Leah Dannar-Garcia
Owner
RISE Farms & Firefly Farm
Wichita, KS USA
“What I’ve learned over my lifetime is that things aren’t as important to me as people, places, and experiences.”
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By Roadtrip NationLeah Dannar-Garcia
Milestones
My road in life took a while to figure out.
In my 20s, I lived in New York.
I came back home to Wichita, Kansas, to finish college—I earned my bachelor’s degree in general studies with an emphasis in English, Cultural Anthropology, and Women's Studies.
I spent about a decade in my 30s traveling and living around the world as an ESL teacher.
I eventually came back to the U.S. and earned my master’s degree in teaching with an emphasis in English as a second language.
I got married and decided to stay in Wichita, which meant I needed to make a career change.
My husband and I started gardening and I realized that I had an aptitude and passion for growing food.
I decided I wanted to contribute to the farming industry which led to me founding Firefly Farm, a specialty crop heirloom tomato farm, and RISE Farms, a specialty crop urban rooftop farm.
Keep following my journey
Education
High School
Bachelor
General Education
Wichita State University
General Education
Wichita State University
Graduate
Teaching
School for International Training
Teaching
School for International Training
Career
Owner
I founded two specialty crop farms.
Career Roadmap
My work combines:
My work combines:
Food
Entrepreneurship
Accomplishing Goals
Day to Day
First, I check and respond to voicemail, e-mail, social media communications, and attend scheduled meetings. I check in with both farms and food hub managers to see if there are any emergency issues that need to be worked, such as employee hiring or termination, scheduling, trellis design, irrigation system issues, seasonal adjustments, pest management, and website maintenance. During the winter, this is all done on a smaller scale and we use the extra time to plan the next year's crops.
Advice for Getting Started
Here's the first step for college students
If you want to get into a similar field, I'd first recommend getting a degree in either sustainable studies, regenerative agriculture, or biology.
Recommended Education
My career is not related to what I studied. I'd recommend this path instead:
Bachelor
Sustainable Studies
Sustainable Studies
Interviewed By
Paths Across Kansas
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