09/08/2026
I started my first farm in 2014 with $5,000 in the basement of my neighborhood pub.
Over the next decade, it grew to $3M in lifetime sales. If I could talk to the woman just starting out, Iād tell her:
āØTHE CROP YOU LOVE MOST MAY NOT BE THE ONE THAT BUILDS THE BUSINESSāØ
Rainbow carrots, delicata squash and cut flowers were the dream. Microgreens paid the bills. Finding what people reliably buy doesnāt make your business less meaningful. It gives it room to grow. I adored what the farm became and never could have imagined it.
āØLEARN TO SELL BEFORE YOU SCALEāØ
Before adding space, equipment or employees, make sure the demand is there. A room full of perfect product becomes a problem when nobody is waiting to buy it.
āØBOOTSTRAPPING CAN ONLY TAKE YOU SO FARāØ
I built Little Wild Things frugally and got good at using loans, but eventually it needed more capital. By then I was burned out and in my early 40s, still wanting a family. I couldnāt spend another five years on a modest (though excellent for farming) salary in a one-bedroom condo. Looking back, I believe I could have found a trusted investor to raise the capital and keep going. I still believe in what it could have become.
āØBUILD SYSTEMS AND INVEST JUST AS MUCH IN YOUR TEAMāØ
Systems were something I got right. We built processes that let the farm grow beyond me. I wish Iād put equal energy into learning to coach, lead and build trust. I was so focused on making the business great for customers that I didnāt always do the same for my team or myself. I needed to let people carry it with me.
āØWALKING AWAY DOESNāT ERASE WHAT YOU BUILTāØ
I sold Little Wild Things and spent four years in global corporate sustainability. That choice made room for family. For a while, I felt like an imposter calling myself a farmer around people who didnāt know the farm. Now Iām finding my way back to the farmer and entrepreneur in me, smaller and more creative.
I have no regrets. I have a spunky toddler and a new sense of place in a cool little corner called East Nashville, neither of which I would have found if things had gone differently.
Farmers, what would you go back and tell yourse
