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Ep.51: How Jenny Marks Built a Profitable Flower Farm & Helps Others Do the Same
2.3k Plays1 month ago
Join us for an inspiring conversation with Jenny Marks, founder of Trademark Farmer and host of Six Figure Flower Farming. Jenny has been immersed in agriculture her entire life, from growing up on a farm to working in government roles with the USDA and State Departments of Agriculture. After starting a vegetable CSA, she discovered that she loved flowers and that they aligned better with the life she wanted to create. Now, she runs a thriving flower farm and teaches others how to build sustainable floral businesses.
In this episode, we discuss:
- How Jenny transitioned from vegetables to flowers
- The biggest business lessons she’s learned in farming
- Why niching down is key to standing out in the market
- How to price flowers with confidence and attract the right customers
- The mindset shifts needed to succeed in flower farming
If you’ve ever dreamed of turning your passion for flowers into a thriving business, this episode is packed with practical insights and motivation!
Show Notes: https://thefloweringfarmhouse.com/2025/03/18/ep-51-how-jenny-marks-created-a-profitable-flower-farm/
🔗 Connect with Jenny Marks:
- Website: https://www.trademarkfarmer.com/
- Instagram: @TrademarkFarmer
- Online Business Course: Six Figure Flower Farming https://www.trademarkfarmer.com/sfff
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Transcript
Introduction to the Backyard Bouquet Podcast
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to the Backyard Bouquet Podcast, where stories bloom from local flower fields and home gardens. I'm your host, Jennifer Galizia of The Flowering Farmhouse. I'm a backyard gardener turned flower farmer located in Hood River, Oregon.
00:00:17
Speaker
Join us for heartfelt journeys shared by flower farmers and backyard gardeners. Each episode is like a vibrant garden, cultivating wisdom and joy through flowers. From growing your own backyard garden to supporting your local flower farmer,
00:00:32
Speaker
The Backyard Bouquet is your fertile ground for heartwarming tales and expert cut flower growing advice. All right, flower friends, grab your gardening gloves, garden snips, or your favorite vase because it's time to let your backyard bloom.
Exclusive Deal on Greenhouses
00:00:53
Speaker
Flower friends, if you've been dreaming of a greenhouse to extend your growing season, start seeds early, or protect your precious plants, this is your chance. I've been working with Northwest Green Panels for over six years, and they've built not one, but two incredible greenhouses for me.
00:01:11
Speaker
Their high-quality, custom-built greenhouses are perfect for everyone, from backyard gardeners to full-scale flower farms. And right now they're offering an exclusive deal just for my listeners, $750 off plus $500 in free accessories or 5% off your total, whichever is greater.
00:01:33
Speaker
Give them a call and mention the code farmhouse. Find all the details in the show notes and start building your dream greenhouse today.
Jenny Marks: From Corporate to Flower Farmer
00:01:45
Speaker
Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Backyard Bouquet podcast. Today we're chatting with Jenny Marks, the heart and soul behind Trademark's Flower Farm. Jenny's story is as colorful as her flower fields, from a regular day job to embracing the full bloom of life as a flower farmer.
00:02:03
Speaker
She's not just growing flowers, she's helping dreams take root through her on-farm workshops, online educational courses, as well as her podcast, Six Figure Flower Farming.
00:02:15
Speaker
Jenny's switch from the corporate grind to the freedom of farming has inspired many to follow her path. Today, she's here to share her journey and offer tips for anyone looking to make their flower hobby into a thriving reality.
00:02:27
Speaker
Welcome to the show, Jenny. I can't wait to hear more about how you've cultivated not only beautiful flowers, but also a life you truly love. Thank you so much, Jennifer. I'm so excited to be here and to chat with you today. going to have so much fun.
00:02:42
Speaker
Yes, it's so fun to be chatting with a fellow podcaster. I love helping share other podcasts because I know when I'm out in my own field, an hour of a podcast is just not enough in a week. So I can go through about 10 podcasters a week. So I'm really excited for my audience to get to know you today.
00:02:58
Speaker
Perfect. So um let's just get started. i This is my first time meeting you, which I'm really excited about. I've listened to your podcast, The Six-Figure Flower Farming. What inspired you to become a flower for?
Shifting from Traditional to Flower Farming
00:03:13
Speaker
So I actually had always wanted to be a farmer. i I guess I have been a farmer my whole life, just not with flowers. So I grew up farming. My parents were farmers. i grew up, I was like that kid in 4-H, you know, I was showing cows. and I milked cows my whole life, my dad,
00:03:32
Speaker
Dad grew hay, so I threw bales of hay every summer growing up, and it was my life, really. Just agriculture has always been my life. I went to school. I got a degree in agriculture. After university, i worked for all different kinds of government departments.
00:03:51
Speaker
places that helped out with agriculture like USDA yeah and State Departments of Agriculture. And so I've always been super immersed in farming and agriculture. And i always wanted to be a farmer.
00:04:04
Speaker
But everyone that I knew growing up told me, don't do it. It's way too risky. It's way too much work. And in a lot of ways, they were right. about certain kinds of farming.
00:04:15
Speaker
But I just wanted to be in charge of my own time. i wanted to be in charge of my own life. I've never been good at working for other people. i always just wanted to do my own thing and and do something that I was inspired by and was passionate about. And so flowers really allowed me to do that.
00:04:33
Speaker
They Flower farming is so special because like the small scale flower farming movement really can be a viable career. And i just think that's amazing. And I'm so happy that I was able to make it work and figure it out. And it's the best.
00:04:50
Speaker
That's amazing. I didn't realize that you have grown up around farming your whole life. And then you worked for the government with the USDA. So you probably have such a broad perspective of the agricultural industry as a whole then. Yeah, I feel like I really do.
00:05:09
Speaker
I've worked on vegetable CSA farms, livestock farms, fruit orchards, ah you know cash crop farms, like you name it I've probably done it and or at least have some exposure to it.
