A Big Transition

In the summer of 2020, walking through my neighbourhood in Saint John’s south end spitballing business ideas with my friend, the concept for LifeDirt was born. I knew there was something missing between us humans and nature, some connection that had been lost, and that we all seem to do a lot better when that connection is restored. I also knew that I wanted to start my own business, from scratch, and I wanted it to have a heart for community. 

I signed up for the Enterprising Women program through the Saint John Community Loan Fund (now Kaleidoscope Social Impact) and worked through the classes, assignments and one-on-one calls with the instructor Diane. The original idea for LifeDirt was a brick-and-mortar green grocer with a juice bar. I’d never made juice before, so I went to the Salvation Army thrift store and bought myself a secondhand juicer, and started experimenting.

2020 was a difficult year for everyone, and the fall was the beginning of a very difficult time for me personally. For some reason, making these juices was one of very few things which brought me out of my blues. And starting to share them through trial sales made me even happier. 

I made call after call to different food-focused leaders in the community, getting unexpectedly warm reception and helpful advice. Finally I had a call with Dave Wolpin, from whom I’d bought produce boxes from on several occasions in the past. Turns out he was no longer doing produce boxes, and had moved to Nova Scotia. I learned there was a gap in our food system that had a solution, and he could help me with his experience and connections to step in. 

LifeDirt took shape: a “mobile greengrocer and raw juice company” at the time. Part of us remains the same: biweekly produce boxes sourcing from mostly Maritime Canadian farms. Other things have changed. No more raw juices… for now. It’s a learning experience, without a doubt. I learned bookkeeping, website design and upkeep, marketing, sales, produce lingo and storage methods, how to expand my network of producers, how to adjust our product, whom to hire, what to delegate, when to let go. Running a business, as I’m sure you’re aware, forces you to learn how to do many, many new things. 

Friends came and volunteered with me, packing boxes until 10 at night in the back warehouse at Stirling’s Market. Others started purchasing LifeDirt gift cards as Christmas gifts in order to spread the word. In the fall of 2022, a young guy I knew from my time working at Catapult came to pick up a produce box and said with great enthusiasm that he so believed in what I was doing that he wanted to volunteer. Turns out I was running almost on empty at that time. Jake came just when I needed him to breathe some wind into LifeDirt’s sails and encourage me to get creative, get organized, and keep telling the world about LifeDirt. 

There are hills and valleys in every business startup. And there are people you owe everything to for coming alongside you and taking the journey. My staff and faithful customers, my partner farmers and producers have spoken into this business in ways I would never have expected, making me realize that what we are doing is part of something of a food revolution: clearing the way for us to nourish ourselves from the fruit of our own ground. And promoting partnerships of giving in order to extend the reach of our local food.

And yet even when pursuing one’s own dream, there comes a time to hand over leadership. For the refreshment of the business/organization, for the rest of the founder, for the opportunity of someone who has been waiting for just this moment to take on a new challenge and hone their skills. Toward the beginning of this year, I started feeling like LifeDirt was coming to this point. So I began tentatively putting feelers out. And after a few conversations, who came forward with the idea of purchasing the business but Jake. The Jake who had already been a motivating force for so long, stepping into the possibility of taking over the reins. With Holly and Curtis strong in their roles within the team, I decided to take the step forward.

For the last little while we have been working out the details of what a transition out from LifeDirt would look like for me, and a transition in for Jake, while working to keep things as seamless as possible for our producers and customers. With that in mind, I will be staying on in some capacity with the company until Christmas 2026 as Jake takes over as the new owner alongside our team and community of supporters. Jake has a huge heart for LifeDirt, the people we serve and the Earth we live on. He is passionate about increasing the local food market, and is, as far as I can tell, a tech genius. It is a joy to make this opportunity available for him to grow in his leadership and for me to know that my “COVID baby” is in good hands. I am so grateful to have him continue on the work that I have loved doing. I really believe that things will only get better for LifeDirt from here. Of course there will be hiccups and learning curves on the way, but there are no better people to support and guide than the friends of LifeDirt. 

Thank you for welcoming Jake and for having trusted me, a newcomer to Saint John, for so long. It has been a privilege to start and run this business, to create new jobs for our staff and a new market for our farmers, and to get to know so many beautiful people who believe in the potential of our earth. I’ll be around over the next four months, and look forward to continue seeing and communicating with all of you then. Of course as an entrepreneur I already have ten new ideas in mind for my life and five in the works, so stay tuned if you’re interested :)

Gratefully,

Miriam