Nuanced. - 46. Gurleen Maan: Goat Yoga, Wine, Haunted Corn Maze & Weddings at Maan Farms

Episode Date: March 14, 2022

Gurleen Maan is the Creative and Operations Director at her family's farm Maan Farms Market & Estate Winery.Maan Farms has a long and proud history of farming and creating unique experiences for the citizens of Abbotsford, the Fraser Valley, and Greater BC. Started in 1977, Maan Farms began as a small roadside stand selling berries and over the years has shifted from conventional farming to an Agritourism business providing unique farm experiences for all ages such as: an Adult Easter Egg Hunt called Bunnies & Booze, Goat Yoga, Haunted Corn Maze, Weddings & they also have an Estate Winery. Today, the farm is run by Devinder, Kris and their 3 children Gurleen, Amir, and Gaurav Maan. Learn more today: https://maanfarms.com/Send us a textSupport the shownuancedmedia.ca

I really appreciate you being willing to sit down today. Your family has done a lot of work to bring community together. And I think that we're always lucky when individuals like yourself and your family are willing to put in that type of work and keep it so consistent because it's been going for so long. So, Garlene, would you be willing to give listeners a brief introduction of yourself and then perhaps of your family? Sure. Yeah, so my name is Garlene Mann. I'm one of the five family members that runs man farms in Abbotsford, British Columbia. And I'm the second eldest daughter of the man family. There's four siblings. And it's myself, my older sister, and my two younger brothers. So my sister does not work on the farm. And my two younger brothers and I work on the farm. And I work on the farm. farm together. Interesting. Can you give us just a lay of the land in terms of the farm, all the things that the farm is involved in? Yeah. So we started off as berry farmers, and then we've expanded

over the past 40 years into more of a destination tourism farm. So we have still berries. We're at the core. We are barry farmers. And we now have a more of a tourism experience aspect to our business. So we have a petting zoo, a play area. We have a winery. We do a lot of events such as goat yoga. We do a haunted corn maze and so much more. That's fantastic. Can we start from the beginning then? Your parents move here. How does that start? How do they start? How do they start? moving to set roots here in Abbotsford? Yeah, so my dad came here when he was 14 years old. And him and his parents, they started by buying a piece of land.

And they started to grow strawberries. And then at first they were selling to the canneries. And then they decided to start selling to the public. So we had just like a little small shack here on McKenzie Road. It's probably the same size as this room. And my summers were spent as a little girl just selling baskets of strawberries on the side of the road. They're like just very small size, small baskets. And yeah, so we did that for many years.

And then in 2005, we did. decided to um add the petting zoo so that mostly it was for many many years it was just growing and selling in the summers and then my parents still had my dad still had a different job right i find that so interesting because at least uh for people i know we have no idea what it's like to work on a farm uh we have no idea what it's like to kind of have a legacy business one that's being passed on from generation to generation and each person bringing something new to the table trying to build upon it. And I think that that's so, it's so unique to be able to learn of other people's lived experiences. And personally, I find farming families. So they have such a

different lived experience that it's really admirable to learn about a family that's made at work that's worked together. And like, was that instilled in you? Like hard work and those types of impacts growing up where it was just normal for you to, I guess, take on these roles of selling berries and being out there working at a young age. Yeah, I think, of course, that has to do with growing up in a family environment, but also my parents are immigrants. So I'm first-generation Canadian, and it was instilled in me. I was the elder sibling. and it was my duty to help my parents. So, of course, like growing up when I was in the moment,

I was like 12, 13, 14, 15 years old, you don't want to do it. But then, you know, you see your parents struggling and we did struggle for quite a while financially. So it was very instilled in me at a young age to just, you know, you got to do what you got to do to help the family and yeah farming definitely hard work and farming are go hand in hand so for sure yeah can you tell us more about that because I have a close friend and his family immigrated here and

for him it was it was kind of like you said his father's an electrician his mother's a nurse and they just worked all the time and there's to this day no real days off there's always something on the go, there's always a side project that they're willing to go work on. And I don't know, I feel like from the people I know, that culture is missing, that willingness to work hard for the sake of working hard, for the family, for your community, that feeling of responsibility, I don't know. It feels like it's perhaps lacking from people who don't have parents who immigrated here. And I always want to encourage people to adopt that mentality of like working hard is worthwhile and you're going to benefit. Your children are going to

going to benefit and they're going to learn the value of hard work. So can you tell us more what it was like to see what your parents and your grandparents were willing to put in? Yeah. So it was definitely something that I learned by them modeling that behavior and seeing that, you know, that they really were busting there. But day in and day, like, you know, night in day. And it was very, very, very, one, you know, great to see, uh, like this is what hard work means. And, you know, I didn't really grow up with my parents, um, just like being at home. And we were working weekdays and weekends. So yeah, I mean, honestly, it was really hard. But, um, uh, I think now we're reaping the benefits of all of our hard work. So I think the message that I received was more so if you really

put your work ethic into it and you're consistent, I think consistency is really important, and you really, like, believe in what you're doing, then you will reap the benefits. And that's really, yeah, I mean, a lot of people, they don't really, they don't really understand what hard work really means. And I would agree with that. But, yeah, it definitely wasn't, it was, there was pros and cons because it was hard for us as immigrants and immigrant children to

or children of immigrants to not have your parents there so there were some challenges that we faced as kids because our parents really didn't have a choice they couldn't really afford a babysitter so

yeah there just really wasn't a choice to that they had so that's another thing too is Maybe this generation there's so many choices and the parents before them really did a lot of the work and then they either just didn't pass it down to their kids or the kids are have more of a privilege than their parents did. So yeah, for us, like because it's our business, my brothers and my family, we have no choice but to work and we don't look at it like work. We look at it like it's our livelihood, it's our passion, and just, I don't know, the days just blend in. Yeah, and I think it's really valuable because for me, I was raised by a single mother. She's born with fetal alcohol syndrome disorder as a consequence of her mother drinking alcohol in the womb.

And so I had to grow up at an earlier age. I had to take on household responsibilities earlier on. And it's like a blessing and a curse that part of me during like my teen years, I was a little resentful, a little frustrated that I had to grow up so much earlier. Other people are still playing video games and hanging out and I'm doing the shopping and I'm trying to clean the house and I'm growing up earlier. But now looking back, it's like, well, now I'm perhaps more mature and I'm able to take on more responsibility.

