We were lucky to catch up with Josh Roth recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Josh thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about a risk you’ve taken – walk us through the story?

Lauren and I have known each other for our entire lives. We purchased our first house together in 2017 in North Raleigh and this house was amazing. It needed some TLC and renovations but had everything we wanted at the time. We knew we wanted to take on renovating ourselves and we are so glad we did because it ultimately gave us the courage to start this crazy journey into flower farming. We knew we wanted to start something together that was ours, but nothing ever really stuck out in our minds that made us want to drop everything and go for it (so to speak). One day we were chatting with Laurens parents in late 2018. – They were living in Portland, Oregon at the time and planning on making the move cross country to come live in Raleigh to be closer to Lauren. During this conversation Laurens Mom had jokingly said, “wouldn’t it be fun to start a flower farm?” We all agreed and kind of just laughed it off and continued on with the conversation. Fast forward to early 2020, the pandemic is started to take hold in a big way, and the real estate marking in Raleigh was going through the roof. So we picked up the phone and called her parents and said if we can swing it would y’all still be interested in that flower farm. Without hesitation they replied “YES”. Thats where the non-stop life of a business owner really started to take shape. We reached out to a realtor friend and started to make moves on what it would take to sell our house and start to look for something we could turn into our dream. We started reading books, listening to podcasts, and even started what we jokingly called our “murder wall” which was a series of index cards full of ideas, materials, logistics, budgets, building layouts and designs, and anything we could think of that we might be able to use to make this work. It looked like someone trying to solve a crime by stringing together all the clues to what we would hope to be a successful small business. We began to scour the real estate market in a 1 hour radius from our current location looking for that property that would be just right. We got all of our ducks in a row – started a business account, had a farm name, got our LLC, set up a quickbooks account, and all we needed was a place to call Bottom of the Fox Farm. A few weeks later we came across a property in Silk Hope, NC. About 55 minutes west of Raleigh in Chatham County. It was 30 acres of pastureland, with rolling hills, a barn, garage and workshop and we thought this could be it! Lo and behold the property was located on 157 Joe Fox Rd. Our house was the original house on a much larger piece of land that had been split up over the years owned by the Fox family here in Silk Hope! Seemed like it was meant to be! After looking at he property we fell in love. It was perfect for what we were looking for and had checked all the boxes, After a few months of the purchasing process we closed on Bottom of the Fox Farm in October of 2020, 1 month after Laurens parents moved to Raleigh. We closed on our Raleigh house at the same time and hit the ground running with putting our ideas into motion. Heading into year 3 we couldn’t be happier, we’ve had ups and downs, but ultimately are creating something we can really be proud of for many years to come.

Josh, 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?

We are a family run flower farm living and operating in Silk Hope, NC. Our team consists of Lauren Hoover, Josh Roth, Eileen Hoover, and Harry Hoover. Lauren is a graphic designer and artist handling our marketing, print and web designs, and much of our flower designing. Josh has a background in building/construction as well as warehouse management/logistics – he builds everything on the farm and has a real knack for keeping everything organized and within a system. Eileen is a master gardener – to say she knows what she’s doing in the garden is an understatement. Harry has an immense amount of experience with water systems, outdoor maintenance, and groundskeeping.

We grow and sell cut flowers through a few different (main) outlets:
1. Pop Ups – We renovated a 1966 Ford Econoline Supervan and take it around the triangle. We go to coffee shops, breweries, markets, and are available to hire for special events. We offer pre-made farm style bouquets, bunches of individual flowers, and for special events – a Make-Your-Own bouquet bar.
2. Flower Subscriptions – Starting in March we offer a 4-week flower delivery service. Every week for 4 weeks we drop a bouquet into a provided bucket right outside your door. They are whatever is blooming right then making them the freshest, local flowers money can buy.
3. The Flower Bar – This is our flower stand that sits at the end of our driveway at the farm. Mason jar bouquets, wrapped bouquets, straight bunches and other little goodies sit in the stand thurs-sun and are paid for by the honor system. We accept payment through our Venmo or a cash box that is attached to the stand.
4. Piedmont Wholesale Flowers – We are proud members of this incredible group of local farmers providing local, seasonal cut flowers to the amazing florists throughout the triangle.

In addition to cut flowers, we have also renovated the barn on the farm and it is available for weddings and events. The barn is a bare bones venue, meaning, the customer has to rent their own tables, chairs, linens, food, decorations, etc… which allows them to make their event exactly what they want. By offering it in this capacity, we are also able to keep the cost down, allowing all types of people to be able to have their dream event. This was a main goal for us when starting this business. – We really wanted to create a place where everyone feels welcome and they can be themselves, without breaking the bank. And, since we are a cut flower farm, we serve as an on-site farmer/florist for your event. We handle small table arrangements, bud vases, bridal bouquets, boutonnières, corsages, etc…

We really tried to make sure we covered a lot of different ways for people to be able to bring fresh, local flowers into their homes. Oftentimes, buying flowers is a treat or an expense, but they really do provide so much joy and positivity that we want to be able to make them accessible to everyone. With every option we offer, we tried to make it an experience that lifts peoples spirits. It all started with the vision of the van – it’s powder blue, with our logo painted on it by a local hand sign painter (Spcl Signs), the floor is astro turf to look like grass, it’s paneled in cedar planks, with twinkle lights hung inside, and a fun awning attached to really give the customer a fun moment to hopefully allow them to just enjoy themselves for a few minutes.

What are we most proud of? I’m proud that we took this chance. This was a huge risk with an even bigger learning curve – learning how to be business owners, how to farm flowers, how to get them into our communities hands, and how to support ourselves. It’s been so much incredibly hard work – we’ve done it all ourselves – all while continuing to laugh and be thankful.

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

Lauren’s Reply:

This is actually a pretty difficult side of the business (personally). Some days I really enjoy it and other days it’s really taxing. There is a certain line you have to walk between being authentic and having a strategy. It’s also SO easy to compare yourself to what everyone else is doing.

So, what I’ve tried to do is, for one, be consistent. – Pick a few days every week that you actually post, and then also show up on stories in some way every day. I’m trying to set boundaries for myself, too, so that it doesn’t end up consuming me. So for instance, I post on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in the morning. And go back online at 1pm and 8pm to answer any DM’s or reply to any comments.

I think the biggest piece of advice I can say about this is – be patient with yourself! You will find your voice and your style and what comes naturally as far as what you share. Just keep doing what feels right to YOU and it will connect with the right people.

Any advice for managing a team?

Josh’s Reply:

As we grow I have found it very important to make sure that you’re giving the why behind any direction you’re giving to your staff members. There is never a great response when you’re just barking orders at your staff 24/7, but when you can give the why behind the direction it allows your team to feel more involved and part of a bigger picture rather then just someone you hired to make your business successful. Another huge thing I have found is being able to let go a little. With so much going on all the time you need to be delegating a lot of everyday tasks especially when you’re building a whole business. Being able to not micro-manage a persons every move will create a healthy work environment for your team who will feel like you respect their abilities as well as take a little bit of the stress and pressure off your plate so you can focus on other things that might be equally as important. Doing this early on when your business is still growing starts a good foundation of trust between you and your team members which is invaluable in the future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bottomofthefoxfarm.com
• Instagram: Bottomofthefoxfarm
• Facebook: Bottomofthefoxfarm
• Other: Tik Tok – Bottomofthefoxfarm Pinterest – Bottom of the Fox Farm

Image Credits
Picture: ChathamRabbits-113 / Photographer: @Laurabeth.davidson Picture: ChathamRabbits-172 / Photographer: @Laurabeth.davidson