In life, the more options you have, the harder it can be to make a decision. Wendy is lucky enough to have a mother who provided good advice, and just two choices. It made it that much easier for Wendy to jump into her passion at a young age. We're inspired by how she gained strength from a personal injury and is using that experience to bring fresh food to more people.
When did you know that you wanted to work in food?
When I was young, my Mother told me that I would always have a job if I went into the funeral business or the food business. I've never had the desire to work with dead people, so? I catered my first party at 17, had no clue what I was getting into, but I had a blast and haven't looked back since! I owned a catering company for several years, worked in almost every capacity possible in the front and back of the house for a hotel, worked as a training manager, culinary HR and trouble-shooter.
How did you get your current good food job?
After helping a high school develop a garden, I fell and not only broke ground, but three bones too. My husband modified my garden and did everything possible to enable me to continue to garden from a wheelchair, then walker and crutches. It was interesting to figure out how I'd get up and down the rows to weed! (Tile knee pads became an important accessory.) I started Gardening Goodness to share my adventures and gardening challenges with others. Once it was up and running, I received a number of inquires about setting up and maintaining a garden. This planted the seeds of thought on developing a bigger program embracing more of my city. Hampton Grows, Inc. was born over a glass (or three) of wine. Our website shows the current projects and in less than four months, we've created a team of volunteers that will put at least five gardens into place in Hampton this spring.
How did your previous work or life experience prepare you for a good food job?
I've been in the food industry for over 30 years in a wide variety of positions, but they all came back to food. It was always a rush to see folks enjoying the food and events I planned, but I wanted more. I wanted to see the process from seed to table.
What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your Good Food Job dream?
Having the injury that took me out of the kitchen has made me re-evaluate what I can do. It has also shown me not to be self-limiting, to instead embrace the challenge, because someone, somewhere, who wants to garden is facing the same challenges. After that, probably the paperwork. Starting a non-profit requires an amazing amount of paperwork, but what keeps me going is knowing that children and adults will benefit from my efforts to bring fresh, available produce to their neighborhood, school or community.
What can you identify as the greatest opportunities in food right now?
Returning to our roots. People want access to fresh, safe produce but aren't sure how to get there. Many people never learned how to garden. We are working hand in hand or garden by garden, showing people how easy it can be to build sustainable gardens. One of the projects we are currently working on is the History Museum, which is hosting an exhibit on Heritage Gardens this summer. I'll be putting together four Heirloom garden planters with produce that would have been typical for a family in the 1700s. We are also installing Herb-scaping on the patio of the museum! I love to show people that you can put a garden or at the very least, herbs in the most unexpected areas.
If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?
Besides food? Wine!
