Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kendall Lanier. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Kendall thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

Goodness gracious where do I start? When I decided that I was going to start a flower farm, I knew I wanted a name with personal meaning. I tossed around all kinds of ideas that pertained to the land that we lived on, nicknames my grandparents had given me, what my intended crop would be…just all the things. There were several names that I liked but nothing that I loved. I made the decision to sit on it for a bit and knew it would eventually come to me. Fast forward to a few months later and I found myself a bit discouraged in the fact that I was failing at some seed germination, life feeling overwhelming, but not wanting to give up! During that time, I came across a lady speaking on the grace of God and how much we need it every single day. Not only does God’s grace play a personal role in my life, but in millions of other people’s as well and I knew I needed to include this in the name of my business. I can fail at starting seed, I can get overwhelmed as a busy Mama, but God’s grace keeps me going! Every morning when we wake up and thank the Lord for opening our eyes, we should ask God to show us the path he has planned for us and ask for his grace while traveling it. Thus, Fresh Grace Farms came to be! Every day we all need another dose of God’s fresh grace!

Kendall, 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?

I have always had a passion to grow and cultivate things. I graduated from college with a degree in Environmental Horticulture, but like most graduates I got a job that better paid my bills and didn’t necessarily align with my furthered education. After twelve years of bookkeeping, I decided to put my degree to use and try my hand at flower farming. I got the inspiration to start my own farm after finding the Instagram page of another flower farmer located in Michigan. I did some research to see if there were many flower farms located near me and found very few. So, in January of 2021 I purchased seed and supplies, said a lot of prayers, and gave it a shot!

Fresh Grace Farms is a cut flower farm located in Brooklet, GA. I grow and sell cut flowers, which are flowers that are used for decorative purposes such as vase displays, wreaths, or garlands. I can directly sell my flowers to consumers, or I can sell to florists.
There are several things that set me apart from a traditional florist. When you purchase flowers from me, you’re getting the freshest flowers possible. My flowers usually get cut out the field 12 hours before they are in your hands. This ensures the longest vase life possible. Flowers from my farm are locally grown and not imported and are handled with extreme care. You can purchase flowers arranged as requested, wrapped in bunches, or as buckets of loose stems if you have your own project that you’re working on. However, since my flowers are locally grown and not ordered, you can only purchase what I have in season on the farm. Different flowers grow well in different zones and here in zone 8b we can’t grow all the same stuff that tends to thrive in cooler temperatures such as zone 6. Florists can order whatever flowers they need, but I only use what is growing at the time according to what is in season.
My whole family is involved in the production of my flowers from start to finish. My husband often helps with anything tractor or fencing related. My three kids love to sow seeds and help cut the flowers when they are ready. And my dog is great at keeping me company at whatever I may be doing for the day.
I’m still new and learning more and more every day, but I already know that this is what I was born to do.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

Starting a social media page for my business was something that I absolutely wanted to do, but initially I couldn’t decide on when the right time for that was. Did I start one immediately and let the audience see all the ups and downs? Or wait until I had it all together and then get everything going? If you already follow my business page, you will know I chose to start it from day one! I prayed about it and knew that I wanted to take everyone on this journey with me and share the good and the bad with starting and running a business. This has helped me tremendously and put people in my path that God knew I needed. I’ve had so many people keep encouraging me after I lose a crop or have other failures and cheer me on when I grow the prettiest varieties of celosia. People want to know that not everything always goes exactly to plan and that you can still be considered successful when those things happen. My advice to anyone just starting out is to share your journey and growth with others. Don’t be scared that something may not work out. **News Flash** you will definitely fail at something at some point but use that as a learning experience and steppingstone and keep on trucking!

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

As your grandparents, parents, teachers, etc. use to say, “honesty is the best policy”. I have been up front and honest about me and my business from day one. That means a whole heap to myself and the people that I provide flowers to. I love the Lord, I’m a wife, I’m a mama, and then I’m a flower farmer….in that order. My customers know there a few things that take priority over my business, and I have been forthcoming with that since the beginning. This has helped me build personal relationships with other people that share the same values. I also consider myself to be a friendly person. When you are the face of your business it’s important for people to know the real You. I have always been friendly and kind to everyone that I meet and something so simple as that really does go a long way. I believe that these qualities help boost your reputation in whatever market you may be in and in life in general.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freshgracefarms/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreshGraceFarms