We recently connected with Amy Vine and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Amy thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Urban Vine was created out of a desire to create a safe and adaptable place of employment for my son who is on the autism spectrum, my adopted brother and sister who have special needs and their friends. When vocational programs began closing in Michigan, our friends with special needs who had come to rely on those programs as their outlet for social interaction, safe sanctuary on a daily basis and called these programs THEIR community, were told upon closing that they needed to go out into the “community” and find jobs or volunteer positions in a world they had very little experience navigating.
Our friends with “higher, medical needs”, such as my sister were driven home and our family, as well as thousands of others were left trying to find alternative care and purpose for their loved ones.
In 2017, I began studying herbalism and invited the close circle of our adult friends with special needs to my home where we learned how to formulate tea, soap, and all-natural salve. Our small circle grew larger and in 2019, we began working in a commercial kitchen with 10 of our, now employees. We have learned kitchen safety, food safety and preparation, and are licensed through the Michigan Department of Agriculture as a “Wholesale Food Processor”.
In 2020, after my dad passed away from complications due to agent orange exposure, my mom (who still lives on our family property with my sister who has special needs), and I began Promise Land Farm as an extension to Urban Vine. We began growing herbs for our products, bought sheep, chickens and bees and our ten employees grew to 18. Our farm provides so many work opportunities for our friends who may not be comfortable working in a regulated indoor space such as a commercial kitchen. Our safe and adaptable employment model means that we strive to help all of our employees find their passion (we all have one!) and develop that passion into a product, or a job position. We believe that we all have a plan and a purpose and at Urban Vine, we strive to create jobs that will help give people a sense of BOTH!

Amy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Urban Vine is a Michigan based, female owned, all-natural product company that exists to provide safe and adaptable employment opportunities for adults with special needs. We believe that everyone was born with a plan and a purpose, and we strive to help our employees discover their passions and develop those passions into product or a position of employment in our commercial kitchen. For those of our employees who desire a more diversified type of employment, our Michigan family owned farm, “Promise Land Farm” gives them the opportunity to learn agricultural practices, bee keeping, and livestock care. On this farm, we are growing 40% of the herbs we use in our products, also producing honey and eggs. Each element on the farm provides adaptable jobs for our friends. Some are comfortable working longer shifts on their own in the quiet of the farm, while others thrive working with others for only a couple of hours a day. We have recently become the exclusive product developer for USA Today best-selling author Wade Rouse who writes under his grandmother’s pen name “Viola Shipman”.
We are beginning a new subscription initiative that includes six “SHIPMANts” of beautifully themed gift boxes that include handmade items from Urban Vine and other Michigan small business crafters (many of whom have special needs) including Hannah Joy Spectrum Designs. This connection with Viola Shipman has allowed us to begin a women’s extension program at our commercial kitchen in 2024.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I began my business in my kitchen with my son, who is on the autism spectrum, my brother who also has special needs and his friends. That was seven years ago. I knew that our mission was to provide safe and adaptable employment for these adults but I was a brand new student of herbalism. Over the next few years I had to learn from BOOKS (there was very little reputable information on the internet at that time) how to make product. As I would learn, I would teach my friends, in my kitchen how to make fun herbal preparations, such as tea, soap and salve. There of course, was market testing, product developing, branding, marketing, and licensing, all while trying to provide our friends, and my son, gainful employment. After seven years of vendor shows, farmers markets, holiday events, odds and ends part-time employment and raising three boys. I was invited to Frankenmuth, MI by the National Women’s Farm and Garden Association to be a vendor at their 1st annual “Books in Bloom” event featuring the key note speaker, author Wade Rouse (pen name Viola Shipman). I read his beautiful book “The Heirloom Garden”, developed a “companion” tea for the book and asked him to visit my table when the event had ended. Only a few months later, Wade and his husband Gary asked Urban Vine to begin developing merchandise for the “Viola” brand. One year later, we are collaborating on an amazing project called Viola SHIPMANts. To date, we are preparing 300 beautiful seasonal boxes that will be mailed in six “SHIPMANts” all over the U.S. and Canada. The moral of my story is DO NOT GIVE UP. There were MANY times that I thought I would need to close the doors on Urban Vine because I was not making the money I needed for my employees. We had to pivot many times but tenacity is 99% of a successful business.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Find your niche. Your small business idea is probably being “done” somewhere by a multi billion dollar conglomerate. You are not going to compete – BUT I will wager that there is a niche group within your community, or a nationwide community that will be THRILLED to support you and buy your product. Never be rigid or afraid of pivoting. It may be the difference between failure and success.

Contact Info:

• Website: urban-vine.com
• Instagram: @urbanvine6
• Facebook: urban vine

Image Credits
brandon bonner photography