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The biggest shifts in a business often come from decisions no one else sees.
Future Proof is a show for business owners facing the pressure to grow and the weight of legacy, often at the same time.
Hosted by Scott Eckart, each episode features honest conversations with leaders who’ve made bold moves, stepped into succession, or redefined success altogether. You’ll hear what they were up against, what they chose, and what they’d do differently now.
If you're thinking about what's next and want to build a business that lasts, this is the show for you.
Scott Eckart (00:02):
I am Scott Eckart, and this is Future Proof, a show for building something that lasts. Let's get into it. This episode explores what it looks like to rethink a family legacy and how a small farm in Indiana became a destination that draws thousands every year. Lucas Dull walked away from a career in engineering to return to his family's farm, but what he came back to wasn't working.
Lucas Dull (00:28):
My parents have lived right there where the tree farm is since they've been married. Dad had always been passionate about forestry and there was kind of a gap in Christmas tree farms in that area. They planted trees in ‘85. The first time they sold a tree was in 1993.
Scott Eckart (00:46):
In this episode, you'll hear how he and his wife, Dana, reimagine what the farm could be and how they're leading with their family at the center to build a second generation family business that will long outlive them. You'll hear about the decision to shut down the grain operation and the early risk of building something new and what it takes to hold onto your history while moving forward at the same time.
Dana Dull (01:10):
I think a lot of people think I'm kind of crazy to homeschool our kids and run this business. It's just fun to see their skillset starting to develop too as they get older and their desire for different things on the farm. And we also want to give them the opportunity if they want to come back. If not, it'll be fun to see what they do in life.
Scott Eckart (01:32):
Alright, a big welcome to Lucas and Dana Dull, who are the owners of Dull's Tree Farm in Thorntown, Indiana. I am very, very excited to have you here with me on Future Proof and for those of you listening, if you've never been to Dull's Tree Farm, you really need to go. It is a magical place. Thousands of families across Indiana have made it a place where they make it a destination each year, either in the fall or for Christmas, a place where they go and they build it into an actual destination for their family, something that they do every year. And I know I've sent clients there and they say that our kids, if we don't have it on the calendar, they want to know mom and dad, when are we going? And so I've had the privilege to work with you and your parents for many years, Tom and Kerry, really beginning with your succession planning. And I have to say what a joy it's been to come alongside you in the journey along the way. How long have your folks been on that particular property and when did the farm actually start?
Lucas Dull (02:43):
So the Christmas tree farm would've started in ‘85, 1985, and so that would've been four years prior to me being born. And my parents have lived right there where the tree farm is since they've been married, which would've been ‘82. So my dad had joined his dad in the traditional farming operation of corn, soybeans. They had some hogs, they had some cattle. And really the tree farms started from, the original thought was that they were going to expand the hog operation when my dad came back and joined the farm. And it wasn't a good time to expand hog operations. So dad had always been passionate about forestry, and there was kind of a gap in Christmas tree farms in that area. And so they decided that a Christmas tree farm would be a good side business. We want to start having kids and be good to save for their college. So let's just sell Christmas trees and just put that away for their college. So that was kind of the original thought. And for Christmas Tree Farms, the challenge to starting is that they planted trees in 85. The first time they sold a tree was in 1993, so eight years later, eight years of input without any return. So that was definitely a season that I admire them for going through that they were able to put in all the hours of work.
Scott Eckart (04:15):
Talk about a long vision. Wow.
Lucas Dull (04:17):
Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So basically growing up, it was the corn and soybean operation. We did phase out of hogs when my grandpa's health became to the point where he could no longer participate in the farm. And so it was corn, soybeans, Christmas trees on the side, which no pun intended, but the Christmas tree were continuing to grow. That side side business was growing. And then that's where as I grew up, I got to witness that and participate in it a little bit. But then going to college, I didn't see the Christmas tree farm as a standalone business. And it wasn't until adding additional agritourism elements to it that I thought that can be a full-time thing to raise a family on.
Scott Eckart (05:03):
Yeah, because one of the things I learned was that you sold so many trees that you can only cut so many, and then you need to bring out more fresh trees. So that's how things had gone. And it's really cool when you go out there to see the progression of year one, year two, year three. I mean, you can really see that, but there's no rushing. There's no rushing a tree. Right. I learned a concept in meeting you called agritourism. So I think it's important as we get started. Lucas, do you mind just kind hitting us up with the definition of agritourism? What is that?
Lucas Dull (05:37):
Sure. It's a relatively new industry, although if you look back, it's probably been around longer than we think. But essentially agritourism is the combination of tourism and agriculture where farms essentially open up their gates to the public to come onto the farm for various activities. You can have pick farm vegetables that would be considered agritourism because the public is coming to the farm. Or in our instance we are a pumpkin patch, corn base fall season, and then a you cut Christmas tree season where, again, public are coming onto the farm, they're experiencing something while they're there. That would be similar to a tourist coming to be either educated or entertained or both.
