We were lucky to catch up with Hannah Swank recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hannah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. 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 young family with multiple small businesses, I feel that we get the privilege of having our entire family be involved in all of them because business is such a part of our lives. As a parent, I would love to see our kids take over and run any of the businesses that would be a good fit for them but with the realization that they may choose not to. There is always the risk in a family business that entitlement or comparison cause strife, while working with your kids while they are young on those character issues as they show up can help guide them in a more grateful, hard-working mind frame.

I love that our kids get to see the day-to-day business operations, and we get to discuss things in real time as we go through problems and successes together. Not only will the behind-the-scenes look at the businesses give them a better understanding of what owning and running a business truly means, but it might give them the courage to start their own ventures one day.

Last summer, our older two, Laura (8) and Andrew (6), were able to take on more responsibility on our small flower farm. They expressed interest in greeting visitors, giving instructions, and showing best practices. Their confidence definitely grew speaking to customers and learning some of the basic points of hospitality.

Hannah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My husband and I live on a small 6-acre farm with our three kids just seven minutes outside of Vincennes, Indiana. I had started a website development firm called Swank & Company in 2012 while working a full-time job and loved the remote, work-from-anywhere aspect. I began homeschooling our kids in 2021 after quitting my job, but, as someone with lots of energy, I didn’t love being stuck at home all day long with only school and computer work to do. That’s when I stumbled on flower farming.

I had a dream of working the land to produce an abundance of flowers of all shapes and colors that we could share with our community through the form of a you-pick farm where visitors cut, arrange, and take home their own custom bouquet. So, I bought some seeds, started them in our cellar, planted them out and before long we had the most amazing rows of sunflowers, zinnias, dahlias, snapdragons, and celosia. When we opened the farm to visitors, I was shocked at the number of people who decided to give this flower-picking experience a try. Now that we are four years in, I’m still amazed at how special the farm is to visitors, often times reminding them of flowers they’ve once grown or bring up questions from like-minded horticulturist about various flower varieties. I don’t claim to be a flower expert, and I am always learning from people coming to the farm who have stories and tips to share.

What I loved most, was that we could do this business from our home with the kids’ help. I’m beyond proud of how they have stepped up, asked for more responsibility, and started to appreciate what hard work can do. I also love the learning aspect that I can incorporate into everyday. The kids are learning science in real life, how to handle the money they make, what customer service looks like, discovering their God-given talents, and so much more.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Because my previous job put me in contact with lots of business professionals, it gave me the connections across multiple industries that definitely helped build my reputation in the community. I believe that hard work and integrity speak volumes to clients, and you should never underestimate the power of word-of-mouth.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I have learned a valuable lesson that just because I didn’t go to business school or have formal training doesn’t mean that I can’t create businesses. As someone who truly didn’t possess any knowledge in starting or running a company (let alone two), I was able to find local resources and mentors through the Chamber of Commerce and The Pantheon that walked beside me as my businesses and I grew simultaneously. I love to learn, so one of the things I really appreciate about business ownership is that there is always something new to learn, whether that is how to manage employees, staying up with marketing trends, or what my work/life balance needs to look like.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.swank-co.com & www.littlehillflowers.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/littlehillflowers
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/littlehillflowers
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/hannah-swank-52864b29b