Meet Rachel Ingberg

We recently connected with Rachel Ingberg and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Rachel, great to have you with us today and excited to have you share your wisdom with our readers. Over the years, after speaking with countless do-ers, makers, builders, entrepreneurs, artists and more we’ve noticed that the ability to take risks is central to almost all stories of triumph and so we’re really interested in hearing about your journey with risk and how you developed your risk-taking ability.

Ever since Rob and I met we have this theme of just jumping in head-first with everything. We only knew each other for a few months before I moved in with him to his apartment, almost 8 years ago now, and we have taken a LOT of big jumps individually and professionally together! I think it we have always supported and trusted each other so strongly that we know no matter if we fly or fall, we will figure it out together!

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

The most asked question we get is how we got into growing mushrooms and it’s been quite the ride! Rob and I met in 2018 not long after he had moved back to MN from working in the oil fields. He landed a decent paying job but it was not rewarding, and he dreaded going every day. So, we started brainstorming what he could do from home because he had a couple successful businesses when he was younger and is very motivated. One night it just hit me that I didn’t know anyone who grew mushrooms in the area and it started a spark of interest. Rob started researching mushroom growing and neither of us had any clue how many types of mushrooms existed or how different they were to produce- it’s really scientific gardening! At the time both of us worked full time and when we started growing mushrooms in 2019 there weren’t many companies that produced growing equipment– if they did the cost was crazy high! Most growers fabricated what they needed to make things work and with Rob being a “master of all things” and me as his sidekick we started down the rabbit hole! We constructed our very first grow room out of plastic sheeting, heavy duty tape, and caulking- complete with a zipper door and our high-tech zip tie used to adjust the length of the window chain for fresh air regulation! Mushrooms require their environment to be a proper temperature, humidity, and have the right balance of oxygen and CO2 so there was a lot of research in to just making the grow room properly, I think we even used a bathroom exhaust fan with flex pipe attached to it for an exhaust. That was just one part….we rotated napping at night while we sterilized our substrate bags in Presto pressure cookers, 3 per unit, until we had enough blocks cooked to inoculate….both while working full time jobs. Rob put so many hours into making sure we properly handled every step along the way and now looking back I laugh about it because neither of us had any idea how insane our adventure would be or how quickly we would grow. Just over 6 years later Rob has been full time with the mushrooms for over 5 years and everything is 4 times the size of where we started. Currently, we are growing inside a 8,800sq. ft. warehouse and ship our mushrooms all over MN and the surrounding states to Co-ops and restaurants, in the summer offer our products at local farmers markets and attend special events including donating when we can to give back to our community- all with the dedication of 2 adults and 1 amazing little girl!

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

To encompass all 3 of these with one response- We have put literal blood, sweat, and tears into getting where we are now- the MOST important thing anyone could take out of what we have learned, is taking your failures as opportunities to learn and grow from them! I cannot stress enough how many times we have wanted to give up, especially on the nights where we have gotten only a few hours of sleep either because we had work that needed to be done, or something failed for the 100th time and we were monitoring or fixing in some fashion. There will be big fails and this is inevitable- take a breath and restart, clean up the ash and rebuild, go from a completely different angle that may not even make sense….. whatever it may be just do not give in to giving up!!

We’ve all got limited resources, time, energy, focus etc – so if you had to choose between going all in on your strengths or working on areas where you aren’t as strong, what would you choose?

All I can say is- do ALL the things even when you feel uncomfortable! We learn more about ourselves when we face challenges than when everything is smooth and easy. Sure, easy is great, but if you do not take that leap you will never know! We would not have Strictly Mushrooms LLC if we only focused on what we were good at- neither of us had any background knowledge or experience with growing mushrooms at all……we had an idea. You have to be willing to get dirty and put the work in, use your strengths but don’t be afraid to be uncomfortable- you may learn you are really good at something you know nothing about!

Contact Info:

• Facebook: Strictly Mushrooms LLC