About 10 years ago, Lena Paskewitz and Miranda Fox-Hervey were visiting Hervey’s aunt Helen in West Viriginia—a frequent trip the mother and daughter make. When the mother and daughter saw a large collection of aloe plants that Helen was about to throw in the compost pile, Hervey and Paskewitz knew they had to save the aloe pups (the offshoots sprouted off the mama aloe plants).

“She had maybe ten to twelve large mama aloes that were being consumed by their babies,” recalls Fox-Hervey, a Cleveland Heights resident and music teacher at Hawken Lower School in Lyndhurst. “These mamas were going to be killed. And Helen was just going to compost the babies.”

Unwilling to let the plants go to waste, Paskewitz and Fox-Hervey embarked on an impromptu rescue project, bringing home buckets of aloe pups. Over the years, they’ve nurtured the plants and have given many away to students, colleagues, and friends.

Lena Paskewitz and Miranda Fox Hervey “Over the years I've given away a couple hundred, at least,” says Paskewitz, a third grade teacher at Fernway Elementary School in Shaker Heights.

As their aloe collection flourished, so did the idea for a business. “There was a seed here, a seed of a business idea here somewhere,” says Hervey, “It was kind of the, well, what do we do with this?”

Then last year, their ever-growing aloe plant collection sparked the business idea, and in July, Fox-Hervey and Paskewitz launched AloeCLE. The company is based in Paskewitz’s home on Brainard Road in Orange Village, where the two cultivate and nurture pups from the mama plants and then plant them in terracotta pots that they hand-glaze and fire in their studio.

“This is in our wheelhouse,” Paskewitz explains. “To be able to turn a plain terracotta pot into a work of art, but minimally, a really nice pot for a house plant, is what we enjoy.”

Jeanne Longmuir and Mark Johnson AloeCLE offers a range of products, from small $25 potted aloes to large custom designs that can cost up to $200. Most plants sell for around $50 for a six-inch pot with a “nice-sized little aloe.”

AloeCLE also sells just the glazed pots, or Paskewitz and Fox-Hervey will “rescue” customers’ existing aloe plants, harvest the existing aloe pups (which can overtake the mama if the pups are not controlled), and repot the mama in one of the custom-glazed pots.

Additionally, Paskewitz says AloeCLE wants to foster a community of plant enthusiasts, so they’ve developed a “fostering program” for their mature aloe plants. Customers can adopt a mama aloe with the agreement to care for it and return any pups for propagation.

“Given that the mamas are our part of our investment—we don't want to lose them—we want them to stay in the family—the aloe family,” Paskewitz says. “[That way], we know they're being taken care of, and we can get their pups out to other kids and other people.”

Paskewitz says they also plan to offer pottery glazing workshops, where customers can personalize their own pots. She says while the different layers of glaze are drying, customers can relax on the property, rest in the hammock, or explore the “AloeCLE Trail” with a crystal and rock garden that Paskewitz has created.

They also emphasize the versatility and resilience of aloes, which can thrive even under less-than-ideal conditions. With minimal care requirements and numerous health benefits—from soothing sunburns to potentially aiding digestion—they say aloes are beneficial beyond just aesthetics.

For Paskewitz and Fox-Hervey, AloeCLE is about more than just selling plants—it's about cultivating connections and appreciation for nature. “Plants want to live,” Hervey notes. “When you give them a proper home, shelter, and love—all the things that we need as humans—the plants will give that same love back to you.”

AloeCLE plants and pots are for sale through the website, with free pickup at the studio, or customers can have their purchases shipped to them.