Photos by Jennifer Silverberg
For Kay Wells, the story of Posie Pots began with a common problem: mosquitoes.
The St. Louis entrepreneur was looking for a way to keep standing water from collecting around her outdoor planters when an idea struck. She sketched it on an index card, experimented with PVC piping and improvised materials, and began developing what would become Posie Pots, her brand of self-watering planters that only require water once a month.
After five years of research and development, including transitioning manufacturing to 3D printers, Wells officially launched Posie Pots in 2019. As of this writing, Wells is preparing Posie Pots to enter 100 Walmart stores as part of a planned spring 2027 launch with the retailer, a milestone that will move the company from primarily using 3D printing into mass production.
In the past year, Posie Pots has also gained national attention through a Walmart commercial, a partnership with comedian and TV personality Howie Mandel, and a billboard in New York City’s Times Square.
For Wells, those moments are more than signs of commercial success: They represent the persistence required to turn an idea into a product, and a product into a company. “It was the culmination of all the hard work, dreaming, late nights, tenacity, and grit that it takes to be an entrepreneur,” Wells says of her recent successes.
The company’s growth has been fueled in part by its focus on form and function. Posie Pots are made with PLA, a corn-based material, and are designed to capture and retain water so plants can absorb it over time. The planters are also designed to stand out, with wave and twisted-square patterns.
But Wells’ vision extends beyond selling planters. Her background in the aerospace and advanced manufacturing industries has shaped the company’s educational and community work. Through partnerships with organizations such as the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center St. Louis, Saint Louis University, and local workforce development groups, she’s helping to introduce students and adults to 3D printing, computer-aided design, robotics, and other innovative technologies that are reshaping manufacturing.
We recently caught up with Wells to discuss the company’s growing national footprint as well as her broader vision and hopes for Posie Pots in the years to come.
Posie Pots has seen incredible growth in the past two years. Tell us about the major milestones.
So much has happened. One of the biggest opportunities was with Walmart.
We were in talks with Walmart.com, and that turned into an amazing commercial that generated millions of views. They shared it across Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, giving people across the country a chance to see Posie Pots in action. They also featured our team, our St. Louis location, and our production facility. We had a full videographer crew come through and film the printers, the products, and our team. It was really exciting. We were also invited back to Walmart’s Open Call. We received a gold ticket, which means Posie Pots will be going into 100 Walmart stores as part of the upcoming launch.
On top of that, we’ve had a call from the executive producer of “Shark Tank,” and Daymond John’s team selected us for a television opportunity highlighting small business owners. Then I got a call from Howie Mandel’s office about a potential partnership.
We’ve also continued our work with the Tory Burch organization and with partners here in St. Louis. So, it’s been this really exciting combination of national exposure and local collaboration.
How has the Walmart opportunity affected the growth of Posie Pots?
When Walmart invited us back, they said, “Come back with the numbers.” They wanted to know whether people were interested in plants and self-watering planters, and they wanted to see what our marketing looked like. So, we built out our marketing team and put a real strategy in place. We focused on Walmart.com, e-commerce, our customer base, user-generated content, and social media.
When we brought the numbers back, we were impressed ourselves. We were seeing about a million viewers and a million impressions week over week. People weren’t just buying the product; we were also seeing organic customers leaving great reviews.
It showed us that people were looking for something that was functional but also beautiful. Our designs — including our wave design and twisted-square design — are very distinctive. They become conversation pieces.
How did the Howie Mandel partnership come about?
Howie Mandel is a partner with Trendy Social, a marketing group that works with brands and creators across YouTube, social media, and other platforms. He’s also a plant dad — and a germaphobe — so he loves plants but doesn’t necessarily want to touch them, water them, and do all the things that come with taking care of them.
Their team was looking for up-and-coming brands in what they called the “smart living” category, particularly in the plant space. Posie Pots checked all the boxes, and they reached out about doing a plant partnership. That turned into a really fun campaign. The commercial has run across cable networks and social media, and we’ve also been able to use it on our website.
And then we ended up on a billboard in Times Square with Howie. That was pretty incredible.
What did it feel like to see Posie Pots in Times Square?
It was a dream. It was very serendipitous. I kept thinking, “Am I dreaming? No, I’m awake. I’m actually doing this.”
It was the culmination of all the hard work, dreaming, late nights, tenacity, and grit that it takes to be an entrepreneur. You have to be steadfast and keep believing in what you’re doing.
You won first place in the Products Division at the 2025 Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Pitch Accelerate Competition. What did that mean to you, and for Posie Pots?
We won first place, and Lowe’s sponsored the competition. We also received $20,000.
That relationship with Lowe’s is exciting, and we’re hopeful that it can eventually lead to having Posie Pots in their stores as well.
Locally, we’re already at MADE and the Missouri History Museum gift shop, so we’re continuing to build that presence.
Posie Pots started as an idea on an index card. What does it mean to see how far that original idea has come?
It’s amazing, because it literally started as a sketch. I still have that index card.
Then came the prototyping — using things like PVC piping and whatever we could find to figure out how to make the idea work. But that eventually became this beautiful product. And the amazing thing is that the fundamental Posie Pots design hasn’t changed in seven years. It’s the same basic product that our first customer received.