I have more self-motivation than other people. And that's where I see the people who did have it easier, perhaps less driven, less with a belief that doing hard work is just a good thing that helps. you develop. So I'm interested to understand, like, what was that journey like? And did your perspective shift over time as you got older, perhaps frustration early on, and then that perspective shift? Yeah. So I, growing up, I had to work on the farm. So I had a different experience than per se my younger brothers. Growing up, I, you know, I had to do what I had to do to help the family. So I would spend all my summers, you know, at the family business,

you know, just waking up in the morning. And all of my friends were out at Cultus Lake or they were having fun. So, you know, that was just my experience. And my brothers also, they were more at home. They were playing video games because they were younger. So I think after a while after like after high school, I just really wasn't interested in the farm. And our farm wasn't really as successful as it was today. It was the profile of our business was a lot different. And we weren't really into tourism. So what I was told was to just, okay, you have to get your degree. And then after I, you know, got my degree, I decided to move to downtown Vancouver. So I lived in yel town for about five years and i really wanted to live the city lifestyle because you know you kind of

run away with you run away from um what you're almost like forced to do and then you know you i'm just rebellious by nature so um that was kind of something that i was really adamant about that i wanted to get away from the small town lifestyle so i lived there for a while and i had this pretty cushy corporate job. So I worked in corporate Canada for about five years while I was living out there. But I think, you know, you learn and you grow. And I, I, when I was living in downtown Vancouver, I did a lot of, a lot of different things. And I really was able to learn more about myself. And I went through a bit of a transformation period. And yeah, I think through being out there alone, you start to really realize who you are and where you want to be and what you want to

do. And I think after being in the environment I was and the work I was doing, it just wasn't fulfilling. So as you grow, your desires and your goals change. So that's really like what I went through. And, you know, before I entered in my 30s, I kind of had more of like a, more of a, almost like an existential crisis, if you will, where I was like, I hate my life. I'm done with this lifestyle. And funny enough, I was craving to be at home. So, yeah, long story short, I decided to pack up my stuff and move back to the farm and I joined the business again. And yeah that was like almost five years ago and now yeah I'm back on the farm so what did you go to school for and what was that experience like uh I went to school in Abbotsford at UFV so I did

my schooling in criminal justice um I wanted to be a police officer for a while and then I wanted to be a lawyer um so I ended up just going back and forth into that and Yeah, being going to school was just fine. It wasn't, I was working on the farm while I was in school and then I wasn't. And yeah, it was more transitioning out of being at the farm because I needed a break. Yeah. What did you think of, because I did criminology at UFE as well. What did you think of the experiences you had there? And because for me, I have no interest in criminology or criminal justice, even though I did a whole degree there. But I've had the opportunity to interview Jonathan Haidt, interview Zina Lee, various criminology professors, and kind of look back on the experience. And the people who kind of gave those different perspectives and helped develop, perhaps, not based just on the material, like, oh, now you know these facts, but giving you different worldviews. Mark Lalonde was another person where we had the opportunity to talk about, like, seeing things from a global perspective, seeing things from different vantage points and understanding how complex the world is and how complex problems were. So what was that, did you gain anything

from your degree where you felt it made a difference? Yes and no. I think it was a Some of the classes I really love, just like what you're saying, some of the professors offered a lot of insight and, you know, on criminal justice system in Canada. And I would say I gained some insight on how things are in Canada, but I was really more interested in learning about the mind and the behavior aspects. So I really enjoyed some of my classes with Pleckis. Daryl Plekis, he did a really good job. So I really gravitated towards the psychological aspect. So I really gained that aspect. And also learning about organizational behavior.

So that was really interesting, learning about how socially some of the theories about like crime and and how society plays a role in in the criminal sort of ecosystem, the criminal justice ecosystem in Canada. So I really enjoyed learning about that. And I think I might have learned a little bit more about the justice system and like learning more about like how the rules are in Canada. and so I ended up getting a job where I was working in legislation. I wasn't working in legislation, but I was working in litigation, sorry, insurance litigation.

And so I did have to apply the Supreme Court rules to some of the work that I was doing. So that was really cool. And I think by nature I have a pretty rebellious spirit. So it was fun to be in a position where I was like, argue. and using a lot of the legislation to build my case. And so in that way, my degree did have some benefit to my work. So I did get, I was fortunate enough to get a job within my degree, but I know many people who've done criminal justice are like, okay, that was a waste of time. But, yeah, I don't know, I was fortunate, but now I don't really, I can't say I directly use.

my degree, but I do use a lot of my work experience dealing with some conflict and dealing with a lot of the business-related, I would say, political aspects of having a business. So, yeah, a lot of my work does, you know, come into play. Yeah, because you think about how, like, so many students go, I got a whole degree and then it's not, like, I'm not using it. And it's like, but you are when you're able to communicate effectively. when you're able to write clearly, when you're able to be persuasive in how you communicate. Of course.

Education is still important. Exactly. And I think that some people struggle with that because they feel like they were supposed to go check a box eventually. And if you don't go and get the police job, then you didn't really use the degree. And it's like it still opened so many doors. And that's why I think they have you take so many different courses throughout your experience is because it kind of expands that. You also talked about how you went to Vancouver. and it sounds like you had like good experiences there,

but you ended up wanting to go back. Can you walk us through kind of what that journey was like for you? Because I hear that a lot. Like a lot of people, when they grow up in a small town, they're like, I need to get out of this small town. Then a few years later, they realized that they want to come home and that that's where they want to be. But they need to go through that, it sounds like,

in order to appreciate what that has to offer. So could you walk us through that? Yeah. I loved living in Vancouver. I feel like I had a really great lifestyle. I lived in a condo on Robson and Homer, so I was like the core of Yel Town. And it was a beautiful lifestyle.

I loved being able to get dressed up. And again, you know, go from being this farm girl to being more glamorous. So I feel like I was able to really have the opposite experience and dive in and then I think over time you know there's just more I think I started to realize there's a lot more to life than getting dressed up and going out and partying and drinking and just being the superficial stuff so I think when I started to really work on myself and I started to learn more about who I am, reading, doing yoga,

diving into more of like my past and healing some of the things that, you know, I had to endure as a child. So when I started to really get into more of a self-reflection, when I started to do more self-reflection and working on myself, I think that's when I started to uncover what my true desires are and I think going into living downtown my life was more about okay um I just want to have fun and I just want to be glamorous and because that's what you see on TV and that's what people you know and shows are doing so I really wanted to do that and I got to do that which is such a wonderful privilege um that I had but then I think I got over it after a while and I was like, okay, this is not really fulfilling.

You know, I think I was able to check off that box, but then my mind was more like, okay, what next? Like, what is it really that I want to do? And you often, like, hear people who appear to have it all on the outside. They sometimes are so unfulfilled inside. So I think that that's kind of the feeling that I was starting to have. And a lot of people would look at me from living, my past like friends and people that I knew like oh it looks like you're living the best life and

and like actually for a while I was really depressed and I was really sad um and just like I just felt so unfulfilled and raw and just not happy and yeah um so that that went on for a little while and then I think just working on myself and I'm a very self-aware person and to a fault and it's very like important for me to always check in on myself and so I think that was one of the things that really helped me through figuring out who I wanted to be and what I wanted to do so So as I started to uncover a lot of the things that maybe I was holding on to that were maybe more expectations that were set from society. So, you know, growing up as a woman, you're, especially as an Indian woman, you're told, you're given a lot of messages of, okay, you're after you get your degree, you're supposed to get married and have kids and basically be, a mom. And, you know, so that was like my conditioning as I grew up. And then I think I really went

through the accidental time in my life where I was like, hey, this isn't what I want. What do I want? And that was really difficult because I just couldn't, I just, I just couldn't get myself to want what society wanted for me and what my parents wanted. So, but I think after a while, I just just came to a point where I was like, you just have to do what you want to do and, you know, life will work itself out. So, um, I think, yeah, just I came to a point where I was like, I've had it. I need to just go back home and I want to do something in the world that I'm really making a difference and where I feel fulfilled. So when I came back to Abbotsford and started working at my farm. I decided to do goat yoga because I was really into wellness at the time.

