Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Have you ever wanted to start your own business, but thought to yourself, maybe it's a little too late in life to start that? Well, my guest today is a woman in her fifties who did just that. She did start her own business. She's on a mission to change the world one small garden at a time. But she did it on her terms, allowing her to still spend time with her family and keep her sanity. And stick around for my wrap up, where I look into who are these people who are starting companies these days and why? Those answers might surprise you. So stay tuned for the next episode of the Midlife Happiness project.
Hi there, and welcome back to the Midlife Happiness project. Project. And today I have a great guest. It's my friend Christy. Hi, Christy.
[00:00:58] Speaker B: Hi, Sarah. So great to be here.
[00:01:00] Speaker A: Oh, wonderful. We're so happy to have you. Okay, so Christy's another really interesting friend of mine. I'm very lucky to have all these interesting friends. She has a son, is still in high school, but almost graduating, and she has a very recent college grad and another child who's in college. So she is almost officially an empty nester.
But really, why we have her here today is she's going to talk about her thing. It's the thing that I think a lot of people are curious about, might want to do themselves, but frankly, are scared and maybe thinking, you know, the older I get, the less likely this is to happen.
And so, without further ado, let's get right to it. Christy, what is your thing, your thing that you've decided to introduce to your life that's really added happiness?
[00:02:05] Speaker B: Wonderful. Wonderful. So my thing, we want to call it a thing because it's kind of a big thing, is really, I started a purpose driven company. That's really the mission is about regenerating your personal health and the planet. So sort of like a big, lofty mission, and I sort of fell into it. You know, it wasn't exactly that when I started, but that's what it's evolved to and that's what it is, and it's what I get up to every morning, and I'm, I'm excited to do it wasn't always that way, but I got it.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Unbelievable. So just. Just to give listeners or viewers kind of a sense of what Christy is all about. Okay.
[00:02:41] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:42] Speaker A: She is highly educated, has had a very, you know, extensive career. She's been a consultant. She's been, it has all many different kinds of corporate jobs. But what makes her story particularly impactful, I think, and interesting for this particular program is she decided to take a risk and start her own business. Okay. At this point in her life. And I think that takes real courageous. And as I said earlier, I think a lot of people, you know, that I talk to, they're like, oh, I always wanted to do this or start this little business or open this store, but it just seems so overwhelming and they just elect to just put it aside.
So let's start with that. What made you decide not only on the idea, but I'm just going to go for it and let's do this.
[00:03:39] Speaker B: Let's do this. Yeah. So it's interesting. I mean, a lot of it does have to do with my background, which you kind of alluded to, which is, you know, I'm sort of a workaholic. I've sort of been that way. And so I'm kind of probably relate with a lot of the people in your audience who are like, what am I going to do when I retire? Like, how am I going to spend my time? Like, I'm probably in that, that little, you know, audience a bit. And so for me, I, it is true, I had a, I always have worked. And when I started my kids and they were young, you know, I dialed it back a bit. I consulted, I had my own clients. And then as I got a little older, I'd go jump back in. But I was sort of in the startup world, so I'm very comfortable in this world of chaos, if you will, where it's kind of like, you know, I did the corporate early on in my career, and then it was like, okay, I kind of like starting something from nothing. And so, but this time when I started this really where I was with it, you know, at that time, you know, it was probably about five years ago and my kids were still in the house, right. But I was sort of a planner and I was looking forward, right. I was looking forward to like, what do I want to be doing when everybody's out of the house? I know I want to still be working, and I really want to have my own business. And I had had my own business back in, believe it or not, the first, like.com wave. But that was a venture capital. I mean, you might as well have called it a corporate job, right? Because it was like we had a lot of people, investors. It was a very different kind of experience. And I was like, okay, I did that. I do not want to do that at my age. I am 50 something at this point. At the time when I was doing this, I was probably right around 50 when I was thinking about this, and I was like, I don't want to do it that way right now. They don't want me.
I'm too old. I'm like, I'm a blue flame or whatever you call it.
But I was like, no, I want to do it based on my terms. And so the idea, and really kind of where it came from is I knew I wanted it to be something of my own. And this is kind of an interesting little story, but I was working, I was consulting because I had stopped. I was at a startup. It had gotten super crazy, way too many hours. And I was like, I cannot do this and have a family life and keep my marriage and do all of that, right? So I left that startup and then I said, okay, I'm going to do my own consulting. So I was with this company and they were like an online decorating company, which is such a cool idea, right? And I was helping them with business development, blah, blah. So I'm doing that, and one day I'm on a run and I'm like, you, we run. So I'm running and I'm thinking, okay, I don't, I want to do my own thing. What am I going to do? What am I going to do? And I ran by a garden. Okay, this sounds funny. I've always been a gardener. That's been my happy place. Sort of like running has been a happy, like running's mental therapy. Gardening's been my happy place, but I never really had time.
