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

Jillian , appreciate you joining us today. Any thoughts about whether to ask friends and family to support your business. What’s okay in your view?

Asking friends and family to support your business is pivotal for any new business or venture. I truly believe that if we can’t ask our friends or family for support then our product or offer must not be ready. Because when it is and you truly believe the value you have to offer why would you not want to share it?! It can be a great way to build initial momentum and spread awareness, but it is absolutely essential to approach it with care and respect for their boundaries. For example, one of the easiest ways friends and family can support small businesses is to spread awareness on your behalf. Social media makes this so easy and it costs them nothing. Another way would be by writing reviews or recommendations. Frame your communication as an opportunity, not a plea. Share why your product or service might benefit them or bring them joy. Provide clear information about how they can support you (e.g., sharing your business with others, following you on social media, attending an event). Understand that not everyone will be able to support you financially, and that’s okay. Encouraging non-monetary support (like word-of-mouth promotion) is a great alternative.

As far as whats appropriate and where to draw the line, I believe relationship ought to always be prioritized over making a sale. If someone seems disengaged or uninterested, don’t push further. And keep your updates relevant and infrequent—don’t constantly push products or events in personal conversations.

Jillian , 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 Jillian and I am one part of the trio that is Hope Farms MI; a co-gardening, multi location farm. Together with my co-founders and our families we farm through various means across 3 properties implementing organic and regenerative practices in urban garden, homestead, and large scale farm environments.

For our Founder, it started as a passion project or garden hobby 30 years ago. Myself and fellow co-founder quickly fell in-love with gardening alongside and after years of doing our own things we finally wisened up and realized anything we tried to do we could do better together. We began a journey of co-creating gardens from large to small across our three locations. While we have a huge passion for nutrition, nourishing practices, and tastes of the season, we quickly shifted our public market offering from food to flowers. The flower industry in the US is not sustainable nor does it benefit our consumers or the farmers. In 2022, the US imported nearly 3.3 billion dollars worth of flowers. We believe we can do better, one garden at a time.

How’d you meet your business partner?

We have no better way of explaining meeting and relationship as anything less than a “God thing.” In 2015 I was enrolled in an unpaid internship doing graphic design work an hour and a half away from home. Through a dear friend, Sonyia (our founder) allowed me to “rent” space in her basement to live along with another intern (and friend) participating in the same program. Sonyia has a way of collecting people who have a need. I lived with her, her husband, her (then) 8 children, and 2 dogs until I married in 2018. It was a season of pure joy and utter chaos.

Kaeterina, the second part to our trio is Sonyia’s oldest daughter. Whom when I met was just a teenage girl figuring it out. Now all adults we have a very unique family bond. I typically joke that I am the adopted daughter that they didn’t choose. Little did they know when this stranger rented a room from them that I would forever claim them as my own.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

This question is easy and so very humbling for anyone involved in any type of agricultural business. The reality is we are at the hands of nature. We work alongside it and hopefully to benefit our environment as we do. But the harsh reality is in organic and regenerative practices we are forced to relinquish control. From pests, to storm damage, poor soil quality and so much more there are many goals each year that we have to pivot. Being adaptable and willing to adjust our expectations has been a huge learning curve for Kaeterina and I especially. But that is one aspect that makes our multi-locations so important. What fails in one environment may still thrive in the other offering us diversity in our harvests and the ability to let those environments speak to us about what it needs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hopefarmsmi.com/2024/03/11/about-hope-farms/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hopefarmsmi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61557989071681

Image Credits

All images are owned by Hope Farms MI and Jillian Melissa Photography