Grateful Gardeners is a local, sustainable, and organic cut flower farm founded in Boyds, MD in the heart of the Montgomery County Agricultural Reserve in 2018. Their mission is to produce year-round organic flowers and foliage to retail, wholesale, and floral design customers in the greater DC metropolitan region. Through responsibly grown innovation, collaborative relationship building, and education of the community, this developing flower farm intends to lead the green transformation of the cut flower industry. In two short years Grateful Gardeners has grown over 50 types of flowers, quadrupled their revenue, been interviewed for the nationally recognized Slow Flowers Society podcast, delivered mixed bouquets to Whole Foods stores, local markets, and dozens of floral designers. They are adeptly utilizing the popular social media platforms, primarily Instagram, to successfully market their flowers and further their influence in the floral design world.
TEAM BIOS
Sarah Daken, President has been a practicing attorney for 22 years. Her legal career has focused on litigation in areas of child abuse and neglect and police misconduct. A chance encounter with a flower farming instructional video a few years ago transformed her life. She had no idea at that time that she would soon desire to make a monumental career pivot to full time flower farming. Sarah advances and refines her ability to grow flowers through education, hands on experience, and regular mentorship with seasoned flower growers. She brings her legal and business savvy to Grateful Gardeners through the creation of contracts for service, marketing strategies, and financial management. Her strongest attribute is her commitment to collaborative and meaningful relationships with customers, as well as her passion for fostering change in the floral industry through green innovation and growing methods, storing and delivery of product, and design mechanics. (LinkedIn)
Dr. Tom Precht, Vice President, started his career as a research scientist, earning a Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry from Western State University of Colorado and a Ph.D. in pharmacology from University of Colorado Denver Health Sciences. He pursued a research career path via a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Colorado Boulder in neuroscience, with the intention of moving to an academic tenure track position. However, with the start of his family he transitioned to the more lucrative field of scientific sales. Over the last ten years he has worked tirelessly for three prominent scientific companies where he managed sales territories, developed business relationships, explained and demonstrated highly technical products and instruments, and generated millions of dollars in revenue. Over that time, he has mastered many computer skills necessary for any modern day professional to be successful; dozens of software programs, digital graphical design, internet research, and sales and marketing tools (CRMs). Tom brings a highly technical ability to Grateful Gardeners to troubleshoot problems, develop and implement green sustainable technologies and growing practices. At this point in his career he desires to move back toward his science roots, albeit plant science, and focus on developing Grateful Gardeners with his lifelong partner and wife, Sarah Daken. (LinkedIn)