Yin and Yang: How do you balance work and family?
That’s the beauty of us both running the business. We have time to spend with Logan. We can make the time for each other and our family. We do most things together. And if we feel like we haven’t spent the right type of time together, we make the time. It just means we choose not to make something that day or week. Family comes first.
The drive: What challenges have you overcome?
We are always overcoming challenges. Sleepless nights with ‘bubsy’. OMG the teething! Does that ever end? I guess, for us, trying to start and run a business with a now 9-month-old baby is the toughest challenge of all. We started the business when Logan was barely a couple of weeks old. And people can be horrible. I mean we/I didn’t cop it as badly as some probably do, but people sideways telling you that you should be doing something with your child is a challenge, trying not to yell at them and say we are doing our best with what we have. All we are trying to do is look after our family, which is what our business is about. It’s about us and our family, doing the best for our child and giving him an awesome future.
The challenge of our honey prices and also, unfortunately, of another honey seller going out of their way to ruin our business. I love that people sell their honey and I will happily promote anyone who makes their own honey and sells it. I would help them, not try to take them down out of spite or jealousy.
For better or worse: What are the pros and cons of running your own business?
So many pros and they definitely outweigh the cons. We get to spend all our time together, though I am sure sometimes that is a con! We get to spend nearly all of our time with Logan. We get to be there for everything new that he does. Matthew and I get to see our relationship with each other evolve. With each new market or each swarm removal or each time Logan does something new, we see something different in each other and it’s fun and amazing to see the changes in both of us in the past 9 or so months. Matthew never imagined he would be a dad and now he couldn’t imagine not being one. Logan is the reason for our business, so everything is about him. We sometimes have tough weeks where no money is coming in or Logan hasn’t slept or has a cold, which makes production slow down or non-existent. Those things could be perceived as cons but they really aren’t because we can’t look at any of the “bad” stuff as being cons. We see them as a pathway to make things even better. To make things evolve.
Hopes and dreams: What next?
I am sure everyone has the ultimate goal or dream. We already have ours. We are happy doing what we are doing. We love the time we get to spend with each other and wouldn’t change it for the world. We have our farm that we rent, we have our small family and close-knit friends and community. We don’t need anything else. We will continue to evolve our business as we go but we have already achieved, in our minds, what so many other people are looking for: happiness. That is our business, not the bees, not the honey, not the products – happiness. Our business is about love and family and happiness and we have that. Everything that comes next is a bonus.
If you would like to learn more about Argyle Apiary and their products and services, visit their website or join their Facebook community.
Thank you Mathew and Victoria for your delicious creamed orange blossom honey. My daughter Lynda sent me a jar of your honey for Easter instead of chocolate.