Amy Pettit's guest appearances

Amy Pettit

Big Cabbage Radio

Arctic Entries

 LeAnn Hart Ministries

Connect Change & Challenge

Scott Groves

Sarah Evans

LeAnn Hart

Mike Williams

Doug Smith

Dan Walker

Mike Baker

Adam Weber

Cara Harbstreet

Jeff Lowenfels

Jeff Robinson

Mark Schlereth

Michael Howard

Kim Jones

Mark Butler

OwlTail

Alaska Farmland Trust Executive Director Amy Pettit updates about the Trust – hiring for a new position, an event for landholders and this year in agriculture.

AG Matters: Amy Pettit 2021-9-22

The Call with County Coordinator Amy Pettit --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/leannhart/support

The Call with County Coordinator Amy Pettit --- Support this podcast: <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/leannhart/support" rel="payment nofollow" target="_blank">https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/leannhart/support</a>

The Call with County Coordinator Amy Pettit 

Note: The time codes listed below connect to the video or audio recordings When you hear the word unexpected as the theme for the week, it could make you think that no planning was involved, and good things just happened. No strategy, no plan. That is actually the opposite of the approach we are discussing. My guest on episode, Amy Pettit, is the Executive Director at Alaska Farmland Trust and she has successfully shown the power of unexpected connections. As a non-profit with only one staff, there is no room to just let things happen, you have to be strategic and smart with your time. Amy is the person who works to engage farmers in the trust program, gains pledges from donors, builds strategic partnerships with the public and also the one who gets the mail, answers the phones and mails out their great merchandise. As a staff of one, there are opportunities to be nimble and make things happen quickly, but it takes set goals and a clear mission. That’s how we get to unexpected. Amy took over as the executive director five years ago and at the time they were a traditional non-profit organization. Amy harnessed her creative spirit to help the organization define their priorities and goals, but then think about unexpected connections on how she would grow their fundraising and advocate base. 2:26 A unique hurdle for Alaska Farmland Trust is production agriculture as we know it today is a newer industry in Alaska than the lower 48 states. Most of the Alaska farms have been around for 50-75 years, so they are on their first or second generations. In comparison many farms where I am in Kansas could easily be fourth or fifth generation farmers running the farm. 3:42 CONNECT The personal connection I have when Amy started when we both worked for state departments of agriculture helping brand agriculture goods from jelly to wine, vegetables to hot sauce. In the discussion we focus on Amy’s connections that helped her think outside the box. Amy has excellent marketing experience and the knowledge of Alaska production agriculture and she shares how those connections really helped her look broader. 8:06 When she looked broader on how to build up her advocates and funders for Alaska Farmland Trust it started with the idea of a happy hour to tell people about their cause at a local ale house. Have people enjoy Alaska made beer and learn about farmlands in state and why they are worth saving. The ale house owner pushed her to think bigger, what about a concert where they get the beer proceeds. Then enters Amy’s creative mind and a catchy phrase was born: Drink Beer Save Farms. It’s snappy, looks good on a t-shirt, gets people talking and raises funds. 11:04 The community that Amy and Alaska Farmland Trust has built with their Drink Beer Save Farms campaign may not all write $10,000 donations, but they have been drawn in as advocates, they asked the question, “What does drinking beer have to do with saving farms,” possibly bought t-shirts and walked away more knowledgeable. They then told people in their lives why it’s important to support farms and save farmland. 17:54 I was fortunate enough to support the cause in a small way by purchasing a Drink Beer Save Farms t-shirt. I can tell you the first time I wore it I had three unexpected conversations with random people that day about my shirt. We talked about how awesome the phrase was and what it meant. A catchy phrase can go a long way, bring in unexpected advocates and create a network that is bigger than just your donor base. 19:28 CHANGE In a world where things are always changing, Amy shared the three areas of focus for the Alaska Farmland Trust. Saving farmland to keep it in agriculture production for perpetuity, promote the agriculture industry and educate consumers on where their food comes from. While things are changing it’s important to stay true to your organization or business mission. 23:50 A fun fact, the number of Alaska farmers is actually growing. According to the last census they increased the number of farms by 30%. There are opportunities for those that want to farm and a pride in Alaska where they do put a major focus on buying local since their in-state food supply is so limited. 26:40 The one crop that Alaska does export is peony flowers. While the lower 48 enjoys these beautiful flowers in May and June, the climate in Alaska has put them a unique advantage of growing them during July and August. This aligns well with the peek wedding season and we discuss how Amy previously helped the peony farmers establish international export markets for their flowers to meet the global demands for the flowers during the later growing season. This connection unexpectedly happened when a group of researchers visited the botanical gardens at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 29:19 CHALLENGE With the challenges that 2020 has brought we have all learned the need to take a step back and rethink our events, fundraisers, membership drives or outreach efforts. The challenge for the week is to think about unexpected connections. Where can you connect with new customers you haven’t approached before? How can you unexpectedly solve a problem that you haven’t focused on previously? What is one way you can step out of your box and pivot or broaden your thinking but still ensure you are aligning with your company, organization or your personal values and mission? 35:21 If you want to connect with Amy and the Alaska Farmland Trust visit akfarmland.com. The awesome Save Farms Drink Beer merchandise is not available yet online, but as Amy pivots she’s building up her online store and you too can start great conversations at the nail salon, grocery store or maybe even an airport in the future.