I still am. And that was just a beautiful way to join agriculture and wellness together where I felt fulfilled. That's so important because I think that you're right. I think when we look at Instagram, people post the best of themselves when you post on any social media platform. You're showing the best side of yourself. You're not showing yourself the day after when you're exhausted and you're sitting alone and you're like, oh, it was, yeah, when you're like, what was the point of all of that? And now I've spent however much money and I don't feel any more full. That's why I started this is because I think that we value certain things, whether it's family

traditions or whether it's career. You always hear, what do you do? And having that pushed on you as if what you do is more important than who you are and what your values are and how you see the world and what you're trying to provide. of value. And that's why I wanted to talk to you and learn more about manned farms is because you're giving people memories. You're creating experiences that they'll carry on, that they'll show their children, that they'll show their family, that they'll put up in their house and say, like, this is when we got married, or this is when we took you as a kid to this, to this park. And, like,

we were able to do a haunted maze that we were able to make these memories. And I think that we, sometimes we take those for granted. We don't recognize the impact that that has on young people, on families, those special moments. And when people are willing to do that, like you said, it comes at great personal expense and people are there perhaps during the good times when it's opening day, but they're not there when something's going wrong or when you're facing challenges. It's easy to get on board 40 years in when you've put in all the work and it's a great success, but they weren't there when you were struggling and when it sounds like one of the farmhouses burned down and like you're you're struggling through those moments and nobody's there and then

they're there when you're winning and when you're successful and when you've got all these different wines and you've got all these options and I think that it's important for people to understand that there's a whole journey that's taking place. Yeah, yeah, no, we've definitely been through a lot and it's interesting, you know, how the community shows up for you and you know when we were when we did go through the fire the community actually really did come and show up for us so we were so blessed I think the next day we ended up

creating this like makeshift sort of a shack where we were selling our berries similar to what we had when we were when I was growing up and the community really came out to support us, so it was very heartwarming to see everyone show up for you. But yeah, I think that people don't, no one always, no one really sees the struggle. I think that's what you're trying to say. People only get to see the shiny Instagram post and the outward experience, but not everyone knows what it takes to do what we do and, you know, even beyond having a business,

this, you know, we don't really talk a lot about, um, our struggles and, and everyone's personal struggles. That's something that, you know, it's not Instagram worthy to share that. So, yeah, no, I, I understand and agree with what you're saying. So what was it like to come back and did, were you looking forward to getting involved in the farm? Had you, how did you go about, I guess, pretty, how did you go about processing and saying, you know what, I think I'm okay with coming back to the farm? I think that I'm open to that idea. What process did you have to go to, to be willing to return? You know, it was very, very difficult because I was so used to having my own space and being

in an environment where it was so busy and there was just so many things that I could do in any given moment to come back to like a farm. It's very much a 180. And yeah, I actually had my apartment for maybe a year and a half, and I would live, I would only go to my apartment maybe like once a week and then I would be there once every two weeks. So I have a hard time with change and transitions. So I actually just kept my apartment for a while until I was really ready to let it go. And then I ended up just letting it go. And I think I eased my way into it. I'm really grateful to have very understanding parents. My dad, really helped with a lot of the transitioning and he really encouraged me to come back to the farm

and really like really always affirming that okay there is a space here for you and I think yeah I'm really grateful to my family to be able to accept me back in because I know that that's really difficult and it is really difficult especially if you know a business has been running one way and then someone comes in and there's almost like a disruption period. So there was definitely a transitional period for my family and for me. But I feel like we are just so much better and so much stronger because of it. And I added a lot to the business and I feel like it just really, we all just kind of started to get into this rhythm and it's just been great. Can you tell us about that? Because I think that that's

So it's something that's unique. It's something that's admirable that you guys try and bring the best of yourselves to the business, that there's this mindset of what can you contribute, what are your skill sets, and where do you see yourself fitting in? And I think that that's perhaps the mistake that regular everyday business is when there's just one entrepreneur. That's the mistake they make is that they bring on employees, but their employee doesn't really care about their business. There's no personal investment for them of where do I see myself in this business.

in 20 years. What are you going to bring to the table that's different? It's like, if you think of like an A&W, it's like, well, you're just going to be charging people. You're just going to having the same thing every day. I don't need you to do anything special. But with your business, you're able to have somebody say, like, you're going to do social media and you're going to try and figure out how to do that the best. And then you're going to bring you brought goat yoga. So can you tell us kind of the iteration since you came in and how you guys have developed the business over time and what you've brought in each of you? Yeah. So my brothers were, when my brothers joined the business, they were a little bit older. So

and our business profile was starting to change at that time. So they had started to bring in some unique things like my youngest brother started to make wine. It was really my dad's and my mom's dreams actually to a lot of the ideas that you see today. Like my mom is one of the founders and the creators of a lot of the ideas. So the winery was my mom and dad's idea. And then they wanted my youngest brother. He didn't want to stay in the business. He didn't, because he never really worked in the business growing up.

And he didn't know what he wanted to do. He has a business and finance degree. So they were like, you should make wine. And he doesn't even really like wine. So, or he didn't like it, especially back then. So, and my other brother, Amir, he, um, He was always interested in the farm. He never really grew up in the farm, but he still was interested and he does more of the farming aspect.

So they had started to create some of the things like the haunted corn maze and Amir was more into growing things and innovating our growing practices. And Gorov started to do the wine. And then when I came back, I started with goat yoga. And then I really started to work closely with my mom. And I think I brought in a unique lens because I had gone out and lived somewhere else. And I had been working for employers, like in the workforce for years, whereas my brothers really hadn't really had a lot of job experience except being on the farm. So there was that element of just bringing a fresh set of eyes.

And then I think because I was able to support and give my mom support, my brothers were almost able to focus more on their areas. So I think I brought in more structure in that way. And then like just the actual things that we brought in, like, you know, a lot of the work that I've done is helping my family, like with the winery, creating new products and creating, you know, new ideas. And then with the overall farm, like just helping with the overall customer experience and creating new products, new food items. So my aspect of the business is I just do everything overall. So I don't really have a niche, but primarily I deal with all the customers. So I'm the overall operations. person. So you'll see me. If you come in, you'll see me and you'll see my mom. But I have a passion

for creating things. So a lot of the ice creams, that's my creativity. So like we also have something called a blood bag where we put wine in a blood in a blood bag. So I like to just do crazy things. Like if I see them online somewhere, I try to find a way to do it. And then a lot of the events like we did um world's largest goat yoga so i tried to beat a guinness world record i applied to it um we didn't win we want i think we won on people but we didn't win on goats or vice versa i don't remember and then um just yeah just so many different things uh i think i think we also um i kind of went on a tangent but what your question was is like how do what are all the things that we have added to it.