We’ve added new iterations, different sizes and collections, but the original concept has remained.
You recently partnered with Girls, Inc. at an event at WashU. What did that experience mean to you?
It was incredible. Seeing those girls and how excited they were was almost as exhilarating as seeing Posie Pots in Times Square. I was that girl once, so it felt very full circle.
The whole event was about preparing these young women for the greatness that’s coming for them — whether they become engineers, entrepreneurs, doctors, videographers, reporters, or whatever they decide to pursue.
They spent the week doing leadership exercises and visiting places like the City Museum. Posie Pots were on every table, and the girls all planted flowers in them.
It was just really special to see them being encouraged to understand that they have something inside them to share with the world.
You’ve also continued your work in advanced manufacturing and workforce development in St. Louis. Why is that such an important part of Posie Pots?
Posie Pots has always had a give-back component. One of the things we want to do is teach the next generation about 3D printing and advanced manufacturing.
I had the opportunity to be one of the first adults to learn about 3D printing in the defense world, and I’ve accumulated thousands of hours of experience with the technology. I see it as a huge part of the future — rapid prototyping, advanced manufacturing, and ways of moving beyond some of the traditional manufacturing processes.
There’s also a sustainability component that’s really important to me. I’ve always been an environmental advocate, so I want to bring this technology forward in a way that helps people think differently about how we make things.
The kids are incredible with it. You put them in front of a computer, and they’re drawing and designing. They pick it up like sponges.
That’s why our work with organizations like AMIC, Saint Louis University, and other workforce development partners is so important. We want to work with students, but we also want to help adults understand what the future of manufacturing looks like.
For people who aren’t familiar with advanced manufacturing, how would you explain it in simple terms?
The piece of advanced manufacturing that I really lean into is 3D printing.
Think about how a traditional product might be made using a mold. A water bottle or a deodorant container, for example, might be formed using tooling or molds. You put the material into the mold, press it together, and create the product.
With 3D printing, you don’t need that same kind of tooling. We use a process called FDM, or fused deposition modeling. We take a material — in Posie Pots’ case, a PLA or corn-based, bio-based material — and feed it through the printer.
The printer reads a digital file and then pushes out one layer at a time. It builds the product layer by layer.
There are other types of 3D printing, too, including resin printing and stereolithography. But the basic idea is that you can create complex shapes without needing a traditional mold.
Advanced manufacturing also includes things like CAD and computer-based design, as well as artificial intelligence, cameras, robotics, and other advanced technologies used to make or build something.
What does the next phase of growth look like for Posie Pots?
We’re preparing for a spring 2027 launch involving a thousand units across 100 Walmart stores.
That’s going to move us from primarily using 3D printing into mass production, which is an exciting transition.
But the product itself isn’t changing. We’re still using eco-friendly materials, promoting water conservation, and maintaining the same basic “water once a month” concept.
The planter is designed to capture and retain water so that instead of water simply running through the bottom of the pot, it can be absorbed by the plant over time.
Do you know where those 100 Walmart stores will be located in the U.S.? Will the St. Louis region be included?
I’m definitely promoting and advocating for St. Louis to be one of those locations. We have so many local supporters in Missouri, Illinois, and the St. Louis region, and I always want to keep St. Louis on the map.
We’re also seeing strong interest in states like California, Texas, and Nevada, as well as in the Northeast, including New York, North Carolina, and Connecticut. Florida and Georgia are also strong markets.
Everywhere I go, I tell the Posie Pots story, and I shoutout St. Louis.
What else is ahead for Posie Pots over the next year?
We’ll continue working with AMIC and our other partners as advanced manufacturing continues to grow in St. Louis.
Saint Louis University is rolling out new advanced manufacturing curriculum this fall, including areas like CAD, CAM, and STEM. I’ve been involved in conversations around that curriculum and have been helping with the educational component.
Our Posie STEM and workshops for youth will be another extension of that work.
On the business side, we have a major $1 million initiative coming this spring. We’re also in talks with Lowe’s and Target, although our primary focus right now is continuing to build on our Walmart path and our other partnerships.
I’m really excited about what’s happening with AMIC and SLU because it’s not just about big businesses using this technology anymore. Small businesses and individuals can use 3D printing to turn ideas into actual products.
Maybe someone wants to make a pair of glasses or customize an earbud piece to fit their ear. They can get in there and make things themselves.
When you look at where Posie Pots is today and where you want it to go, what’s the bigger vision?
I really can’t finish this without giving thanks and grace to God, because I feel like I’m a vessel following this gift and dream that was given to me.
The idea for Posie Pots came to me almost like a stroke of lightning when mosquitoes were getting me. That was the original spark.
Now I just want to continue reaching our customers and doing the work that I know needs to be done — not only sharing Posie Pots, but giving back, educating, inspiring, and sharing my story.
JOIN THE STORY:
- Learn more about Posie Pots on its website.
- Connect with Posie Pots on Instagram, Facebook, and X.
- See how Posie Pots are printed on the company’s YouTube channel.