When we started our business back in 2014, we had tons of heart and Greg had plenty of farming experience…but between the two of us we had absolutely NO business experience. As a result, we made some serious rookie mistakes in our first year of business.
Here are our Top 3:
1. We tried to please everyone.
You want to come over on a Friday night to pick up eggs? Sure. Want to come by early Sunday morning to see piglets? Absolutely. Tour the farm? Of course! Day or night, weekday or weekend. We kept the doors open to everyone and tried to meet everyone’s expectations. While we loved saying YES and seeing our friends and new customers happy (we REALLY did!), it meant that we had to say NO to something else. And because we were stretched so thin in the start-up phase of our business, the things we said no to were usually the reeealllly important stuff like self care and nurturing our marriage. If we looked a little crazed back then, this is why!
2. We wanted to fit in and be like everyone else.
You know that nagging voice that tells you that you need to emulate someone that you think is successful, in order to make it? We had this going on BIG TIME during those first few years. For example, we knew other farms with big restaurant deals, so we thought we needed to have this, too. We noticed that a lot of farms farms sell their stuff at multiple farmers markets, so we thought we needed to get on this train. We were searching for an identity by mimicking someone else’s. It took us a couple of years to realize that the energy we spent trying to be like other businesses we admired, actually worked against us. In truth, it stifled our creativity and our self expression. Oops! When we started to really dig deep explore what WE actually wanted for our business and our lives, EVERYTHING shifted.
3. We almost never took days off.
You know when you love something so much that it feels like you have an endless amount of energy to pursue it? This was us (and still is). We woke up early, stayed up late, worked through meals, and pushed our bodies and minds to the limit during those first couple of years. This intense drive meant that we almost never took real days off during the main farming season. Our bodies gave us some subtle clues that we were overdoing it, but we didn’t listen. That is…until Greg lost sensation in his left foot and was referred to a neurosurgeon for possible back surgery for a pinched nerve (fortunately this was unnecessary and it healed on its own). From that point forward, we made a point to schedule days off every week so that we can rest and do things away from the farm.
We have compassion for our rookie mistakes because we know that they got us where we are today. But, we are striving for more. Our farm’s purpose is to produce exceptional food to improve the health of our community, to practice humane animal husbandry, and to educate our community about organic farming, but we also need to keep our bodies, our minds and our relationships healthy. We are sooooo happy that we’ve made so much progress in these areas this year and are always looking at ways to improve even more next year.
Thanks for sticking with us through the growing pains!
Your farmers,
Jenney and Greg