I think one of the things that really is like the secret sauce to our success is the fact that number one, like we are children of immigrants and we do have this like work ethic ingrained inside of us, but also we're, each of us are very like confident, um, ballsy people. We like to take chances and we, there's almost like a friendly level of competition. there so each of us are trying to like in a way one up the other so there's always this like desire to push the envelope to keep doing better so i think we encourage each other in that way um you know so that's one of the reasons for why we're able to create so many unique things is because we're always just like okay i want to do this and you know my other brother's like i want to do

this. So yeah. That's so different than when you think of like the traditional business of one entrepreneur because that person usually isn't looking to be challenged or to have that friendly competition of what can one of my staff members bring that's better than my idea. Usually when you think of a traditional entrepreneur, it's their idea, it's their vision and they don't want to stray from it. And so to be able to have multiple people and go, I think I could do this better or I think I could do that better. And maybe this tops what you did. It's so different than the traditional model of, I have this good idea. It's only my idea. And as long as we keep doing what I think, it's going to be successful. The other challenge I see other entrepreneurs go

through is they're the face of their own business. And so they get stuck being in the room dealing with the customer. So they never get to dream or imagine what step two, what step three, where can we take this in different directions? Because people start to expect, oh, like I see you here perhaps making bread every day. And so I want to deal with you because you're the one who dealt with me yesterday. And so people are like, oh, where's the person who always makes the bread? And then that person doesn't get to go leave and think of new ideas and start developing in new ways where it sounds like all of you are able to maybe take a breath, think and say, I saw this. And I think we could bring that to the business. And I think that that is a secret sauce to

your guys' success is that you're able to spend time developing yourself and then bring that to the business when you can. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I think we all like to almost, you know, try to beat the other person and what we're doing, but also we are very supportive and we are also a very loving family and we also fight and we also love each other and yeah we we really value what all of our employees have to say um i think one of my personal um personal uh uh beliefs is that i like to have um employees that work for me that can contribute to what we have going on i i would rather have someone that's smarter than me in a certain area work for me. Like I don't, I don't like to do a lot of the technical, financial, administrative stuff. I'm not one with, that will, you'll never see me on

the computer, you know, looking at Excel spreadsheet. I'll look at it, but I won't ever fill it in. So I'm a very creative person, so I would rather hire someone that can, you know, help me with the things that I necessarily don't like to do or I'm not that good at. And, I feel like that just creates strength, so I have no problem hiring someone that's smarter than me in certain ways. And there's no ego. It's more about just creating the team that works and, you know, complement, compliment each other and whatnot. Right. Can you tell us about the evolution of the wine? Because you guys are starting to win a lot of awards. And from my understanding, you're looking to take this international now and

start to distribute even farther out into the community. And I'm interested to know how did that kind of get started? And what was that evolution like over time? And what makes it unique? Yeah. So my youngest brother started the wine with my parents. So we are berry farmer. So we wanted to make berry wine, so fruit wine.

It really did evolve. It's been a long process because, fruit wine hasn't really fruit wine doesn't really have a seat at the table in the wine industry it's starting to become a thing but I was just having a conversation with another farmer last night and he's a cider maker

and he was saying this that wine is on one end and beer is on the other end and then cider and fruit wine are kind of in the middle and fruit wine it's starting to become a thing, but it's not really there yet. So I think that's been one of our challenges that we've tried to overcome, but I think now people are more willing to try new things, especially with the RTD revolution, so ready to drink products like White Claw, and now you can get cocktails in a can.

So I think with these unique alternative offerings, the alcohol offering and what you can find in the alcohol industry has changed. So we've definitely evolved over time. We made a Pinot Noir and we've done, you know, blends as well, grape wines. But we've found that our fruit wine offerings are really what people want. And my brother has gotten better at his craft. And, you know, we've all been working together to really find the right flavor profile. and the right notes. And so, yeah, it's been, it's been really cool. We've just recently won an award for our raspberry table wine.

We won, I think we won awards for all of our wines for the strawberry rhubarb. We have some, you know, new projects coming as well. And, yeah, our labels are going to change, actually. I actually designed the first label. It's still on our wine bottle right now, but it needs to change. It's been over 10 years. It really needs to change. But, yeah, we have brand equity right now with the label.

So I'm, I think Gora and I are thinking that we should freshen it up. So there's some new things coming. But, yeah, we just, I think Gora's best trait and why he's successful is his level of consistency. So he's, you know, really grown our wine department very much. In the past 10 years, we have over 200 wholesale customers and we're in all of Savon Foods in BC. So that's because of his hard work. So, yeah. The wine is absolutely fantastic.

I've had the Blackberry and the raspberry. And I think the raspberry one is just everybody who I've gotten to try it has just been blown away at how unique, how delicious, how it just tastes so much more accessible than I think some wine. Like some wines you have to, I think, acclimate too. You have to get comfortable with. You have to get familiar with that style of flavor. I think that's probably true for many alcohols that you have to, that first time you try it, you kind of get a, but you don't get that with your guys's wine. Like the experience I had with everybody I know was like, this is really good.

And it's, there's not that with scotch, whiskey, stuff like that. You have to kind of get a flavor for it. And you have to get used to and develop a build your palette. Exactly. And I didn't find that with your wine. And I found that so. unique and then there's like a certain pride that it's from the Fraser Valley. There's a certain why would you want to go anywhere else when you know the berries are from right

here. So can you tell us perhaps a little bit about the process of getting those fruits into wines and what that looks like? Yeah. So we grow everything that is inside of our bottles and we're really proud to say that there's no added water to our wines. So that means that there's lots of fruit so there's actually two pounds of berries per bottle and it does it does take quite a while to make the wine and so we have a production manufacturing area in on site and yeah it's a very unique process it's a little bit different than a lot different than making grape wines and it's really fun to experiment with all the different flavors. Sometimes we, um, we made a wine called Jovin and that's named after one of my nephews. And that wine has been aged in French and

American oak. It's blueberry wine. So that's more of like a vintage reserved wine. So it has a higher price point. And yeah, so it's just been a really interesting process. And, um, we're going to be doing some unique things for fall. Um, and we're just, really trying to see how we could innovate that and and we actually have a new product called belzer so belters are um we released that last year so belter is a a berry wine seltzer and um uh so belter is basically similar to a white claw but it's a wine seltzer and it's made with real fruit so you know usually when you drink a nude or you drink white claw it's uh the flavor is more artificial. But Belter is made with real fruit and it's 7% alcohol. And it has

like zero sugar. So it's really good. It's really tasty. Wow. I cannot wait to try that. Yeah. You talked about how it's reserved or I'm not a wine. I don't understand what you're saying when you say it's aged in some sort of condition. How does that, how do you go about bringing that wine to be wine? What is that process generally? Yeah. I mean, I'm not the winemaker, so I wouldn't be able to give you the full rundown. But, you know, you do take the berries and you have to press the berries. And then it goes through a process of putting it into the big tanks and then you add the sugar. There's a fermentation process in there.