00:05:21
Speaker
So I feel lucky to know a lot about just agriculture and farming in general. I'm sure that gives you step up in understanding how to make it a viable business. Because I think one of the things that's so hard for so many is think a lot of us, we grow flowers for fun first as like a hobby.
00:05:44
Speaker
And then we transition into it. But you came into farming with the mindset of already being a farmer. Yeah, I think that's probably the difference between me and a lot of other people is that I...
00:05:56
Speaker
had actually, so it's kind of a funny story, but I had a vegetable CSA farm that I started when we bought our property in where we live now in New York. I'm not from here originally, but we bought an abandoned piece of property and I thought I wanted to start a vegetable CSA farm and then it just wasn't working.
00:06:14
Speaker
found it very hard to sell kale and like bunches of carrots. um But then i discovered actually dahlias. I know that you are a big dahlia lover and dahlias were the flower that introduced me so flower farming. And i was just doing some research one day about what else could I grow besides kale and dahlia.
00:06:35
Speaker
dahlias popped up on like my internet feed or whatever. And i was like, oh my God, I'd never seen anything like it before. And just, you know, fell head over heels and was like, I could grow flowers instead of veggies. And I could like make this happen as my business instead of the other way around where I think a lot of people fall in love with cut flower gardening. And then eventually they're like, oh, I think I could make a business out of this. So yes, I'm a little different from ah a lot of people, I guess.
Focus on Dahlias and Ranunculus
00:07:02
Speaker
Yeah.
00:07:02
Speaker
I love that. So how long have you been flower farming? um I have been growing flowers on my flower farm in New York for just over a decade. Okay.
00:07:13
Speaker
So you've got quite a bit of experience kind of before the movement even started. Well, think I probably started off when the movement was like getting going. I think I was like at the forefront of it. Like, I think, you know, Floret Flowers was just like getting popular around that time and kind of like fell into it at a trendy time, I guess.
00:07:36
Speaker
Yes. Well, I mean, you mentioned dahlias and I think there's such a gateway for so many people. I was looking on Facebook this morning and like the big Facebook dahlia group has 253,000 members in it now.
00:07:50
Speaker
i was like, that's a lot of people just on one platform who are passionate about dahlias. And it's easy to see why. i mean, for me, it's like a laced potato chip. I got my first dahli and I can't stop.
00:08:03
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Yeah, they're the gateway drug to flower farming. They really are. So you still grow dahlias? Yes, we do. Yeah, that's one of our main crops that we grow on the farm is dahlias.
00:08:15
Speaker
Can you kind of give us ah picture of what does your flower farm look like? Yeah, absolutely. So we have, we're very small. We grow just under an acre of cut flowers and we are very focused in what we do. So we don't grow a ton of variety on our flower farm. I started off my flower farm growing tons of different varieties, like well over 75 different kinds of flowers and a bunch of different varieties within all those different kinds of flowers. But over time, we've really honed in on what we do. So we do few things, but I like to think that we do them pretty well.
00:08:49
Speaker
So we grow mainly for retail outlets. We sell mainly through a farmer's market, a CSA or a subscription program. And then we also sell Dahlia tubers as well. And we kind of do like a couple other little things here and there, but that's the bulk of our business.
00:09:04
Speaker
And then our two biggest crops are ranunculus and dahlias. And those make up just over 50% of all of our cut flower revenue sales. And so those are our two big crops that we focus on. And then um during the rest of the seasons, we kind of just like fill in the gaps with other things, but we're very focused and um just like really intentional about what we choose to grow on our flower farm in terms of profitability and and joy as well.
00:09:37
Speaker
think that's so important what you said about being profitable and growing what brings you joy. Yes. I found personally that if I focus on growing what brings me joy, I'm more likely to put effort into that. And then my profits also reflect that as well.
00:09:53
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. so you mentioned you're in New York. What growing zone are you in because New York gets pretty cold, doesn't it? Yeah. And here in New York State, we have a lot of different growing zones. It it varies widely, but we're in zone six.
00:10:08
Speaker
So I feel like we're in a really good zone for growing because we get all four seasons. We do get pretty cold, but we have really nice hot summers too. So we have a lot of different flower types that are available to us to be able to grow in our zone. And I'm in Western New York State. So people...
00:10:26
Speaker
always think like, oh, near New York City, but we're like seven hours from New York City. Yeah, we're super rural, western, western New York State. There are more cows in my county than there are people. So.
00:10:37
Speaker
Oh my goodness. It's funny. Yeah. I mean, for me, I think New York, New York City, let's go to Broadway. um But I know there's lots of agriculture there too. So being in zone six, when does your season start and end each year?
00:10:51
Speaker
So ah this is a tricky question because we we play with that quite a bit. i I think our frost-free season, so our our main growing season, is usually from early to mid-May through early October. but we grow in high tunnels. We push the limits. We really focus on the shoulder season. So we sell flowers from April through the end of November. And we could even like push the limits on that a little bit more in terms of when we have our flower sales.
00:11:23
Speaker
Gotcha. Thank you for clarifying that. You've mentioned we. Is your farm a team or is it just you? So I feel like I always default to we whenever I'm talking about being in business or anything related to business because it's definitely not just me. I mean, i I started the business on my own. I'm the sole owner of my business, but we have the best helpers in the entire world. I have one main employee in particular, who is like a godsend. She does so much on the farm. She's probably overhearing me talking about her right now in the other room.
00:11:55
Speaker
um And my husband helps out as well. He has his own full-time job you know off the farm, but he likes to help with projects and stuff like that. So we are a very, very small team, but there is a we.
00:12:07
Speaker
Yeah. I've noticed a lot of farmers will say we, even if it's just like them and their spouse help helps out occasionally. So I thought I would clarify that. But growing on an acre, I think there's a misconception that you can easily do an acre by yourself.
