Meet Shiela Bernardo

We recently connected with Shiela Bernardo and have shared our conversation below.

Shiela, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?

Optimism is rooted in resilience and purpose, anchored in hope for a better tomorrow. There is always something to look forward to. Optimism is intertwined with opportunity, whether this is the opportunity to improve yourself or your situation or the opportunity to go outside of yourself, open doors for others, and work toward meaningful, lasting impact.

My journey has been anything but conventional. My family of origin and childhood had many broken parts. Many difficult days overwhelmed me, and in retrospect, I realize the purpose of it: adversity births ability.

My journey as an immigrant was transformational, requiring hard work and humility. I started out from the ground up with my career branching out to corporate and entrepreneurial pathways. I learned to courageously embrace opportunities that stretched beyond my perceived limits, eventually thriving in specialized roles despite no formal background.

There isn’t anything we can’t learn, though we need a double dose of the right attitude and aptitude.

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 like to coin my occupation as a banker by day and an urban farmer after hours. I’ve come to appreciate that a fast-paced, high-stress corporate job calls for a creative outlet. Whether that is a conscious decision to eat healthily or grow a garden—or both—such activities that connect us to a greener life add vitality and joy to our days. We find a productive, meaningful expression that cultivates work-life harmony, health, and wholeness. 
 
I am the Founder of Ascend Garden, and I discovered my life’s integral mission through growing food at home. This was spurred by a personal experience that heightened my sensitivity to issues surrounding food insecurity.  
 
Ascend Garden is an urban homestead garden that operates a modular micro farm using aeroponic vertical grow modules. We bring fresh produce to farmers’ markets in North Texas and observe a no/low waste farm practice where we freeze dry to preserve end-of-season greens and herbs, which we also incorporate as ingredients to value-added goods.  
 
Our value proposition is a combination of these product & service offerings: 
Urban Micro Farm + Filipino Food Items + Sustainable Private Dinner & Cultural Immersion Experience + Social Enterprise
 
As a social enterprise, we are a business with social objectives, being mission-minded in conducting our operations. We support integral mission work by promoting food security through sustainable urban farming methods to grow food at home. We demonstrate the value of being local growers and artisanal producers, promoting a sustainable model that will empower people with a source of scalable livelihood and developing micro-businesses from the recursive output of a thriving garden.

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?

Pondering over my career path to date, I distinctly remember crossing this fork in the road — To be a generalist with breadth of knowledge or a specialist with depth of knowledge.  The former has a broad spectrum of diversified basic abilities, and the latter dives into a particular field of study and earns credentials that make you a subject matter expert.  
 
Once I knew which direction to take, I redefined and recommitted to multi-year complex goals while managing through many competing obligations. This undertaking certainly tested my character and cultivated hyper-focused discipline. It was sacrificing for a season what you want in the moment and valuing the long-term horizon of how goals evolve. I have learned to look at it from a strategic, synergistic standpoint. Every step leads to the one thing I want most. 
 
I measure the weight of what I do here and now, and cast it against a long-range vision of who God is calling and molding me to become.
 The top three qualities that were most impactful in my journey are: 
1. Faith 
2. Vision 
3.  Grit 

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?

Our programs are actionable on an individual level in a collaborative landscape. We invite you to engage with us in the activities we do in the community:
 
Shop small and visit our farmer’s markets: 
https://ascendgarden.com/market-schedule
 
Share a social and sensory communal feast showcasing cultural specialty dishes through our farm-to-table sustainable private dinners presented in a ‘Boodle Fight’ format.
https://ascendgarden.com/private-dinner
 
At Ascend Garden, our vision extends beyond mere agricultural production. We aspire to catalyze transformation across physical, social, and spiritual dimensions, embracing the ethos of business as mission. Our approach goes beyond mere gardening; it’s about building relationships and nurturing communities. 
 
We want to collaborate with people who are willing to get behind our social cause to build sustainable, self-sufficient food systems & community livelihood programs. Your support of Ascend Garden helps deploy sustainable programs for urban agriculture technology paired with interdisciplinary training while building community livelihood programs for underserved communities locally and internationally.
 
Initiating community development initiatives centered around gardening provides a platform for people to come together, collaborate, and work toward a common goal. This shared endeavor forms bonds and strengthens relationships, creating a sense of belonging and unity within the community.
 
We aim to revolutionize the way communities approach agriculture — to be an emblem of sustainable urban living, a household name that blends innovation with the aspiration to cultivate a thriving ecosystem within a small footprint.
 
If you are an agriculturalist, a novice or seasoned gardener, a fun foodie or a health enthusiast, a mission-oriented entrepreneur or a faith-driven investor, reach out so we can share more details of projects in the pipeline and ones underway. 
 
We are eager to deepen our relationship with you if you capture the vision. 

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