Austin From Scratch: An Interview with Stephanie Scherzer, Co-Founder of Farmhouse Delivery
Austin From Scratch is our newest series on the blog and includes interviews with local entrepreneurs who have created a thriving business here in the heart of Texas. For this session of Austin From Scratch, we sat down with Stephanie Scherzer, Co-Founder of Farmhouse Delivery. We selected Farmhouse Delivery after Owen and Malia inquired about all the fresh vegetables that were being served during our recent dinners (we’re Farmhouse customers). And when kids show interest in vegetables…you take action!
Before sitting down with Stephanie to ask some fun questions about her business, she was kind enough to give the kids and I a tour of the Farmhouse facility in East Austin. As you can imagine, a company who has multiple delivery trucks to serve a city as large as Austin has a LOT of vegetables passing through its doors. Stephanie showed us where the farmers deliver their goods, the large refrigerator for storing perishable items and the sorting facility where several people were diligently packing the weekly bushel. She also showed us the other foods Farmhouse delivers (which we were completely unaware of) including all sorts of meats, dairy items and even some baked goods. And finally, we got to meet one of the drivers as he was preparing to depart with his truckload full of goods. The best part of the whole story is we received our weekly shipment of Farmhouse goods later that afternoon…from the very same driver we met that morning. It was truly an awesome learning experience for the kids!
And now, the interview with Stephanie:
Owen (our six-year-old son)
What were your favorite things to do as a kid?
Stephanie (Stephanie Scherzer, Co-Founder of Farmhouse Delivery)
I loved to play outside. I loved to build houses out of leaves and play in trees and ride my bike.
Owen
How did you go about learning as a kid?
Stephanie
I learned a lot by doing. You know, like getting out in the world and having experiences and just trying things.
Owen
When did you first know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?
Stephanie
Oh boy. (lengthy laugh) That’s a tough one. I think it was in my…well, this is my third business and so I think I realized in my mid-twenties that I’d be happier working for myself and had ideas and wanted to see them happen.
Owen
What is your favorite thing about being a business owner?
Stephanie
Ya know, being an entrepreneur is a lifestyle. You get to create your time and spend it how you choose.
Owen
What is the most challenging thing about being a business owner?
Stephanie
That I have to create my time. The most challenging thing is to not get anxious and to just enjoy the ride.
Owen
What would you be doing if you weren’t in the vegetable delivery business?
Stephanie
I’d probably be growing more vegetables or something else to be delivered.
Owen
What’s your favorite vegetable?
Stephanie
My favorite vegetable? (lengthy pause) That’s a hard question for somebody who gets to eat so many delicious vegetables. I think it’s Kale. Do you eat Kale?
Owen
No. (followed by a gentle reminder from his dad that he’s tried Kale, but just doesn’t eat it very often) Oh yeah, I’ve had Kale. Do you have any advice for young entrepreneurs?
Stephanie
Yes! You should follow the things that you love to do because then, all of a sudden, you can create a life out of them and a job out of them. So just keep doing what you love.
At this time, it was turn for Malia to ask her favorite question.
Malia (our four-year-old daughter)
Why did you make up this idea?
Stephanie
Well, I started by growing vegetables and I used to sell them to restaurants. But then I wanted to sell them to people like you, and to families. So this is a way that I knew that I could pass on good foods to people’s homes and to their families and not just through restaurants. We also wanted to create a way that the farmers could keep farming and we could figure out the vans and all the others parts so we could get it to your house.
Owen
How do you like your job?
Stephanie
I love it!
Do your kids eat their vegetables? Do you? If so, which vegetable is your favorite?
Shafer...Power! 
We know Farmhouse well and have been using them for over a year. Love those fresh vegetables!
Their vegetable delivery service has been a game changer for us. It really has. I’ve never had so many vegetables in my own life. In fact, I tried spaghetti squash just this week for the very first time. Love it!
I think the interesting thing about your interviews is hearing a successful business owner answer questions from young children. They don’t speak to your children like they would speak to you or I and I’m assuming this isn’t something they do very often (unless, of course, they have kids who ask the same questions). What a fun exercise.
Thanks Chris. Yes, it has been an interesting exercise. Someone else had recently mentioned the same thing about hearing a successful entrepreneur explaining their business to young kids and what that must be like. It’s quite a neat thing to see in person.
Love that she’d be GROWING vegetables if she weren’t DELIVERING vegetables. Sounds like a veggiepreneur to me!
Yes, she definitely has passion around vegetables and it shows!
And YES, we all eat our vegetables – especially asparagus 🙂
It’s a top 3 vegetable. Hands down.
Hi Paul, out of curiosity, who comes up with the questions? They seem to be good questions for such young children so I was wondering if you helped them or if they were able to do it by themselves?
Hi Charlene, I helped with the questions but have encouraged the kids to make them their own. Eventually, I think it would be fun if they could come up with all their own questions “on the fly.” We’ll see what happens. That’s the beauty of this whole exercise….every interview is different and a chance to try something new.
Your kids are wonderful interviewers. I think they could give Barbara Walters a run for her money.