Meet Amanda Marno

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Amanda Marno a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Amanda, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I came from a home with little money and started working when i was 13 years old at a Project based youth center. I have learned that i am in control of my destiny, by proving it time and time again. I learned that my actions speak louder than my words and hard work always pays off. I have overcome the fear of a start up entrepreneur by believing in myself and knowing that if i try my hardest i can never fail, and if there is a bump in the road to learn from it. I have personally struggled and seen struggles, and been able to pivot to position myself.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I believe that we are what we, eat and good quality food matters. I own a skate shop called Karma at the oceanfront in Virginia Beach. It was incredibly hard to for me to find good food on my lunch breaks so i told my husband that we should open a restaurant. He laughed and went to bed. Well, i have a business degree so two weeks later i gave him a full business plan with complete with break even points and competitive advantages. We both sat on the floor of our bedroom and discussed what ifs, like, we could loose our house, our whole life savings. Still, my passion was so deep, the thought, if i feel this way, like i cant get good food, others do to. I further thought it was my mission to trick people into eating just a little bit better, i mean, as a yogi and being heath aware and all. So we dove in. We wanted a rooftop to grow herbs. Being that I and my husband have worked at the oceanfront for a combined 20 years, we knew the right people to rent a space from. In fact, my husband worked for our current land lord when he was 15 years old. We completely gutted an old subway into what is now Harvest the Winter of 2019, sunk all our heart, time and money into it. Right as the spring was cornering, COVID hit with Government Mandates, no. Customers allowed. We needed to open, we didn’t have the awareness or customers to stay afloat we were a new business. We knew that if we closed the doors then we would never open them again that the hole would be to deep to crawl out of, so me, my husband worked the restaurant by ourselves, well with our toddler in the back in a pack and play, We couldn’t afford employees and couldn’t afford a babysitter. The the riots hit, our restaurant was broken into, we were ransacked. We had to pivot. Once mandates allowed customers back in the restaurant locals started to come out. A year later we put our rooftop on but this time we added seating incase this happened again. Now we have been though many renditions of Harvest and have a great following and food. We offer gluten free, vegetarian and vegan options, but still have burgers and fries, but up scale offerings such as crab cakes and tuna bites. What sets us apart from other places is we care about where our food comes from, for instance we parter with local farmers to provide produce when its in season, we make sure our meats aren’t chucked full of antibiotics, and we make smoothies with real fruit. We say we are a farm to beach menu. We also provide a venue for local musicians and support the first responders and military.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Believe in yourself and trust your instincts. If I would have let him my husband and many others would have talked me out of opening the restaurant. I believed in the product, and believed in myself. I also put in the work, made a business plan, and followed through with action, held my-self accountable and had a great partner my husband.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

As a business owner of three businesses, and two kids, life can get overwhelming, knowing how to deal with it can set the tone for your life. 1.) know what’s in you control and what’s not. 2) Decide what needs your immediate attention first and do it!!!. 3.) Push yourself beyond where you think you are because that’s the only way you will get where you want to go. 4.) Pass the buck when and where you can as long as it to the right person, know your support.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.harvestvb.com
• Instagram: Harvest_vb
• Facebook: Harvest VB

Image Credits

Behind me is a mural located on the rooftop that i painted.