And so I'm running, I see someone's beautiful garden, and I'm like, oh, my God, my business is going to be something around gardening. Because when you see a beautiful garden and you get it right, it makes you happy. It just makes you happy, right? And I was like, I'm going to figure out a business around that. So that was where the idea spark came from. But I didn't really know what this was going to look like. So I literally spent the next two years exploring, explored native plants, explored succulents, started doing ornamental walls. Next thing you know, I'm doing like three story walls in San Francisco. And I'm like, like, I don't, my business mind stood up and was like, no, no, you don't want to be a contractor. You want a business that you can do on your terms. And so for me, that was e commerce. For me, that was something that could scale.
And I literally had a client who had raised beds. She was growing tomatoes, and she wanted me to do a wall behind it. And like a succulent wall. And I'm like, well, why don't we do lettuce? Because you got tomatoes down below, and then it's like your little edible garden. And she's like, awesome, let's do it. And I'm like, I have no idea how to do that. So it's a great idea.
[00:07:32] Speaker A: How are we going to do that?
[00:07:33] Speaker B: How are we going to do that? I don't know. We got to figure it out. So I did it and I failed miserably. But then I learned how to do it, and I basically, there was the spark. Just, this is what it's going to be. It's going to be about helping people figure out how to grow food in small spaces, doing it with soil, because that's the right way to do it. So I ended up figuring I had to figure that out, and so I did what I like to do, which is find people that know how to do it better than you. And I partnered up with this organic gardener, and there was, the rest was history from that. You know, I started learning more about soil. I started learning about all the things you need to do to deliver this service to people. And it's been an interesting road, but that's kind of how I got to where. Where I am.
[00:08:18] Speaker A: Love this, and I love that you just are up for the challenge. In other words, you wanted this business and you said, sure, I can give you this wall. And even if you did fail miserably, you stayed motivated. In fact, that motivated you further to like, yeah, let's learn more. Let's make this happen. Okay, so here you are. You've decided you want to start this business, and you get your website going. You figure all, whatever the number of details that you have to figure out. Tell me about when you guys went, guys, when you went live the first day when this actually came to be. Describe that.
[00:09:04] Speaker B: Wow. Okay. So what's interesting about that question is it's kind of like, in my mind, there's not really any one magical day because it's such an evolution, right? Like, especially just being an entrepreneur. Like, you're. It's like a journey, right? So there's not this magical day when it all happens. You kind of think it's gonna be like that, but instead it evolves. Like, it's like that thing, like build it and they will come. They want to come. Right? You have to figure out how are you going to get them to come. Right. And so, I mean, I will say what's interesting is when I went out to do it initially, right. And then, you know, I kind of had to pivot my business. It was this ornamental succulent thing, and I had to be like, no, we're about growing food. And I had, we manufactured this great little vertical mobile gardening wall system with, you know, self irrigation and all of that. Like, that was a process, right. To, like, really understand and fine tune that. And then once we got all that together and we redid our website, you know, I had raised a little bit of angel money and I had put some money in, and then I didn't know how to. I guess the biggest thing for me is I did not know how to be small, a small business, because that wasn't in my DNA from my background. And so that was hard. So on day one, it's like we looked like we were a fully funded, VC backed. I had all these employees and all these people and contractors, and I realized very quickly, like, oh, my God, like, that's not. I can't. I'm not doing that. That's not what I want my life to be. Right. This is not what I had planned, and this is not on my terms. Right.
And so I had to make a lot of changes. So I kind of evolved it over the last, really, I'd say, two years, you know, outsourcing, fulfillment. I wanted to create a company where really, virtually, I could be wherever and be managing this thing and doing what I love best, which is strategy and business development and meeting people and talking to customers and not dealing with the operations. And so I had to go through a painful two years to get that to a point where I could be like, okay, now I love it.
[00:11:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And so tell me about, you've referred to doing this on your own terms.
Obviously, you have your priorities in check, and work is just one part of your very busy life. So when you talk about fitting it into your life, how does your day look?
How have you been able to make this work fit your life in such a way that you can still foster different relationships and participate in life without just, again, being completely committed 24 hours a day to your business?
