The Business of Micro Greens

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:05:58 — 151.0MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeartRadio | Email | RSS | More

Jessi Ricci  – New Life Greens

 

Podcast Overview:

00:00 “Microgreens: Nutrient-Dense Seedlings”
06:43 “Helping Mike Sell Microgreens”
14:19 “Choosing Business Over College”
16:58 “Defying Expectations as a Woman”
23:29 “Smooth LLC Transition Thanks Mike”
28:12 “Back Door Delivery Reflections”
35:57 “Grateful for Restaurant Connections”
40:55 “Living an Unexpected Dream”
45:45 “Intentional Dining and Presence”
49:51 “Local Restaurants Embrace Teen’s Microgreens”
54:07 Blind Tasting Microgreens Experience
01:02:04 “New Life Through Faith & Food”

Sponsors:

Live Video chat with our customers here with LiveSwitch: https://join.liveswitch.com/gfj3m6hnmguz

Some videos have been recorded with Riverside: https://www.riverside.fm/?utm_campaign=campaign_5&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=rewardful&via=james-kademan

Podcast Transcription:

Jessi Ricci [00:00:00]:
And I, like, came in with plants for them, like an alive plant and a cut plant. And I really do not feel like I’m pushy. I just really believe in my product, and I think it speaks for itself. Like, I don’t need to talk to them. I can leave them these microgreens, and they speak for themselves. So I’ll come in.

Jessi Ricci [00:00:19]:
And bring my price sheets and everything and a live tray of greens. Like an alive plant of greens, some cut product and. And talk to them. Just show it to them, have them eat it. And they’re like, whoa, this is so flavorful.

James Kademan [00:00:36]:
You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes of business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com we are locally underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie and today we are welcoming slash, preparing to learn from Jessi Ricci of New Life Greens. So, Jessi, how is it going today?

Jessi Ricci [00:01:00]:
I am doing great. How are you?

James Kademan [00:01:02]:
I am doing well. I’m in green.

Jessi Ricci [00:01:04]:
I know. I love that you’re in green. I always wear green.

James Kademan [00:01:07]:
So you really.

Jessi Ricci [00:01:08]:
Yep.

James Kademan [00:01:09]:
That’s cool. Is nature of the business. Right.

Jessi Ricci [00:01:10]:
But I love that you’re in green, too.

James Kademan [00:01:11]:
Oh, thank you. Tell us the story. What is New Life Greens?

Jessi Ricci [00:01:14]:
Yeah. So New Life Greens is a microgreens farm based in Verona, Wisconsin, and we distribute just to the greater Madison area. And we focus on distribution to chefs, which is what kind of sets us apart. We grow specialty microgreens with chefs in mind.

James Kademan [00:01:32]:
All right, now I’m going to play dumb.

Jessi Ricci [00:01:34]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:01:35]:
Or maybe I am. Whatever. What is a microgreen?

Jessi Ricci [00:01:38]:
That’s not dumb. I did not know what a microgreen before I started my business. So you.

James Kademan [00:01:44]:
Did you say when you started your business?

Jessi Ricci [00:01:45]:
No, before. I did not know before I started my business.

James Kademan [00:01:49]:
All right.

Jessi Ricci [00:01:51]:
Yeah. I still don’t know.

James Kademan [00:01:53]:
These things just ship up and I sell them and. What?

Jessi Ricci [00:01:56]:
Yeah, yeah. The textbook definition of a microgreen is that it is a young seedling of an edible flower, vegetable or herb. So if you. Do you have a garden?

James Kademan [00:02:08]:
I’m going to say yes. But I mean, it’s.

Jessi Ricci [00:02:11]:
Do you start your own plant starts or no, it’s fine if you don’t.

James Kademan [00:02:15]:
Tomatoes, you do Okay. I grow things that are very easy to grow. We’re talking rhubarb, tomatoes, cucumbers, stuff that you could probably light the entire world on fire and they would still grow.

Jessi Ricci [00:02:25]:
Yes.

James Kademan [00:02:26]:
That’s what my skill set is.

Jessi Ricci [00:02:28]:
It’s funny that that’s the vegetable that you said, because tomatoes are part of the nightshade family, so they actually are deadly in microgreen form.

James Kademan [00:02:35]:
Really?

Jessi Ricci [00:02:36]:
Yes, because they are. They like. Well, it’s a whole thing. But basically, if you think of your garden and your plant starts, if you’re starting like a pea pod or a cantaloupe or what’s another one? Radishes, that little start, that’s a couple inches, it’s what is what is technically classified as a microgreen, just so it’ easier to, like, envision. Usually they’re like the size of a blade of grass. And since they are microgreen and they’re harvested before they actually produce fruits and before they run out of nutrients in their seed and start using from the soil, they are extremely nutrient dense. So that’s kind of the appeal from the consumer. But chefs really don’t care about the nutrition.

Jessi Ricci [00:03:15]:
They just care that they are really beautiful. They’re very colorful and flavorful. So they’re a great way to garnish. So a lot of high end restaurants will garnish their dishes with them. But I do partner with some restaurants, like Settled Down Tavern, who puts it in a burger, or Youngblood who puts it on a hot dog. But typically they’re used as more of like a fancy garnish.

James Kademan [00:03:34]:
All right.

Jessi Ricci [00:03:35]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:03:35]:
So how do you get into the microgreen business?

Jessi Ricci [00:03:38]:
Yeah, you know, I was trying to think of. I knew you probably would ask this, so I was trying to think of my answer for this, and it’s really confusing. I mean, if you look back, because I started my business in high school. I’m 19 right now. So if you look back back in your high school, I’m sure, you know, it’s totally a blur. And even though it was just a few years, for me, high school was totally a blur. I started my business kind of by accident in a way, actually. So all of high school, I always dreamed to go to UW Madison, be an environmental science teacher, or go to UW Madison.

Jessi Ricci [00:04:15]:
I said, go to UW Madison, be an environmental science teacher, be in the band. And so my whole high school was just. My whole high school career was filled with trying to accomplish that dream. So I was 4.0 student. I joined all the clubs. I was in band. I joined a sport just to make my application look better. And kind of like the final seal of that was me applying to be a youth apprentice my senior year to make my college application look better, which I did not go to college.

Jessi Ricci [00:04:41]:
I Don’t know if you. I did. I would be in college right now. I would be in class right now. So I’m not there.

Jessi Ricci [00:04:50]:
Yeah. So everything I did was with that goal in mind. And the job in which I started my business out of was literally. I got the job because I wanted my application to look better. So I got a job at an aquaponic farm in Paoli, Wisconsin, which is definitely the up and booming little area near Madison, at Clean Fresh Food. And they provided an array of products to restaurants. When I started working for them, they only had one restaurant client, but it filled up, like, a third of their capacity. And so I started working there, and I was thinking, you know, this is kind of.

Jessi Ricci [00:05:24]:
They grow all year round, which is really environmentally friendly. So I was thinking, this will look so good on my application for UW Madison. I’m gonna be a part of this farm who has really great values. And I thought it would really set me apart. Little did I know. I mean, it set me apart so much that I’m not going there.

Jessi Ricci [00:05:43]:
Yeah. So this farm was the hub for my business. The owner of the farm, Mike Knight, helped me incubate my business. It all started out just with me. My dad always raised me to have, like, a strong work ethic, and so there wasn’t that much work for me to do at the farm. There was one other. I had one other co worker and me, and it was just us two, and he worked in the mornings, and I worked, like, at the end of the school day, and so I never saw him. So I would show up to the greenhouse, unlock the door, and I was all alone, and I would just kind of find things to do, like organize or do whatever.

Jessi Ricci [00:06:20]:
But my dad, like, just knowing him, I could never sit down. I, like, when I was working, I was working, and I didn’t have anyone watching over me, so. So I could have done whatever, but this, like, strong work ethic of mine ended up with me reaching out to the owner. And, I mean, I. I love this guy. He is like my business mentor. He’s an amazing guy. He’s one of the most generous people I ever met.

Jessi Ricci [00:06:43]:
And I was like, mike, you know, we should get you some more clients. There’s two thirds more of the greenhouse. Why don’t I spend some time and see what I should sell to new restaurants? And they were mainly just growing lettuce, but they grew a few microgreens, and they had this huge bin, like the size your table, filled with all of these microgreen seeds that they just didn’t use anymore that they used, you know, a few years ago. And the one current chef that they were partnered with wasn’t buying them. And so I’m like, why don’t I use up these seeds and just see if I can sell them to some other restaurants? And so I did that. Spent some time meeting with chefs, trying to help Mike’s business grow. And I went to Mike. I’m like, okay, these are the few people who are going to start ordering.

Jessi Ricci [00:07:23]:
And he’s like, perfect, I’m going to. You know, and I have talked to him. I think he brought up. No, I think I brought up the commission conversation. Like, okay, you know, you paid me for my hours. Is there commission involved? He’s like, oh, yeah, you’re getting all of it. And I was like, that’s a good number. What do you mean, I’m getting all of it? You know, I didn’t even really expect me to get anything from getting these new clients because I was using all of his seeds and equipment and the greenhouse and his time.

Jessi Ricci [00:07:52]:
You know, he paid me when I went out to restaurants.

Jessi Ricci [00:07:56]:
But I. He.

Jessi Ricci [00:08:26]:
And I met with Mike again because I was accepted into WMadison.

Jessi Ricci [00:08:47]:
Like, in that time before, I was just working, getting new clients, growing for them, delivering for them. And I met with Mike, and I was like, okay, you know what’s going to happen when I leave for college? I’m not going to. I don’t think I’m going to work here anymore. You know, I’m going to be busy in college. I’m going to be in the band. And he is like, what do you mean college, Jessi? Like, this is what I’ve been Working for. Both my parents were college graduates. Both my sisters went to UW Madison.

Jessi Ricci [00:09:12]:
But Mike just put this little, like, thought into my mind of, well, maybe that’s not the only option. Maybe I can grow and grow greens and try something else. And so I had a lot of prayer, a lot of crying, and a lot of thinking about what should I do next. And ultimately, I decided to take a gap year, which, currently I would be a sophomore in college, and so I would have taken the freshman year gap year, and then I would have been in school right now. And so Mike really, like, pushed me to make that decision to just take a gap year.

Jessi Ricci [00:10:02]:
You know, Mike was like, just take a gap year, and you can go to college after that. I think he knew I wasn’t going to go to college after that.

James Kademan [00:10:10]:
That’s funny.

Jessi Ricci [00:10:11]:
Yeah. So last year would have been my gap year, and it clearly was not. I continued to grow.

Jessi Ricci [00:10:20]:
And trying to think. It’s hard for me to look back and think of my sales then. Right now, I sell to 68 restaurants. So since I started the business about two years ago, it’s really grown a lot. Yes, it’s. It’s definitely grown a lot. And it’s also. It was just kind of, you know, I was never.

Jessi Ricci [00:10:40]:
Until now. I love what I’m doing, and I’m very passionate about it. I was never, like, spending all my time doing this and hustling like most entrepreneurs do. It was just the most gradual easing into it until now. Here I am. But it’s very, very cool and rewarding to see how much it’s grown, But I don’t know. There’s a lot to unpack with that story. It’s definitely a lot.

Jessi Ricci [00:11:04]:
It’s kind of confusing, all the different things that happened. It’s not the typical. I had a vision. I invested, you know, $100,000 in my company, and here I go. Not like that. It was just a very gradual thing. But I couldn’t be more thankful that this is what I’m doing now.

James Kademan [00:11:21]:
That’s awesome. Let me. We got a lot to unpack, so let’s talk about the college thing. Because you did all this stuff to prepare to go to college, you get accepted, you’re like, nah. So that conversation had to happen with your Parents, we had to be like, funny story. Yeah, I’m gonna grow some microgreens instead of going to college.

Jessi Ricci [00:11:40]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:11:41]:
How did they take that?

Jessi Ricci [00:11:42]:
I mean, I can’t imagine if my kid told me that.

James Kademan [00:11:45]:
You’ll find out.

Jessi Ricci [00:11:46]:
Yeah. Yeah, I will.

Jessi Ricci [00:11:49]:
Yeah. I. I think I’ve grown so much in my relationship with my parents. It was a scary conversation because it was definitely something that I just presented to them. I didn’t necessarily work it through with them. I think I worked it through alone by just like, praying and thinking and talking to Mike about it. And then I presented it to them like, okay, I am just gonna take a gap year. And I.

James Kademan [00:12:14]:
So is this. Let me ask here. I’m gonna dig a little bit if you’re okay. So is this, like, you guys are hanging out, having dinner, and they’re like, how was your day? And you’re like, hey, funny story. I’m not going to college. Yeah, it’s a corn or whatever.

Jessi Ricci [00:12:24]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:12:24]:
Or were you like, hey, parents, we got to go out to eat. I got to talk to you about something.

Jessi Ricci [00:12:28]:
They knew that I was, you know, it kind of became my own drawincustomerscom business in the later end of it, but they knew it was kind of my own business.

Jessi Ricci [00:12:59]:
And there was always questions like, you going to do this while you’re in school? It was never like, are you not going to go to school? It’s just like, oh, are you going to do this when you’re in school or are you not going to? And, yeah, I can’t. I can’t actually envision, like a specific life changing conversation, but I can definitely just envision them. They supported me and they still support me now.

James Kademan [00:13:22]:
That’s incredible.

Jessi Ricci [00:13:23]:
Yes, they. They still support me now. My dad is like, I mean, I don’t have employees yet, but he’s my employee.

Jessi Ricci [00:13:30]:
He. I mean, my dad’s amazing. I’ll mention something like, oh, I need a change out the lights in my farm. And the next day I’ll wake up and they’ll be done. Like, my. My dad is, which is a huge project, but just different things like, oh, I need to clean out the air conditioner. In my farm. I wake up the next morning and it’s done.

Jessi Ricci [00:13:45]:
Although initially they were definitely taken aback. And we’re like, james, what?

Jessi Ricci [00:14:11]:
It was just like, I’m gonna just work for a year, make some money, and then I’m gonna have less debt when I go to college. Just a gap year.

Jessi Ricci [00:14:19]:
And I never really had the conversation with them, I’m not going to college at all. Because it was just my business grew to this level where it wasn’t, you know, of course you’re not going to college. But when I did have the conversation of taking the gap year, it wasn’t yet at that level there, where they would be like, yes, don’t go to college. Yeah, but it’s. It’s so cool. Now they support me so much. My mom is my number one networker. She is.

Jessi Ricci [00:14:47]:
Because I’m, you know, I’m not a networker. And she really helps me.

James Kademan [00:14:51]:
You will be.

Jessi Ricci [00:14:52]:
We’ll see. She. She helps me out a lot with getting clients, and my dad is like, very much so. There is a physical support, and they both emotionally support me. I’m sure, as, you know, as an entrepreneur, you need a lot of emotional support. And so I’m super thankful that they were there for me. But that’s such a common question, like, what did your parents think? But, yeah, yeah, that’s.

James Kademan [00:15:14]:
I guess anytime you start a business or grow a business or people in your life think that you’re going down one road and you’re like, hey, funny story. Business has taken me the other ways. Can’t do both.

Jessi Ricci [00:15:24]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:15:25]:
This is the route I’m going to.

Jessi Ricci [00:15:26]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:15:26]:
Whether it’s parents or spouse or co owners, people that you work with. I imagine Mike, if you told him, hey, Mike, I’m out. Yeah, I’m gonna go do this college thing.

Jessi Ricci [00:15:38]:
Yeah. And, you know, just where we are now, college is the way, you know, it’s there. There isn’t really a question. It’s like, of course you’re going to college.

James Kademan [00:15:47]:
That’s what we’re told.

Jessi Ricci [00:15:48]:
All of high school. All of high school prepares you to go to college. You know, I spent probably hours in high school filling out surveys of all different things of what do you want to do when you grow up? How are, what college do you go to? It was just never a question. You know, I didn’t even realize that this path could exist before Mike planted this seed. You know, I just didn’t even know that it could happen.

James Kademan [00:16:07]:
No. So it’s funny you say that because I didn’t know either.

Jessi Ricci [00:16:10]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:16:11]:
So I went to school, I mean, a lot longer ago than you did and you were just told this is the way.

Jessi Ricci [00:16:17]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:16:18]:
And so here’s your path, right. Take your foreign languages and do your volunteer stuff and check these boxes so that you can go to some school, get a bunch of debt and hopefully get a job after that that you keep and live happily ever after. And then so when I learned about the entrepreneurial thing later and you’re just like, wait, hold on a second. What? Yeah, and it’s, I mean, there’s challenges within that as well.

Jessi Ricci [00:16:42]:
Yeah, totally.

James Kademan [00:16:44]:
I don’t feel like it was presented, I suppose, like what you’re saying. It wasn’t presented, like, here are some options.

Jessi Ricci [00:16:49]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:16:49]:
It was just like, this is the path and that is the path.

Jessi Ricci [00:16:53]:
Yeah. And there’s kind of the stigma, like if you don’t go to college, you’re going downhill.

James Kademan [00:16:58]:
Yes.

Jessi Ricci [00:16:58]:
And even, even now people are like, so when are you going to go to college? Like, you know, it’s, it’s hard to. Being a young woman, you know, I think there are definitely some huge tech startups that start out from a, you know, whatever guy from high school who has this huge company. But I also think being like a woman farmer, it just also is like, so when are you going to go to college? Or just so many questions that I think people, you know, I, I don’t really take offense to it, but just people just kind of assume, you know, that’s just what you have to do. Like, are you just going to be a stay at home mom or like.

