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

Mady, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Getting that first client is always an exciting milestone. Can you talk to us about how you got your first customer who wasn’t a friend, family, or acquaintance?

This isn’t a story of my first ever client, but about my first subscriber for my Hastings Harvest Box Subscription. My subscription service is for a weekly or biweekly box of fresh produce from my farm. I had attempted to make this a key part of my business in my second year (2022) but had no customer interest in the idea at the time. I felt discouraged, however I pressed on with growing food and attending markets. In the beginning of 2023, I was providing more restaurants with produce and was gearing up for a strong summer at markets when a potential customer messaged me and asked me about a subscription service…whether I had one or if there was another farm in the area that maybe did. I decided that I would offer this to her, although I didn’t really offer it at the time. I thought that at least I would have a customer every week that I could rely on. I gave her my terms, $20 for 5 varieties of produce in a box weekly and she was very excited. We started that same week. Because of her interest, it encouraged me to open up my subscription to a few more people, limiting my slots to 10/week. That 10 slots filled up quickly, leaving me with a wait list. As customers came and went, my wait list stayed steady…but I was able to open up about 20 slots per week for subscriptions. This created a reliable means of income for me, and it became the workhorse of my business. At the end of the summer, I had 30 people on the waitlist. Without that first client, I would likely not have opened up a subscription service this year and would have missed out on the majority of my income for the year. I am forever grateful for her contacting me that day because it pushed my business into a more positive trajectory.

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

I am Mady Hastings and I am an urban market farmer in Laurens, South Carolina. Although I currrently own my own urban farm business, I started my professional career as a pediatric nurse here in SC. When my children came along, it made more sense for me to stay home than work full time, allowing me to indulge in other passions like houseplants and gardening. When we moved to a house with a larger plot of land, I decided I would delve into growing food for my family and maybe attend a farmer’s market or two. I am completely self-taught via research on YouTube, books, and following mentors on social media. My business provides naturally grown produce to local customers, restaurants and through donations to my local FoodShare program. My favorite part of my business is providing my clients with our Harvest Box Subscription every week. My subscribers receive a box of five varieties of produce each week delivered or picked up at a meet up spot. The produce varies from week to week depending on what is available in the garden and my clients love the variation and freshness this gives them. I believe what sets me apart from others is that I harvest my client’s produce the same day that it is delivered…making it fresher than anything else you could get anywhere else. I also offer an affordable price for my produce…increasing the accessibility of organically grown/naturally grown produce. The other thing that sets me apart from others is my willingness to collaborate with other local farmers to keep harvest boxes moving in times of lower harvests. A local farm in my area, Barefoot Acres, grows their produce very similarly to me and they hold the same values. I am excited to offer their produce to my customers as well when more variety is needed, or the unpredictability of growing produce gets the better of me.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Posting on social media has definitely increased my clientele. This, I believe, is like digital word of mouth. When my current clients post that they are loving my produce boxes, their family and friends see it and I often get either questions about my services or new orders for my subscription box. I try and post on my social media daily to show what I have to offer and allow opportunities for new sales.

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

I think that it’s difficult to exactly pinpoint how to grow your social media because I think in a lot of ways it is chance of people finding your profile and hitting “follow.” What I will say is that I think most people value authenticity and that they will be more inclined to follow someone who is sharing their authentic selves, their authentic business including their success and their struggles. My main recommendation is to continue posting to your social media, be yourself and don’t give up. There will be people who don’t like you, who call you “cringey,” or a sellout…but oftentimes they are not the ones succeeding themselves. There is a lot of value in social media like additional income streams, product accessibility, and genuine connection with others across the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.hastingsorner.com
• Instagram: @hastingsorner
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/hastingcornerfarmandgarden
• Other: @HastingsCorner on Tik Tok