CHANDRA WALKER, CEO OF FARMERGIRL FRESH
Tagline: Your Test. Your Food. Your Terms.
Regularly, we interview a successful SOURCE RW client to ask how SOURCE RW has impacted their business. This month, we feature Chandra Walker, CEO of Farmergirl Fresh and Fall 2017 Kauffman FastTrac® graduate.
"The idea of Farmergirl Fresh was conceived in 2013 when one of my clients hadn’t been following the diet the doctor had given to him. He told me that, if I would grocery shop for him and cook his meals, that he would follow the diet. So, that night I sat down in my kitchen and came up with a “kitchen table business plan” over a weekend," Chandra says.
What is the focus of your product and/or service?
Farmergirl Fresh is a consumer health technology company. Our focus is on advanced risk testing for cardiovascular disease, pre-diabetes, metabolic disease, cancer, traditional lipid profile, and autoimmune disease.
Chandra Walker
We describe our business as engaging and empowering people about their health. Farmergirl Fresh will be on the cusp of preventative medicine. The more we are able to spot health issues before they arise, the more we can do something about them. We will feature an online grocery store, healthy meals, and health coaches to help guide clients, physicians, and employer groups to manage these risk.
What made you interested in business ownership?
Personally, I wanted to change the way medicine is practiced in America. Every person has the right to actionable health care information, at the time it matters. If we can give people access to their health information earlier in the disease process, we shift our health care system model. Farmergirl Fresh was to move that paradigm toward prevention. Our services begin with laboratory tests which drives 80% of clinical decisions.
What have you enjoyed most about being a business owner?
I enjoy helping people and sharing business knowledge with one another. It is important to build a village of knowledgeable people around your business, this is exactly what I have found at Source RW.
What have you enjoyed least about being a business owner?
The long hours involved in building your brand - a social life is much desired.
If you could tell aspiring business owners just one thing before their journey - that you had wished you had known prior to starting your journey - what would that be?
My advice to an aspiring entrepreneur is just get started. Don’t let anyone discourage you from your business dreams. It doesn’t matter what you are up against. Stay focused and get started! You don’t have to be “great” to get started, but in order to be great you have to “get started.”
How did you learn about SOURCE RW?
I had been working with a business coach from BOI, Sarah MacInnis, and she introduced me to the programs offered by Source RW.
What business topics have you addressed thus far?
I have met with Sarah and Mark for business coaching, participated in Kauffman, and have attended several of their Entrepreneur Indianapolis programs which spotlights local business owners. Through these discussions with business owners, I’ve learned to appreciate the importance of a mentor to a business owner’s success. There is real benefit in using your mentor as a sounding board in evaluating your ideas and thoughts.
What “one” thing stands out that you have learned at SOURCE RW, thus far?
I’ve learned to carefully think through every step of starting a company so that I can be successful.
How have you benefited from your time at SOURCE RW?
My experience at Source RW has been priceless. I really can’t put a price tag on all the things I have learned from Source RW. My goal is to take this knowledge and give back to future entrepreneurs.