00:12:22
Speaker
And I mean, maybe some people can, but for me, ah definitely bring in help at that size. So I was curious. Yeah, help helps. Yes. I know we were chatting beforehand about virtual assistants because I have said on the podcast before that I need a virtual assistant. I've had a few people reach out and I'm hopeful to be moving forward with that this spring. But it's hard to do a farm by yourself. There's so many tasks that have to be done. Yeah. And I think there is this like...
00:12:55
Speaker
I don't know, maybe not a misconception, but like I think a lot of people who are attracted to being a business owner, they're really hard workers and they have a really high standard for the way that things are done. And so they feel like they have to do everything themselves.
00:13:10
Speaker
But the truth is, it's very so it's very limiting to... rely on just yourself to try to do everything. And I just think that having help, even if it's just a part-time helper to take a few things off of your plate, it's just so life-changing and we don't have to do it all ourselves. We really don't. And it's better if we don't.
00:13:32
Speaker
I've learned that it's more freeing and I can get more done and accomplish more and and grow better quality when I share that responsibility with someone else. But it was very daunting for me to initially give up that responsibility or that control because, i don't know, for me, i I like to control everything and Mother Nature has taught me that...
00:13:55
Speaker
I don't get to control everything. Oh, yeah. Mother Nature will teach you that lesson over and over and over again, right? Oh, my gosh. So many times. So are you still growing vegetables on the farm also?
00:14:08
Speaker
No. No, you let those go. Oh, yeah. I mean, we have a very small garden ourselves, but it's minuscule. And every year it gets like smaller and smaller and smaller. So pretty much when I caught that flower bug, we like totally ditched the veggies. And like right away, I was like, I'm all in on flowers. So nope, sorry, veggies.
00:14:29
Speaker
Kale didn't get the cut. And besides growing flowers, you also teach. Yes. Yeah.
Teaching Business Skills to Flower Farmers
00:14:36
Speaker
Yeah. So I also own a company called Trademark Farmer, where I teach small scale flower farmers how to grow profitable and sustainable businesses. Because let's be honest, we all love flowers. We're all obsessed with flowers. But the truth is that the flowers are not going to be what makes you have a profitable and sustainable business. It's really business skills, like understanding the numbers and understanding what's actually making you money in your business and what's not, marketing and sales. like
00:15:08
Speaker
Those business skills are going to be the difference between flower farm that thrives as a business versus one that fails. And so I'm i'm particularly talking about for a business, not just, you know, ah backyard gardener who loves to grow dahlias. Like, I think that's amazing. But were we're more teaching people who want to be business owners.
00:15:27
Speaker
Gotcha. What would you say is one or two of the top qualities for someone to be successful at running a flower business? um I would say that you have to have a willingness to learn is probably the first thing. And then the second thing is the ability to persevere and not give up.
00:15:49
Speaker
Because the way that I look at it is... Anything in life that you want to do just involves you learning skills to do it. You know, if you want to be really good at growing dahlias, you just have to acquire the skills that it takes to be really good at growing dahlias.
00:16:04
Speaker
And if you want to have a really profitable, successful business, there's just skills that you have to learn to be able to do that. And so I think anyone can learn if they have that willingness to learn.
00:16:16
Speaker
And then, as you know, there's always going to be failures and setbacks and disappointing moments. And that's just a part of life and ah part of being a business owner. You know, it's not easy. I'll never tell you that it's easy, but I do think that it's worth it.
00:16:30
Speaker
And when things do go wrong, having that, like, grit to just like keep going even though things might not be going your way. i just think that is so important. And you really can't fail as long as you just like keep moving forward. I know it's cliche to say that, but it's true.
00:16:48
Speaker
It kind of goes back to that you're going to kill a lot of plants. Yeah. I make a lot of other mistakes too. i always feel like my mistakes are usually my best teachers yeah on the farm.
00:16:59
Speaker
They are. Can you share any experiences or lessons that you have learned through flower farming or any of your farming experiences, whether it's cows or working with vegetables? Yeah.
00:17:11
Speaker
What lessons have I learned? um There have been a lot. um I think that I'm really fortunate in life to have had a lot of farming experience growing up and...
00:17:27
Speaker
Farming is really tough. it's There's a lot of really hard life lessons that can be learned. Like, I have seen the biggest, most beautiful, most majestic animals that I loved die without, and I could do nothing to save them.
00:17:45
Speaker
And I very horrific things like associated with that. I've seen nearly an entire crop of ranunculus flowers die from a fungal disease because I was in the hospital and was literally incapacitated and someone overhead watered them, which we never do. and it was like a humid with the high tunnel side shut. and like There goes like a lot of hard work and and revenue. I've seen my old boss's fruit trees, all of his fruit get wiped out by a late frost and he basically had to live with no income for a year. Like,
00:18:19
Speaker
The things that you learn from farming often come from some of the most difficult times. And and it's hard because like you don't nobody wants to endure those difficult times. Nobody wants to learn those hard lessons, but it makes you super resilient as a person.
00:18:36
Speaker
And so I find now that I don't really, especially lately, things that are like very politically charged in the world right now, but I don't find that I'm very affected by that.
00:18:47
Speaker
Whereas a lot of other people seem to be very, very... uppity, maybe not uppity is not the right word, but like deeply affected by a lot of like these horrible things happening in the world and stuff. But I just feel like I've learned that life goes on and we're all going to be okay.
00:19:05
Speaker
and happy moments always come after awful ones. So there's just so many lessons that you can learn from flowers and from farming and it's all messy and beautiful and we just all keep marching on and things are all going to be okay.
00:19:21
Speaker
That's really beautiful, which you just shared. um I think a lot of people enter flower farming thinking it's so beautiful. You see these Instagram pictures of people are dancing with these bouquets in their field. And it just, it's very romanticized online.
00:19:38
Speaker
And I mean, there is a part of it where you're out in your field and it's golden hour and you're like, this is the most beautiful thing in the world. But we are literally putting our hands in the dirt every day and it's dirty, it's messy.
00:19:52
Speaker
um and that resilience piece, I don't think people truly realize going into flower farming, the lessons that they will learn from that.