James Kademan [00:17:37]:
No, they don’t know what path. Like, this doesn’t compute. Yeah.

Jessi Ricci [00:17:40]:
And it’s just so not true. You know, very successful people do not go to college and successful people go to college. Very unsuccessful people go to college and very unsuccessful people don’t go to college. And you know, there just isn’t one path to success, so.

James Kademan [00:17:56]:
Very true. My dad asked me if I was going to go back to school for, I don’t know, probably until I was 38.

Jessi Ricci [00:18:05]:
You’re like, no.

James Kademan [00:18:06]:
Yeah. Still, we’re good. We’re good. I made it. Or made it past that. Tell me a story about the transition of you being an employee to actually starting your business.

Jessi Ricci [00:18:16]:
Yeah, well, this is also funny too. I feel like I was. I never really had a boss, which is odd.

James Kademan [00:18:26]:
Doesn’t sound terrible.

Jessi Ricci [00:18:27]:
Growing up. Growing up. But also it’s hard to be a good boss when you’ve never had a box. But growing up, I was a nanny from a young age, and I love those kids, but the parents were so chill, you know, even with, like, parenting styles, they were just chill, which I appreciated. They didn’t have, like, super strict rules of, like, my kid has to take a nap at this time or anything. They were gone and I watched them, like, nannying. You’re kind of your own boss. I mean, there’s obviously some parents who were like, this is my kid’s schedule.

Jessi Ricci [00:18:56]:
But it wasn’t like that. It was very like kind of an entrepreneurial thing of that. And then with the greenhouse, like, I shared before the. I had one coworker and he finished before I would often come in. Like, maybe we would have like a 10 minute overlap where we would just talk. And so I was alone then, too. And there was things that I had to do, but there wasn’t always things like, this needs to be done this day. It was just kind of like, you know, do the work that you want to get the hours in when you want.

Jessi Ricci [00:19:24]:
Like, I never really had to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. It was like, work, work whatever hours you want. It was just so chill. And so I feel like I never really had the experience of having, like, a strict boss with a strict routine. Um, but that being said, it still is. I think the biggest difference is the comfort of when you’re your own boss, everything relies on you. Especially right now, it.

Jessi Ricci [00:19:49]:
It won’t. I. In the next five years, it will not. God willing, I will have employees. I won’t be doing every single thing. Right now, I’m doing everything.

James Kademan [00:19:58]:
Careful what you wish for.

Jessi Ricci [00:20:00]:
Right now, I’m doing every single thing. So it’s. It’s more freeing and also less freeing. Everything relies on me. If I, you know, don’t water my plants one day, there goes a whole week’s worth of revenue. And if I just decide, oh, you know, I don’t want to go to work, okay, then I’m going to go to work twice. I’m going to do twice the work the next day. Yeah.

Jessi Ricci [00:20:25]:
And so it. It is freeing, but also it’s not, I think it’s like that for most entrepreneurs. I do feel similarly. A lot of freedom, but a lot of constraint.

James Kademan [00:20:35]:
I feel like there’s. I don’t know exactly how to word it, but I suppose an illusion of freedom to a point.

Jessi Ricci [00:20:41]:
Yeah, there definitely is.

James Kademan [00:20:42]:
So I can remember years ago.

James Kademan [00:20:46]:
I started a. I had a printer repair company, and so I was running around fixing printers.

Jessi Ricci [00:20:51]:
AI told me that technician. I knew that I chatgpt him before I actually knew that Doc James printer. I was curious if that was true. And it is.

James Kademan [00:21:01]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Long. That was like pre dinosaurs a long time ago.

James Kademan [00:21:09]:
Then dinosaurs stopped printing. And anyways, I started with a business partner. callsoncallcom. Call answering service. And so my wife and I, for the first time, were able to go on vacation.

Jessi Ricci [00:21:19]:
Oh, wow.

James Kademan [00:21:20]:
And I remember we were in the hotel room. We’re gonna head to the beach because we’re still poor. So we had to get a hotel that was not on the beach. You had to walk a few blocks. So I remember grabbing my cell phone. Just because you’re automatic, Right. It’s muscle memory. And I was like, what am I gonna do with this on the beach? And I thought, wait a second, I have other people answering the phone.

Jessi Ricci [00:21:39]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:21:40]:
And email’s. Email that can wait for a day or two. So I can actually leave the phone on the table here.

Jessi Ricci [00:21:48]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:21:49]:
And it was kind of liberating because all of a sudden you had this freedom that you didn’t even know that you had. So I say that to say freedom, but there’s. I guess there’s as much freedom as you’re willing to give yourself. Understanding the consequences of that freedom.

Jessi Ricci [00:22:04]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:22:04]:
Right?

Jessi Ricci [00:22:05]:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it’s. It’s interesting. Like, I could be completely free and pay an employee and not work at all. But it just is right now, you know, I. I’m in it, and I want to build my business up and then hire someone, Hire, hopefully multiple people, but that’s it.

James Kademan [00:22:24]:
You build upon your success.

Jessi Ricci [00:22:25]:
Yeah. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:22:27]:
Tell me, did. How did it work with Mike when you were working for him? Did you say, hey, I’m gonna go do my own thing? Did you buy out or how did that work?

Jessi Ricci [00:22:36]:
Yeah, it was. It was actually very smooth, I think. Like, I. Like I shared before, I definitely was in addition to the greenhouse, but I was creating a lot of work for myself, and so I kind of took that work with me when I. And so there wasn’t like an absence of hours that needed to be filled. They didn’t need to hire someone else. And I still volunteer there sometimes because I get lettuce when I volunteer there.

James Kademan [00:23:03]:
And I just, like, use it as an acronym. Use it. Literally. Get paid in lettuce.

Jessi Ricci [00:23:07]:
Oh, yeah. Oh, really? Yeah, I literally get lettuce. It’s good let. I mean, aquaponic farming food is amazing. But, yeah, so I still, like, worked there a little bit and kind of volunteered, especially as I was still building up my own company. But it was super smooth the way that mike had set up our businesses. Also. It was very easy.

Jessi Ricci [00:23:29]:
I just created my own LLC and the clients transferred through there, and so it was actually a very, very smooth transition. And I think most of that just goes to mike. Like, mike was just. Is still continuously so generous with me and so thoughtful. Like, so thoughtful about how he approached this whole thing. Again, like, I said, if you told me you’re gonna start a business, like, you’re gonna start a business and not go to college, I would have not worked there. I would’ve been like, what? This is not my plan. I mean, I’m so type A.

Jessi Ricci [00:24:01]:
It’s not my plan. But he’s so thoughtful. He really eased me into it, and he was very generous. Business mentors are generous for their time. mike wasn’t only a business mentor. He incubated my business. He was generous with his time and finances, and time is, like, the most valuable things. I.

Jessi Ricci [00:24:18]:
You know, I. I really look up to him so much, and I still have a great relationship with him. There was not literally zero, zero drama. I left him with a client that also ordered lettuce, and that was. That was good. And I see him a lot still, but cool.

James Kademan [00:24:35]:
You mentioned 68 restaurants, I think, right?

Jessi Ricci [00:24:37]:
Yeah. You know, it.

James Kademan [00:24:39]:
So is that just going door to door saying, hey, we got these greens. You need them on your plate. Let’s make this happen.

Jessi Ricci [00:24:44]:
Yeah. You know, it’s funny. I. I talk chefs about how they. How they like it when people come in and try to sell them things. They’re like, well, I wasn’t bothered by you. You know, you really switched it up. I think typically, you know, the guy comes in with the clipboard, is reading off.

Jessi Ricci [00:25:03]:
This is what I have. You know, my. Whatever ketchup is this price. My mayonnaise is this price. This is the price of my salt and pepper. And I, like, came in with plants for them, like in a live plant and a cut plant. And I really do not feel like I’m pushy. I just really believe in my product, and I think it speaks for itself.

Jessi Ricci [00:25:23]:
Like, I don’t need to talk to them. I can leave them these microgreens, and they speak for themselves. And so my. My sales strategy, if any microgreens farmer wants to steal it, I mean, I think it’s probably pretty generic for anyone who’s selling new restaurants. But I’ll call ahead. I’ll book a meeting. And you don’t. You don’t have a meeting with the chef.

Jessi Ricci [00:25:42]:
They’re cooking, and they just say, come in between. It’s slow, between 2 and 4, and drop it off and make it quick. And so I’ll come in.

Jessi Ricci [00:25:50]:
And bring my price sheets and everything. And a live tray of greens, which could be hard to imagine, but an easy Google search would show what it is like in a live plant of greens. Some cut product and talk to them. Just show it to them, have them eat it. And they’re like, whoa, this is so flavorful. Because when you. I mean, I grow my greens with chefs in mind, a lot of. A lot of garnishes are grown with yield in mind.

