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

Coy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

Urban agriculture is starting to become more popular here in Dallas. I see more every day, people wanting to know more about their food, like where it comes from, how was it produced, the nutritional value of it, and what chemicals were used before it reached the store.

Regenerative agriculture is something my wife Katrina and I are learning more about and are using this practice at FAWC Conservatory’s urban farm. Regenerative agriculture is about saving our soils and the inhabitants that live there. There’s a lot more to it but that’s a whole book.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Coy LeBron Poitier and I’m an award-winning filmmaker, musician, youth minister, mentor, motivational speaker, historical commissioner, and within the last three years, an urban horticulturist.

My passion is urban farming and teaching others how to grow their own food. I teach urban farming to mostly youth through our 501c3 Public Charity, FAWC Conservatory of Arts and Sciences. I also motivate and teach urban farming as a consultant, moderator, and speaker for Food Justice events and forums such as EarthX Film, 4DWN, and Denton Black Film Festival.

As a speaker, I also encourage youth to reach for their full potential. With my Felony2Freedom Conference, I encourage people with felony convictions to strive to live productive lives.

I’m most proud of coming from a felony conviction to graduating from film school, directing an award-winning documentary, becoming a Texas-certified master gardener, serving on the Dallas County Historical Commission, serving on the Dallas Mayor’s Confederate Monument Taskforce, a certified National Geographic Educator, and serving on several other boards.

My newest accomplishment is being elected to the USDA FSA Urban County Committee for Dallas County where I’m the chairman.

How did you build your audience on social media?

My social media has a ways to go but one of the reasons it is doing so is because of my pictures and video presence. I feel like seeing more than just hearing what you do. For example, I have videos of me planting, maintaining, and harvesting at our urban farm. I love responding to the post. Many of my followers are looking for advice so I offer it to them freely. Doing that has opened more doors for my independent consulting business than paying for advertisements.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Before farming, I had little to no patience. The thought of planting something in the ground and not seeing results for weeks to months sounded like a very painful experiment to me.

I’ve learned and continue to learn the risks and rewards of farming and I love it. The last few years have been hard on the farm but I have learned to start over, make the appropriate changes to the farm, and move forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coypoitier.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coylpoitier/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CoyLeBronPoitier
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coypoitier/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/coylpoitier
• Other: https://firesidechat.com/coypoitier