Designing a Lifestyle-Centric Business
00:20:02
Speaker
And it makes you stronger though. I mean, it's yeah it's just really a powerful thing that people um don't realize.
00:20:09
Speaker
You teach so many people in flower farming. What would you say are the biggest surprises that you see from people that are entering as a new farmer? Oh, boy.
00:20:21
Speaker
um Biggest surprises i see from people. Hmm. I would say that I'm always amazed... at what people are really capable of.
00:20:35
Speaker
I mean, not that I don't believe in people because I really do, but a lot of times people come to me because they just don't know where to start and they don't know what steps to take and they don't know like what metrics to look at.
00:20:48
Speaker
And if you just give them the tools that they need and teach them, you know, this is what to look at or this is, you know, how to think about that or maybe not how to think about this, but, you know, give them the tools that they need.
00:20:59
Speaker
people can take that and just absolutely run with it. And it's so much fun for me to see people get the most like amazing results and really create the lives that they want to live.
00:21:13
Speaker
And that is super important to me because when I started my flower farm, I really started it sort of like... I like to talk about lifestyle design a lot. Like I created my business around a life that I wanted to live. I wanted to work outside every day. I wanted to work with my hands.
00:21:29
Speaker
I wanted to be my own boss. And so I built my business around that. And it's really cool to see people do that for themselves, you know, just take a situation that they may not be super happy with. Like for me, I didn't like my job that I worked at for a long time. And I think a lot of people are in that position where they're not like super thrilled about where they are in whatever position in life, maybe that's a job or a situation, but they can just take very simple tools and turn it into this beautiful life that they've always wanted to live and and they do it. And so I think that's amazing.
00:22:04
Speaker
I love that. i love that you said you created this lifestyle because flower farming, I think right now, especially with the Dahlia craze where everyone's like, oh, you can sell a tuber for $35. You can sell a tuber for $45. I'm going to get rich. I'm going to buy all these tubers and I'm going to start selling them.
00:22:21
Speaker
It's not the reality. Once you start diving into it, you're like, oh, it's a little bit different, but it's a lifestyle that you're creating. And so it's not a get rich fast. No. if you're looking at a monetary lifestyle, but I think that there's so much other richness that comes from farming.
00:22:39
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. Like, yeah ah far if you want to get rich, there's a lot more easier ways to do it than farming. Like that's probably the hardest way you could ever believe ever possibly pick to make money. and but my One of my old bosses that used to work for, he had a vegetable and a fruit farm.
00:23:00
Speaker
And he used to say, farming is not a job. It is a vocation. And what he meant by that is that farming is a way of life. It's a lifestyle. You get this amazing richness from it. So maybe if you're not wealthy, like I'm certainly not wealthy, but I feel like I am because i get to do what I love every day, you know?
00:23:19
Speaker
and so I love what you said that it has this richness to it. Yes. And i I was listening to a motivational speech the other day, and they were talking about what is wealth to you and what does prosperity mean? And it doesn't have to. Everyone in our culture is so quick to say it's how much money is in your bank account.
00:23:37
Speaker
But there's so much else that goes beyond it. It's that time with your kids or the time to put your hands into the soil, feeding your soul. Instead of sitting at a computer growing someone else's business all day. So um I love that you have built this lifestyle that sustains you and your family in a way that you have.
00:23:57
Speaker
So I think that's really beautiful. Because you are a teacher, we haven't talked about this prior to the call, but this thought just came to me because there are a lot of people entering the flower industry right now as flower farmers.
00:24:12
Speaker
Do you think it's harder for someone to start out as a new flower farmer now and make a profit and become a profitable flower farmer than it was even five years ago? That's a really good question.
00:24:25
Speaker
i don't think it's any harder. No. i I think that... Actually, now more than ever, it's probably easier because back when I first started flower farming, so I had been farming for my whole life and I still really struggled with my business because there wasn't a ton of information out there about flower farming or how to grow specific flowers or how to grow in high tunnels or pest and disease management for floriculture.
00:24:53
Speaker
And there certainly were zero resources that I knew of for running a flower business or running a flower farm business. but now there are just so many resources and there's so many people that have come before you and you get to kind of skip a lot of that hard trial and error. I mean, there's always going to be some trial and error, but you get to learn from people who've already been in the trenches and they've learned the lessons and they can tell you like, Hey, you should maybe look at doing it this way instead of doing it that way. Cause I tried that way and it doesn't work that good, you know?
00:25:25
Speaker
So there's just so many amazing resources out there now. ah just you know even free resources on the internet, like your podcast, like my podcast, like so there's that so many people can learn very easily from people that have gone before them. So I don't think it's any harder. And I know that some people will probably argue and say that, oh, there's so many people in the flower space now. But let me tell you, people been saying that ever since I started doing it over a decade ago. And so like that conversation has been the same since I started flower farming and
00:25:57
Speaker
The truth is, you know, there may be more people coming into it now, but i don't think having more competition is necessarily a bad thing. I think it just pushes all of us to be better.
00:26:10
Speaker
I agree. i think it's interesting. I'm going into my seventh year as a farmer. and And when I started, I live in a small town or county. haven't checked recently, but it was around 20 something thousand people. So fairly small, but we have a large agricultural region around us.
00:26:26
Speaker
I think there was five or six other growers and we had a meetup two weeks ago. And I was looking at our email list. There's 25 of us now in this area. So it's substantially grown. And I mean, this is everything from like less than a quarter acre to several acres in size for farming. So there's a wide variety of what people are doing.
00:26:47
Speaker
And that sounds like a lot, but yet when we go back and look at the fact that 80% of our flowers are still imported, it's like there is so much room for new people to come in the market or existing growers to expand.
00:27:04
Speaker
Exactly. So how would you suggest that someone who is new or has a model that's maybe struggling right now, how do they differentiate themselves to stand out in the market?
