What Type Of Person Thrives In The Horticulture Industry According To A CEO And Founder At Revival Roots Nursery
To thrive in the horticultural industry, a passion for plants and food is paramount; "If you don't care about it, there will always be someone better than you". Reed, CEO/Founder of Revival Roots & Revival Roots Nursery, advises gaining practical experience within the industry before starting a business, echoing Jane Wurwand's advice to "work first in the industry...learn all the rules so you can eventually break them".
Passionate, Hard-working, Experienced, Business-minded, Adaptable
Advizer Information
Name
Job Title
Company
Undergrad
Grad Programs
Majors
Industries
Job Functions
Traits
Reed Newman
CEO/Founder
Revival Roots & Revival Roots Nursery
Cornell University, Class of 2016
NA
Environmental & Related Sciences
Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting
Entrepreneurship and Business Owner
Greek Life Member, LGBTQ
Video Highlights
1. Passion for plants and food is essential for success in this industry.
2. Gain hands-on experience by working in the industry before starting a business.
3. Learn the rules of the industry to understand how to potentially disrupt it later on
Transcript
How would you describe people who typically thrive in this industry?
I think it starts off with just being really passionate about plants, food, eating, and increasing access to healthy food. If you're not passionate about something, there's going to be someone else who is more passionate and will do a better job. This is true regardless of how intelligent you may be or how hard you want to work. If you don't care about it, someone else will be better.
So, if you want to get into the horticultural space, I would say be passionate about it. It's okay if you're not; there are many other industries. But the first thing to consider is, do I enjoy it? Do I enjoy plants? Do I enjoy cooking? Do I enjoy feeding people? Do I enjoy growing vegetables, herbs, fruit, or anything like that?
If your answer is yes, then that's very exciting. You are one of the few people who have discovered a passion and can take it to the next step to learn about the industry.
One piece of advice I received, which I think is some of the best, is from Jane Wuerwand, the founder of Dermalogica. She said, "If you want to start a business, work first in the industry that you eventually want to start your business in. Learn all the rules so you can eventually break them and disrupt the industry." I think that's really great advice.
I feel so fortunate that I was able to work at a farm and have that hands-on experience. Many of those same practices we use here today. A few of the practices, I saw things that we wanted to make some adjustments to. So, if you do have an interest or passion, I would definitely recommend working in the industry before starting the business.
It's important to really learn how the industry operates. For example, if you're going to start a restaurant, it probably makes sense to work front of house and back of house at another restaurant to learn how it works. See what you like, decide to change the things you don't like, and then start your business. That would be my recommendation.
Advizer Personal Links
revivalroots.com & revivalrootsnursery.com