We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tami Schwerin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Tami, thanks for joining us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I’ve always gone with my gut instinct and actually never created a business plan. This is not advisable, but that is the way I’ve created projects and businesses. My husband, brother-in-law and myself purchased a very strange property in our small town of 3000 in North Carolina. The property had been deserted for a decade and we were starting a biodiesel business (making fuel from french fry grease). The process of making fuel in our backyard was fun, however, there were explosions and it became dangerous. There was an aluminum smelting plant in town that made parts for fighter jets in the cold war. There were 4 buildings that were very strange. If they had explosions, the roof would pop up just a bit to let the pressure out without imploding the building. Perfect for us!

We moved in and started building the biodiesel business in two buildings and that left 2 other buildings free. I didn’t know how to deal with this pretty huge project, so I started painting all the doors bright colors. It was a very dreary grey place with a barbwire fence surrounding it. We built a community kitchen for our staff and began having large lunches and gatherings. Our children were little, so we started having soccer nights where the kids could run wild and the parents would bring a six pack and snacks.

I had started a non-profit called Abundance NC to educate folks why they might pay a little more for local food and local fuel. We began giving tours to kids and adults about energy, sustainability, local food and agriculture. From there we put in hundreds of workshops to teach people skills like composting, solar energy, making biodiesel, cooking from a CSA box, growing mushrooms and on and on.

We threw festivals celebrating the local pepper and conferences to help deal with “our changing climate” or climate change which at the time was controversial to say out loud.

We built a lot of community, did a lot of projects together, incubated tons of ideas, businesses and projects. 2008 hit and we went into a depression. We had a local currency called the Plenty in which many businesses traded. News media from all over came to our place to cover this idea since the stock market was in shambles and people lost faith in our conventional economy.

Soon enough, the finances did not work for biodiesel and as cars started going electric, the industry started shutting down across the nation. We were one of the last ones to shut down. It was time to pivot and we went into locally made spirits from the NC wines. We could make a damn good brandy. Fair Game Beverage was launched as an early micro-distillery. Pepper Vodka, Rums, Whiskeys, etc were produced from local products. We organically became a beverage district with a meadery joining us, a cidery and a brewery. Our farm surrounding the buildings was taken over by an amazing woman who farmed and built a kitchen in which she walked her produce over and created uber local farm to fork. Another farm family brought their food truck on site and started selling the best smoked meats and salads. We attracted incredible entrepreneurs that shared the local vision: hemp clothing, coffee roasting, hemp cbd products, a metalsmith jeweler, a native plants nursery, the farmer’s market from town moved in, and we added an art gallery in the middle. Axe throwing, bicycles and scooters added activities for the droves of families coming to the eccentric place. People would discover us and wonder where they were…a mix of Willy Wonka with Dr. Seuss and a touch of Mad Max.

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

We have had experience launching many small businesses…some worked and some didn’t. Our passion is around local economy. If your community is healthy it all feeds into each other. We are a unique venue that let’s folks come out, grab a beer or craft cocktail, grab dinner and let their kids run free. It’s got space that has a lot of local art, a trail for walking, and lends itself to relaxation. Most people look around and say “I love this vibe”.

We have created a space that all walks of life feel welcome. It feels safe and the customers are happy and also have the same values of supporting the local economy. The businesses that are at The Plant are all family owned. It’s not the easiest business model, but it works. Our area is in a high growth time with trees being bulldozed and development not exactly environmentally friendly. We offer a different way of being.

I’m proud when folks tell me how good they feel here. It’s a food and beverage district. We hold interesting and sometimes edgy events to get people thinking. A typical year is full of music, a Pepper Festival, a Death Faire, a Mead Festival, weddings, funerals, birthday parties and art. Lots of art.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

We purchased the property in 2005. Both my husband and I are fast moving entrepreneurs and we included our children in all aspects of our work. Sometimes they called The Plant “the vortex of death” because they were stuck there for hours while their parents had meetings and work. They would ride bikes and play to pass the time. Eventually my oldest son went off to college at University of Colorado in Boulder. His second year we got a knock on the door at midnight from a sheriff telling us our child had died from a heroin overdose.

This sent our family into deep despair. The community came to us and grieved with us. We had hundreds of people bringing food, creating housing for all the guests, taking care of our every need and the needs of all the out of town guests. We spent 7 days grieving and celebrating our boy. A massive funeral was held and the support continued and still does. I started the Death Faire to help understand death, loss and how different cultures respond to losing their loves. We just had our 7th Death Faire and it continues to be a magical, mystical experience for the community. Our son created an incredible impact. The loss propelled many of us into much deeper work in our business, our relationships with each other and with staff, how we move in the world. Healing is now a big mission of mine.

Any advice for managing a team?

After the death of my son, I realized that volume was less important than the development of our staff. The people in the business are everything. If they are not motivated, happy and healthy, the business cannot be. We went from a very stressful message of more, faster, now to, let’s take a breath and have a dance party in the middle of the afternoon. We sent people on workshops and retreats to help them personally. We came together and got a lot more personal with each other. There is a balance of creating good work and making sure the people are ok. Profits are not the only metric obviously. People need meaning in their lives and to have a higher purpose than just making a paycheck. I can’t say that we are perfect by any means, but our intention is to create a beautiful community of folks that care about each other, can address each other when conflicts arise and to move forward on a healthy path.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.theplantnc.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theplantncevents/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePlantInPittsboro/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsQGtSa37Kg

Image Credits
Carey McKelvey Tiana Thurber Tami Schwerin