Denise grew up on a small farm and one of her favorite childhood memories was to go to her grandparents and explore her grandpa’s large garden, cellar and greenhouse and enjoy the preserves and fresh coleslaw that her grandma made. You could say gardening is in her genes with her dad having a green thumb as well; although Denise was a ‘late bloomer’ with her gardening interest flourishing a few years ago after her adult son took an interest and converted their entire back yard to an edible garden experience. She continues to learn and try new things in the garden and is often in awe of how a seed evolves into a gorgeous vegetable to be enjoyed with their next meal.

Denise has run several online businesses for about a decade, consulted many online business entrepreneurs and is a serial entrepreneur who loves to find ways to streamline and optimize processes to help businesses work smarter and ultimately creating a great experience for their community.

Crystal owns and operates a one-woman wholesale commercial living microgreen operation in the mountains of western North Carolina. After working and managing local restaurants for over a decade, she saw the need for chefs to have access to more affordable, organic food for the delicious creations they craft for our communities.

“After several years of gardening fails, I began to think that maybe being a grower just wasn’t right for me. Then I found Grow Your Own Vegetables and my failures transformed into a successful small farm operation within months. So when the opportunity arrived to work for Grow Your Own Vegetables and train to help others transform their failures into opportunities for success and abundance, it was an emphatic YES!  

Crystal hopes to stand as a clear message to anyone who thinks they can’t grow: You can. Anyone can. With the right system, mindsets, and mentor, everything becomes possible.

Lauren started her virtual career with her hands in just about everything behind the scenes of an online business. Her passion in work is problem solving and connecting with students to get them the help they need. The rest of her life, not at work, really revolves around her animals; a whole mini farm with 2 large horses, 1 miniature horse, 2 miniature donkeys, 7 goats, 4 dogs, and one little chicken named Q-Tip.

Stacey draws inspiration from the patterns of nature. Her mission is to inspire human consciousness toward resonance of joy, awe and wonder for the next evolution of the human spirit.

A master of innovative transition, Stacey is always thinking one step ahead of where industries are going: from managing billion dollar construction projects in NYC to writing children’s books that help kids love vegetables (My Dinosaur Ate My Broccoli). Her background as a visionary architect has led to breakthrough projects like BK Farmyards, a network of urban farmers transforming the local food system.

Stacey is a two time finalist for the Buckminster Fuller Challenge for social entrepreneurship. She is currently exploring new, futuristic business opportunities and ways to move gardening education into the new world.

Brandon's food journey began in high school when culinary classes brought them into the world of creating food. Brandon continued on to culinary school before completing a two year apprenticeship with a local sushi chef. Brandon's love of fresh foods and culinary education compliments GYOV programs with Enjoying Your Harvest recipes and fun food facts.

"This apprenticeship was really where I learned to care for ingredients; how to prepare them in a way that shows them respect. In order to really take care of your ingredients you need to start with the soil. I haven’t had many memorable meals that were prepared with unhealthy produce from depleted soils, and most of the memorable meals from my life were simple meals made from ingredients that had themselves been nourished lovingly and prepared the same way. I believe high quality food can be prepared by anyone, and it starts with the soil.”

In an age of increasing specialization, Amy proudly calls herself a generalist. She holds a Master’s degree in English, a RYT 200 yoga teacher certification, and is working her way through a bachelor’s in Biology. She believes in nurturing and following curiosity, then taking what you’ve learned and sharing it to better the lives of others.

Amy is an avid chaos gardener and has worked in agriculture for several years. In 2017, she first apprenticed on a Certified Organic vegetable farm and later took over as operations manager there. She also served as greenhouse manager for a local restaurant’s urban farm, and she spent a year in AmeriCorps service to an agriculture nonprofit specializing in education for beginning farmers and gardeners. She has a passion for greenhouse work, and she loves watching tiny little seedlings grow and turn into lunch. Amy and her husband grow an ever-evolving front yard garden in southern Appalachia (apple-atcha).