneurial prowess. Consider the example of Courtney Lynch, a vintage clothing seller who transformed her humble shop into a lucrative business, generating £25,000 per month.
Similarly, Liz Wilcox, a single mother, leveraged her email marketing expertise to create a thriving business generating $40,000 monthly. It is safe to say that women have a remarkable track record of founding successful companies.
