"The produce industry has been a part of my family for quite some time. Both sides of my family settled in California in the early 1900s and began farming. Growing up in the Salinas Valley, I always associated produce with Salinas. Like a lot of teenagers growing up in a small town, I wanted something different, something bigger than what I had always known. When I went off to Fresno State, my dad asked me what I wanted to do and I said, “I’m not sure, but I definitely don’t want to work in produce."
After graduating college I still hadn’t found a direction, so when a coach mentioned that his company needed someone to run their cross-dock over in Salinas, I gave him a ring and went in for an interview. A couple of weeks later I got the call and was given the job. After I got the offer, I had to call up my Dad and break the news: I was moving back to Salinas and working in produce!
He always told me “never say never,” and that was one of the first times in my adult life that that I understood why. After just a few short months of learning the business and meeting all the characters, I fell in love, and I was kicking myself for not wanting to do this earlier. The people in this business are some of the most genuine, hardworking, salt of the earth-type folks that you will ever come across—and the business itself is like no other. It really made me understand why my family was the way it was—and I couldn’t be more thankful for it.”