Jessi Ricci [00:26:15]:
So maybe someone is offering 2 pounds of microgreens for 40 bucks, and I’m offering one tray for 20 bucks, and it probably doesn’t yield a pound. But the product is so different. There’s so much waste involved there. It just isn’t as beautiful. And migraines are very beautiful and very flavorful. They’re much smaller than typical microgreens because they can be grown larger to have a higher yield. But I think chefs care about, you know, you waste a lot of product anyways with those other companies, so they just care. Okay, I’m getting what I’m using.

Jessi Ricci [00:26:46]:
It’s ready to use. I don’t need to cut it or do anything. Like, this is perfect. I’m just gonna sprinkle. And so I really think my product speaks for itself. And although, like, I am the one, like, I’m the face of my company, my product is what actually matters. You know, I could be such a great salesperson, but if my product sucked, I wouldn’t have 68 restaurants. And they’re all local restaurants too, so I think there’s some appeal.

Jessi Ricci [00:27:13]:
And if I can say callsoncallcom. But I probably trash on them too much. They’re like the large restaurant.

James Kademan [00:27:27]:
Every business has a purpose. Right. They’re successful.

Jessi Ricci [00:27:29]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:27:30]:
And they’re doing well because there’s a lot of push of moat type.

Jessi Ricci [00:27:32]:
Oh, yeah, yeah. No, they’re. They’re super successful. They’re like a one, one stop shop.

James Kademan [00:27:37]:
And I remember I dropped off my dog, or I shouldn’t say dropped her off. I took my dog to the veterinary clinic, I don’t know, a few months ago, something like that.

Jessi Ricci [00:27:45]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:27:46]:
And I’m checking out and this woman comes in and she has cupcakes and like she’s dressed to the nines and stuff like this. And I’m like, I went to the front desk girl and I’m like, what is she selling? And she’s like, oh, she’s a pharmaceutical rep.

James Kademan [00:28:01]:
Like she’s not bringing her cat in there with donuts or cupcakes or whatever.

Jessi Ricci [00:28:05]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:28:05]:
That’s funny how you just knew that she was selling something just from. Yeah, a glance, whatever.

Jessi Ricci [00:28:12]:
So I always go through the back door so you wouldn’t see me. It is something crazy. Like I remember, I don’t know when I first started working at the Greenhouse and we had our one restaurant client going through their back door felt illegal. I was like, oh, I’m just opening this door that the back of a restaurant is just like, you know, a kitchen. But it feels so weird to walk back there and people definitely like looked at me when I was. I just walked back there with confidence because it’s like I’m doing a delivery. I’m supposed to be here. But I think typically, you know, I don’t wear a delivery driver outfit.

Jessi Ricci [00:28:45]:
I usually wear dresses and skirts and I wear cute green outfits and so I just don’t look like the typical. And I. I’ve never seen another because usually I see other delivery drivers. I’ve never seen another girl. Never another 19 year old girl. People usually are like, what are you doing? I’m like, I have your greens for this week.

James Kademan [00:29:03]:
No, I used to deliver beers. I was in the restaurants quite a bit.

Jessi Ricci [00:29:07]:
Oh, so you know what it’s like? Yeah, it’s crazy. I’m still learning to say like corner or whatever. Yeah, it’s.

Jessi Ricci [00:29:14]:
It’s something back there.

James Kademan [00:29:15]:
Yeah. It’s kind of like you’re peeking behind the curtain.

Jessi Ricci [00:29:18]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:29:18]:
Because on the front of the house there’s this facade. Right. Everything’s perfect or trying to be. And on the back end you can see actually what’s going on to make it work that way.

Jessi Ricci [00:29:29]:
It’s cool. It’s always interesting. Some coolers are super organized and some are not. So I feel like I know their secrets.

James Kademan [00:29:36]:
There’s certain restaurants you maybe don’t want to go to.

Jessi Ricci [00:29:40]:
I won’t mention that.

James Kademan [00:29:41]:
Yeah. But tell me a story. I Guess. Just perfect tangent. Right. Or a segue, I should say. Life of a green after it’s picked.

Jessi Ricci [00:29:51]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:29:51]:
How long is that? And how do you store it?

Jessi Ricci [00:29:53]:
Yeah. So I mean, it’s. Do you eat out a lot or no?

James Kademan [00:29:58]:
I would love to say no, but it’s probably a fair amount.

Jessi Ricci [00:30:01]:
Okay, well, some restaurants in Madison, I’ll shout them out.

Jessi Ricci [00:30:07]:
They have alive products in their window, so their product will last. Like trying to articulate how I grow it, but it’s in a flat, so there’s like a reservoir. Imagine like you just took out a patch of grass and put it in a flat, and so that’s what the plants are in. And you can water them and they grow. So some restaurants have like Cento has a in their window. Did I just say that?

James Kademan [00:30:32]:
I think so.

Jessi Ricci [00:30:33]:
Oh, maybe I repeated myself. Yeah, but in there, some restaurants have in their window, they have their live plants. They’ll water it every day and they’ll cut it and sprinkle it on as they go self like.

James Kademan [00:30:44]:
Do more greens grow within this?

Jessi Ricci [00:30:47]:
They don’t. That’s. That’s a super common question. They don’t. It’s. It’s just like a one, a one cycle. They can. Some greens, like cilantro and basil, they can regrow after you cut them.

Jessi Ricci [00:30:59]:
But they are just not nearly as good of a product because the chefs are caring for them. They aren’t giving them like nutritious water. They’re probably not caring for them as wonderfully as they should be. And so it just wouldn’t be a very quality product for regrow. Yeah. But some, some have the alive product, so that will last their full week. Other chefs have cut clamshells, and they’ll put a dry paper towel on that, and that also will last a full week.

James Kademan [00:31:24]:
What is a cut clamshell?

Jessi Ricci [00:31:26]:
You know, a clamshell. A clamshell packaging, the foam thing. I don’t know how to explain a clamshell packaging. What would you get in a clamshell? Like raspberries.

James Kademan [00:31:37]:
Okay.

Jessi Ricci [00:31:38]:
That’s not really a clamshell, but that’s. That’s raspberries kind of come in like a clamshell. I grow. I use a different type of clamshell. So.

James Kademan [00:31:46]:
Okay.

Jessi Ricci [00:31:47]:
In that packaging, and it’ll have a dry paper towel, and then the cut grains will be in it. So they’re pre cut for them. And those last a week as well. And I deliver every single Thursday. I’m on like a very strict. So all of my chef partners get their delivery Every single week.

James Kademan [00:32:03]:
And so almost 70 places in one day.

Jessi Ricci [00:32:06]:
Yeah. By the end of the year, it’s going to be 75. That’s my goal. I’m really trying to do. And hopefully 100 soon. But. Yeah, but I mean, for Madison.

Jessi Ricci [00:32:16]:
Park, and I can’t think of the road. Park right by the Capitol, walk to five restaurants that are all neighbors to each other.

James Kademan [00:32:22]:
Okay.

Jessi Ricci [00:32:23]:
Go around the Capitol, walk to another tent. You know, so there. It’s super close. I mean, I can’t think of how many restaurants I have right around the capital, but at least 30 of them are just right there. I bet. I bet more than that. So it’s actually a very quick delivery day. I reach out to restaurants very mindfully so that they aren’t going to add a lot on my delivery route.

Jessi Ricci [00:32:44]:
And yeah, it’s. It sounds crazier than it actually is.

James Kademan [00:32:50]:
And businesses do.

Jessi Ricci [00:32:51]:
Yeah. And I’m sure when you were delivering beer, you probably had carts and everything. Yeah, I just come in with their trays and drop them off and leave. So. All right, it’s. And I. I talk to the chefs. I’ll probably talk to the chefs longer than I should.

Jessi Ricci [00:33:03]:
That’s what. I could reach, like, 200 restaurants in one day. But me and my chefs are very chatty. They’re definitely my partners, and they partner with me. And I part, you know, I partner with them and I go to their restaurant, I post their restaurants food, and I’m, you know, a friend to them. And so I think I. I’m super chatty with all of them. And I also think that’s kind of an appeal, you know, with.

James Kademan [00:33:26]:
Totally.

Jessi Ricci [00:33:26]:
With a rep for a company that doesn’t own it. And it’s a huge company. They have to, you know, like, think of Amazon. Those guys, like, pee in bottles because they have to get to a delivery in like, one minute and run across the road. And it just isn’t like that. And I think the unrushed thoughtfulness really also is, like an appeal to chefs because they live in such a rushed world, and for someone to, like, give them the time of day to talk to them while they’re cutting up whatever and have a meaningful conversation, I think means. Means a lot.

James Kademan [00:33:58]:
That is cool.

Jessi Ricci [00:33:59]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:33:59]:
It’s funny you say that, because I. My dad, way back when, even before all that other stuff, had a milk delivery route. So I would help him and we would go to restaurants.

