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It all started back when we were dating. I was wearing a necklace, and like a nice attentive boyfriend, Brandon complimented me on it. “Thanks so much, I actually made this one,” I responded with pride.
“You made that?! You know you could definitely make those and sell them!”
His response was more than flattery. There was a seriousness in his voice where he really thought I should do that. Well, I had no interest in making and selling jewelry, it was just something fun I did when I had the time. This would happen often, where something would come up and Brandon would find a way to market it, whether it was a service or a product. It was and is never in a sleezy used car salesman kind of way, but in a that is just where his mind goes instinctively kind of way.
What it didn’t take long to realize was that it is truly a part of Brandon’s DNA to think entrepreneurially – both his mom and his dad own their own businesses. He has grown up with this entrepreneurial mind set in his home every day, and it shows. When Brandon was first starting the farm, it was incredible to me how much he knew about running a small business. I would have had no idea where to start or the guts to even begin.
In a way, in my mind, entrepreneurs are crazy. Not crazy in the way they may be off their rockers, but in the I can’t even imagine doing what they do kind of way. There is such a drive and element of risk taking within them all. This risk taking has often been frightening to me in regards to the farm.
You want to try raising ducks? Is there even a market for those?
You bought how many more cows today? Do we have enough pasture for them?
What do you mean you found a “good deal” on sheep? What does that even mean?
You want to double the number of chickens we raise? Is there room in the freezer for more?
You want to get pigs? Oh wait, that was my idea! (I just love pigs!)
There are plenty of times where I wish I was more of a risktaker and just whole heartedly jumped into some of the ideas Brandon has for the farm but more often I am reserved and cautious. I don’t have that entrepreneur gene in my DNA but in many ways I am starting to come around. It has not been a smooth transition. It is still not where my mind goes instinctively, but I am more and more open to Brandon’s ideas for the farm. And, just like his pushing and encouraging for this blog, I guess I’ve begun to come around to some of his other ideas.
Coming up June 1st and 2nd, Bowers Farm will be a Newberry County host site for the third year in a row for the South Carolina Ag + Art Tour (https://agandarttour.com/newberry/). Multiple counties across the state of South Carolina participate throughout the month of June. It is such a fun weekend. We have so many people out to the farm to see what we do and how we do it. We get to answer tons of questions and teach people new things about where their food comes from. Each farm site also has artisans. And this year, Brandon has convinced me, or at least asked really nicely, to do some canvas paintings for the weekend. I agreed. So maybe I’m coming around, maybe Brandon is rubbing off on me, maybe a little of both, but either way it’s kind of fun to have a little bit of this entrepreneur crazy in me. Can’t wait to see what wonderfully crazy ideas Romney Ann comes up with as she gets older!
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