Harvesting Success: How to Grow Your Company the Farm-to-Business Way

By Renea Sageser

Ready to Reap the Rewards of Your Business?

Are you tired of navigating complex corporate landscapes? Feel your business growth is a barren field? The challenges you face in cultivating a thriving company seem overwhelming, but fear not! Harvesting Success: How to Grow Your Company the Farm-to-Business Way is here to plow through challenges, helping you sow seeds of sustainable growth.

Harvesting Success explores age-old principles of farming, applying them to any business:

• Farm-to-Business Model: Apply principles from the world of agriculture to your business strategy for an effective approach.
• Nurturing Your Business Ecosystem: Learn how to create an environment that encourages innovation, collaboration, and productivity.
• Cultivating Resilience: Develop strategies to weather storms and adapt to changing market conditions, ensuring your business's prosperity.
• Sowing Customer Connections: Understand the power of cultivating strong customer relationships, watching your client base flourish.
• Grow Your Leadership Style: Uncover your leadership potential; inspire your team to reach new heights of excellence.

Feeling ready to turn your company into fertile ground for success? Harvesting Success is your guide to overcoming challenges, nurturing growth, and reaping rewards. Don't let your business leadership potential remain dormant.

Let Harvesting Success show you how to sow a prosperous future!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Angela Sageser
• Release date: Feb 20, 2024
• ISBN: 9798989548910

Book preview

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT

HARVESTING SUCCESS

"Renea’s unique approach to faith-based entrepreneurship in Harvesting Success will resonate in a manner you have not previously experienced! A must-read for those of us forging new enterprises in a demanding and discriminating world."

– Ray Leathers, President and CEO, Shelby County Industrial and Development Foundation, and Author of Shut Up, Get Lean

"Immerse yourself in Harvesting Success and savor the farm-to-business entrepreneurial adventure. As a friend and mentor, Renea holds the key to balancing her entrepreneurial drive while still staying grounded. In this book, she shows us how nurturing our roots will bring forth growth."

– Julie Torzewski, Executive Director, Down Syndrome of Louisville

"Harvesting Success shares real solutions and faith to handle real obstacles. These chapters can guide you on your journey! Renea has a gift of energizing and empowering successful teams."

– Tim Fisher, Vice President and Registered Investment Principal

To harvest success, you must first plant your dreams. It’s so inspiring to have a mentor who has used her childhood experiences to grow into such a passionate entrepreneur. The world needs Renea’s story and what she has to share.

– Ben Byrne, President, Byrne Insurance Group

Just because this book is a delightful and engaging read, don’t mistake it; Renea is a brilliant and unrelenting entrepreneur. You will learn from her that success and hard work doesn’t require you to be too serious! Striving can be fun!

– Maggie Harlow, CEO, Signarama Downtown Louisville

Renea is the real, down-home, you feel you’ve known her all your life, deal. She has lived it, and her success in life and in business is an inspiration to everyone she meets. If you are ripe for a harvest in your life or in your business, add some fertilizer to your soul by plowing into this refreshingly clever reminder of the good old-fashioned ‘farm values’ that will get you there.

– Melissa Fraser, Vistage Coach

"If there is anyone who exemplifies the picture of putting her heart and soul into life, it is Renea Sageser. In Harvesting Success, Renea artfully discusses the principles of hard-work and dedication and gives us tools to practically implement them. What a beautiful glimpse into how we can sow seeds of value, cultivate our soil of today, and reap a harvest of a life of meaning. Renea speaks from experience and from the heart. This book, and this author, are true gifts to all of us."

– Amy Oliver, Audiologist

"Harvesting Success offers an inspiring journey that shows the power of faith and passion in cultivating a thriving business and life! Renea’s authentic reflections on her own leadership lessons illuminates timeless wisdom for all of us."

– Paula Garner, LCSW, MBA, Maryhurst, President and CEO

"Partnering with Renea has been an inspiring journey. Harvesting Success reflects her commitment and the dynamic partnership we’ve cultivated together."

– Lauren Sclesky, CEO, VersiCare Group

I have had the privilege of watching Renea’s extraordinary business grow and flourish exponentially, positively impacting thousands of women, children, and families. What is truly remarkable about Renea is that she has done so while keeping her humble roots and cultivating a beautiful, ever-expanding family of her own. Renea is a great businesswoman and uncompromising in her role as mother, wife, therapist, daughter, sister, and friend. Renea has given us a gift by letting us see firsthand the principles underlying her accomplishments. Her blueprint for success doesn’t sacrifice family or values; it capitalizes on them. Renea generously shares her fundamentals of success in this must-read!

– Rochelle C. Mehl, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist

"I have been blessed to know Renea for over ten years professionally and personally. She is a woman of strong values and work ethic. She loves life and people. She amazes me at how well she balances and excels at her many roles in life, from wife to mother to speech pathologist to business owner to friend. She always manages to make time to celebrate and validate those around her. Renea started her company from nothing, grew it to cover multiple states, and provided much-needed services to countless kids to help them gain more independence and live more fulfilling lives. The world is a better place for having Renea in it. I am excited that now more people can learn from this dynamic woman through her book Harvesting Success, which highlights her journey from being a farmer’s daughter to a successful businesswoman. Her roots paved the way, weaving through her many achievements."

