In this feature, we gathered 16 young business owners in the food, farm or beverage industry that are establishing a brand in the FLX. We sent each one the same list of 10 questions. Below are their answers. We hope you enjoy learning about and supporting these local entrepreneurs!
Petra Page-Mann of Fruition Seeds
1.What’s your biggest challenge in being a young business owner in the FLX? With so many incredible people doing so much good work here in the Finger Lakes, I am endlessly wanting to make more time to connect, learn, laugh and collaborate with more and more people.
2. What’s your favorite local comfort food after a long, day of hard work? Singing with friends and a banjo while the grill is full of vegetables with marvelous sauces waiting to dip them in.
3. Favorite piece of business advice? “Kindness scales. It scales better than competitiveness, frustration, pettiness, regret, merit (whatever that means) or apathy. Kindness ratchets up. It leads to more kindness. It can create trust and openness and truth and enthusiasm and patience and possibility. Kindness, in one word, is a business model, an approach to strangers and a platform for growth. It might take more effort than you were hoping it would, but it’s worth it.” -Seth Godin
4. Why do you run your business here? People and place are the foundation of my love of food, of seeds and so much more.
5. Who’s your hero? The countless generations of plants and people whose genius and generosity feed us every day.
A version of this article originally appeared in the May/June 2019 edition of the magazine.
All images by Chelsea Fausel.