Note: The time codes listed below connect to the video or audio recordings When you hear the word unexpected as the theme for the week, it could make you think that no planning was involved, and good things just happened. No strategy, no plan. That is actually the opposite of the approach we are discussing. My guest on episode, Amy Pettit, is the Executive Director at Alaska Farmland Trust and she has successfully shown the power of unexpected connections. As a non-profit with only one staff, there is no room to just let things happen, you have to be strategic and smart with your time. Amy is the person who works to engage farmers in the trust program, gains pledges from donors, builds strategic partnerships with the public and also the one who gets the mail, answers the phones and mails out their great merchandise. As a staff of one, there are opportunities to be nimble and make things happen quickly, but it takes set goals and a clear mission. That’s how we get to unexpected. Amy took over as the executive director five years ago and at the time they were a traditional non-profit organization. Amy harnessed her creative spirit to help the organization define their priorities and goals, but then think about unexpected connections on how she would grow their fundraising and advocate base. 2:26 A unique hurdle for Alaska Farmland Trust is production agriculture as we know it today is a newer industry in Alaska than the lower 48 states. Most of the Alaska farms have been around for 50-75 years, so they are on their first or second generations. In comparison many farms where I am in Kansas could easily be fourth or fifth generation farmers running the farm. 3:42 CONNECT The personal connection I have when Amy started when we both worked for state departments of agriculture helping brand agriculture goods from jelly to wine, vegetables to hot sauce. In the discussion we focus on Amy’s connections that helped her think outside the box. Amy has excellent marketing experience and the knowledge of Alaska production agriculture and she shares how those connections really helped her look broader. 8:06 When she looked broader on how to build up her advocates and funders for Alaska Farmland Trust it started with the idea of a happy hour to tell people about their cause at a local ale house. Have people enjoy Alaska made beer and learn about farmlands in state and why they are worth saving. The ale house owner pushed her to think bigger, what about a concert where they get the beer proceeds. Then enters Amy’s creative mind and a catchy phrase was born: Drink Beer Save Farms. It’s snappy, looks good on a t-shirt, gets people talking and raises funds. 11:04 The community that Amy and Alaska Farmland Trust has built with their Drink Beer Save Farms campaign may not all write $10,000 donations, but they have been drawn in as advocates, they asked the question, “What does drinking beer have to do with saving farms,” possibly bought t-shirts and walked away more knowledgeable. They then told people in their lives why it’s important to support farms and save farmland. 17:54 I was fortunate enough to support the cause in a small way by purchasing a Drink Beer Save Farms t-shirt. I can tell you the first time I wore it I had three unexpected conversations with random people that day about my shirt. We talked about how awesome the phrase was and what it meant. A catchy phrase can go a long way, bring in unexpected advocates and create a network that is bigger than just your donor base. 19:28 CHANGE In a world where things are always changing, Amy shared the three areas of focus for the Alaska Farmland Trust. Saving farmland to keep it in agriculture production for perpetuity, promote the agriculture industry and educate consumers on where their food comes from. While things are changing it’s important to stay true to your organization or business mission. 23:50 A fun fact, the number of Alaska farmers is actually growing. According to the last census they increased the number of farms by 30%. There are opportunities for those that want to farm and a pride in Alaska where they do put a major focus on buying local since their in-state food supply is so limited. 26:40 The one crop that Alaska does export is peony flowers. While the lower 48 enjoys these beautiful flowers in May and June, the climate in Alaska has put them a unique advantage of growing them during July and August. This aligns well with the peek wedding season and we discuss how Amy previously helped the peony farmers establish international export markets for their flowers to meet the global demands for the flowers during the later growing season. This connection unexpectedly happened when a group of researchers visited the botanical gardens at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 29:19 CHALLENGE With the challenges that 2020 has brought we have all learned the need to take a step back and rethink our events, fundraisers, membership drives or outreach efforts. The challenge for the week is to think about unexpected connections. Where can you connect with new customers you haven’t approached before? How can you unexpectedly solve a problem that you haven’t focused on previously? What is one way you can step out of your box and pivot or broaden your thinking but still ensure you are aligning with your company, organization or your personal values and mission? 35:21 If you want to connect with Amy and the Alaska Farmland Trust visit <a href="https://www.akfarmland.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">akfarmland.com</a>. The awesome Save Farms Drink Beer merchandise is not available yet online, but as Amy pivots she’s building up her online store and you too can start great conversations at the nail salon, grocery store or maybe even an airport in the future.

Connect Change & Challenge: Unexpected with Amy Pettit

Amy is an Oregonian at heart who was imported to Alaska in 2005. She loves her family, the Packers, Jamestown Revival and local food &amp; drink. Mostly in that order.

Amy Pettit - Real Life is Hard