We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer and Chris Anderson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Jennifer and Chris, so excited to talk about all sorts of important topics with you today. The first one we want to jump into is about being the only one in the room – for some that’s being the only person of color or the only non-native English speaker or the only non-MBA, etc Can you talk to us about how you have managed to be successful even when you were the only one in the room that looked like you?
To be successful, you have to believe in yourself and what you are doing and work harder than anyone else to succeed in that endeavor! We’ve never taken “no” for an answer and we don’t listen to criticism or anyone telling us what we are doing just can’t be done.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
Our focus is only our family farms. Although we own other businesses, our farms are a way to give back to the community. We incorporate education and volunteer opportunities and hope to keep farming alive for generations to come . As farming becomes less profitable, especially on a small scale, people lose touch with where their food comes from and the importance of growing and consuming healthy , real, nutritious foods from small local farms.
We hope to incorporate more educational opportunities, non profit and therapy programs and an events center at our second farm- a place to bring community together , to learn and to gather for events and we are working hard to make that all a reality in the near future by taking baby steps along the way.
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?
I think three qualities that are super important to starting and owning your own business are 1. Being a self starter and self motivator 2. Thinking way outside the box and thinking of new ways to accomplish your goals 3. Perseverance- because starting your own business is never easy and you will hit plenty of road blocks and want to quit! You have to have the drive to keep on moving forward. One piece of advice is to grow in small steps, not leaps and bounds, so you don’t get in over your head!
One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?
We’d love to work with anyone that has non profit or therapy programs in place . We’d also love to work with anyone that has venue planning / event planning experience. We are wanting to grow in all Directions but have limitations due to time( lack of ) and knowledge.
Contact Info:
- Website: 7957farm.com
- Instagram: 7957farm
- Other: Product shopping at www.boulder-lavender.store
Image Credits
Darcy Kiefel of Kiefel Photography
