Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Mark Spencer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Mark, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?
I would say from both my mom and my dad. I was very close to my mom, and she didn’t have a lot in terms of money or options. She often lived in stress and duress trying to keep things together, to take care of her kids and home. Also from my father. He grew up with almost nothing, and had to provide for himself, living on his own in his early teens. He ended up becoming a union president with many other life accomplishments. I truly am not impressed by wealth, but I am very impressed by a good story. My parents have very good stories of facing difficulties and rising above them.
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 am a beekeeper and owner of Spencer’s Apiaries, LLC. I am also a honey producer, beeswax producer, mead maker, candle maker, balm maker and propolis tincture maker. As a beekeeper I feel a desire to not only care for and help my bees, but to utilize all of the gifts of the hive for the benefit of my neighbors, friends, and family. I also teach and mentor new beekeepers, and support my peers as well. Keeping bees is very challenging, crafting is time consuming, bringing these things to the market is hard… but I truly love every facet of what I do.
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?
Tenacity, work ethic and flexibility. The number of serious set backs for my business is many. Many people in the business said I couldn’t really make a living at it. The ones that were full time mostly complained that there was no money in it. I trusted myself, my understanding and my plans. I set proper expectations. I learned to step away from ideas or investments in my business that were not working out, regardless of how much I personally loved those ideas. I learned to keep an open mind, be flexible and to keep altering the plan as I learned and grew. In fact, so much of what I love about my bee business is how many options there are, and challenges to overcome. So many people quite right before success. If you don’t want to work for someone else, and you have something you enjoy, keep learning, be flexible, and be tenacious.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
This year a large challenge is in honey processing. I have temporary state certified honey houses to process honey. What I really need is a permanent or semi-permanent space and I need to upgrade my equipment. With more bees comes more honey. With more honey comes a lot more processing work. A better facility and a few more equipment investments will greatly improve the speed and efficiency of what I do. It would resolve many headaches and alleviate a lot of the physical strains I go under during that time. We are looking for either a place that can be established as a honey house for a few months out of the year, by borrowing or renting that space. OR, in constructing a building to permanently establish our processing. We are also trying to find the cash to purchase more equipment to aid in that processing.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.spencershoney.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spencersapiaries/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SpencersApiaries
- Youtube: @spencersapiaries7259