And then basically throughout the fermentation, that means that the, sugar is getting dissolved and yeah that throughout that process is when the alcohol is being formed and then yeah then there's definitely like a process where the winemaker um decides okay what is what what what's the sweetness level going to be you know how are we going to round out the taste what else does this wine need and yeah and then you know there's some finishing touches. Yeah, that's the best way I can explain it. And I'll have to get my brother to give you a better, better rundown. Yeah, I'm just so interested to understand that because people I find, and like this is obviously inevitable, but they take that hard work for granted

when they purchase the product. They don't understand all of that background work. And I just, I enjoy understanding that process because it gives you just a greater appreciation. Like, we talk about the importance of small businesses and the impact it has on the economy. And I believe in that. But I think that I don't know why, but it feels like farmers sometimes get left out of the conversation or winemakers or their story doesn't get as told as well because we seem to focus on retail, front end stores, what's going on right in front of you when you go into the store, that small business owner.

But that small business owner is often carrying other people's products who are local, who are working behind the scenes. And I just, I imagine what the journey for Gwar would have been like to start making wine and then have iteration after iteration and stay and like think, hmm, how can I make this more delicious? How can I make this more accessible for people? Is it sweet enough? Is it this? And like, there's a whole thought process that most people don't even, they go, this is really good. And then they go about the rest of their life and never really think about the process that people put in to give them that positive experience.

Yeah, yeah, totally. So, you know, as I mentioned, the fruit that we grow is what we use for our berries. And one of my brothers, Amir, is the farmer. So, you know, it literally is from the field to the bottle. So people don't, we try our best to explain that in our branding and our marketing. But not a lot of people really appreciate that. So that's a common thing, I think, in society and just the world is. Farmers always get left out a little bit out of the equation.

So we're trying our best to raise that awareness and really explain to people this is real fruit. So that's one of the reasons why we decided not to add water to our wine. So it does cost us more to produce that bottle. And so we're pretty, we try to be as honest as we can so people understand. And yes, but I think that that's also one of the same. of the reasons why our wine is so good is because you really are getting real fruit and it's not this watered down sort of fake flavor. It's a real made out of real fruit. And yeah, there's definitely a lot of labor that goes into it for sure. Is there any feeling that you have or that you get to

see your brother have or your parents have when they get to see that in all save on foods? That seems like a huge feat for your family to be able to say that. That's like most people never produce a product, let alone have that produced across all of BC and available to British Columbians. Like that, that seems like it would be so fulfilling as like an accomplishment as like a, let's just take a breath and soak that in. You've accomplished so much as a family. Does that, did you guys stop and were able to smell the roses at all? yeah absolutely i think um two years ago when we did we were able to successfully have them as a client um it it became it was like a game changer for us and you know we did um we do try our best to

stop and really feel grateful and um feel you know happy and um and and and feel that way but I don't know. I think, I don't know, we're always just working and just thinking of the next thing. So, yeah, absolutely when we were able to get that deal, it was phenomenal. And we were really proud of Gore of and proud of everyone. And it was a wonderful accomplishment for us. But, you know, we're always just focused on the next thing. So I think that's what you always have to do as a business. like you always want to be focused on, okay, what's next? So we try our best. I mean, we definitely could do a better job at stopping and really appreciating each other

and appreciating our accomplishments, but we're just so busy innovating and coming up with the next great idea. Yeah, I just, and I apologize for people who've heard this before, but I talk about this idea in indigenous culture of seven generations. And the idea is that you're supposed to look back seven generations. to the people who preceded you, the people for indigenous people, it would be the people who survived the 60 scoop, Indian residential schools, colonization, those type of events. But when you think of your family and when I put it into that lens, it's like, it sounds like your mother

really wanted this. And so that would have been a momentous occasion for her to have had this vision and perhaps your father as well, but to have this idea of where this was going to go over time and say, like, that vision, that dream, that hope for your family, it was realized. And not everybody gets that. There's a lot of people who have hopes and dreams for their family and it never amounts or their children and them have a fight and then they don't reconnect and there's there's different paths people take. And so for that to come to fruition, I just, I feel like that would mean so much. And it's just, it's so amazing to hear those stories of, um, from starting to try and make a wine potentially, maybe it'll work to we're winning awards and we're in all these

stores. Like, that seems just so exciting. And as a family, such an accomplishment. Yeah. No, I definitely know that my parents are very proud of us and proud of themselves for having this legacy and being able to, you know, accomplish this in their lifetime and for us to be able to be a part of it and we obviously feel as children that we're doing our best to make them proud and you know what their vision was when they came to Canada and the role that we've played to make that come to life it's obviously it's surreal and it's a beautiful thing and you know I think it goes back to the fact that we do have a passion that's greater than our that we're all working towards and we have a common goal of just, you know, doing the best we can

to really create that sense of feeling for our customers, through our products and through the things that we do. And yeah, it's definitely a blessing. I think that my parents, you know, we do feel really blessed and we say this to ourselves all the time that, you know, I get to do what I get to do every day, and it's a lot of work. But at the same time, I know how, you know, the privilege I have and what I work, what I get to do on a daily basis and the life I get to live, even though we all work so hard to have that, it's still obviously something, you know, there's a little bit of luck and a lot of hard work, so we're very blessed to be able to say this is what we do.

That's amazing. Can you tell us about the corn maze and then what was turned into, it sounds like the haunted corn maze. Can you tell us about the iterations that that's gone through? You've talked about how you put the wine into blood bags. Could you tell us about how that's developed over the years? Yeah. So Amir, my other brother, he and his friends started it. I think, again, my parents were looking for a way to keep my brothers interested in the business. So, starting a corn maze is something that other farmers that we know have done. So instead of just growing corn and, you know, picking the corn and selling it, we decided to grow corn and create an experience. So at first, it just started off with them wearing like pillows or suitcase or sorry, pillowcases over their head and dressing up as ghosts and using like a chainsaw to scare people. But then over the years, as we started to become more confident and more successful, we decided to increase our production. where now we have over 100 actors, we have a director, there's a production assistant, we have a makeup artist, special effects artist, and so yeah, we now offer three experiences,

three haunts, and it's a full farm experience because, you know, during the evening, You get to go through the haunted experiences and you get to get scared. But then you can also try our food. So you can have a double pumpkin spice cream. You can try our wine. So a unique way for us to offer the wine was to put it into a blood bag. It has like a straw. So that was really cool.

You know, the public really responded well to that. So it's a fun, unique way. to have an immersive farm experience. Yeah. Can you tell us about the blood bag? That just seems like such a wild idea. And I can imagine that it would resonate with people because that's so unique.

And it seems like everything you're doing compliments the other thing that you're doing. And there's overlap between the ideas. And I think that that's where so many people struggle is that they have trouble finding overlap. And I like to refer to Jim Patterson. He's one of Canadian's billionaires, but what he did really well, because he also owns, like, save-on-foods, and he's got signs, he's got car dealerships, radio stations, but what he did is he crossed them all over. So the signs, market save-on-foods, the radio stations mentioned save-on-foods.

