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Showing posts from 2019

Man in Overalls - Woo hoo! $100K in revenue! Thank you

Thank you! Team Overalls just grew past $100k in annual revenue! We're on track to 2x the highest top-line # we've ever made! It's not all about the money, but it's worth taking a pause to celebrate and to offer thanks in recognition of this threshold of success because it notes a potential that, in all honesty, I never considered these humble Overalls held. Here’s to a great cloud of supporters & encouragers, co-workers, customers, & collaborators. First up a word of thanks to my team: Valerie Herrmann & Don Justice who have joined me in the work of helping others grow their groceries; also here's to Cecil DiChiara, who has been my right-hand-apprentice growing the seeds of our Overalls Farm in my own backyard. These 3 have had my back, shoveled my shovel, & brought their sharp minds to the Overalls table. If you haven't already, you'll likely meet them in the months to come. We are also indebted, gratefully, to our customers. Fro

Man in Overalls - Last night, 10 years ago

10 years ago, last night - as recorded in my journal ... - "I couldn't sleep all night long because I was up thinking about this food gardening business idea. I settled on a few things: a name and a branded persona ("Man in Overalls") as well as a few ideas on how to use such a persona and business as a food movement platform and how to make food gardening demand viral." - A few months before, once I had decided to focus my efforts on launching a food gardening biz, I concluded that of the three pillars necessary for successful biz (product, books, and marketing), I was comfortable with the first two, but how to market? How to arrange for customers to come a calling? I had not a clue. Thus it was in this all-nighter idea-storm 10 years ago that I was suddenly released like water finding a crack in a dam. - It all started with the idea about a cardboard sign. (Well, it really started with my grandfather who lived everyday of his life in overalls,

Man in Overalls - Let's Grow Everywhere!

I just read a little book about a big deal: No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference  by Greta Thunberg. It's helping me make some sense out of my entire  adventure in Overalls. [For context, Greta  is a 16-year-old Swede who has been on a school strike to draw attention to the climate crises because we've got until 2030 to cut our emissions by 50% or suffer a positive feedback loop where warming leads to more emissions which leads to more warming leading to unprecedented climate disruption. (Even in my short life, I've seen the agricultural zones noticeable shift north - even moreso from the stories of my grandmother, so this worries me). Greta calls on us to assess all endeavors not just by financial ability but by asking, "Have we got enough of the carbon budget to spare to go through with this?" She speaks "on behalf of future generations" in simple, challenging words inciting us to confront what needs changing in order to address the cris