[00:11:53] Speaker B: That it's such a good question because I think it's a really hard thing to learn how to do.
So I guess there's two things here. One is, what does that day look like? And then how did I fit it in? So it's, what does that look like now? What it looks like for me is I make sure that I have exercise at some part in the day. And for me, that's at the end of the day, because it forces me to stop. Like, if I do it in the morning, I'm not getting going till ten or eleven. And now the day, and I've missed zero. I've moved all my meetings out. So for me, that's 530. I stop at five.
I have to do that for my sanity, because otherwise I will just continue to work. And so then I do that, and then that way I work out. I come back because I'm not completely an empty nester and especially not in the summer.
I'm dealing with all that stuff, right. But what's really important is that I'm working out of my house. I have an office very close by, 20 minutes away that I go into when I need to, but I've outsourced my operations. So those people, they're in a different situation than I am, which is kind of how we've set it up. And they're kind of strategic partners, and I talk to them all the time. But I don't have to be in the office. I go into the office very infrequently, and I want to be working at home because I kind of want to be there when life is happening with my kids at the stage that they're in right now. So remember, I started this five years ago when everybody was still kind of around. And I just think of all of the moments where, oh, my. I mean, Covid hitting, right? I mean, I like business when Covid was going on, and with COVID like, you know, it's too bad I wasn't two years ahead of time because I was just getting going, but from a business standpoint. But I was there when my kids. I mean, it was really hard for my son, I think at the time, my youngest was in middle school, and he really suffered. Like, he went through a lot of depression. And I'm thinking, thank goodness I was. I could be here, right? And my college kid went through some problems, right? And so just being able to be there and then it doesn't go away overnight. Right. Kind of being there after Covid's over and you're dealing with the aftermath. Like, I've been able to, you know, create my life so that I can be there because as you know, as a parent of older kids, like, just cause they could leave the nest doesn't really mean you're completely done. You know, it's mental now. You know what I mean? Mind share, right?
[00:14:23] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:14:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:14:24] Speaker A: So the other thing I want you to sort of share because I think it's important, you know, as I was saying to you earlier, often on podcasts when people are trying to talk about their life and inspire people and the like, what comes across sometimes is everything is just butterflies and rainbows and, hey, in this case, you want to start a business, it's fabulous. You're going to make time for yourself. Then your priorities will be in check and all of that. Wonderful. But obviously, I would be remiss if we didn't also address to somebody who's listening, who thinks this is a great idea. I'm kind of inspired. Maybe I'll go ahead and start my own business. I'd love you to address the tough times. You know, what people should expect if this is something they decide to embrace. You know, let's hear it. The dirty on it all and the real truth.
[00:15:21] Speaker B: Yeah. No, I mean, it's hard.
It's really hard. So, you know, granted, realize, so where we are, 2024, you know, I really kind of pivoted and changed things in 20, end of 2020. So I've been four years into this. Right. And I really feel like. And my husband could completely be like, she. Yeah, you know, but for the first three years, it was really hard. Like, I would not say this is my happy place. I kept having to keep my eye on the ball. Like, why am I, like, what's my. Why? Why am I doing this? Because this is personally, this is why I'm doing it. But also I want to do it because I think this is in part, like, the more I learned about what's going on with the climate and health, and we're not talking about that today, but, like, this is super important to get out there, talk to people about it. But I would get frustrated because I was stuck in all the minutiae of this stuff. And that's what made me of just starting up something, and that just made me very unhappy. I also had let go my ego. That was a big, and that was probably unique to me and my background. But I felt like I was going into this with, like, this is how it's going to be and this is how I need to do it, and this is how people will be impressed. And, you know, I'm being very vulnerable right now. But that was just kind of how I was wired from my schooling and my background. So it was hard for me. And so I actually went through a lot of coaching that I kind of found on my own. I did this transformational coaching program early, really, really early on because I knew, like, who I am today is not the person I need to be to do what I want to do here. So I kind of got to rewire, if you will, which is a really hard thing to do. So I don't know if I'm answering your question. It's just more. It's been hard, but it's been a lot of personal work.