Jessi Ricci [00:34:09]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:34:10]:
And he would chat people up all the time. And I was more like, we gotta go, because I got something to do. Because I’m not. I’m not an adult right at that time, I was a kid, so I want to go get done and play. And we would be pushing, and we’d be ahead by a half hour. And I swear, every time he would use that half hour to chat someone up.

Jessi Ricci [00:34:30]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:34:31]:
I’m like, man, every single time we get done at this 14 hour mark, almost like clockwork, despite whatever happens during the day. Because if he had extra time, he’d be chatting people up and joking with them and stuff.

Jessi Ricci [00:34:44]:
Yeah. That’s a sweet memory with your dad, you know?

James Kademan [00:34:47]:
Yeah, he probably. I mean, there’s a lot of competition in that world, oddly enough. So he probably kept and gained some clients because of that.

Jessi Ricci [00:34:55]:
Oh, yeah. I think a lot of my clients, I mean, my. My product is great, but also a lot of chefs, like, their. Their cost of their profit margins are like, 3%.

James Kademan [00:35:05]:
Yeah.

Jessi Ricci [00:35:06]:
And so maybe they would want a worse product because they’re making no money.

Jessi Ricci [00:35:12]:
But I think with my relationship with the chefs, they don’t want to skimp out on it. They see the value, and they see the value that it brings to me. Like, this literally is my salary. You know, your $20 tray is what’s going to help me pay for my future home. You know, it’s really meaningful. It’s not just going to some big corporation guy who is going to his yacht or whatever. It’s. It’s just a very.

Jessi Ricci [00:35:34]:
A very meaningful connection that I think definitely should be taken for granted. And, like, there was recently a new. A new microgreen farmer in town.

Jessi Ricci [00:35:44]:
And they reached out to a lot of my restaurants. I think they might have went off my list because it’s public. And I got text messages from my chef like, you wouldn’t believe who came in. Look at their. This is their price sheet. This is their product. Come in and try it. Now.

Jessi Ricci [00:35:57]:
They get very. Like, all my chefs are, like, on my team, and it’s super sweet, you know? Like, I don’t know, it just is so cool. I have these connections with 68 people who I probably never would have. And, like, some of these are my friends. And, like, I go on friends with them, and I know their kids, and it just is. And I eat there, and they give me free food, which literally my favorite thing. I mean, it’s so fun, you know, I would have never ate at some of these super fancy restaurants. Like, I think I’ve had the most steaks that I’ve ever had in my entire life in, like, the past month by just Visiting restaurants and, like, they’re.

Jessi Ricci [00:36:36]:
The chef’s generosity is super cool because they see that I’m giving them so much value, and they want to show that with me by cooking for them. That’s their love language, is cooking. Yeah. But it’s just super cool how mutually beneficial it is and how there really is a relationship there. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:36:54]:
That’s incredible.

Jessi Ricci [00:36:55]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:36:55]:
Yeah. The value of customer service.

Jessi Ricci [00:36:57]:
Oh, yeah.

James Kademan [00:36:58]:
On top of having an incredible product. That’s amazing. drawincustomerscom.

Jessi Ricci [00:37:00]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:37:01]:
And that’s super cool to know that even if competition comes in, there’s no fear there because, you know, you got it, like, this is the best it can be.

Jessi Ricci [00:37:10]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:37:11]:
Tell me a story about the greenhouse, because I have pictures of what a greenhouse. Like, I can imagine.

Jessi Ricci [00:37:17]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:37:17]:
Are we talking just a little closet or something? Are we talking. Yeah, Acres and acres of microgreens.

Jessi Ricci [00:37:23]:
It. So the. Currently, I grow in an urban farm, so that means I grow on a racking system with grow lights. And so everything is vertical. And so the room itself is actually. Or my grow space is actually very small, probably similar, just slightly bigger than this flooring here. So maybe like a 20. Like 18 by 18 for the.

Jessi Ricci [00:37:48]:
For the vertical farm itself that offer microgreens grow in one week. So that’s their. Their life cycle. It’s a whole new set of plants every single week. So that actually is a very big space for farm. Microgreen farm revenue. But the greenhouse is super cool. It was an aquaponic farm. It was an aquaponic farm that is sponsored by drawincustomerscom.

Jessi Ricci [00:38:07]:
And aquaponics is just when plants are floating in.

Jessi Ricci [00:38:12]:
Oh, hydroponics is when plants are floating in water. Aquaculture is when you are farming fish. And so aquaponics is the combination of the two. So they had a large greenhouse where all the plants were floating in water. The lettuce, greens, strawberries, herbs, whatever. Everything was edible. Flowers. Everything was floating in water.

Jessi Ricci [00:38:32]:
And then they had a fish house, which was just like a shed next to it where there was fish. And their poop is the nutrients. There’s a whole cycle through their poop of how it becomes, like, the most nutritious thing for plants. So then the plants then purify the water through their. Through their roots and taking the nutrients up. And the fish can swim in clean water. And so that was super cool to be a part of that and manage an ecosystem. That was super cool.

Jessi Ricci [00:39:02]:
But, yeah, now I’m growing hydroponically.

Jessi Ricci [00:39:05]:
With the vertical farming as said by james kademan.

James Kademan [00:39:07]:
That’s awesome. Are you. So there’s no fish involved?

Jessi Ricci [00:39:11]:
No, there’s no fish involved. So I use an organic ocean nutrient, which actually is A fish nutrient. But maybe I should just start taking gallons of water from the greenhouse and bringing it back to my farm.

James Kademan [00:39:23]:
Well, that’s funny.

Jessi Ricci [00:39:24]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:39:25]:
So how do you figure out. Well, let me back up a step.

Jessi Ricci [00:39:27]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:39:27]:
How many different microgreens are we talking about?

Jessi Ricci [00:39:30]:
Yeah, so they’re almost. I mean, it’s. It’s funny that you brought up the tomato was your one plant star, cuz that one obviously, I mean, anything can be a microgreen. Not everything can be an edible microgreen. Mainly just the nightshade veggies like potatoes and tomatoes cannot be beans, cannot be microgreens. Um, but there. There can be a ton of microgreens. I think I have seeds, I don’t know, maybe for like 80 microgreens.

Jessi Ricci [00:39:56]:
But I’m only growing right now because chefs, seasonally, chefs get different greens. Right now I’m probably growing half of those. Maybe like 40 different types of greens. And a lot of them are very similar grows. It’s like purple radish and a red radish and a green and red and purple radish in one tray. So it’s. It’s very. They’re very.

Jessi Ricci [00:40:16]:
They’re very similar to grow. I think it sounds more impressive like, oh, wow. You know, you can grow 80 different varieties, but a lot of them have very, very similar growing cycles.

James Kademan [00:40:26]:
Okay. How did you learn about all these?

Jessi Ricci [00:40:29]:
I don’t know.

James Kademan [00:40:31]:
Okay. I don’t woke up one day and knew the microgreens.

Jessi Ricci [00:40:36]:
Honestly, that’s what I think. Simon Wonder. It’s so weird to look at where I am and I’m just like, how did I get here? Like, I’m so happy. One of a quote. Can you make your own quote? I made this quote.

James Kademan [00:40:51]:
Yeah. I mean, quotes.

Jessi Ricci [00:40:52]:
Just a quote by.

James Kademan [00:40:54]:
Said something.

Jessi Ricci [00:40:55]:
A quote by someone called Jessi Rickey, this really amazing person. One of my. One of my favorite quotes that I live by is that I’m living the dream that I never dreamed of, because I never dreamed of this. I didn’t even know what a microgreen was. And so, I mean, I think YouTube is maybe the answer. I YouTube’s a lot of things. I learned a lot from my co worker Bill at the farm, but they mainly they grew like a few microgreens. They really didn’t grow everything that I grow.

Jessi Ricci [00:41:23]:
But I learned a lot from him and YouTube. And now in the era of ChatGPT. Bless ChatGPT. I use it all the time. I ChatGPT, do you like us? I learned a lot from that. And also just trial and error, you know, And I think I’ve always had a green thumb. During COVID 2020, that was when I was in middle school, so I was in eighth grade.

Jessi Ricci [00:41:34]:
I learned a lot from that. And also just trial and error, you know, And I think I’ve always had a green thumb. During COVID 2020, that was when I was in middle school, so I was in eighth grade.

Jessi Ricci [00:41:51]:
That also helped me pick my. My major for UW Madison was that I loved house plants. And so I had a hundred house plants in my bedroom. My dad, again, I love.

James Kademan [00:42:00]:
Say 100.

Jessi Ricci [00:42:01]:
Yes, a hundred. A hundred. Yeah, my. I mean, more than that, but I stopped counting at a hundred. But another reason why I love my dad is he built me these really cool, like, floating shelves that were right above my bed. And so I had all of my plants displayed there. And so I think that’s where my gre. Green thumb started.

Jessi Ricci [00:42:21]:
And I, you know, I’m very good at reading plants. Just like this one, which is a fake one.

James Kademan [00:42:25]:
Sorry.

