“ Sometimes they need a project manager to take an idea by the horns, and actually hands-on manage it until it is ready to turn over the operation.” — Tom Janzen
With farming still in his blood, Tom Janzen is up for it, whether it’s a new jam, a restaurant concept, or helping a symphony orchestra book rural gigs.
Janzen, who transformed himself from an organic farmer into an urban bakery dynamo 10 years ago, has lately turned his attention to helping others achieve their dreams, offering his services as a mentor through his company, Halcyon Agrifoods Ltd. (www.tomjanzen.ca).
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The key, says Janzen, is that he learned what he’s good at, and how to make other people good at it too, as a result of a eureka moment he had in 2005.
“Pioneering work was my strong point,” says Janzen. “I looked back at my working life and I saw that the first five years are always what invigorates me.”
Janzen also learned that he was bringing something else that adds value to mentoring relationships: his network of contacts from a life in the business.
When he stopped active farming in 1998, Janzen channeled his fascination with baking into a new career, creating the hugely successful Bread and Circuses Cafe and Bakery in Winnipeg’s cool Corydon district, which he still owns today.
At the same time, he injected new life into Manitoba’s Farmers’ Markets, worked with Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Development’s Food Development Centre in Portage la Prairie, and served on numerous committees and boards.
Along the way, the eclectic Janzen also played and sang in a bluegrass band for 10 years, doing the festival circuit across Canada while also fashioning himself into an energetic and entertaining speaker, a skill that he says is linked to his main strengths, and his weaknesses.
“One big thing I had to realize is that no one can be good at everything,” says Janzen. “I am good with the magic — being the front-man and doing the salesmanship — and the management, the day-to-day administration. But I have had to learn a lot about money, the cold, calculating side, and to excel at that.
This is because Janzen has years of experience in so many areas.
Putting a value-added element into home-grown Manitoba products is one of Janzen’s pet projects. He was a guest speaker at probably the province’s first galvanizing meeting on ‘local food’ a few years ago, held in Clearwater, where he both warned and encouraged a packed room of farmers to take those first bold steps, just as he had done years earlier.
To facilitate a project from start to finish can take from months to years, and one key to success is maintaining a strong belief in the goal.
Janzen first meets with the client to talk about ideas. It’s a chance to see if the two parties will be able to work well together.
“The pay factor is individually tailored to each project,” says Janzen. “We can see if we have a good idea and if a partnership is going to work.”