– Anna Ehret, M.D., Associate Professor of Child Neurology

"Having been blessed with a front-row seat to a small part of Renea’s journey, I am excited for others to glimpse the dogmatic habits that have made Renea so inspirational to those around her. Harvesting Success is a must-read for CEOs and aspiring entrepreneurs alike."

– Matt Pettit, Founding Partner, Seven Hills Capital

"Dive into Harvesting Success for a taste of the farm-to-table entrepreneurial adventure. This book cultivates both inspiration and knowledge."

– Raymond G. Strothman, Founder and Chairman,

Strothman and Company, CPAs and Advisors

Renea has written an inspiring book providing concrete guidance on entrepreneurship based on the influences she experienced as a farm girl. Renea is a rare person with an entrepreneurial spirit, a passion for helping others, and a servant’s heart. You will be motivated to pursue your passion through her stories, experiences, and advice sprinkled throughout her book.

– Vickie Yates Brown Glisson, JD, Health and Health Insurance Lawyer, Government Affairs Consultant and Arbitrator and Commonwealth of Kentucky Secretary for Health and Family Services, 2015-2018

Harvesting Success

How to Grow Your Company

the Farm-to-Business Way

Renea Sageser

Copyright © 2023, Renea Sageser

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical (including any information storage retrieval system) without the express written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations for use in articles and reviews wherein appropriate attribution of the source is made.

Publishing support provided by

Ignite Press

5070 N. Sixth St. #189

Fresno, CA 93710

www.IgnitePress.us

ISBN: 979-8-9895489-0-3

ISBN: 979-8-9895489-1-0 (E-book)

For bulk purchases and for booking, contact:

Renea Sageser

[e-mail]

Farmtobusinessmodel.com or harvestingsuccess.com

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, web addresses or links contained in this book may have been changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The content of this book and all expressed opinions are those of the author and do not reflect the publisher or the publishing team.

The author is solely responsible for all content included herein.

All quotes from Scripture are taken from the HOLY BIBLE,

NEW LIVING TRANSLATION (NLT),

Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation.

Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream,

Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023919801

Cover design by K M Shahidul Arafat, 99Designs

Edited by Lynn F. Thompson, Living on Purpose Communications

Interior design by Jetlaunch

FIRST EDITION

I dedicate this book to my amazing husband, Scott Sageser, who has been my ROCK, best friend, and our family’s foundation, and always giving me the push to reach my dreams; to my children, Makray, Lana Claire, Gina Beth, Tripp, and Dolly Jean, each beautiful and special in their unique way, who remind me every day of the importance of loving the gift of children; to my parents, David and Vicki Renfroe, who showed me the value of staying true to my roots; to my sister Kim and my brother Kevin, my grandparents, and to all my family and friends who believed in me more than I believed in myself.

Table of Contents

Dear Reader

Introduction

Chapter 1 Hunger for Success – The Drive Within Faith

Chapter 2 Grit and Grace – Building Resilience and Compassion in Leadership, Work Ethic, and Values

Chapter 3 I Help Make Your Underwear – Worthwhile Work and Purpose

Chapter 4 Purpose of Cultivation – Employee Development for Lasting Growth

Chapter 5 Reap What You Sow – Strategic Farming for Business Growth

Chapter 6 Seasons

Chapter 7 Tinker – Innovation and Change – Unleashing Creativity for Business Success

Chapter 8 Chop the Weeds – Human Resource, People

Chapter 9 Play in the Dirt – Building a Positive Culture

Chapter 10 Love Your Neighbor – Service

Chapter 11 Chocolate Gravy – Goals and Rewards and Success Stories

Chapter 12 What You Leave Behind – Your Legacy

Resources

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Dear Reader,

Why am I the one telling this tale that brings together farming and business? Let me explain. I’m not just any author typing words on paper. I’m not peeking in from the sidelines. I have been right in the midst of it. And that’s why my story is worth your while.

First off, I’m a farmer’s daughter. Don’t mistake me for a full-fledged farmer—not even close. Strangely enough, it took a while for me to fully grasp the wisdom that came from growing up on the farm. It wasn’t until I opened my own business that I saw how those farm days had shaped my entrepreneurial path.

Those early mornings and late nights on the farm taught me what no book could. They instilled hard work, resilience, and nurturing something from scratch. It’s funny, though—even though farming wasn’t my big passion, those experiences remain the foundation of many invaluable lessons. I didn’t dream of farming full-time like some family members, but I can’t deny the wisdom I soaked up. These values seamlessly guide my entrepreneurial journey.

Let me introduce myself: I’m Renea, an entrepreneur with a vision to help children with special needs. In 2007, I took a leap of faith and embarked on a journey to create something extraordinary. Fast forward, can you guess what happened? That leap has transformed into a reality beyond my wildest dreams. So far, we are blessed to have impacted the lives of more than 35,000 children across three states and over 50 locations from clinics to schools to vital partnerships. It’s a journey that’s indeed left me in awe.

In addition, I’m incredibly fortunate and humbled to be recognized with many awards over the years. Some of these acknowledgments include being part of Louisville’s Business First Forty Under 40, receiving honors from the KY Speech and Hearing Association, earning the title of Louisville Business Woman of the Year, and, for the past several years, consistently holding a spot in the esteemed KY Best Places to Work.

However, it’s about more than numbers or awards won. It’s about the heart and soul poured into every step. It’s