Nani's Story
My entire life I was raised as an egalitarian, believing everyone deserves and equal opportunity and yet a hard German work-ethic was instilled in me that boasted, "only the strong will survive". Since I was a teenager, I dreamt of running away and joining a farming commune. I had the idealistic view that everyone could live in harmony --- with people and the earth --- everyone would work together and if everyone had a work ethic like me, they would work hard and everyone would receive their fair share. Life taught me very quickly "the Law of the Vital few" , also known as the 80/20 rule.
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I observed in my life that 20 percent of the people did 80 percent of the work. No matter what I was involved in, school, farming, work and charity there never seemed to be enough people standing next to me, working side by side. I found very few standing on stage or receiving awards next to me either. 80 percent of your outcomes come from 20 percent of your inputs. 20 percent of employees are responsible for 80 percent of a company’s output or 20 percent of customers are responsible for 80 percent of the revenues. 20 percent of the people will come up with 80 percent of the good ideas, 80% of income is received by 20% of the population. 20% are the movers and shakers. 20% of the people are able to navigate away from GMO food or 20% are able to build the home of their dreams. When you start to analyze and breakdown your life into elements it’s very easy to see 80/20 ratios all over the place. Personally I’m not a big fan of math beyond the basics of money counting. I work better with feelings, ideas and concepts. I am, however, really into "what's fair" and not a big fan of lazy folks and I often wondered how this kind of life could be sustainable.
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Jesus told His disciples: "The harvest is indeed plentiful, but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest, that he may send out laborers into his harvest" (Luke 10:2). |
I decided I only wanted to work, live and hang out with the 20 percenters. That didn't make very good for being inclusive of the 100% Community. I thought, how can I change this? How can I live in a community of loving people, with a good work ethic, happy families and great health? That has been the dream of my Utopia for more than 40 years.
Chasing the Dream
I was raised in my teenage years in a wealthy suburban community with a high school that had an amazing Agriculture program blessed with James Bailey as my agriculture teacher and mentor. I was taught to be a Future Farmer in America and dreamed this would be the path I took in life, but then...
Life happened and I stayed in the Beachside Suburbs of Southern California with only the OC Fairgrounds Educational Demonstration Center as the only farm in sight.
Life happened and I stayed in the Beachside Suburbs of Southern California with only the OC Fairgrounds Educational Demonstration Center as the only farm in sight.
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In 2004, I was hired by Keiko Tamaguchi to come to New Zealand and help design, build and operate a Healing Community with over 40 Alternative Health Practitioners. By the time I arrived overseas, the project funder had backed out. Yikes. The blessing was that I did meet a Civil Engineer, Quentin, and we eventually returned together to the states as husband and wife.
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In 2012 I was hired by Tito Vasquez a Southern California Entrepreneur, to write a business plan for a Tequila Company. The twist was that the distribution factory would be built within a Sober Living Eco-Village with Homeless Shelter that would be maintained by 10% of the company profits. With a brief outline of what he wanted, for the next 6 months, I was given the opportunity to design an incredible Square Mile Community with operating farming complex to feed the residents. I thought here I could find my home. Sadly, the project funding never materialized on this project either and my dream of living in an incredible community was dashed away again.
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In 2017 we moved to Alabama for a business venture and within our first week we realized that our future business partners were not a fit. We suddenly found ourselves stranded, no business, no home, no money, and no options.
We turned it over to God and of course He save us from this train-wreck and got us back on our feet. (see this page for details). |
2019
I found two 20 percenters, Rus and Lisa Hays of Nolensville, Tennessee. They are the most like minded people we have met in a very long time. Through them we were able to acquire the Lewisburg Farm for the next few years to build the Enviroculture Farm. A place to follow our dreams, teach our passions and build community.
I found two 20 percenters, Rus and Lisa Hays of Nolensville, Tennessee. They are the most like minded people we have met in a very long time. Through them we were able to acquire the Lewisburg Farm for the next few years to build the Enviroculture Farm. A place to follow our dreams, teach our passions and build community.
