We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Emily Falk. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Emily below.

Emily , appreciate you joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

From the early age of 16 to about a year ago, I had always been involved in the service industry. Whether it was back of house, front of house, bartending, serving, managing—you name it, I have done it all. I found myself in fine dining and really took an interest in the smaller details of a plate and what made it beautiful, elegant, fun, and different. I discovered microgreens and knew there was a market for these little nutritious gems, which sparked my interest. I started to look for them in my local grocery store and noticed there weren’t any on the shelves.

On my days off, I volunteered at a local skatepark that had formulated a plan during COVID-19 and made itself available as a food distribution center. 4DWN became a second home and a second family. They introduced me to Big Tex Urban Farms, located underneath the Ferris wheel at the state fairgrounds. It turns out they were light years ahead of the microgreen market, and I took a keen interest in learning to grow, harvest, and sell micros.

Shortly after I found my niche love for vertical farming, I left the service industry to pursue another way I could be relevant in the restaurants and bars I’ve known and loved around town since I was 16. My friends and family at 4DWN and Big Tex saw the hours that I spent learning my new craft and came up with a concept that would benefit me and change 4DWN in a positive way forever. 4DWN now contains the world’s first-ever vertical ramp vertical farm. The farm is located under the giant 48-foot-wide, 12-foot-tall Dickies skate ramp, home to vert ramp legend Mike Crum. It is a heated and cooled, environmentally sound growing space that I have grown quite fond of and will continue to for years to come.

About a year into growing microgreens, I was introduced to a potential customer at her restaurant, Dive Coastal Cuisine. Little did I know after that meeting that Franchesca Nor would shape my life and love for growing and take it one step further. She has now entrusted me to grow in two 50-foot containers conveniently placed at 4DWN, called DIVEDWN. Continuing to further my knowledge and growth in the vertical farming industry, we are pumping out about 800 heads of produce weekly and delivering to Dive Coastal Cuisine (if you haven’t checked them out, you really should). I am beyond lucky and thankful to everyone who helped get me here and to the people that keep me here.

Emily , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

From the early age of 16 to about a year ago, I had always been involved in the service industry. Whether it was back of house, front of house, bartending, serving, managing—you name it, I have done it all. I found myself in fine dining and really took an interest in the smaller details of a plate and what made it beautiful, elegant, fun, and different. I discovered microgreens and knew there was a market for these little nutritious gems, which sparked my interest. I started to look for them in my local grocery store and noticed there weren’t any on the shelves.

On my days off, I volunteered at a local skatepark that had formulated a plan during COVID-19 and made itself available as a food distribution center. 4DWN became a second home and a second family. They introduced me to Big Tex Urban Farms, located underneath the Ferris wheel at the state fairgrounds. It turns out they were light years ahead of the microgreen market, and I took a keen interest in learning to grow, harvest, and sell micros.

Shortly after I found my niche love for vertical farming, I left the service industry to pursue another way I could be relevant in the restaurants and bars I’ve known and loved around town since I was 16. My friends and family at 4DWN and Big Tex saw the hours that I spent learning my new craft and came up with a concept that would benefit me and change 4DWN in a positive way forever. 4DWN now contains the world’s first-ever vertical ramp vertical farm. The farm is located under the giant 48-foot-wide, 12-foot-tall Dickies skate ramp, home to vert ramp legend Mike Crum. It is a heated and cooled, environmentally sound growing space that I have grown quite fond of and will continue to for years to come.

About a year into growing microgreens, I was introduced to a potential customer at her restaurant, Dive Coastal Cuisine. Little did I know after that meeting that Franchesca Nor would shape my life and love for growing and take it one step further. She has now entrusted me to grow in two 50-foot containers conveniently placed at 4DWN, called DIVEDWN. Continuing to further my knowledge and growth in the vertical farming industry, we are pumping out about 800 heads of produce weekly and delivering to Dive Coastal Cuisine (if you haven’t checked them out, you really should). I am beyond lucky and thankful to everyone who helped get me here and to the people that keep me here.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

I am always looking for new customers. I would love to work with all walks of life and all types of food. The most important thing for me is to make people aware of the resilience in growing up. Growing vertically ensures we are no longer tilling land, cutting down trees, displacing animals’ homes, using pesticides, and most importantly, using almost 95% less water. Sustainability is key, and I think the more we capture people’s attention on this matter, the more we’re ultimately creating a better world.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

In the industry I was in and knew for so long, I started slowly but surely becoming aware that “burnout” is very real. Don’t get me wrong, I thrived off working people under the table, but it wasn’t doing it for me anymore. I wanted a new challenge, a safe space, and I wanted to love what I was doing. I wanted to make a difference.

It was a hard pill to swallow, but burnout isn’t cute and it takes a toll on you mentally and physically. Find something you are passionate about and run with it.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.4dwn.org www.divedwn.com
• Instagram: @crimalee
• Youtube: https://youtu.be/kAEojkzofyI?si=LI4-Un9vMVr7B696