Barry and Christine Woodley have faced tough business decisions throughout their farm careers. Today’s challenge is a new one, though, and it requires a bold new level of trust in their family team.
The Woodleys own and operate Woodley Farm and Greenhouses, and over the past 30 years they have used it to develop their passion for horticulture into success as a wholesale grower for a variety of plants and flowers.
That has always meant adapting with the times and staying current within their markets. In the 80s, the focus of the farm was on producing dry flowers to be used in flower arrangements. As the market changed and the demand for silk flowers grew, the Woodleys had to adapt and switch their operation to focus on growing bedding plants for local markets.
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Today the family business faces a new challenge — how to adapt to the current environment while also finding roles for the next generation.
“We have had to change the way we work as a family in order to ensure the continued success of the business,” says Barry. That’s partly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused many disruptions for the Woodley business. From migrant labour issues to shipping and distribution, the family was forced to adapt to survive.
This required upping their management overall. With Christine’s leadership, for instance, they nurtured a “feeling of home for staff which created a sense of trust and accountability between us as we were all working towards the same goals.”
But there was a sense of discovery too, and today, Barry feels the pandemic came as a blessing in disguise: “It made us realize that within our family we already have the resources and abilities needed to be successful even in the toughest of times.”
The Woodley’s three children — Olivia, Fred and Maddy — are each educated and experienced in their own unique fields. While Olivia has pursued a successful career in osteopathy and runs her own clinic in another city, the pandemic provided the perfect opportunity for Fred and Maddy to find roles on the family farm.
It takes trust
Fred is the primary successor for the farm. But for him, that means more than simply taking over from his parents, and Fred has already put his entrepreneurial mindset to work to develop a new opportunity in the market, so he could make his own mark on the family business.
“He’s doing exactly what I did with my dad,” says Barry. “He doesn’t just want to take over the family business, he wants to make it his own.”
Fred co-founded Tropical Trading Co. which introduced high-quality foliage and tropical plants directly from Florida. While it is separate from the family business, it still complements it, and the cohesion between the two companies only strengthens each entity further.
Other parents might struggle with putting so much faith in the next generation to build and maintain a new revenue stream, but the Woodley family has been nothing but supportive of Fred’s ambitions.
Now, despite Tropical Trading’s success, Fred is already looking to the future. “It’s not just about remaining financially viable today,” he says. “It’s about determining how best to continue to grow and build on this amazing opportunity.”
The Woodleys also added the strengths of their youngest daughter, Maddy, to the business. After the pandemic shut down her internship it provided the opportunity for her to return to the farm and bring in her fresh ideas too.
“COVID-19 presented an opportunity for me here to combine my passion for marketing with the family business,” said Maddy when asked about her role on the farm. “I don’t see myself taking over the farm in the future, but I can continue to support the business in other ways, especially on the marketing side.”
Maddy’s early inputs into the farm have come in the form of the development of new websites for both Woodley Farm & Greenhouses and Tropical Trading Co., which has helped strengthen the relationship with current customers and suppliers as well as raise awareness of the farm’s offerings to the public.
In our business, we meet a lot of next-generation farmers and we often see this level of enthusiasm in them.
Few families, though, are able to take the bold leap and embrace their new ideas.
Granted, there are many risks associated with placing our trust in our children to take care of and grow our farm business and legacy. And there can be many mistakes along the way. But the example set by Barry and Christine Woodley highlights how a fresh perspective can add to the longevity and success of the family business.
The trust shown by the family in its own team has helped strengthen the business overall. It would have been easy for the family to employ outside resources to strengthen its marketing efforts but they believed in their own and that faith has been rewarded.
“Maddy’s contributions not only to the farm but to the family unit over the past few years have been invaluable in keeping us together” says Barry. “She has really stepped up and provided support and guidance when it was needed most.”
Their continued trust in the each other and their ability to make bold, forward-looking decisions are positives for the family and also for the business. They have a strong foundation for continued success of the next generation of Woodley Farm and Greenhouses.
