We begin life with this spirit of adventure; learning and trying new things. We fall then get up and try again – no fear, no embarrassment, just a get-up-and-go attitude. Then somewhere along the way, trepidation sets in and we become fearful.
Since leaving the media industry after 17 years and throwing in the towel after working and living (in a 10ft x 8ft container) on a farm for a year, it was time to get more adventurous. I decided to work with farmers and wholesalers, selling fruit and vegetable to end consumers.
Having worked on a farm, I realised the amount of work, time, money and risks involved in farming. Perhaps the farm I worked on wasn’t that huge, but I noticed the farmers there, got in return, very little compared to the price their produce was sold at to the end consumer. I also saw that prices of things were scaling upwards and many people at that time were in difficulty – huge numbers going through pay cuts or had lost their jobs. So, I began buying farm fresh produce from farmer friends and sold them to my circle of relatives, neighbours and friends, at more reasonable prices.
It was hard work having to ferry these perishables from growers and importers, lug them up and down (as I live in a condo), weigh and repack, then market them online and get them delivered. As my small business was ‘small’, I took on another job to help make ends meet. It helped but left me with little me-time. Perhaps this lull period was partly due to the lockdowns and movement-control-order. Nonetheless, like a wave, this ‘downtime’ phase seemed to sweep over, affecting many lives.
So, before the adventure spirit in me died a slow and natural death, I remodelled Hive Mind Ventures – live and breathe adventure.
Sound cheesey? Well, in a nutshell, I sell adventure but across a wider/more inclusive sense of the word. Adventure is really how one perceives it to be. For someone who has never cycled in their life, riding a bicycle in their yard could be adventurous; even experimenting in the kitchen, doing something you’ve never done before, trying your hand at a new business venture, flying a kite for the first time, trying out cycling/scooting/biking to work instead of driving even for just once, etc. Hence, we ‘sell’ adventure, both the conventional and unconventional adventure-based programmes and activities. Our motto – “Get adventurous, do different, do life!”