And so he found a way to cross-pollinate all the ideas, and it sounds like that's what you're doing with these experiences. Yeah, so synergy is definitely important to our business. So in any event that we do, we try to include the wine or food or the agriculture experience. So for goat yoga, we also do, like, we do goat yoga and wine. So with the blood bags, it was like a very, I'm not sure, I think I just had the idea like I don't know where I got it from and I just imagined, you know, how can we create a cool cocktail offering? So I think having unique cocktail experiences is definitely trending right now. There's some cool spots. I know Ripples Winery does a really good job at, you know, offering here.

They're like in between Chilliwack and Abbotsford. so we always want to stay on trend so that's something that is important to us so the concept behind it was how can we offer the wine in a unique way and find an interesting avenue where people are interested and and they also want to take pictures so marketing is obviously king right now and finding finding that really cool Instagram picture and creating that experience for your guests is very important. And so having the blood bag and having it look fun and interesting and basically prompting someone to take a picture is really what sold the bags and people really just loved it. I think it's fun to be able to drink wine out of a straw

regardless. And it's like this compact thing. It has a really cool label. And, you know, You know, you can choose whichever wine you want. And so I thought that was people really responded well to that. That's brilliant. Is that something you enjoy bringing to the table? Because your social media, whoever runs it, is doing a phenomenal job of making every post resonate. Like really make sense to people, make them interested and get them involved and invested. And I think that that's a lot of people call themselves social media marketers.

A lot of people brand themselves as understanding these. systems and saying that they're good at it. But there's a difference when every post seems to kind of resonate with people in one way or another. So is that something that goes into the thought process when you're developing those things? Like, how do you envision steps like that? Yeah. I don't really have a formula in when I create something. I'm a very like fluid person. So for me, of course, the aesthetics of anything that we do is very important. Unfortunately, we are all very, we live in a superficial world. So that is something that you have to cater to when you're creating a product. People like nice things. I think our minds are just wired

that way. And also it's fun. It's fun to look at something that's cool and interesting. So when I do create a product, whether it's ice cream, or an experience or whether it's like a cocktail or whatever it is, what product it is, I definitely consider, okay, what is the aesthetics, how is the taste, what are the tastes of this, you know, well, people want to take a picture and really what is the message that we're sending with this product. I think one of the things that I really enjoy is like understanding the psychological reasons behind consumerism and why consumers want what they want and why do they crave what they crave and why do they what makes them keep coming back and I think it all

goes back to the feeling that you are able to give so if someone tries my ice cream they take and they take a picture and then they also try it and it's delicious they now have this wonderful association with my product and I think that was the same thing that rang true in the blood bag it was a cool idea they wanted to take a picture and then you know you posted online and then your friends are like responding to you saying oh my god where did you get that where is that so I think there is like that instant gratification aspect you know which is what social media is it provides you into gratification so the blood bag is what really like gave people something to talk about so um and of course the wine is delicious so it would

i don't know if it would have been as successful if the wine wasn't good right so um yeah so that really that's that's kind of an idea of what goes into the creative process and then yeah we do try our best to um create uh curate our social media in a specific way um ameer my brother does a lot of the marketing and so do i so we both work together on that and try our best to create beautiful pictures and yeah. That's so cool. And I don't disagree that I feel like some people might have the instinct, well, we're putting it into a bag so we can use maybe a lower quality or we don't have to invest in much into

this because we're just kind of like, it's in this different form. So maybe we don't have to do as much with it. And so the fact that you make the product and the quality is there, you can lean into that and be confident when you're giving it out that you're proud. of that. You've mentioned the ice cream a few times. Can you elaborate? What has that journey been like for you to start developing something and to be able to taste test your products and figure out which ones you enjoy and which ones you think are going to resonate? Yeah. So when I was younger and we had like the roadside stands over the years we created larger stands and then

to the point where we decided to have virtue of dairy ice cream. So we did do the hard scoop ice cream for years. So people, our, our customers started to associate us with ice cream. So that, that started to happen for over the course of about 15 years. And then, I think with Instagram again, and just like my love for creating cool products, we decided to buy a soft serve machine. So I just, I don't know, I love to do unique things. I love to do things that people aren't doing. And I love to like solve the problem. So, you know, I don't know, I'm not sure like exactly where we came, how we came across this, but I think I saw someone in the UK doing the ice cream, but it was in like a squash. So we grow small pumpkin. So I thought, okay, well, why don't we

use the pumpkin as a bowl? So yeah, we did it. I took a couple of pictures and posted online and we had like over a thousand likes and people were just like really responding well to it um but then the product has to taste good like i don't like doing half-ass things and i won't like just do something for the likes i want people to really love it so i really wanted to uh create something like the pumpkin spice latte where at starbucks um you know people look forward to it every year and it's not even like suffer some in some people's minds it's not even fall season it's pumpkin spice latte season so i wanted to find a product that would be that iconic where i was able to have people want to look forward to it each year so yeah the ice cream is

we do you know roast our pumpkins and we roast the pumpkins and we put our own special blend of spices in the ice cream and pumpkins are in the ice cream, and then it's served inside of a pumpkin, and then we make this, like, amazing ginger snap cookie, and then we put whipped cream, and so people love it. How many iterations did you go through to get that final product? Did you have to try it multiple? Did you, were you involved in saying, this is too spicy, this isn't this? Like, what does that process look like?

Yeah, I mean, I'm definitely a perfectionist, and I'm involved in all of the small details from start to finish and I think it took us about a month to really figure out what we wanted. I think we were making ginger molasses cookies already and then I think I was like craving something sweet so I was eating the cookie and then I dipped the cookie into the ice cream and I was like, oh my God, this tastes great. So then we decided to make smaller cookies and then we started to put them on top as like a little garnish in a way. So yeah, I think it took about a month, maybe a month and a half to really give it to the customer. I think at first we were, when we cut off the top of the pumpkin, we were putting the pumpkin tops on it.

So, like, we were, like, balancing the top, the pumpkin top and the stem in the ice cream, but it kept falling off. So that was something that didn't work for a while. And then eventually we just settled on our final product. Right. And you also brought in goat yoga. Can you, and it also sounds like yoga had a personal impact on you in figuring out where you wanted to go. Perhaps there was a mindfulness element of being able to reflect on where you were and how you wanted to proceed in your life. Can you tell us about your journey with yoga and then bringing that to the farm?

Yeah, so I've been doing yoga for many, many years. and it was a way for me to really become centered in myself and just be more grounded in my body and almost a meditation aspect. So there's always a thousand things going on in everyone's mind in any given moment and yoga was a way to center myself and, you know, I really was, as I mentioned earlier, I was really struggling with what I wanted to do and who I wanted to be and did I want to live in downtown Vancouver?

Did I want to live and move back to Abbotsford? Did I want to go somewhere else? So I really had a lot of unknowns and uncertainty in my life. And I think being able to do something like yoga was a way to center myself and ground myself so that I could really hear and understand what I wanted and who I wanted to be. So that was my journey with yoga and then bringing it to the farm was just like something that was a right fit for me and it was more authentic to who I am and and you know when we have the most beautiful goats. So, you know, having the goats in the class and then we started to serve like our samosas. we started to serve our wine, and it just became this beautiful synergy of events. Right. And what benefits do you think that others can get out of attending goat yoga?