You know, let go of being perfectionist. Like, I had to let go of a lot of the things that were wired inside me for so long and really go. And you keep hearing people go, oh, it's about the journey. Oh, it's about this. And it's like, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, be grateful, right? And I'm like, you know, some days I'm screaming in the pillow, you know, and you're dealing with these crazy customers sometimes. Cause there's a lot of crazy ones, you know? But then it's like, at some point, I just had a switch. Like, literally in the last half of the year, like, the switch went off. And I think it's because I had just reached my breaking point, which is like, am I going to do this, or am I going to sit and be a victim and blah, blah, blah? No, I'm going to do this. Right? And so I kind of just did this switch. I can't even tell you how it happened or when it happened, but I just. And so Kevin will say, my husband now, he'll say to me, like, wow, yeah, you're different now about this. But he was so used to me complaining.
You know what I love about this.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Is the work that you did on yourself, like, with coaching and whatnot. And the intention there was to rewire yourself or make this transition so that you're better suited for this, you know, challenge you're about to embark on. But it sounds to me like it also helped you personally. Right? Like, you're talking about your business, about having to be a perfectionist. And I imagine that is exhausting and permeates different facets of your life beyond just work.
[00:18:32] Speaker B: Yes. And it slows you down. Like, part of the thing with what I'm doing right now is this is part of me having to relearn. But I wanted to say these words. I was thinking about the interview, like, perpetual student. I think one thing that I've always been, and I brought it with me, is I love to learn. So whether I'm learning about soil biology or I'm learning about, like, okay, how do I configure my meta ads so they scale? Like, it's all really hard work, you know what I mean? And it's kind of like, I wanna learn this stuff. So for me, like, I enjoy that. And I think that was part of the flip too, which is like, oh, God, this is work too. Like, this is super interesting and I kinda like it, and it's gonna be hard and it's gonna take me a really long time. So everybody calm down and stop asking me how my business is doing. Yeah, that's where the ego comes in. But you know what I mean? It's kinda like I'm on the journey. It's moving in the right direction. It's just taking me longer than I thought it would. But in hindsight, it hasn't really.
[00:19:30] Speaker A: It's interesting because this idea of like a perpetual student or what we would say over here is like you have intellectual curiosity. You know, you are always wanting, you don't just sort of in passing say, oh, that was interesting. You take it with you, you go on a trip, you come back, you know what? We should get a book on that. We should go explore more about this. So always staying curious and that's, I think, such a huge thing just in life and getting older and how it pertains to your happiness.
We've spoken about this so many times on this podcast that what we've learned from talking to all these people is when people think of getting older, retiring, getting into their sixties or seventies, they think, oh, I can finally relax and do a whole lot of nothing. And the more people I talk to, it's who wants that? Who really, really wants that? You might think of it in terms of like, well, I want it to be like that vacation that we took in Hawaii last year, right? But it was for one week.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: Then what?
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Then you get back to your life, right? And just getting older doesn't change that. In fact, like talking to you, you're more fired up now to do this than maybe you were earlier.
[00:20:54] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, and I think it's interesting, I'm sure you're doing the same thing. There's all this stuff about longevity and understanding, and so much of it, of course, is like, is your brain active and are you doing things that make you happy? That's your podcast. But like, and are you sharing it with people and all of that? And so I've really tried to take that into to play. But I think what's also interesting is that, like with my business, this intellectual curiosity, I like that as I've learned so much about health and growing food, because I never grew food, by the way. I was a gardener. I was not a food gardener. They're totally different things. It's much harder to grow food, or I thought it was. But I'm thinking, as I learned about it, I was like, I need to tell people about this. This is so it did become my mission, you know? Like, I started out the interview saying, this is what I do. But it's like, it wasn't like that in the beginning. And it's really grown into this where I'm like, this is kind of like my purpose, to get out there and keep talking about it because it's confusing to people. Right? Like, what do you mean, organics? Better than tradition. Like, all of the questions people have because they don't know. Right. So I figured that, well, let's just.
[00:22:04] Speaker A: Put it out there. Tell us, what is the name of your business? Well, let's spread the word.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: Yes, plantedplaces.com is how you find me. And so it's, you know, it's really about, like, growing your own food in a very easy way. No matter the space, no matter time. I'm just trying to make it really easy to eat, to grow the healthiest greens and herbs that you can. So we do it on a vertical wall, or you do it in small pots. You do it in nutrient dense soil. We even plant for people because people want the outcome. They don't want to do the work. And so I've created these services where we do that for them and we ship it to them and they're ready to go. So it's, you know, that's why it's been a process. But it's so important because you're learning about it, right? You're learning about your health and what it means, but you're also learning about, like, why it makes a difference. Where does my food come from when I buy in the grocery store? You know, you just learn all these things in the process.
