One great advantage enjoyed by people in the produce industry is the indisputable importance of what they do. After all, there’s little or nothing more important than food.
One big fan of the produce industry is Mark Victor Hansen, coauthor of the popular Chicken Soup for the Soul book series, which has sold hundreds of millions of copies.
Hansen speaks of a “destiny DNA”—his term for the innate purpose in each individual. As he puts it, “Growing food is a great destiny DNA. It’s a divine occupation, being in the produce business. Live food is the best. It exalts the spirit.”
Although Hansen calls produce “a divine calling” and is thankful for everyone in the business, he offers some advice: “You’ve got to be careful, because everybody is doing what everybody’s been doing. You’ve got to out-think, out-market, and out-deliver them. It’s easy if you think it’s easy, and hard if you think it’s hard.” In any event, “your state of mind creates your future results.”
It’s also important to “have a check on your destiny DNA,” Hansen advises.
“Ask yourself, ask others, ask God. When you go to bed at night, ask, “God, what is the next iteration of my destiny in the produce industry? Say this 100 times, and you’re sure to get an answer.” (Of course, some people may wish to substitute “spirit,” “higher power,” or some other term for “God.”)
“Many of my clients have strong faith,” says Wendy McManus, a leadership coach who specializes in the produce industry, although she says others “have a sense of something bigger than themselves, but not connected to organized religion.”
Nonetheless, she adds that there is a strong component of faith-based people, particularly those oriented toward Christianity, in the produce industry.
This is an excerpt from a feature story in the September/October 2022 issue of Produce Blueprints Magazine. Click here to read the whole issue.