Scott Eckart (06:29):
That's very helpful. So our backdrop for everybody listening really is that, and I think as a financial guy, one of the things to me that is brilliant about agritourism is the fact that you can have multiple revenue streams throughout the year. And every time I turn around, every time I go out there, there's something new. I think last time I was there I saw flying pigs, did I not?
Lucas Dull (06:51):
Maybe some version of that.
Scott Eckart (06:53):
And then I think you bought a tractor and you were going to put digitize it or put some nuke gauges in it for kids. Is that right, Dana?
Dana Dull (07:02):
Yeah, just last year we added a tractor experience where kids can go in and push different buttons to learn about different crop products.
Scott Eckart (07:10):
And then when did you put the trading post in?
Dana Dull (07:12):
That was in 2020.
Scott Eckart (07:14):
So tell me a little bit about that now.
Dana Dull (07:16):
Yeah, so when the farm started as a Christmas tree farm, they had just a little cabin that they started selling and just going to other conferences and things like that. I saw the vision of being able to have a bigger retail space where people can grab some type of item that they can remember the farm buy, whether it's an ornament or a toy for a kid. We even try and have locally grown different types of, we have milk and jams and that type of thing, local honey maple syrup. And so it's just another touch point on the farm where people can experience getting to just see different items that we can offer to them.
Scott Eckart (07:50):
Yeah, I love going in there to shop. It's not small for that. It's beautiful. So if we can, let's go back in time. I'd really like for you all, if you don't mind to share with us one of the first conversations that you had about going back to the farm. So Lucas is a Purdue grad. Go Boilers. And I'd love for you to share with us when you first started having conversations about returning, I know that the farm's very important to you, but you were headed into an engineering position, I think, right? So could you share with us a little bit more about that?
Lucas Dull (08:26):
Yeah, yeah. So going to college, I didn't necessarily have plans on coming back to the farm. I felt my draw was not towards the corn soybean operation. That was kind of the bread and butter of the farm at that time. And so I went to be an engineer. I felt that fit me well with my academic strengths and I liked problem solving and those types of things, but while in college I just kind of more or less stumbled across the realm of agritourism as an industry. And not that I didn't know pumpkin patches and corn mazes were a thing, but I hadn't really seen the vast options that are available in that space. I guess Dana will share that part, but I do remember sitting in my college apartment spending way more time than I should. Just looking at a website after website after website of these big farms that were doing agritourism super well in all different parts of the country and going, I bet we could do that. I could do that and just do it a little bit different. I made that kind of transition in college of now my plan was I'm still going to finish my engineering degree, I'm still going to try that. But I did have a pull of eventually I want to end up back at the farm doing all of these things that I'm now aware of in agritourism.
Dana Dull (09:52):
I can remember his sophomore year coming into his apartment and him sitting by his computer looking it up and him saying, I think I'm going to switch to Ag engineering. And at first I was like, okay, so you're staying with engineering. But then it was beyond that and like, well no, I want to start this business where people are coming out to the, I mean I already knew that the tree farm side of it, but just his vision for the fall. And then beyond that, a lot of our dates in the fall from that point forward were visiting other pumpkin patches and corn maizes. Oh boy.
Scott Eckart (10:22):
They're very romantic. And then what year did you guys get married? You told me, but I don't remember.
Lucas Dull (10:29):
We got married in 2012, so basically a month after graduating college. So we started together from that point into an engineering job and then the transition back to the farm. Now here we are.
Scott Eckart (10:43):
Yeah. So you told me a story here recently that had something to do with rent. So there you are, you're in your first job and you're getting very excited about applications and your boss told you something kind of maybe soul crushing, actually not right. So tell us that story.
Lucas Dull (11:03):
Yeah, so I took a manufacturing engineering job and it was a great job. And in fact when I started to talk about leaving that job, a lot of people were like, no, this is a job you retire from, not that you move on from. And so I'm very thankful for that experience. But while I was there I was responsible for some machinery, some manufacturing machinery and needed to make some changes to it. And so I was going through the problem solving process of what needed to change and all the design elements that went along with that. And then I started basically hanging out with the guy that was doing the manufacturing of the pieces that I needed to put into the line. And I don't know if eventually my boss thought I was hanging out with him too much or what the case was, he did tell me at one time we engineers aren't supposed to be the ones turning the wrenches. And that kind of hit me as well. I really enjoy turning the wrench and using my hands and also seeing the process from beginning all the way through the end. I don't really like the idea of passing it off for somebody else to implement. And so that was one of the moments where it was kind of clarity to me that this wasn't a long-term position for me. I was going to transition to entrepreneurship and creating something myself that I could see from beginning to end. It didn't have to pass off.
Scott Eckart (12:32):
For myself, I did not ask to become an entrepreneur. I got pushed off the cliff and I didn't even know how to spell entrepreneur. Grew up around MVU. Did you know you were an entrepreneur? I mean, did you always have this burning desire to own and run a business?