Jessi Ricci [00:42:28]:
But the irony of plants.

Jessi Ricci [00:42:32]:
But, yeah, plants are. I think plants are definitely easier to read than people. You know, they droop when they’re sad. People are good at hiding it. And when, you know. So I think they’re. They’re very easy for me to read. From my experience of house plants working at that greenhouse with Bill and then just YouTubing, you know, specific varieties like, oh, I’ve never grown this one.

Jessi Ricci [00:42:53]:
Let me watch a quick YouTube video of someone who’s grown it a hundred times and see what their tips are. Yeah.

James Kademan [00:43:00]:
How do you know which plants to grow or what plants your chefs are going to want? Do they ask?

Jessi Ricci [00:43:04]:
Yeah. I think that that also ties into me not knowing how to be a boss. I. I think it’s intimidating to be your own boss. And so I ask my chefs a ton of. Of questions, and I leave it open to them. Like, I share my seed website with my chefs, and if there’s any seed that they really want to grow or that they really want me to grow, I’ll try to grow it for them. So, yeah, I typically ask my chefs.

Jessi Ricci [00:43:29]:
I think I started out with a product list of, like, I don’t know, maybe like, 10 microgreens. And then a chef was like, can you grow this? And can you grow this? And can you grow this? And there’s a really cool chef. Chef Forrester at Delect Table really pushes me in growing new greens that I haven’t grown before. That’s a super cool restaurant. Have you ever been there?

James Kademan [00:43:48]:
There?

Jessi Ricci [00:43:49]:
I mean, super cool. They have, like, the craziest food. And, you know, when he explains it to me, I’m like, I. You’re speaking a different language. I do not know what this souffle of whatever is but he, he has just a really cool. He’s very thoughtful behind his dishes. And so there’s a lot of cool greens that he suggested that I grow, which is fun. But lots of, lots of chefs have suggested things.

James Kademan [00:44:11]:
All right.

Jessi Ricci [00:44:12]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:44:13]:
It’s interesting to me. Sometimes you go to these, I’m going to call them fancier restaurants, but just nicer, where the meal is more of an event.

Jessi Ricci [00:44:21]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:44:22]:
Instead of the thing you do before an event.

Jessi Ricci [00:44:23]:
Yeah, right.

James Kademan [00:44:24]:
Like we gotta hurry up, get dinner to watch this movie or play or whatever.

Jessi Ricci [00:44:27]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:44:27]:
And it’s, it’s tough sometimes to remind yourself, slow down, man.

Jessi Ricci [00:44:34]:
Oh, yeah.

James Kademan [00:44:36]:
Look around like the ambiance and stuff like that. Instead of just chow down, we got more to do.

Jessi Ricci [00:44:41]:
Yeah, that’s so true.

James Kademan [00:44:42]:
It takes a moment to just take a second, man.

Jessi Ricci [00:44:46]:
I think since, since I started going out to so many restaurants because they’re my clients and I go to each restaurant once a year and so think there’s more than that many weeks in a year. So, like I go out a lot, which. It’s a tax deduction, right?

James Kademan [00:45:02]:
Yeah.

Jessi Ricci [00:45:03]:
Because they’re my clients and some type of business purpose is usually there too. Meeting with the chef and talking to him about how he’s using the greens. So no, IRS don’t come after me.

James Kademan [00:45:14]:
Growing the economy.

Jessi Ricci [00:45:15]:
Yeah, I’m growing the economy. Yeah. But since I go out so much, I think I started observing more like, you know, when you notice someone on their phone and I’m just like, how, like you’re with your mom and you’re on your phone. Get off your phone. And then I realize, oh my gosh, I’m on my phone too. And so I no longer bring or no, I bring my phone in. I no longer have my phone out on the table. I bring a chessboard, I bring cribbage or cards and I play cards at restaurants.

Jessi Ricci [00:45:45]:
And I like making an event. And especially just knowing the chefs, knowing how much thought they put behind this food. Like, it cannot be gobbled down, it needs to be savored. And like, I never had had slow dinners before of like, you know, having a non alcoholic drink and an appetizer and the bread and then a entree and then letting a little bit. Waiting a little bit and then a dessert. And I think like this whole new dining of just with intentionality kind of came about after knowing my chefs and like never being on my phone and just trying to be present and eating the food and being present with the person you’re with too. It’s definitely Life changing when, you know, you put your phone down for a meal, like a lot of people while they’re eating their lunch, maybe they’re watching this right now while they’re eating their food, which you should be watching this. But.

Jessi Ricci [00:46:38]:
Enjoy your delicious meal. But also, like, if you take a step back and you’re away from screens and you’re just enjoying food, it’s so different and so it’s cool. Then you can taste the microgreens and appreciate them too.

James Kademan [00:46:48]:
Right. It’s one of those things that when you actually take the time and savor it, look at the placement of the food, you can appreciate, I’m going to say the art that the chef put together. There’s a lot that had to happen for that to. To be in front of you at that time.

Jessi Ricci [00:47:05]:
If you were a plant person, you would have noticed your two puns there. Time, time, you know, time there and savor. Savory. As you were saying that, I was thinking, wow, this is some good plant puns.

James Kademan [00:47:17]:
I would love to say that was intense.

Jessi Ricci [00:47:18]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:47:20]:
All I have are dad jokes. Tell me a story about the number of people. Number of. I’m going to say businesses. chefs that said yes versus no to you. You walk in there with your greens, and they’re like, ah, we just. Just use, I don’t know, parsley. I don’t know, whatever.

Jessi Ricci [00:47:36]:
Yeah, no, you know what? parsley and chives. Yeah, that’s a good question. I have a. I have a huge list of my yeses, a huge list of my nose, and an even bigger list of my. Never got back to me. And so not a lot of people. I.

Jessi Ricci [00:47:52]:
Maybe a couple times, I mean, I’ve met with, I would think 200 restaurants, a lot of restaurants.

Jessi Ricci [00:48:00]:
And not a lot of people during our meeting just say no. A lot of people just ghost you. I think people have a hard time telling, like a young girl.

James Kademan [00:48:08]:
No, they have a hard time telling anybody, telling anything. Even old man.

Jessi Ricci [00:48:11]:
They just have a hard time. Like, they like a lot of people. You know, I’ve. I’ve never had someone be like, this is awful. I would never use this. People are always like, this is so good. I love this so much. I’ve never seen this before.

Jessi Ricci [00:48:22]:
This is amazing. I want to buy this, and then I email them and I don’t hear from them. And so I’ve never really had, like, a terrible no where I’m like, bawling, after which I am so emotional. I totally would cry if someone said something.

James Kademan [00:48:33]:
Well, that’s why they don’t tell you no.

Jessi Ricci [00:48:35]:
They don’t tell me no. Cry on the spot guil. So true. Yeah. But typically, typically, I have had a few nos, and I always really appreciate when someone emails me back, like, just not right now. I really haven’t gotten a lot of people like that say no never. But a lot of people that this just isn’t the time. We’re getting a new head chef.

Jessi Ricci [00:48:57]:
There’s been some switches, you know, especially in Madison. Chefs leave every, what, one year, two years maybe. Most last. Most don’t last two years. They’ll go to a new restaurant. I’ll start working with them at their new restaurant because I have a good relationship with them. And then I might have a difficult time building a connection with the new chef. They might have already had a provider.

Jessi Ricci [00:49:16]:
And so it’s. There hasn’t really been so many terrible no’s and terrible yeses. But I can share some of my first yeses or great yeses. There’s been a ton of great yeses. I. Some of my first yeses were so cool. I remember.

Jessi Ricci [00:49:31]:
I went to where I went to high school. That was where I, like, really focused on getting restaurants there right away, because I grew up eating there. And I remember sitting down with the chef who has no time and telling him my whole life story of, you know, I’m just a high schooler growing these greens. I’m local to you, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

Jessi Ricci [00:49:51]:
A couple of restaurants, Ope and High Point Steakhouse and Campo Di Bella, all are in the Mount Horeb area. And they all said yes. They all had very small orders at first, and they really just wanted to support me. And looking back, I didn’t realize that I was like, they want my greens. I really think that they just wanted to support a high schooler. And now, like, a lot of them have increased their orders, and they get a lot of greens now, and it’s like, High Points Jakehouse almost exclusively garnishes with my microgreens, which is pretty rare. So does Cento. They use a lot of greens, but, yeah, so those were some cool yeses.

Jessi Ricci [00:50:24]:
My first yes downtown was Lucille. Chef Marty at Lucille, he left, and I never got that client after he left because they. They actually haven’t had a head chef. They have, like, kitchen managers now. Lots of kitchen managers is a new trendy thing. But he was my first chef downtown that I met with, and I remember, like, shaking coming into here, and he was the first person that, like, placed an order on the spot. Usually it’s we Correspond through email, and they place your order. But he’s like, I love this.

