Meet Genelle Hitchman

We recently connected with Genelle Hitchman and have shared our conversation below.

Genelle, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?
I wouldn’t say that I found IT. I would say that it found ME.
When we moved to the Hill Country – we planned to take what we called a ‘gap year’ – decompress from previously stressful occupations – and to reorganize our lifestyle to fit with more sustainable careers.
Early on in this period – we had a conversation:
If you could do anything – what do you want to do?
My answer was ‘I want to raise chickens’. My Husbands was ‘I want to make art’.

We didn’t realize it at the time – but those basic descriptions would be the framework for our business plan and ultimately – for our lifestyle overhaul

I have always possessed a creative and self-reliant disposition. Many of the skills I acquired growing up were creative in nature – performance, sewing, art, design, writing. I have always been proud of my problem-solving nature. I value advice given to me early in childhood: “Use what you have to get what you want”

We found ourselves, one afternoon, sitting on the front porch, watching my (newly acquired) chickens scratch around in the yard.
My husband mentioned how much he enjoyed the chickens – but it was a shame that the stuff that came with them was so unappealing. Soon after – he came up with an idea for a Covered Wagon Coop – that would contain the chickens (and their mess!) and would look attractive in the yard. We used the skills we had – He built it. I sewed a cover. We moved the chickens in. It was adorable. I took photos and posted them on Facebook.

The next thing I knew – everyone wanted one! And then it took off – people didn’t only want a Cluck Wagon – they wanted wagons for all sorts of different purposes.

I have since understood that my desire to raise chickens was shorthand for the lifestyle I wanted. (Simpler, natural, sustainable, self sufficient).

So now, years later, our business IS the life we want. I get to ‘Raise Chickens’ and participate in the Making of Art! It is incredibly satisfying to see our desires materialize into our current reality. We have been blessed!

I believe that the process of defining what I wanted out of life – and then being open to opportunities for that to manifest – led to the finding of our ‘Purpose’.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
We say that we are Practitioners of the Pioneer Arts. If it is a skill / product that the early American Pioneers would have produced – its likely you find us doing it in some form.

Principally – this is the creation of our Pioneer wagons – reimagined and suited for modern purposes.
There is also a LOT more to the Hitchman Homestead. We Roast Coffee. We run our own Food-Truck Wagon. I bake & sew. We grow food and animals. Sharpen knives. Build & Repair. We are active in our local farmers market, and in the small business community in our area.

The most exciting thing about our Wagons is the innovation involved in their design. These are not restored antique wagons – they are new builds, redesigned for our clients’ visions of what THEY want to use a wagon for.
We have made wagons into yard displays, greenhouses, roadside stands, kids beds, vending carts, backyard bars, chicken coops and food trucks.

My favorite part of wagon creation is being involved in the innovation & problem solving. Wagons don’t naturally lend themselves to a purpose other than hauling stuff. Antique wagons don’t so much more than be ‘yard art’. There is a lot of design and engineering that goes into making a wagon suited to – say – bartending – and to make that same wagon look as though it was always intended to that purpose.
I enjoy coming up with solutions to the challenges presented. Every build is a different challenge. And no two builds are ever the same. Currently – this is coming up solutions to make a wagon safely accessible to, and functional for, small children to play. An another project, it was finding ways to make a wagon meet another state’s Mobile Food Unit construction guidelines. On our last build – it was finding the balance between form and function for a couple with very specific aesthetic and size guidelines.
I get to participate in the wagon body engineering. I design and construct the various wagon ‘bonnet’ covers – to suit our designs.

Even our clients themselves are engaging ‘puzzles’ to solve. We like to say ‘Nobody boring buys a wagon’. Our clients are interesting people, in interesting locations with interesting businesses and locations. And as such – have very diverse needs and ideas about their projects. Not everyone can articulate exactly what they want out of a build. Communicating with our clients to develop their “vision” for their wagon is a very challenging and very rewarding part of my job.

As for what’s new on the Hitchman Homestead? We have recently launched “My Sunday Drive”. It’s a monthly producer pop-up crawl – including small producers and home based businesses in our area.
We coordinate the vendors, and produce a monthly Map for visitors to plan their own Sunday-drives to visit location that interest them. We also open our own homestead for visitors: to the coffee-wagon, give roastery & shop tours, sell garden overflow & eggs and do knife sharpening.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Self reliance – if I want something done, the first place I look is to myself: Can I do that? Can I learn to do that? How do I use what I have to get what/where I want?

Creativity. This is Problem solving at its core. HOW can I do that? How can I learn to do that? Is there another way to ‘skin this cat?’ (hint – there is ALWAYS another way to skin that cat!)

Pain threshold. I have a pain tolerance that is notably ‘extra’. I grew up doing sports. I had my babies at home. I don’t have a lot of energy for complaining or dwelling on ‘can’t’. A skill I regularly practice is the “ten second” rule. You CAN do ANYTHING, endure most anything, for ten seconds. So anything you need to do – you can try! For ten seconds. And then do it again…for ten more seconds. Eventually those seconds turn into minutes. And those minutes turn into completed tasks, miles run and babies had.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I love this question! The Humanure Handbook – by Joseph C Jenkins.

In a nutshell: Poop in a bucket, compost it and use it to grow food.

The bigger picture: Use innovation to solve problems.
Its NOT just about an alternate way to dispose of your toilet contents. There’s amazing (nearly lost) knowledge about composting, water conservation, recycling, sustainable agriculture, and above all, another way to look at the world.

I read this book in my early twenties and it was LIFE CHANGING.

Learning from this book to view problems and problem solving in a different way (and ACCEPT that there are different ways) has been a HUGE part of my personal development.

NO, we don’t use composted human waste to grow our food on the homestead. (but we could and would if we had to!).

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