Who We Are:

Jillian Eads, owner & operator

Hey! My name is Jill, I’m a former high school teacher turned entrepreneur with a passion for plants and design. In 2018, as many educators do, I was looking for a supplemental part time job. I had begun to notice that spending 40 hours / week in an interior classroom with no windows, no sunshine and no fresh air was negatively affecting my mental and physical health. Spending more of my daily routine outdoors became something I knew I needed to prioritize. With previous experience in horticulture, I started working part-time at a well established local nursery & garden center. Pretty quickly I could feel a noticeable difference in my overall health and happiness. The time spent in the sun and getting my hands in the “dirt” with creative projects was so healing! That got the ball rolling for what would become a passion project turned profession…

Lacy Counts, tech guru & assistant designer

Hi, I’m Lacy Counts! Mom, graphic designer, front end web developer and astrology enthusiast. With a background education in design for sustainability from the Savannah College of Art & Design (S.C.A.D), I have always had an interest in the process of product manufacturing and how it affects our planet. Fatigued from spending most working hours behind a screen, I found myself wanting to pick up where my furniture design studies had left off. Instead of building things online, I wanted to build things IRL. Joining my love for local product and food sourcing with an eye for aesthetics, I enjoy helping people utilize nature and community to enhance their everyday lives.

Why “Eight 5 Outdoors”?

August 5, 2016 - While out with mutual friends, we met for the first time and very quickly discovered that night was our(!?) birthday. Exactly 365 days apart, time went on and we began to discover a string of other things we had in common (for example, both our moms are named Carla and we both have a redheaded younger sister). Energized by new challenges with an entrepreneurial mindset, the overwhelming commonalities were a love for creative design, working with our hands, and spending time outdoors.

Although just a nugget of an idea for a few years, eventually, our shared interests and “we could build that” attitude snowballed into a yin and yang dynamic that became Eight 5 Outdoors.

Then in 2020…

What started in the name of health and hygiene created a shift in our culture. For most of us, spending time with family and friends now meant being outside. Perhaps utilizing outdoor areas of our homes or businesses that prior to the pandemic had gone unused or unnoticed.

But what if you don’t have much plant care knowledge? Or don’t have the time to research design styles or maintain the plants yourself? Maybe the thought of growing your own food is intimidating and you don’t know where to start?

That’s where Eight 5 Outdoors comes in.

Our business is the culmination of a love for plants, an eye for design, fresh air and good times. We want to give you a boutique horticultural design experience that gets you enjoying more time outdoors in whatever capacity works for you and your lifestyle.

While our shared birthday was our business’ original namesake, it has since taken on a new meaning as we now find ourselves having fun in the sun and working outdoors from “8:00 to 5:00”.

Can’t wait to meet you! Keep an eye out for upcoming Planters & Pints events around STL this spring and fall.

When not deep diving into new project ideas for Eight 5, I spend my time with my husband Mike Rood owner of Squeegee Clean STL and our good boi Mo. We’re two entrepreneurs just trying to ‘make it’ and have fun along the way. We call Maplewood, MO our home most of the time but reside in Bucerías, Mexico when it gets cold.

When I’m not spending my time working on projects for Eight 5, I run my own creative design business Built x Lacy. But my favorite job is being Nova Rei’s mom, the little drop of sunshine who runs our home also in Maplewood, MO.