We were lucky to catch up with Arrah Thomas recently and have shared our conversation below.
Arrah , appreciate you joining us today. So, what do you think about family businesses? Would you want your children or other family members to one day join your business?
As a child growing up on an Agritainment Farm, I spent a lot of time working, learning new skills and networking within the community. It wasn’t until I left the farm and pursued a Masters in Occupational Therapy that I truly valued the skills that I learned and appreciated the time that my family poured into me while making their business work. Instead of the traditional way of parents being the sole provider of the income to live, my siblings and I were able to be apart of it and feel like we contributed to our household’s success. We didn’t support the family financially, but we did support the farm with the skills we learned-painting, landscaping, hosting events, animal care and just a good work ethic in general. That teamwork really brought our family together and it has kept us together over the years.
When I left the family business I thought I had everything figured out, but when I had my own children I discovered that I wanted my children to have the same experiences and opportunities that I had. Every day that my children get to come to work with me is absolute joy. Sure, it takes longer to complete task, but taking the extra time is worth it. So many families are unintentionally separated, because everyone has their own individual goal. My girls love coming to work with me and they tell all their friends at school about being “Tulip Gals” and “working” on the farm. Sure they are just going up and down the slide or digging holes in random spots, but they love it and I enjoy them being out there.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
My name is Arrah Thomas and I originally went to school to become an Occupational Therapist. After being raised on an Agritainment Farm ( Christmas Tree Farm and Pumpkin Patch), I never thought I wanted to be a farmer, but here I am, being a farmer.
I worked many jobs in my 20s. I was a dance instructor for 6 years, worked within the food industry, continued my education to become an OT to work with children that had developmental disabilities, and then I nanny-ed every opportunity I could get. I was always doing something or learning something new, but I kept being pulled back to the farm. Even though it’s tough work, it brought me so much joy and I loved that I was able to use all of my skills instead of just a few.
When I decided to come back and partner with my parents, they gave me more of a management position. After working under a bunch of different people, I was able to decide what kind of manager I was going to be and figure out how to make the farm expand. Through many trials and errors, we expanded like we hoped and I was able to open up the Tulip Festival at Yule Forest.
The thing that I am most proud of is how much joy I bring families that come out to the farm. Every activity out there is inspired by my childhood on the farm and we simply modified it so other families (and my children) can experience the same joy. There is nothing better than bringing others happiness.
What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?
Our reputation at Yule Forest is that we are honest and that has helped us grow more than anything. We keep things simple and people that purchase tickets or anything from us know that we sell high quality products and know that our purpose is to bring joy and help families make memories together. We are fair with our pricing and we pay our workers a great wage.
Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?
I’m a firm believer in “whatever you fill your mind with is what you will put out in the world”. All of my social media pages are filled with business entrepreneurs, Christian devotions, comedians, flower farming, entertainment, diy building projects and other inspirational pages. By following pages that are very diverse with their skills, I am able to pull everything together and make a better and unique item or idea for our farm. I’ve also been able to network with people much smarter than me and brainstorm through issues that I may be having.
Someone at my church once told me that everyone is walking around with a million dollar idea, but some people never attempt to make that idea work because of fear of failure. Knowing that I am a child of God and knowing that no matter what earthly failures I encounter, God is going to take care of me gave me this dangerous confidence. After hearing that message, I decided to finally execute the plan and host the first Tulip Festival. I barely made any money that first year and I’m not swimming in money like a millionaire now, but I found something greater in value by executing my bizarre idea. I discovered that I can do it and that I am capable of anything.
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Image Credits
Courtney Elyse Photography