00:27:16
Speaker
Yeah, so I think I could probably talk for an entire hour about this one question, but I will try not to. um I think there's so many opportunities out there, so many. And one of the biggest things that I try to tell my students is to think about what you feel like you could be the best at in your area and really, really just hone on getting so amazing at that one thing that people literally just can't ignore you because you're so good at it.
00:27:47
Speaker
And I really think that there are so many opportunities for you to go a million different ways. Like, An example of this would be when I started, there was a few other flower farmers in my area around the city of Rochester.
00:28:00
Speaker
And at the time I was like, oh gosh, I don't want to like step on these other people's toes or like we're going to be competing with each other. And the truth is that we all ended up going like I don't want to say like separate directions, but you know, i really focus on farmer's market and CSA.
00:28:15
Speaker
Another girl focuses on just high-end weddings. That's all she does is high-end weddings. Another one of us does those like little, um, like ol a la carte weddings and bulk buckets. Another person sells only to florists. And so there's all these opportunities for different sales outlets that I think that you can just kind of find your niche and get really good at it. And then differentiate yourself with good marketing. This is just a big one that I think a lot of people struggle with, but really honing in on what your brand voice is figure out who you want to work with, who your ideal customer is, and
00:28:52
Speaker
talk to that person. So you really attract the people that are going to appreciate your business to you. And there's just so many beautiful ways that you can do that and very authentically too.
00:29:03
Speaker
So yeah, just trying to find your own little niche and get really, really good at doing something and that you can be known for and your area. i like that advice about the niche because I mean, all over, no matter what industry, it seems like on social media, everyone's like niche down, niche down um and get good at something. And it's so true though, because when you try and do a bunch of things, you never know if you can be truly great at something.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yeah. And I also think that it stretches you in too many directions. Like i know for me, i feel like I've told this story a million times, but like I used to grow everything. I used to try to sell to everyone. I mean, we did farmers markets, CSA, Dahlia Tubers, direct to florists, wholesale, um,
00:29:53
Speaker
you know, ah on farm, we did a farm stand, we did workshops, we I mean, we did everything at once. But the problem is, we were kind of just doing like an okay job at everything.
00:30:06
Speaker
And like, yeah, you can like balance that and you can make it work and juggle all those things. But you're never gonna get like really exceptionally good at doing just one or a few of those things. And that can be a really key differentiator for someone in the market nowadays.
00:30:23
Speaker
I think that's one of the things that's also really fascinating about flowers is that like if you look at an apple grower or a cherry grower, I'm trying to think of other examples that only grow one crop.
00:30:36
Speaker
There's only wholesale or retail or maybe a CSA that they sell to or maybe a you pick. There's like maybe four plants. ways you can market the product. But with flowers, i mean, you just listed, I wasn't counting, but probably 10 or 12 at minimum different outlets that flowers can move through.
00:30:54
Speaker
So I think we have a really unique industry that allows that opportunity for people to get creative and differentiate themselves like you were just saying. So I think that's a great point.
00:31:06
Speaker
Sure. Yeah. So thank you for that. um Your podcast is called Six Figure Flower Farming.
Potential Earnings in Flower Farming
00:31:14
Speaker
Would you say that it is possible for most flower farmers to make a six-figure profit? Or what would you say is a realistic expectation for a flower farmer to strive for? Yeah, so I think that you can make as much or as little money as you want to with flower farming. Like, people...
00:31:33
Speaker
They think that because the name of my podcast Six Figure Flower Farming, that it's only for people who want to earn $100,000 a year, whether that be gross or profit. That's up to whatever interpretation you want to take.
00:31:46
Speaker
Because you literally can just do whatever you want. It's your business. It's your life. I know flower farmers that make... ah half a million, million, multiple million dollars a year. And I know flower farmers that make like 10,000 and therere they're good with that. They just want to like make a little extra cash. So that's fine.
00:32:06
Speaker
I just want to say that like I think people set the bar for themselves far too low. And I'm not, again, not saying that it's easy to do, but you can earn as much or as little as you want.
00:32:20
Speaker
i have farmer friends that literally make millions. i have other farmer farmers other farmer friends make hardly anything at all. And you so you could do anything in between, truly I like what you said that some of those people make 10,000 and they're good with that. And I think that's an important thing to recognize is that they're choosing that. yeah um And then the other people are choosing to make a million dollars. it's It's what you put into the business is what you I feel like you get back.
00:32:47
Speaker
So we have a new 20 acre farm. We're not going to farm 20 acres, but our county is so heavy on fruit growers that And right now our field is a fallow field and we're trying to get approval to defer rebuilding because we have a tear we have a house that needs to be torn down on the property. It's not livable.
00:33:07
Speaker
And our county on exclusive farm use land has a rule that if you don't get this deferral permit that we're trying to get right now, that you have to earn a minimum of $80,000 a year for a minimum of two years out of the following five-year period.
00:33:22
Speaker
to get a new approval to build a house. And the guy just looks at me and he says, well, you'll never qualify for that. And I said, well, why is that? And he goes, this is a field of grass and you're telling me you're going to grow flowers. That's not going to make any profit.
00:33:38
Speaker
Oh, geez. And I was just kind of taken back. I was like, if I wanted to maximize the 20 acres, there's a unlimited potential here. I was like, If you only gave me an acre of this, I could still hit your requirements. So why are you limiting me? And I think it it reminded me of these limiting beliefs that we have, that we like tell ourself these lies that one of the things I heard last year from a grower in our area that just grows flowers so for fun and is kind of dabbling with selling flowers
00:34:09
Speaker
She had her flowers for $5 at this other farm for sale. And they were beautiful dahlias. And she said something to when I came and she almost seemed embarrassed that I was seeing her price.
00:34:21
Speaker
And she was like, I just didn't know if people would buy them. It's my first year. And it's it's that limiting belief that you're telling yourself that you're not capable of more when reality is there's people that will pay $5 for a dahlia stem. yeah And here's this little bouquet of dahlias for $5. So I think it's our limiting beliefs.
00:34:40
Speaker
um And so I really love what you're doing by showing people what's possible because I think when we see that other people can do that, it makes us say, well, if she can do that, why can't i Yes, exactly. I love that you said that. And that's exactly, so this is actually the reason why my podcast is called Six Figure Flower Farming is because when but When I worked for USDA and still had a lot of limiting beliefs about money and farming, I didn't think that it was possible to earn a living on a small scale farm, especially small scale flower farm. I did not believe it was possible because that's what I had been told my whole life.
00:35:19
Speaker
But then I saw somebody else that actually had a vegetable farm that was farming one acres or just one acre. And they were earning like $150,000 a year gross from that one acre and paying themselves like a 40 to 50% profit margin. And I was like, if they can do that with vegetables, I could do that with flowers.
00:35:43
Speaker
And so It's really powerful when people share what is possible because it really raises, like, what's that saying? a Rising tide lifts all boats. Like, I really believe that. So i love that you said that.
00:36:00
Speaker
Yes. Well, that's what's so inspiring, I think, about the stories that you're telling on your podcast or the guests that you're interviewing. And just like you just shared, you hearing or seeing that vegetable grower that did $150,000 an acre.
00:36:15
Speaker
Is that the moment that you said, well, I could grow flowers and do this? Yeah. I mean, it was the moment where I realized that I could, if they could do it, I could make a living farming in some capacity.
00:36:27
Speaker
was like, if they can do it, I can do it. that's the thing that People look at me. I'm no different than anybody else. Like, i don't have any special skills or circumstances or anything.
00:36:39
Speaker
Neither does anyone else who's successful. I mean, maybe not everybody else, but, you know, it's it just like I said before at the very beginning, it's just skills that you have to learn. And you said learn, which yeah anyone can learn those skills. right yeah I really believe it's a lot about the mindset, which it goes back to the resilience of being a farmer. I would really feel like that's the main full circle. Full circle here. Yeah. and Mindset is a huge piece of it.
00:37:07
Speaker
Huge piece of it. I feel like with a lot of my students, I'm always just kind of like... adjust, helping them adjust their mindset about things to be like, yeah, like the work that you do is really important. It is worth like you can charge the prices that you deserve. And there are people who are happy to pay you for it. And, you know, we're not, we're not trying to like, you know, cheap people out of their money or something like that, but we're all helping each other out in the world by doing things that we love to do and charging appropriate prices for them.
00:37:40
Speaker
think that that is a really hard mindset for people as they're starting out because they're still learning those skills. At least I'm speaking from like when I started out, it was scary yeah to charge those prices at first.
00:37:54
Speaker
And so I think it's easy to be like, I'm going to undervalue what I'm selling because I am new. And so you you tell yourself those lies that I'm new, my product's not as good of quality.
00:38:07
Speaker
How do you help people around those mindsets and help them shift their mindsets if they're your student? Yeah. So, you know, I think when you are very first starting out, you maybe don't have the skills yet to feel confident charging higher prices. Or, you know, maybe you don't have the skills where you don't really have the quality yet.
00:38:29
Speaker
But that's okay. You know, if you don't feel like you're there yet, if you're not comfortable yet, you need to charge what you feel comfortable in the moment. But have a goal for yourself, you know.
00:38:41
Speaker
and one of the most powerful things, one of the most powerful exercises I take my students through is explaining to them about how their sales are really helping other people. Like a lot of people feel like very icky and gross about like sales and like taking money from people. And like, I've totally been there. This is something that I really had to learn and took me a long time to learn. But When you sell something like flowers, you really truly are improving someone's life.
00:39:10
Speaker
You're giving them, you're handing them a bundle of happiness for God's sake. Like we have so many examples from our own customer base where people come and buy flowers from us and it's really like a mood altering, life altering experience for them.
00:39:26
Speaker
And so you can't hold yourself back from selling your flowers because You know, I've heard this from other much more smarter people than me, but, you know, selling is really serving. And when you fail to share the gifts that you cultivate with the world, you're really stealing from the people who need it most. I think I first heard that from Marie Forleo.
00:39:47
Speaker
I could be wrong about that, but. So don't quote me. That sounds right. It sounds like something she would say. yeah but um And I really believe that's true because ah just one simple example is we have a couple, an older couple that comes to our farmer's market and they buy flowers from us every weekend to put on their dead granddaughter's grave. It's heartbreaking. It's horrible. Yeah.
00:40:09
Speaker
But they have an ah positive experience from buying from me because I care. the grocery store doesn't give a two craps about them. you know They have a positive experience for me. And the flowers that they buy from me are so different and so much more beautiful. They mean something when they use them in their grief and while they're grieving for their dead granddaughter. And it's just like...
00:40:33
Speaker
Every time I feel weird about selling or charging those prices, I just think about what I'm doing is really important and is really needed in the world. And I think now more than ever, we just need more beauty and happiness in the world, like really more than ever. So I think getting into that mindset where what I do really matters and is really important can be super helpful and getting people to shift their mindset. and And it's something that I really struggled with him when I started my business, when I shifted from my veggie farm, I was like, I'm growing these organic vegetables. I'm feeding the world. I'm, you know, regenerative agriculture is so important.
00:41:09
Speaker
I felt like I was part of like a higher purpose. But then when I switched to flowers, I was like, well, they're just flowers. Like you can't eat them. They're They're just pretty to look at. They're just like luxury.
00:41:20
Speaker
But over time, after interacting with my customers and hearing more stories about the one I just told you, i realized like this is super important and that I'm sharing something important with the world and that I shouldn't be ashamed of charging for it because it helps me do more of it.
Selling Flowers as Meaningful Experiences
00:41:38
Speaker
That's a really beautiful story and vulnerable story you should share. it So thank you for sharing that. That affirmation, what I do really matters, is so powerful.
00:41:49
Speaker
I've talked with so many guests on the podcast about the fact that flowers feed the soul. And there's it's amazing how many growers were previously growing vegetables and discovered that there's this that they at first felt the guilt of like, I'm not feeding people anymore, but they're feeding in a different way.
