ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Getting into business for yourself can be intimidating. Shannon O’Malley, the co-founder of the hydroponic farm, Brick Street Farms, knows the feeling all too well.
“It’s scary opening your own business,” O’Malley shared with 10News.
Brick Street Farms sells an assortment of leafy greens like romaine lettuce and microgreens to local restaurants and the Locale Market in Downtown St. Petersburg.
To get their business off the ground, O’Malley and her husband, Brad Doyle, invested their entire savings and 401K. Brick Street Farms started to sprout its first set of greens in October 2016. And since then, the business has taken off.
“People have this misconception of because we’re small we don’t produce as much as we really do,” said O’Malley.
Nearly two-and-a-half years later, the indoor hydroponic farm continues to thrive.
“We have more demand than we can fill,” O’Malley said.
O'Malley said the farm is currently in a fundraising round.
“We’ve got more demand from retail, more request for variety and demand from some of our wholesale restaurant accounts,” O'Malley explained.
The indoor hydroponic farm produces eight to 10 acres worth of mixed greens every five weeks.
“An average farm has between five and six harvests a year; we have 11. It doesn’t stop.” O’Malley said.
In the following video, O’Malley explains why she and her husband chose Tampa Bay to start their business and how their idea eliminates the worry of contaminated leafy greens.
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