Jessi Ricci [00:50:51]:
This is so cool. Like, I was like, when you deliver on Thursday, eat dinner hereafter. And I had such a good relationship with him. He was so nice. He really believed in me. And I really think he. He definitely, like, changed how I viewed the Madison restaurants. He made me less nervous to go up to them.

Jessi Ricci [00:51:09]:
He connected me with. They’re. They’re part of a restaurant group, so he connected with me with people from the restaurant group. But, yeah, you know, the nos really haven’t held me back. I think the yeses are what’s pushed me forward because, you know, I realized they’re not for everyone. Like, you know, and. But they are for some people. And some people, it’s a huge part of their menu and part of their experience.

Jessi Ricci [00:51:33]:
Like, they. Some people cut the tray and sprinkle it on in front of them, and it’s part of the experience. And so it’s. It’s cool. Although it’s not. You know, I’ve gotten some no’s. Like, the yeses that I’ve gotten now are so sincere. They’re not just like, oh, let me help this high schooler.

Jessi Ricci [00:51:49]:
But it’s also sweet looking back at that. Yeah. But I mean, I’m sure, you know, your first clients are just something that you don’t forget and they change the trajectory of your business, but.

James Kademan [00:52:02]:
Yeah, I remember my first client for the printer repair thing.

Jessi Ricci [00:52:07]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:52:07]:
And I remember wrenching on the printer and then thinking, wait a second, I have to send them an invoice. That means I have to find some way to create an invoice. You’re going through all this stuff in your head. Like, I should have prepared that a little better.

Jessi Ricci [00:52:19]:
Yeah, yeah.

James Kademan [00:52:21]:
This is good stuff. Good stuff.

Jessi Ricci [00:52:23]:
So true.

James Kademan [00:52:23]:
Tell me about microgreens themselves. What’s so special about microgreens?

Jessi Ricci [00:52:27]:
Yeah. Yeah. I think, you know, the main thing that’s special about them is how nutritious they are.

James Kademan [00:52:32]:
Okay.

Jessi Ricci [00:52:34]:
The. I mean, all vegetables are nutritious, but when. When you really look at the nutri. Nutrient value of microgreens, it’s astonishing. The one that is super studied and everyone has articles about it is our broccoli microgreens, which are very nutritious. They’re very high in sulforaphane, which helps equip your body to fight cancer, and so that’s why they’re so mediatized. But every. And they.

Jessi Ricci [00:52:57]:
They have 40 times more sulforaphane than just broccoli itself. And a lot of their nutrients are 40 times more dense. Most microgreens are more in the like 10 to 40 times. Not all 40, but broccoli is just super. It’s a powerhouse. But yeah, I think that’s the consumer’s value, is how nutritious they are. You know, especially if you are struggling with food insecurity, you can have a handful of broccoli microgreens, and you don’t have to go out and spend money on broccoli and a salad and all the things. And they’re very easy to use.

Jessi Ricci [00:53:33]:
If you’re making a salad, you can throw in some radish sprouts and some pea sprouts. And now you have radish and peas in your salad. And you didn’t have to cut them up or wash them or anything. They’re just right there. And they taste really good.

James Kademan [00:53:45]:
It’s.

Jessi Ricci [00:53:46]:
Yeah, they taste super good. And the benefit for this chef is how they look. It’s a very beautiful garnish. Microgreens are so different. I described them as a blade of grass, but they all look very different. I mean, there’s pink and purple and orange and yellow and green microgreens, white microgreens. They are very.

Jessi Ricci [00:54:07]:
Potent in their flavor and very colorful. And so they’re very unique experience. A lot of blind tasting is becoming popular. So I can think of like, brick cider, one of my clients, they do blind tasting with their microgreens where, like, you know, you’ll be blindfolded and they’ll give you a cantaloupe microgreen. And it’s a whole new experience because a lot of people have never had the flavor of a cantaloupe with the texture of a leaf, you know, and so they’re just like a whole new experience. And so especially in the culinary world, it’s, of course, going to add color, but it’s also going add, like another flavor profile. And chefs have a lot of fun playing with, like, radishes especially. They’ll have like a radish salad with a radish dressing with radish greens with whatever crumbled.

Jessi Ricci [00:54:56]:
Right, Whatever. And so they. The microgreen is another layer to add to something that’s already super pea or whatever it is. You can add a pea sprout to it and.

James Kademan [00:55:05]:
Yeah, that’s cool.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:06]:
Yeah, they’re. They’re cool.

James Kademan [00:55:08]:
So can.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:08]:
Have you ever had a micro trained?

James Kademan [00:55:10]:
I have.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:11]:
Oh, really?

James Kademan [00:55:12]:
Yeah.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:14]:
At a restaurant or. No.

James Kademan [00:55:15]:
No.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:16]:
Okay.

James Kademan [00:55:16]:
At Off East Washington there. I don’t know if they’re still around.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:19]:
Oh, yeah. Supercharged. Yeah, they. They are. I. They. They mainly do wholesale or not wholesale distribution. They mainly distribute.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:27]:
They don’t sell directly to chefs. I think they do some direct to chef sales, but, yeah, it’s mainly through, like, distribution networks. But, yeah, I know them. They’re. They’re super nice owners. I think they might have actually changed, but, yeah, they’re okay. Yeah. That’s fun.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:42]:
So you went there to eat them?

James Kademan [00:55:43]:
I went there. They were part of.

James Kademan [00:55:48]:
The Madison.

James Kademan [00:55:50]:
Market.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:51]:
Oh, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah.

James Kademan [00:55:54]:
Man. I don’t know. That was probably 2018, 2019. It’s been a while.

Jessi Ricci [00:55:58]:
It’s funny. This is bringing me back to when I was listening to your interview with Therese, because you also had one of her competitors, charcuterie boards. The gift. Yes. So it’s funny. You’re eating all of our competitors.

James Kademan [00:56:11]:
Interesting. That was a gift.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:12]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:56:13]:
I didn’t. I didn’t know if you would ask me what a charcuterie board was. I still have to think about how to spell it.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:21]:
Oh, yeah.

James Kademan [00:56:21]:
So it’s interesting because Therese knew exactly that company. She knew how it was delivered. She knew the tray that it came with.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:29]:
Yep.

James Kademan [00:56:30]:
Just. Just dialed in.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:31]:
Oh, yeah.

James Kademan [00:56:32]:
That’s amazing.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:33]:
I love Therese. Yeah, she’s amazing.

James Kademan [00:56:35]:
Yeah, she’s incredible.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:36]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:56:37]:
But, yeah, the microgreen thing, I didn’t know what that was until I met those guys.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:40]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:56:41]:
I actually tried to get them on the podcast. Really? I don’t remember what happened there, but I don’t think they ever ended up on it.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:47]:
Was it.

James Kademan [00:56:48]:
But it was.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:48]:
You should honestly put them on it. They have, like, a crystal hippie farm with. I don’t know. It’s. My chefs have told me about it.

James Kademan [00:56:55]:
It’s more than just that building.

Jessi Ricci [00:56:57]:
Well, no, they. I think they moved, but they now have, like. They’re very. I think it’s more like a hippie farming situation. So. Because you also had someone on your podcast. I. Witch.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:09]:
I. I don’t know if witch is the right word. I don’t think it is. She was into, like, sounds. Your birthday, how your birthday is who you are. Not a witch.

James Kademan [00:57:19]:
No. Human design.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:23]:
Yeah, yeah. Just more like spiritual. I feel like.

James Kademan [00:57:27]:
Yes. Yeah, yeah.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:28]:
Not. I have a genus. Farm. Not a crystal farm, but.

James Kademan [00:57:31]:
Oh, that’s.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:32]:
Yeah, it is.

James Kademan [00:57:33]:
Oh, my gosh. Your name is escaping me. But, yeah, that was a fairly recent one.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:36]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:57:37]:
Yeah, I listened to that one again.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:38]:
Oh, really?

James Kademan [00:57:40]:
It was one of those interviews where I’m like, wait, what? Because I’M looking at. Well, I guess looking at rebranding this.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:45]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:57:46]:
And it’s one of those, like, what? Let’s just. Just get into this a little bit.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:50]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:57:50]:
Learn something from my own guests.

Jessi Ricci [00:57:52]:
What you were saying, though, reminds me of a funny story. I. I don’t know how I have. I think this vivid memory kind of, like, came back after I started microgreen farming, but I remember eating at Buck and Honey’s for a birthday dinner and before I started my farm, and there was microgreens on the plate, and I didn’t know what they were, and they were, like, on my salmon or whatever, and I pushed them to the side, and I didn’t eat them.

James Kademan [00:58:16]:
Oh, no.

Jessi Ricci [00:58:16]:
And, like, looking back now, it’s so funny, because I love microgreens, and sometimes people still push their garnish to the side. People don’t like vegetables. You need to eat vegetables. People should like vegetables. Now, like, knowing my chefs like, this is a huge part of the dish. It’s part of the flavor. It’s not just, like, a little sprinkle. It’s like, no, this is, you know, a micro sage that pairs perfectly with this chervil in the soup.