00:42:07
Speaker
And so when you said that what we are doing is creating an experience, I don't know why, but that just like hit this nerve today of like, that was so like hitting the nail on the,
00:42:19
Speaker
or the hitting the hammer on the needle. i'm i'm I can't say the right terminology. ah Nail on the head. The nail on the head. Thank you. But like, I mean, we're not just selling a product.
00:42:31
Speaker
I mean, when they go home, there is an emotional experience. tied to that bouquet that they're going to remember long after those flowers die, but they're also going to experience a life cycle of watching those flowers either continue to bloom or fade before they die on the countertop. So for me, that's, I've never really thought about, I mean, that maybe sounds really terrible, but here I am saying this, like I've been doing this for seven years, but putting in the mindset that we're selling an experience to be able.
00:43:03
Speaker
Yeah, as small business owners, that is you're not really selling flowers. Let's be honest. You're selling an experience. You're selling joy. You're selling happiness. You're selling connection.
00:43:13
Speaker
You're selling this like, bigger piece of the world where you're connecting someone to nature, where most people are so disconnected from the natural world, like you're doing that. You're really connecting them with an experience. You're not not just selling flowers.
00:43:32
Speaker
You're giving people an experience. That is such a powerful mindset shift. Thank you for sharing that. um I'm just thinking like it, it kind of goes full circle to that. Like this experience really doesn't even start the moment you hand up. Okay.
00:43:49
Speaker
That experience starts with your story, which goes back to your marketing of how important your story is because often, i mean, like I was saying, if there's 23 growers in our area,
00:44:02
Speaker
Every person that comes and buys is going to buy from a different grower because of their connection to that person. Right. Yeah, absolutely. i think that's so true. People, i think people worry about competition a lot, but the truth is like, you're just going to find your people or rather your people will find you and, and their people will find them. And that's just the way it is, you know? That's such a great point.
00:44:25
Speaker
Speaking of finding your people in your community, One thing that I think is different because I went from corporate America to owning another business to being a flower farmer. i used to work with people all the time.
00:44:39
Speaker
Being a flower farmer, especially as you're building your business and you don't have any employees, can be kind of lonely. how How did you find your community or your tribe in the flower industry? That's a good question.
00:44:56
Speaker
It's definitely super lonely. Not a lot of people understand why you're doing what you want to do. Or they'll not they won't believe in you. They will think that it's just like this cute little endeavor that you're going on. and And it's okay for them to not understand. You just really have to believe in yourself.
00:45:15
Speaker
But something that helped me was just trying to get in rooms with other people that were already doing what I wanted to do. So I joined the ASCFG, the Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers, which Now i am the Northeast Regional and Director of, I serve on the board of directors for them, um which is so fun, by the way.
00:45:35
Speaker
But I would go to conferences and I would just go to their online meetings or you know presentations. I would listen to podcasts. So At first, I didn't know really anyone else that was doing this except for like one person in my hometown in Connecticut that I called up and was like, hey, I think I want to be a flower farmer. Can you help me?
00:45:57
Speaker
But besides that I didn't really know anyone. And so I think just immersing myself in situations where I could hear other people talking about this from podcasts and those conferences and presentations, like it really helped me feel like I wasn't alone and that it was really possible because here there are all these other people who are doing it Absolutely.
00:46:17
Speaker
ah love that you mentioned that you actually went to events and became involved with the ASCFG, which I actually said properly this time. I always tongue tie that acronym.
00:46:28
Speaker
Yeah, I'm hoping someday they'll change it to make it a little easier to say because it's a mouthful. But yeah. Yeah. I'm pretty sure I mispronounce it every time I have a guest. I'm like, I'm a member, but I can't pronounce it.
00:46:39
Speaker
um But it's such a ah valuable and important service because like you said, there are so many people that are like, oh, you you do what? Because our industry, I think, is still so young as flower farmers as we're rebuilding.
00:46:55
Speaker
i mean, I don't know any massive flower farmers. Like when you look at the USDA, they classify small farms as 500 acres or smaller. Like I'm pretty sure every single flower farm in the U.S. is a small farm.
00:47:07
Speaker
And you feel more like you're on an island. But when you have these connections... I think it's so powerful. Can you tell us a little bit about the ASCFG, especially since you are a regional director?
00:47:19
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So it's this organization or this association has been around for just ge for a long time. And they are like just so passionate about helping specifically small scale cut flower growers grow.
00:47:36
Speaker
Find what the information they need to find to thrive. And there is something for everybody there. They have all these conferences that they put together. They're all about education and research as well. They fund a lot of cut flower research, which is important.
00:47:52
Speaker
They even have like scholarships and stuff for people for going to university, but they put together presentations. They have experts that talk every week and they have ah quarterly magazine that comes out every quarter. Obviously, every quarter. Yeah.
00:48:07
Speaker
And um with just amazing articles in there that you can read and and get set sent straight to your mailbox. And it's just a wealth of information. There is this huge backlog of all kinds of things. I mean, about anything you can imagine from crop specific, like how to grow specific crops, you pest and disease, marketing and business stuff. They've got a lot of resources there. So I recommend them to anybody who's starting out with flower farming. It's a great place to go.
00:48:36
Speaker
I've been grateful to be a part of it. One of my goals this year is to make one of the regional conferences. I think it'd be so fun to meet more people. I feel so connected to the industry through getting to talk to people like you, but there's just something so powerful about getting to be face-to-face with people that are doing the same thing as you and understand your struggles.