Focus On Your Passions, Not Material Possessions
What I learned over my 53 years was focus on your passion not possession. I’m not saying you have to live like a pauper but real happiness comes from spending time doing things you enjoy the most, not from earning more money. Chasing the dollar for the sake of the dollar doesn't work. Chasing passion often leads to a greater income because the quality of your output is so much higher. By focusing my energy on my strengths I saw I would reap the rewards.
Live the Dream
Abandon any inefficiencies as soon as you can and drop your working hours to three days per week and spend more time attracting more clients, book more gigs, find more time to write your novel, develop your invention, code your software, find investors or whatever it is you really want to do.
For those of us who have the intention of turning our passions into money generating enterprises, focus on the business.
If money isn’t your primary concern but your music or art is, why do you spend so much time working to earn more money than you need? Yes plan for the future and build assets, but clearly for your musical soul it’s not something that needs to take the majority of your time and energy. Can we be happy without that mansion by the sea ? If you spent more time on your music the eventual album sales may one day lead to that mansion by the sea. If not, at least you will be a lot happier for following your enthusiasm rather than the dollar. And in my case I did get that mansion by the sea, now I am a bit closer to creating my version of Utopia.
For those of us who have the intention of turning our passions into money generating enterprises, focus on the business.
If money isn’t your primary concern but your music or art is, why do you spend so much time working to earn more money than you need? Yes plan for the future and build assets, but clearly for your musical soul it’s not something that needs to take the majority of your time and energy. Can we be happy without that mansion by the sea ? If you spent more time on your music the eventual album sales may one day lead to that mansion by the sea. If not, at least you will be a lot happier for following your enthusiasm rather than the dollar. And in my case I did get that mansion by the sea, now I am a bit closer to creating my version of Utopia.
Join Me
So if you are a 20 percenter, if financial freedom is important to you and a big part of your plans, if you want to adjust your work vs passion time ration, if you want to be healthy, joyful and a self sustaining, join me to convert your passions into an income, adjust your work vs passion time ratio and share your time with a blissful community.
Long Term Thinkers
A new garden is all about long-term thinking. Short term thinking leads to a better moment. Long term thinking leads to a better life. Either your seeds will grow a beautiful garden that lasts generations or you will grow weeds. It’s up to you to decide what to plant.
Low Toxic Lifestyle
You will learn to live a low toxic lifestyle. You will learn about compost toilets, sustainable small homes, cob building, and organic food.
Future Plans
What is Enviroculture Farm and what will it become?
Currently Enviroculture Farm is a working farm. We live on the land and grow vegetables, tilapia, shrimp and flowers for our neighbors, local schools, restaurants, and more. We practice Enviroculture which is blend of "better than organic" and Biodynamic farming methods, and incorporate Permaculture techniques and principles. We will eat daily from the farm gardens, including eggs from chickens and honey from bee hives.
Our land is as wild as it is cultivated—with daily visits from deer, coyotes, owls, foxes! We have two loving dogs and are currently looking for a Maremma Sheepdog to keep watch over our land and all of its creatures.
However, everyday we are building community. We (the founders), have vested all our assets into a trust which is committed to building a self sustaining business and community. We are intending on sharing everything we have with the community. Each family that wishes to join the community, invests finances, and labor/work commitment at a level that they are comfortable with.
Our land is as wild as it is cultivated—with daily visits from deer, coyotes, owls, foxes! We have two loving dogs and are currently looking for a Maremma Sheepdog to keep watch over our land and all of its creatures.
However, everyday we are building community. We (the founders), have vested all our assets into a trust which is committed to building a self sustaining business and community. We are intending on sharing everything we have with the community. Each family that wishes to join the community, invests finances, and labor/work commitment at a level that they are comfortable with.
We are seeking like minded people, to come together to start an Eco Village on another property site within the next 5 years.
Primarily we need to get the commitment to join the community and the finances to buy the land and start working on our for profit businesses.
We intend to incorporate our business in Tennessee as a for profit business and latter add a 501©3 non-profit organization for the Community as well.
Our goal is to raise $500,000 to build our Eco Village. However, we will purchase land as soon as we have $300,000 invested in the trust.
We are looking 27 to 300 acres in a rural area of Tennessee.
