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

Paula, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

One of the biggest challenges in the flower growing industry is the unpredictability of Mother Nature and other uncontrolable factors such as plant diseases or pests affecting entire crops. For example, a late hard freeze or hail storm on a entire field is about to bloom can cause severe damage and loss, affecting the proffitability for the entire season. Events like these are impossible to prevent and hard to predict.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grow flowers on our small farm in Plain City, OH. I am entering my fourth year growing flowers that I sell from our farm and also as flower subscriptions delivered to the northwest of Columbus metropolitan area.

My flowers are available from mid April through September, all subject to Mother Nature wishes. During this time I also host floral workshops and rent out our fields to photographers looking for a tranquil location with flowers, horses, and beautiful sunsets.

I am originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina. My husband and I came to the United States in 2001 to attend Grad School at University of Tennessee and a few years later, job opportunities brought us to Ohio. For years we dreamed of our two children experiencing farm life as we did growing up on a beef-and-crop farm in Argentina. This dream became a reality in 2019 when they moved to a small farm just outside Columbus. After almost 20 years in academia I was looking for new challenges, a creative outlet and ways to use our land. I always wanted to start my own business, loved Nature, plants, and beautiful things… all these led me to start our flower farm in Spring 2021.

I like to connect with my customers through social media and our e-newsletter, where I hope to brighten your day with flower pictures and country views, inspire them to bring nature into your home, to grow flowers in their own garden, and to enjoy the simple things.

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

Building social media presence takes time and consistency. I always try to share things that can be valuable to my followers, such us gardening tips or ideas on how to style flowers in their homes. Of course I also use social media to advertise my flowers and other farm events. However, I really try to add other content that can be useful or inspiring for my audience, so it is not always about selling.

You also have to get out of you comfort zone, which may involve showing your face for example. People want to connect with the person behind the business. Always respond to all comments and messages.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

Growing flowers is something that you can start on a very small space, there are many backyard flower growers. I had the land and I started growing on a small area, that helped keep my initial investment very low. I used personal savings and income from my 9-5 job to finance the first two years of my business. I also created things like my logo, website, and advertising materials myself.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.haydenrunfarms.com
• Instagram: @haydenrunfarms
• Facebook: haydenrunfarms

Image Credits
Courtney Miller Photography https://courtneymillerphoto.com/