Episode 12: Destroy Dreams and Do Something w/ the King and Queen of the Shrooms, a.k.a. Chris Carrier and Deana Wojcik

Sick of Silicon Valley? Shift from being an engineer to a dirtbag for less responsibility. Choose a lifestyle of mangos and mushrooms. But the no-brainer idea of growing mushrooms being easy became idiotic.

Today’s guests are Chris Carrier and Deana Wojcik from The Mushroom Factory. Wanting a break from their software and education careers, they started something unique by making creative reuse of available resources.

Episode Highlights:

2:15 Hit the Road: Failed startup journey from Silicon Valley to Michigan-made business.
4:19 Adventure Index: What do we want in the next phase of life? What boxes to check?
4:58 Detroit: Interesting, less expensive with access to outdoors and friendly people.
6:38 Livin’ the Life in Hawaii: Why live out of a truck? Money doesn’t drive happiness.
8:15 Growth Opportunity: Grand adventure being Ill-equipped, homeless, crisis of faith.
10:29 Why mushrooms? Dive deep into dreams and hobbies only to suffer from burnout.
11:23 Fungus and Mold: Mushrooms are beautiful, but forever strange.
14:30 The Mushroom Factory: Evolution of planting seeds, putting roots down in Detroit.
17:29 Urban Farming: Grow by addressing food injustice and unconventional reuse.
19:20 Marrying Skills/Backgrounds: Clinging to what’s familiar out of fear, fight through it.
23:05 Ask for Help: Being just stupid enough, supportive, and willing to share.
27:55 First Sale: Shuffle in and shove a shoebox of mushrooms over the counter.
30:58 Worth the Money: Shift from stressful struggle to ask for money for food.
32:00 Starting a Business: An assault on your ideals and hard to be humble to survive.
35:10 For Better or Worse: You’re your own boss and need to be fully engaged.
36:43 Open Source/Closed Loop: Put something out in the world but remain responsible.
43:00 Social Media Role: Presence matters to attract and educate customers.
44:30 Food Safety: Tech rules, tools, and problems associated with growing mushrooms.
46:33 Defining Success: Experience and recognize it; not a destination but mindset.
47:55 Moment of Doubt: Spent savings on warehouse to deal with environmental issue.
50:37 Lessons from Failures: Simple answer is to ask for help before you’re in too deep.
54:55 Easiest and Hardest Parts: Selling niche product and managing finances.