Jessi Ricci [00:58:41]:
Whatever it is, it just is a funny memory, looking back. And I think it also gives me grace for, like, just naiveness behind things, because I was there, and now my whole life is microgreen. You know, it’s what I think. That’s what I eat. It’s what I breathe is microgreen. And it just is a funny story. Looking back. I really want to get them as a client.

Jessi Ricci [00:59:01]:
Now, I haven’t. I haven’t yet reached out to them, but it would be funny if.

James Kademan [00:59:04]:
All right.

Jessi Ricci [00:59:04]:
The full circle moment of me swiping the microgreen to now providing the microgreen.

James Kademan [00:59:11]:
Big sign that says, eat your green.

Jessi Ricci [00:59:12]:
Yes. Yeah. I’m gonna put that on my car.

James Kademan [00:59:15]:
Nice. I. I was just in Italy. I don’t know, a month ago, let’s call it. Oh, yeah, I was in Florence. I didn’t realize that Florentine steak was Florence. Oh, Florentine steak. I don’t know.

Jessi Ricci [00:59:29]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:59:29]:
But anyway, so I was recommended this place to go for Florentine steak. So I’m like, all right, let’s do this. So I go there, and there’s. I think it’s rosemary on the steak.

Jessi Ricci [00:59:39]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:59:40]:
And at first, I’m like, what is this? What is this? But I’m like, you know, we’re in Italy when in Rome or Florence. Let’s just try it. Oh, My gosh. Yeah, it was amazing.

Jessi Ricci [00:59:50]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [00:59:51]:
And you’re like, I got, I don’t know, pine needles on my steak. And it’s amazing. So it’s interesting that you say that. You just push it aside. I don’t know what this is. Let’s get this out of here.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:00]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:00:00]:
And it changes just the whole dynamic flavor profile.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:04]:
Totally.

James Kademan [01:00:05]:
Now I just want to put rosemary on everything.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:07]:
Yeah. Rosemary is so good.

James Kademan [01:00:09]:
Oh, my gosh.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:10]:
Yeah. Rosemary is amazing. That’s. That’s a cool, cool moment to remember, too.

James Kademan [01:00:14]:
It was super cool. Yeah.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:16]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:00:16]:
So it’s interesting because that was another one of those moments where you’re just like, don’t pound through this thing.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:22]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:00:22]:
You gotta just savor the flavor.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:23]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:00:24]:
It’s one of those places where they. They bring the cut of meat to you before they cook it.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:28]:
Oh, wow.

James Kademan [01:00:28]:
And they’re just like, yeah. And I’m like, yeah, it looks good. I don’t know. I. It’s from a cow. Right. Well, I think we’re good. So at any rate, we’ll just reiterate, right.

James Kademan [01:00:40]:
To just savor the food and eat your greens.

Jessi Ricci [01:00:43]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:00:44]:
We should ask, where can people find you?

Jessi Ricci [01:00:46]:
Yeah, people can find me. https://Newlifegreensco.com is my website. I keep that updated with the home delivery form, but mainly with my. All my chefs. I keep them updated on there and post all my chefs and everything. But I think my main thing is Instagram. I love posting on Instagram. I post dancing plant videos.

Jessi Ricci [01:01:09]:
I post how to plant videos. Dancing plant. I dance with my plants.

James Kademan [01:01:13]:
Okay, I was just gonna say, is there a plant that dances?

Jessi Ricci [01:01:15]:
Yes. Cantaloupe. Microgreens. Dancing. No, I vote I post videos dancing with my plants. How to plant microgreens at home, how you can use them. And that also is New Life. Oh, that.

Jessi Ricci [01:01:27]:
Oh, boy. That’s either drawincustomers.com or drawincustomers.com. I’m doubting. Look. Yeah, look at the link, because I’m doubting it. We were just talking before, trying to figure out the co and the not co. Yeah. But, yeah, drawincustomers is my Instagram, and that’s what I really like to use to push out socials.

Jessi Ricci [01:01:45]:
But.

James Kademan [01:01:46]:
Yeah, right on. Tell me really quick about the name. Where did you come up with the name? Or how did you come up with the name?

Jessi Ricci [01:01:51]:
I. I love my name. It was. It was a huge. A huge deal at first. My name has three meanings. The first meaning is a religious meaning. It’s that my life was changed by Jesus.

Jessi Ricci [01:02:04]:
There’s a lot of Bible quotes that talk about having new life. You have a new life with Christ. And so that’s one of them is because it’s new life. And that’s a huge part of me, is my faith. The other thing is that microgreens are one of the newest forms of life of a plant. And so that. That was kind of the main thing that really got it is microgreens are a new life. And then the third thing is eating healthy changes your life.

Jessi Ricci [01:02:26]:
And when you really, like make the change of eating Oreos to having a salad, it’s life changing. And so it’s kind of that, like, try meaning that encompasses my brand and me. But yeah, I love talking. I’m happy you asked because I love talking about my name.

James Kademan [01:02:41]:
But that is super cool.

Jessi Ricci [01:02:43]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:02:43]:
How long did it take you to.

Jessi Ricci [01:02:44]:
Come over with.

Jessi Ricci [01:02:46]:
It took a long time. Everybody hated it but me. And I’m like, it’s my business. I’m doing this.

James Kademan [01:02:52]:
They hated the name Greens.

Jessi Ricci [01:02:53]:
Yeah. But now, now people love it. Like my family just. I mean, hate is a strong word. They didn’t hate it. It wasn’t their number one, I can’t remember what the other options were. One of them was like, hand grown greens was going to be it.

Jessi Ricci [01:03:06]:
But I’m so happy I’m New Life Greens. And. And yeah, it’s a cool. I’m very proud of my name and I’m so happy I chose it. And I like your name too. Hope you don’t change it.

James Kademan [01:03:17]:
No, no, no, no.

Jessi Ricci [01:03:18]:
Yeah. Just rebrand.

James Kademan [01:03:19]:
Yeah. It’s one of those. The naming thing is so interesting, right?

Jessi Ricci [01:03:22]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:03:22]:
In green. There’s a few things that are just challenges that every business has to deal with. One of them is the name. Another one is the pricing. Right. Like, how do I do this? And there’s not necessarily a hard and fast rule. In the case of New Life Greens, I think the name’s awesome, especially what you do. And it’s shorter letters like New Life.

James Kademan [01:03:40]:
We got 3, 4, 6. And this is a small novel for a business name, for a podcast name.

Jessi Ricci [01:03:48]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:03:48]:
But it’s out there. It’s done. It is what it is.

Jessi Ricci [01:03:53]:
I love it and I love my name. I think our names are great.

James Kademan [01:03:56]:
That is.

Jessi Ricci [01:03:56]:
And James and Jessi are also a great name.

James Kademan [01:03:58]:
Yeah. Right.

Jessi Ricci [01:03:59]:
We just have great names here.

James Kademan [01:04:00]:
I love it. Jessi, thank you so much for being on the show.

Jessi Ricci [01:04:04]:
Thank you. james.

James Kademan [01:04:05]:
I should ask, I. I know you kind of segued into this, but I just want to be more detailed about it. Can people buy greens from you.

Jessi Ricci [01:04:13]:
They can. I do grow primarily for chefs, but if you love greens, I would be more than happy to grow your greens. There’s a home delivery form. I just don’t market it as much, but I’m more than happy to grow people microgreens. And then they would also get them delivered on Thursdays alongside the chefs.

James Kademan [01:04:29]:
Oh, how cool is that? Yeah, I can’t wait to interview you next time in a year or two or whenever.

Jessi Ricci [01:04:33]:
Yeah.

James Kademan [01:04:33]:
You have employees.

Jessi Ricci [01:04:34]:
Yeah, my employee will come.

James Kademan [01:04:36]:
Employees, plural. See, it just.

Jessi Ricci [01:04:39]:
I’m excited. I see it, too.

James Kademan [01:04:40]:
Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com we are underwritten by the bank of Sun Prairie. There’s probably other things I have to read here. Here. We’d like to thank you, our wonderful listeners as well as our guests, Jessi Ricci of New Life Greens. Can you tell us that website one more time?

Jessi Ricci [01:05:07]:
NewLifegreensco.com that’s C O CO, right?

James Kademan [01:05:10]:
All right. As in cool.

James Kademan [01:05:13]:
Past episodes can be found morning, noon to night at the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com thank you for joining us. We will see you next week. I want you to stay. Awesome. And if you do nothing else else, enjoy your business. And Authentic Business Adventures is brought to you by https://callsoncall.com, offering call answering and receptionist services for service businesses across the country.

James Kademan [01:05:36]:
On the web at callsoncall.com and of course, the Bold Business Book, a book for the entrepreneur and all of us available wherever fine books are sold.