Because I think that it's a good introduction for people who perhaps aren't involved in it. It's a good way to introduce them to the idea in a really positive way. So can you tell us what the experience is? Yes. I don't think that anyone leaves goat yoga, not. smiling so it's a beautiful experience it's like the goats are really fun and goats actually love people and they can become attached to people and really just they're so playful so when someone comes to goat yoga they're definitely in for a treat because it's not your typical yoga class it's more playful and you know I am mindful that it is

straying away from the conventional yoga practices, but it's just a beautiful way for people to laugh. I often start the class by asking everyone to just, you know, let go and just let what will ever happen in the next hour happen. And I think the goats are this beautiful distraction for whatever's going on in your life if you're, like, having a bad day or, you know, you have some things that you're working on. the goat yoga is a great way for you to find that release and find that relief and just be able to play and hug a goat and, you know, sometimes they pee on your mat. So you have like

an opportunity to just, I don't know, let go and be present in the moment. Did you experience that at all? Because like we live in this world right now where most people are in offices or they're at home. They're in the city. They're not involved in. going out in nature as much, perhaps not in the farm, not getting their hands ever dirty, not interacting with nature as much, goats included. And so I saw recently that, like, doctors are now able to start prescribing people to, like, go to parks and go outdoors, and you're able to get a parks pass from your doctor to try and get you to go back outside.

And it seems so wild to me that, like, you need to be prescribed that. The people disconnect so much from nature, from the environment. that they need to be prescribed or reminded to go out in nature and disconnect from these devices, social media, TV, the news, whatever it is, that they need to be reminded to do that. So you were in the city for a while, and then you came back. Did you notice any benefits of just reconnecting with the farm, being able to interact with goats? And what do you see when people are able to start to interact with these animals? yeah definitely I think when I was going through the transition period of living in my apartment versus being at the farm there was definitely moments where I was present to the fact that I felt so much more myself being in nature and being on the farm because it is a slower lifestyle it's not so busy there's not so much it's not very loud and there's not all these

temptations to, you know, want to drink or go out or be, you know, I don't know. So being on the farm and being in that sort of natural habitat, if you will, it's a beautiful thing. And it really helped me in discovering what I wanted to do and what I, who I am. So I think when a lot of our customers that come for goat yoga are from Vancouver. And I think it makes sense because they're so disconnected from nature and oftentimes a lot of these wellness, wellness businesses, their target audience is people that live in high rises or that live in the city because those people are the ones that are desperately looking for a release or they're looking for an experience that will help them just take a breath and just take a breath and just take a

time out. So yeah, definitely. Interesting. And the other area is weddings and having people make memories and having people commit themselves to each other on a farm. And I think that that is hopefully the direction we move more in in terms of being more connected to nature, outdoors, the environment, and being proud of where we make those commitments and be happy with the environment that we're in and so can you tell us what what that journey was like you said it was it's been about 10 years now yeah so we started the weddings in 2013 and we've definitely learned a lot we do offer outdoor weddings and we also have an indoor offering as well so it's more of an indoor outdoor venue and we have a hundred-year-old barn that we offer receptions in so it's beautiful

And then we also are known for our Mount Baker Ceremony site. So we have a site at the back of our, one of our properties that overlooks Mount Baker. So it's really beautiful and it's stunning, actually. And customers are able to, or our clients are able to just be, you know, outside when they had their ceremony. And then they can come back to the barn reception area and be in this beautiful, gorgeous, rustic barn where they're able to have dinner and, you know, there's a dance floor there and, yeah, it's pretty cool. The wedding industry, I always hear, is a really tough industry because there's a lot of planning in advance. There's a lot of people were negatively impacted by

COVID as a consequence of it. What was the experience you guys went through? Yeah, along with a lot of the other wedding venues. It was a very difficult time for us, especially before our couples that had booked their dates in 2020. So some of them are actually finally getting married in 2022, because in 2021, the restrictions were still tight. So it was very difficult, but I think it was a learning and growing experience. I know for a lot of other venues, it was a way for them to really create a solid contract. So that's more specific to, you know, as a business, the changes that we made. But it also was a growing experience because you, you know, whatever, the difficult times is

what makes you stronger, right? So, yeah, it was tough. It was really tough. We had to postpone a lot of our weddings, just like many other venues. And that was, those were, it was, we had a lot of difficult conversation. that we had to have with our couples. But mostly everyone understood that, you know, we're all in this together. And, you know, they were at a disadvantage, but so were we.

So, yeah, so I'm sounds like things are on the up and we're transitioning out of a pandemic. I mean, you know, fingers crossed, but that's what I'm feeling. So hopefully things will get better. Right. And the other thing you recently went through was the floods impacted. It sounds like half of your pumpkins. Was that a challenge? Was that just adaptation?

What did you guys go through in terms of the floods? So the floods actually didn't impact our pumpkins. We were fortunate to be where our property is located on the hill. So the floods didn't actually impact us. But the rain is what impacted our pumpkins. So we did have a lot of rotting. So last fall, there was a lot of rain, a lot of precipitation, and that really affected our pumpkin crop.

So we did have a lot of rotting in our pumpkin patch, and that was really unfortunate. So, you know, those are the things that farmers go through. Farmers cannot predict the weather, and we don't control the weather. But the weather is always the mother nature is the one that decides how farming is going to go. So we tried our best. You know, there's, you can't really spray for, for weather and for wetness. So there's not really, it wasn't really anything you could do. Right. And over the years, you faced various challenges, the fire that took place, COVID, the pumpkins. How do you approach

this as a family? Do you have meetings where you guys get on the same page about things in an article with the Fraser Valley. I think that that's their full name. They talked, they talked about how during the fire, you guys came together as a family and really tried to work together and it was a strengthening moment. Can you tell us about how you approach those challenges? Yeah. I think that we are really a strong unit as a family, even though we fight just like any other family has, you know, drama and there's always conflict and egos and all of that. But I think the true thing that keeps us so strong is the love that we have for one another and the desire to always be strong and continue going continue to keep going so when we had the fire it was

obviously very sad for us I think there's like footage of the family crying on on TV so it was really sad. It was a really sad and hard time, but I think for us, our attitude is really what helps us get through all of these tough moments of just, you know, you have to, um, you have to just accept what has happened and you have to focus on what you can do about it and how you choose to respond. I mean, there is definitely a time and place to grieve and feel sad and really process your emotions. That's equally as important, but you also can't stay there. So that's really what's been taught to us at a young age is, you know, what can you do about this? Like, what is, how are you going to respond? So, yeah, I think our attitude has a lot

to do with it. That's fantastic. Can you tell us about what you admire about your siblings, what they bring to the table in terms of the business? From your perspective, what do you see? Yeah. So my siblings, You know, we've come a long way. When I first came back into the business, there was a lot of conflict because, you know, we were also younger and there's, you know, still, there was still a process of us figuring out who we were and what our role is in the farm and what our areas are. But I think now we've come to a place where we have mutual respect and admiration. and I know I really love and respect both of my brothers and just I respect their creativity and their willingness to always be there when we need each other and I think that that's such a beautiful thing and you know I know that if I need them

they'll be there for me and you know we try to make promises to each other that no matter what we'll have our back each other's backs and um yeah i think um it's just a beautiful thing and it's a beautiful partnership and it's very unique i know that not a lot of people can work with their families and you know we do definitely try to carve out our alone time and have those boundaries in place but yeah like i think we're finally at a place where we're able to see and appreciate each other's differences and see that they really make us stronger and my one brother is

he's really creative and innovative and him and I are very similar so we tend to fight more but I think that we are finally at a place where we're able to see okay so you know we complement each other in this way and these are our strengths

and then my other brother he's a little bit more quiet and reserved but he's more, you know, stronger in the financial aspects. And he's very consistent and he has more of a quieter confidence. And so he is definitely a pillar of strength in his own ways. So I think all of us round each other out in that way. And then my older sister, even though she's not part of the business, she often acts as like our counselor.