That's what makes me excited. Talking about people. I have to say I interviewed because I like to interview all my new customers that come on, that are really like, I'm doing the planet wall. I'm going all in because a lot of people that buy seedlings and plants and things here and there, but not as many, obviously, that buy the full on wall and go all in. It's a process to get to there. And so I set up a Zoom interview with her, and she, oh, my God, you should interview her. She I get on Zoom, and I'm expecting a 50 something, 40 something. And she I'm like, well, let's start with your lifestyle. Like, you know, are you retired? And she's like, well, I'm 83 years old.
She looked amazing. She looked amazing. She's like, I'm 83 years old. And she said, you know what? I really. I really want to be much more into my health for my longevity. And at 83. Okay, 83. And I really want to go more plant based. And I saw your interview with this nutritionist friend of mine. I saw your interview on YouTube, and I. I was like, oh, my God, this is what I want to do. And it just makes me happy to go out into my garden and water the plants and just watch them grow. And I was like, wow.
Wow. That's what I'm trying to do. So, anyways, that was this week.
[00:24:11] Speaker A: You're getting happiness for making other people happy? Yeah, it sounds cheesy, but, I mean, that's exactly what's happening there.
[00:24:20] Speaker B: That's not funny. Right? When I said it, I'm like, oh, my gosh, that's so funny. You're right.
[00:24:25] Speaker A: Oh, no, that's amazing.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: Yeah, it's a great thing. It's a great thing.
[00:24:30] Speaker A: Okay, so your business, we know that it makes you happy. How would you say that? It's really positively influenced your life. So, specifically, how has it made you happy in that obviously, it's kept you focused and challenged and busy and all of these things, but has it positively influenced, maybe, or impacted, maybe even your relationship with your husband, your kids, the way you see the world, the way you relate to your friends?
On what levels? Has this really impacted your life in a positive way?
[00:25:07] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's. I think, first and foremost, it's funny impact on my kids. I would say probably more than I realized I ever would have realized. So they get kind of upset in different ways, but they get kind of upset if they're home and there's not lettuce at harvest that they could go out and harvest for their salads or whatever they're doing. Right. Like, which I would never have expected. So their whole interest in eating healthy completely changed. I mean, these were two out of three. Like, it's green. I'm not touching it, mom. My entire life, right? It's like, oh, my God. And so that was completely unexpected. So I love talking about that with people because it's like, that was weird, right? That was pretty cool.
I think also just them seeing me active and something that I care about is cool. Like, that inspires them. They're like, wow, I wanna go do something that's kind of important and has an impact. They kind of think that way, which is nice. They talk to me about that, mom. I wanna make sure that my girlfriend, the woman I marry, is really moat. It's just driven whatever she's doing. And I was like, oh, that's interesting. Expecting that, I would say, for my husband, it's been a roller coaster. I mean, I think it's. It's hard. Like, I mean, you know. Cause I think. I think maybe. I think maybe Scott was an entrepreneur at one point. Like, it's. It's hard being married to an entrepreneur. And it, you know, it. Sometimes it doesn't turn off your brain, but even when you're not working, you're thinking about it. So that's been a. That has been challenged. But he's so happy, I think, to see, especially now, that things are really starting to go in the right direction, you know, and we're just wired different. We're very different people. So he looks at that, it's like, wow. Like, it's working. All your dedication. I'm like, yeah, it would have been nice for you to say that from the beginning. Yeah, no, so. But I think what's kind of cool is, like, I just think to myself, like, I think I have created, like, I can go, you know, like, when my son, who's in college, when, you know, he went to New York, and, like, last year, I went to New York, and I worked from New York for a few weeks. Right. Like, I thought, wow, I could not do that. Had I not created this on my terms, kind of going back to what we talked about, I couldn't do that. Right. And I was like that. Like, I am living the life that I wanted to have, which is something that keeps me, you know, stimulated, keeps me happy, keeps me learning, but allows me to still live my life, you know, which is awesome.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: Absolutely. I think. And I think with the word you haven't said, but feel free to say it and own it. You're a role model for your kids. That's what it is. Absolutely. And I think a lot of moms can relate to that.
We stay so busy making lunches, going to parent teacher nights or whatever. But beyond that, I think we all sort of think, what do my kids think of me? You know? Is this something that later in life, they'll be like, I want to be like my mom, or in the case, I want to marry somebody like my mom, or date somebody like my mom, or. Yeah. No, I don't really know what my mom did. You know, these are things we think about.
