We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Avery Hughes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Avery thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Are you happier as a business owner? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job?

Just the other day while building out our new mushroom grow facility, I was thinking back over all the jobs I’ve had up to this point. I was in the middle of a particularly tough project, wiring up a rather confusing contraption that helps automate the bagging process of mushroom substrate. At about 11pm, In the midst of my frustrations, I thought of people with 9-5s and how they were fortunate to have clocked out already and left their work….at work. I recalled that from the age of 16-27, I worked many different jobs, all so different. I’ve been a bagger at a grocery store, a clerk at GNC, a head barista at Starbucks, a host and server at fine dining establishments, a ski instructor and a background actor for tv/film. With those jobs, I was working for someone else and naturally took for granted all that goes into owning/managing/running those very different businesses. I often thought about what it would be like to start a business of my own and how many great possibilities existed. Little did I know how much it would require of me. Soon after starting this mushroom farm, I realized I was going to be wearing all of the hats and that this endeavor would push me to grow in ways I never imagined. Along the way I’ve had to teach myself everything from basic electrical, plumbing, and carpentry to sterile lab techniques, commercial mushroom cultivation practices, marketing, bookeeping, etc. Owning my own business has given me much more confidence in my own abilities and allowed me to create my own schedule. There is a huge amount of responsibility that comes with owning and managing a business, but because of the freedom it provides, I don’ think I could ever go back to working for someone else. To answer the question of “Am I happy?” I would say that I am not always happy but I am content & fulfilled.

Avery , 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?

My name is Avery Hughes, I am 31 years old and in 2019 I founded my business, High Country Fungi, We cultivate gourmet and medicinal mushrooms in the Western North Carolina area. Growing mushrooms was the last thing I had in mind as a career but that changed after attending a shiitake log cultivation class through our local agriculture extension office. I was becoming disenchanted with my current career path in the hospitality industry, tired of working for someone else and realized that my town didn’t have a local mushroom farm. During some travels I met some folks who recommended taking a commercial cultivation course out in Oregon. I flew there for 10 days and came back with a mission, to provide my community with delicious and healthy mushrooms. The only difference between this and shiitake log cultivation was that our operation was to take place indoors. I found a warehouse that was formerly a brewery to serve as the grow space and would go on to construct a sterile culture laboratory at my house, and the rest is history.

The bulk of what we do is fresh gourmet mushroom cultivation for local restaurants, grocery stores and farmers markets. Miika, my partner in life and business runs the farm with me and together we cultivate hundreds of pounds of mushrooms per week. Varieties like Lion’s Mane, Oyster Mushrooms, Pioppino, Chestnuts and Enoki are some of the gourmet varieties we cultivate. Medicinal mushrooms like Cordyceps, Reishi, Chaga, Turkey Tail and Lions Mane we take and extract for use in a tincture as they are known to have various benefits for both mind and body. We like to think our quality and freshness is what sets us apart. Mushrooms can be very finicky and the slightest misstep can produce a final product that is less than desirable. We are also on a mission to expand the public’s access to different mushrooms. Most of what you see on the shelves are buttons and bellas and while there is nothing wrong with those, the varieties we cultivate tend to be more nutritious and unique both flavor and texture wise. We encourage folks to see if their local town or city has a mushroom grower, as they are popping up everywhere these days.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

As with many businesses but especially with being a farmer, your reputation is directly tied to the quality and freshness of your crop. Mushrooms grow very quickly with most varieties only taking a few weeks before being ready for harvest. But within that short of a time span, minor fluctuations in temperature can either hasten or delay your crop. Mushrooms also tend to have a shorter shelf life, with peak freshness usually only lasting about 5-7 days maximum. These commingling factors make timing harvests somewhat of an artform. For the past 4 years we have spent countless hours in pursuit of “perfection”.

We have a reputation in our local market for producing the most eclectic variety. We want to be able to provide a mushroom that suits the need of every dish. We are always rotating in new, exciting varieties to keep our customers inspired in the kitchen.

Over the years we have devoted much time and attention to our display for our local farmer’s market. We are proud of the mushrooms we produce and feel they deserve a worthy display. We are trying to curate an experience that will stick with our customers long after they’ve left our booth.

How did you build your audience on social media?

At first, social media, more specifically Instagram, was primarily used as a means to communicate with the lively online community of fellow mushroom growers, sharing ideas and innovations, asking questions, etc. As the business grew we began to garner a following of other local businesses and community members. We have just over 4,800 followers now and feel that has been cultivated organically over the past four years. We strive to take quality photos and post consistently as well as answer the many questions in our inbox. A lot of what we do is education and we want to ensure that we are supplying our customers with reliable information. If I had any advice for those starting to build their social media presence, I would suggest them to really engage with similar businesses, their fellow local businesses and really flesh out what it is their audience wants to see. Foster community and use the platform to its full potential

Contact Info:

• Website: www.highcountryfungi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/highcountryfungi/?hl=en