She's the tiebreaker. She's the voice of reason. and she supports us and yeah and then my two brothers, one of my brothers is married and the other one is about to be married. So yeah, their wives, my sister-in-laws add a lot to, yeah, they're not part of the farm, but they round out our family as well and it's, you know, it's been pretty cool. That is so interesting just to learn about what has the response been from your parents? because it sounds like they've been in the business for a really, really long time and been working hard so long to bring all of this about.

And it sounds like you're just thriving now. So what has that journey been like for them? And what have you kind of, what have those conversations, I guess, look like? Conversations to do with like where we're going. That development, yeah, where you guys are heading. Yeah, I think we try to have Tuesday meetings. meetings. So we do have conversations and meetings almost every week. And that's a family meeting, but it's also a business meeting. So we try to stay on the same page and discuss any, you know,

concerns or, you know, what's the next event, how we're going to set up for that. And we do try to come up with like five-year plans and where we want to go. I feel like we should do it more. but yeah we do look into the future and try to have strategic conversations about we know where do we see each other in the next few years and who do we want to be in the next few years and what what do we want our business to look like and how do we want to spend our time so how you spend your time in your life is how you create things and what you create so yeah that's fantastic I really appreciate you being willing to come all the way out here I know you had lots of wedding stuff to work on because I think it's so important for us to understand the background of what's taking place, of the effort that it takes to bring about a really meaningful business that I think gives people memories that they can be proud of for the long term.

I think of, I had the opportunity to interview Brian Minter, who runs Bintra Country Gardens here in Chilawak, and he's dedicated his life to trying to create a tourism hotspot for Chilawak. When I think of the impact that Man Farms likely has on so many people every year and the sense of culture that it creates, I think we underestimate how important that is. I don't think we recognize the impact that experiences like Cultus Lake or Man Farms give us each year. And they're the things you look forward to, even when you think of holidays, you think of these events that really ground you that make the hard work at your job worthwhile. And I'm always grateful to be able to learn. about the experiences and the journey that people put in to share that with other people.

And I really appreciate you being willing to take the time to share this with other people. And it really is like an inspiring story for other people to be able to hear about. Yeah. No, thank you so much for saying that. Yeah, we're, as I mentioned before, we're really blessed to be able to do what we do. And the core of our business is to create those lasting memories and one of our core values. as a business is to create magical memories and I truly believe that one of our primal primal needs as a human is belonging in connection and if we're able to cultivate that connection

between families and friends and just one another at our farm it's a really beautiful thing and we love that we're able to do that through our products and our offerings and yeah I mean we it's it's pretty fun it's pretty cool yeah that is it's just so motivating and I think there's a lot in terms of having a more business mindset that people can get out of what you've said here today because a lot of people don't think entrepreneurial and it sounds like you and your brother have that bug of like how can we make this amazing how can we make this great and I think that you should bring that to whatever you're doing whether you're stuck at save on food serving people every day how can you make that more meaningful

how can you try and maximize your own experience to get the most out of it because I think that there's so much to learn from other people. And when people do better, when they have memorable experiences, they do better. I think they do their job better, whether they're working as a tax lawyer, or whether they're doing a boring job. When they have something to fill their heart, when they've seen their kid has had a good experience, that allows them to go forward hopefully in a better direction, right? Yeah, absolutely. I think it's everyone's job each day to cultivate a sense of joy or find something that makes them feel happy. And I think, you know, we might not love what we do.

So I know there's lots of people that have jobs that they don't love. But, you know, you still can find that sense of joy and other experiences. So, I mean, if we're able to be that experience for people, that's a pretty special thing. And we love that we're able to do that. And, yeah. Can you tell people how they can find you on social media? about your website and how they can get connected. Yeah, so we're on Instagram at Man Farms, so M-A-A-A-N.

And our website is www.w.w.com. And we also have a few other Instagram accounts, so whatever you're into. We have a winery specific, so Man Farms Estate Winery. And then we also have a weddings, Man Farms Weddings, so mostly Man Farms is the one that people follow on Instagram, and we're also on TikTok. Awesome. Well, please go check them out, try their wine. When are you guys gearing up for the summer and for the fall? What does that look like? We're actually, our first event is Easter. So we are doing an event called Bunnies and Booze. It's an adult Easter egg hunt. And then we're also doing an event called Baby Animal Easter. And it's called Bay Days at Man Farm. So that's going to be happening on Easter weekend. Can you tell us a little bit about those?

Sure, yeah. So bunnies and booze is an adult Easter egg hunt with food and drinks. So we will hide some eggs. And I'm working on something special. I'm not able to talk about it, but it's more of a booze-related hunt. When is this airing? Probably in a couple weeks here. Oh, okay.

Yeah, so by that time I probably will have released it. So I'm going to be hiding wine around our farm. So you'll be able to find the wine. You're almost hunting for wine bottles and like Belzer cans. So that's one aspect. And then the other aspect is you find eggs and then you can win prizes as an adult. And then you can have ice cream. We have a really special Easter ice cream that we make inside of a chocolate egg.

So it's like a shelled out egg and then there'll be ice cream in it. and then the adult or the children egg hunt is the following weekend on Easter weekend and we will have lots of baby animals and you'll get to sit down and hold the baby animals in your hand and then you can play in our Barnard Adventure Land so we have a zip line a jumping pillow lots of fun adventure farm adventure activities so there'll be Easter Bunny there'll be a prize so that'll be fun for the kids. Amazing. And then when does the fall start ramping up?

So after Easter is berry season, and then after the summer will be fall. So September, end of September, October is fall. Amazing. And so in the berry season, do you do anything for the wines? Is there any events going on over the summer? Yeah, so we will be doing a lot of wine events. we might be doing like a long table dinner

now that the restrictions have lifted for COVID so we're hopefully we'll be doing a lot more events the wine events are more just to do with everything else like so we'll be doing picnics so like picnics in the petals and that has a lot to do with the wine and the food that we offer and then you'll get to come out and enjoy a beautiful picnic on the farm this is amazing thank you so much girline for being willing

to take the time. I've learned a lot and I'm very excited to see where you take this. Oh, thanks so much. Thanks for having me.