[00:28:27] Speaker B: Right, right, exactly. No, you're. Yeah, that's nice to say, you know, I like that. I mean, I just. I think more than anything is like, you know, obviously from a value standpoint, like, my family and my kids are probably the most important thing, which is why I said, you know what? Get off that train, which is gonna kind of run into. I kind of saw where the train was going. And, like, you got to create your. Invent your own line on your terms, your own life on your terms, and then you could hopefully do both. And it was not easy getting to there. I mean, like we said earlier, like, it really. It wasn't like one day, okay, great, here I am. You know, I jumped off one track onto another. Didn't work that way. But. But it's nice when you get there, you know, and you're. It makes your heart happy because you.
[00:29:12] Speaker A: You feel like, I so appreciate your honesty about all this because that's just it, right? Everything that we say, this, anything you do is always going to end up being ten more times. Ten times more work than you thought it was going to be.
[00:29:25] Speaker B: But.
[00:29:25] Speaker A: But in listening to you, I think the takeaway is, no, it will be hard work. But the other thing that I think is really important that you're putting out there today, which is, it's fine to say, I want to start a business.
I have my priorities. I want to make more time for my family or for myself, and that will allow me to do that. That's all fine and, well, but at the end of the day, you have to have a business that you're inspired by, and it just fuels your spirit. And definitely, I'm getting that from you a hundred times over, which is, this is something you feel very strongly about. And, you know, you're drinking your own Kool Aid, so to speak. Right.
[00:30:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, literally, I'm eating the lettuce.
[00:30:12] Speaker A: Right, right.
[00:30:14] Speaker B: I didn't use that. No, but, no, you're right. And it honestly, like, it has to be that way because it is hard because otherwise you kind of give in the towel. Like you throw in the towel. Right. Like, it's. You know, it has to keep inspiring you and making you happy or you wouldn't get up and keep doing it. You know what I mean? And that's something that, like, you learn along the way, right? Yeah.
[00:30:34] Speaker A: It's going to be a long road, so you better be more than just mildly interested in it or there's money to be made in it. And that's it.
[00:30:43] Speaker B: Yeah. And you know what's really interesting that I heard the other day on a podcast. And I thought this was so it was kind of like, you better enjoy the journey, because if you think, oh, I'm good. Because here's the outcome. Here's the outcome I'm going for. But, like, okay, so then when you get to that outcome, like, if it's so horrible along the way, when you get to the outcome, is it gonna be that much different? Right? Like, what makes you think that's gonna be different? And I was like, it's really interesting. Cause everybody's like, I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna sell my company and book. And it's like, yeah, but, you know, you don't know. First off, you don't know if you're gonna sell a company. And second off, like, how do you know when you have that wonderful outcome? Is it really, you know, you don't know. So you might as well enjoy today in the process, right? So that was interesting.
[00:31:26] Speaker A: Yeah, absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Christy, for being a guest on our show. Thank you. Really, I love this conversation. I know it's really inspiring for other people to be listening to this. And again, I just appreciate your honesty. You're just so enthusiastic. Love that. Love your energy.
This is fantastic. And on that note, I definitely want one of your living walls, although I will definitely need assistance. I have zero gardening skills. I don't even know what plants or flowers we have on our property. Couldn't tell you.
I know.
[00:32:02] Speaker B: We have.
Don't we all know?
[00:32:08] Speaker A: Well, thank you so much for being a guest.
[00:32:11] Speaker B: Thank you so much.
[00:32:13] Speaker A: And on that note, thanks again for joining us.
That was really interesting, and it was so inspiring to hear about Christy's journey as an entrepreneur. And I found it really amazing that she decided to start a company in her fifties. My perception of entrepreneurs has always been, you know, young people sleeping on sofas, coding all night, eating junk food, building cutting edge technology companies, just like the show Silicon Valley. But I wanted to see if this was really the case, so I did a little research, and it turns out that over 50% of all new entrepreneurs are over 45, according to the Kaufman foundation. In fact, the 55 to 64 age group has the largest share of entrepreneurs of any age group. I also learned that the two most common reasons why new entrepreneurs strike out on their own were one, to be their own boss, and two, to pursue their own passion. And from my discussion with Christy, it is very clear that both of these reasons apply to her. She wanted to run a business on her own terms where she could carve out time for her family. And still enjoy her work growing a new business, and she's obviously very passionate about helping regenerate personal health and the planet. And speaking of Christy's company planted places. It really is quite amazing and I would encourage everyone listening or watching today to go check it out for yourself. You can find a link for her website in the show description. And on that note, I will see you next time on the Midlife Happiness project.