00:48:56
Speaker
Oh, yeah. can celebrate too with you. Yeah, 100%. I think it's a really underrated part of success is when you can find like your little flower friends that you can bounce ideas off of or just not have somebody to relate to. Like when you're like,
00:49:13
Speaker
oh, I have an aphid apocalypse happening and I can't sell any of my flowers. And somebody else would be like, oh, that happened to me once, you know, and where as no one else in the entire world is going to get it. And so it's so powerful to do that. And actually, one of my favorite things I do is we teach on-farm workshops every summer. And have found that I've made more friends from hosting people on my farm through our workshops than I have pretty much anywhere else because we've cultivate this space for people to be able to like really talk about what's going on in their lives and with their business and it's just so nice to have those connections when you say on farm workshops are these for other farmers or
Workshops on Profitable Flower Farming
00:49:57
Speaker
these are for community members for other farmers can you tell us about those workshops up sure yeah so I'm
00:50:05
Speaker
I've been teaching these on-farm workshops for quite a few years. And the biggest one that we do, the main workshop that I teach is called, we just changed the name of it, actually. It's called Lean Flower Farming, and where I teach systems and efficiency for growing a profitable business. And it's a two-day intensive workshop on the farm where you come to my farm in Little Clifton Springs, New York, and As a small group of people, usually we have about 15 people and we keep it small on purpose. So we can actually like all connect with each other and anybody can ask questions and we have lots of time for that.
00:50:42
Speaker
But we go through ah like all aspects of flower farming, Through the lens of business and profitability, because I think that's a really missing piece in so much out there is that if you want to have a business, you have to learn how to grow and you have to learn how to you know manage all the things, but through a lens of profitability. Yeah.
00:51:04
Speaker
We do two days on the farm talking about ah just everything, literally everything. Seeds starting, transplanting, marketing. We talk about it all. And then we have an optional third day where we talk about high tunnel growing and season extension, specifically about profitable crops to grow in high tunnels, actual managing high tunnels and the structures and um extending your season for you know getting those extra sales and revenue throughout the season.
00:51:31
Speaker
It's my favorite thing that I do. It's so much fun. um We have like big pizza party together and all get to hang out. And everybody leaves with, mean, we've had people from all over the country come to it. And then everybody leaves and seems to really take that information and do something really amazing with it.
00:51:49
Speaker
Like we've had people leave that workshop in the next year, break six figures in revenue in like their third year of business. We've had people quit their jobs to become flower farmers. We've had ah just so many ah amazing success stories.
00:52:02
Speaker
That sounds amazing. So you mentioned you've had a third-year farmer and you've had someone quit their day job. Who is the ideal person to come to these workshops?
00:52:14
Speaker
Ideally, somebody who already knows the basics of cut flower growing, but who wants to build a profitable business and is really determined and the idea that they want to make their flower farm a real business and they want to earn at least maybe not a living from it. A lot of people want to come to learn how to make their flower farm a career, but at least make a significant profit because there are a lot of people out there, a lot of people who come to the workshop who just want a profitable little side hustle. You know, they have a part-time job or their mom or or a parent and they want something to do kind of on the side, but that earns them a little bit of extra money. and
00:52:50
Speaker
That sounds like so much fun. Will you be offering that this year? Yeah. so the dates this year are going to be July 28th and 29th on our flower farm. Awesome. Well, you will provide a link in the show notes.
00:53:03
Speaker
Oh, that'd be great. Thanks. yeah Well, Jenny, it's been so fun getting to learn more about you and your business and your passion for helping others become profitable in this industry.
00:53:15
Speaker
Is there anything I haven't asked you today that you want to share with our listeners? You know, I do. I just want to say that there is an incredible amount of noise and negativity out in the world of people telling that telling you no or people telling you that it's not possible. You can't do it. And I just want to tell you, just don't listen to them. Follow your North Star tell.
00:53:38
Speaker
and Wherever you're looking for proof in the world, you're going to find it. If you think that it is not possible to earn a living from a flower farm, when you look out into the world, all going to see is proof that that's possible. But if you think that it is possible, you're going to look out into the world and you're going to find proof of it. so your life follows the attention that you put someplace. And I just think, just think that you should just be positive. And if you want to do something, just go do it.
00:54:08
Speaker
That's all I have to say. i love it. That is my philosophy too. So I think that's fabulous advice. Awesome. I'm so grateful that you carved out some time to join us on the podcast today.
00:54:20
Speaker
For those who want to learn more about you or your business or your online education or your podcast, how can they find you? Yeah, so you guys can find me at, um my website is trademarkfarmer.com.
00:54:34
Speaker
My Instagram is at trademarkfarmer, and that's T-R-A-D-E-M-A-R-K, farmer. um i teach a online business course called Six Figure Flower Farming. That's all about the business side of growing a profitable flower farm.
00:54:50
Speaker
Plus, you heard about my on-farm workshops. And then I also have a free business foundations course available right now. It's only available for um a few more weeks, but if anybody wants to sign up for that, they can go to trademarkfarmer.com forward slash startup. So totally free business foundations course for very beginning flower farmers who are looking to start a business.
00:55:11
Speaker
Amazing. We will provide links to all of those in today's show notes. So Jenny, thank you so much for joining us today. This conversation was so fun and I love the mindset that what we do really matters. I think that's so powerful. So thank you for coming and sharing your story today.
00:55:31
Speaker
Thank you. it was such an honor to be here. So thank you for having me, Jennifer. Well, the door is always open. Maybe you can come back again sometime. I'd love to. Thanks, Jenny. All right. Bye-bye. If you've been thinking about adding a greenhouse to your garden, there's no better time.
00:55:45
Speaker
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00:56:01
Speaker
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00:56:17
Speaker
Thank you, flower friends, for joining us on another episode of the Backyard Bouquet. i hope you've enjoyed the inspiring stories and valuable gardening insights we've shared today.
00:56:28
Speaker
Whether you're cultivating your own backyard blooms or supporting your local flower farmer, you're contributing to the local flower movement. And we're so happy to have you growing with us. If you'd like to stay connected and continue this blossoming journey with local flowers, don't forget to subscribe to the Backyard Bouquet podcast.
00:56:47
Speaker
I'd be so grateful if you would take a moment to leave us a review of this episode. And finally, please share this episode with your garden friends. Until next time, keep growing, keep blooming, and remember that every bouquet starts right here in the Backyard