We recently connected with Ayanna Hill and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Ayanna, thanks for joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your business and how did you resolve those issues?

2022 has been a roller coaster of year on the farm. We have been challenged with a fire on the farm, a stolen tractor, labor issues within the family, unalive livestock on our property for starters.

You know as a new and learning farmer you have to be extremely flexible and not necessarily prepared for the unknown but able to handle the unknown in stride. You can control the unknown but you can control your reaction. The fire was an unfortunate incident by our farm hand who was not following safety protocols put in place and cost us our 7 bee hives. The stolen tractor taught us security is key first and thank goodness for insurance. The cattle from another farm that wandered on our property then died….not much we knew to do there but leave as is as was on the back acreage. But in partnering with neighboring farmers we learned how to solve in the event it happens again. Then the labor issues….being in business with family is tough, not everyone can be the boss but everyone wants to be the boss. I’ve released some family members from employment with the business.

Ayanna, 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 am by day in IT and Project Management I have always had a passion for agriculture and originally went to college to be a large animal veterinarian. Life happens and over the years fell into IT, Application Development and Infrastructure Operations. Fast forward, my family has owned land for over 20 years and has done various enterprises from hay baling, land leases for grazing, residential leases then COVID hit. As a family we came together to start a farm business and used the 2 years of of downtime to planning, fund and implement infrastructure to launch row cropping for fresh produce for BIPOC chefs, commercial kitchen for manufacturing healthy snacks from hemp grain, and a local CSA for our community. We’re wanting to offer fresh produce options, healthy food options, community involvement, a niche market for local chefs. Future state we also see ourselves having a green technology center, hemp linens and textiles, glamping AirBnB with yurts. Mostly I am proud of the farming connections I have made with other BIPOC women farmers through my mentor Clarenda Stanley and the Sow Green Society. It is a constant and continuous exchange of ideas, experiences and learning.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I didn’t know what I was doing when I first created the social media platforms for the farm. While yes I have personal social media where you post funny stories, post pictures of your family, tell people where you’re eating and what you’re eating,, reconnect with old friends and make new friends. Easy right to translate to your business? Nope! Even as tech savvy as I am I could not in essence tell people about my business just as easy as I could share my life on my personal platforms. But I learned that everyone loves a story everyone wants to be invested in following a journey and it doesn’t have to be crafted with the perfect lighting or outfit or music. Be real and keep it real, you will build an audience. Oh and pay attention to your analytics!

Any advice for managing a team?

You know I do my absolute best to stay excited and passionate about not just the desired outcome but the journey. That’s where engagement thrives when managing a team. From there you want to give people autonomy and ownership, like any work environment….me being the owner does not mean I am the only leader. I want a team of leaders where their skill set is advantageous to me and vice versa, I want partnerships not subordinates.