Lucas Dull (12:51):
I would say not necessarily. If I look back then maybe it was more evident than I paid attention to at that time. The things that get me excited are endless possibilities and seeing processes through from beginning, coming up with the idea through making the idea actually happen. And then I like variability. One of the other things I struggled with my engineering job was while day to day things were different, month to month were very similar and I grew up in an environment where what you did January, February, March was different than what you did April and May, which was different than what you did September October, there was change happening and that was appealing to me as kind of maybe a little more agricultural specific than entrepreneurship, but being an entrepreneur allows for so many of those things to come together.
Scott Eckart (13:49):
Well said. So Dana, you married this kind of entrepreneur undercover. You also are an entrepreneur. Do you feel like an entrepreneur?
Dana Dull (13:59):
Yeah, I mean in what we do, yes, become part of who I am. And I mean growing up I grew up on a farm as well, and sometimes I think it's hard to look at farmers and think go entrepreneur, but I mean that is what they're doing. And I remember just not that my dad's schedule was super flexible, but he had the ability to take 20 minutes to jump in the pool with us in the summer and then he may come home 20 minutes later because he decided to do that. But the flexibility of schedule, there was something that I always enjoyed as a kid. So even though he worked a lot of long hours and worked really hard, he still had that ability to fit in the family time.
Scott Eckart (14:36):
So what I love about your partnership and the two of you is, and Lucas said it really well, endless possibilities and then Dana makes it happen. So I love to say there is no tree farm without Dana. I mean clearly and in all of our meetings and all of our planning, I call you this dynamic duo. I mean the two of you are a powerhouse. So Dana, what is it like to be married to the endless possibility guy?
Dana Dull (15:03):
It can be overwhelming sometimes, but I see the possibilities too. I mean, we're a part of a lot of different organizations where we visit other farms and network with them. And so I see him too, but we start the year with like, oh, let's try this, this and this. And he's still coming to me halfway through the year, but what if we also added this? I'm like, okay, he has the ideas and I'm kind of, okay, well let's look at the timeframe and can we accomplish it in the time that we need?
Scott Eckart (15:31):
Yeah, the gas and the brakes.
Dana Dull (15:34):
Right.
Scott Eckart (15:35):
No, you do quite well. So as we continue on the origin story here, I also happen to know and had the privilege of working with Tom and Kerry who are Lucas's mom and dad, and they were very specific with me about, we need a succession plan, Scott, we need to talk this through. And they were very secure in the fact that the two of you were there to stay. I think sometimes when I work with families, there's a bit of insecurity there about they just don't know if second gen is there to stay and that creates insecurity. Well, in this situation we didn't have that, which was really a beautiful thing. And so they were very specific with me about, Hey, let's create this succession plan, which included you guys becoming owners, which was fantastic. But one of the things we had to talk about was what I call getting Tom off the tractor. And we talked a lot about this struggle. If Lucas was also on the tractor, which he needed to be, that was less time for the tree farm and less time for development, less time for this visionary man to be able to do the thing. We had to I guess call it shutting down the grain operation. So that was a struggle I guess share with us about wrapping that up and then what did that do for you guys when you were able to really be a hundred percent into the business?
Lucas Dull (16:55):
So basically when I came back to the farm, it was with an understanding that I was going to participate on the grain farm side of things, specifically in the spring and summer with planting and spraying, but that I was also going to focus on creating this fall agritourism. And the fall agritourism was not going to be a moneymaker in year one, and we knew that. And so we needed the grain farm still to be kind of the bread and butter consistent element to the business. But it didn't take very many years before I started feeling very conflicted of that opportunity cost of being in the sprayer, being unable to spend those hours on the agritourism and what I saw as the bigger opportunity in the future. And so I had already pretty much expressed that I wanted my focus to be on agritourism and I was still okay with dad farming and I actually didn't really know that he was open to stopping farming
(18:04):
Until he said in a meeting, what do you think about stopping farming and just getting out of it? And I think everybody else in the family was like, what? But at the same time I do think that he was seeing that same opportunity. So for him to be open to that was encouraging to me and that he had faith that what we were moving towards was sustainable and was viable. And then making that transition really opened up our time and energy to be able to put full into agritourism. The biggest limiting factor to our business is our own time, our own energy would be I think the most limited resource. And so alleviating that to open up a big chunk of time and energy was a big game changer.
Scott Eckart (18:55):
Dana, want to pick up on something that you mentioned earlier and that was just flexibility with your dad and schedule and everything. And so one of the things that I think I'd be remiss in bringing up busier beautiful family and you're educating your children and you've been able in many ways to really make that work. And so family business has probably as many challenges as it does opportunities. Could you just talk about some of the flexibility that you've enjoyed with the children and literally living on the farm, some of the things that you all get to do because of that arrangement there?
Dana Dull (19:32):
So in 2020, our oldest was actually supposed to go off to school, but it was COVID and all of that. And so we actually decided to keep her home. And since then we homeschool all four of our kids now. And I think a lot of people think I'm kind of crazy to homeschool our kids and run this business. And I won't lie, it does cause a lot to manage, but overall being able to have them see how the farm functions, but then also midday if we run over to the farm to do something, they get to check in with Lucas or they get to go see grandma, grandpa and I don't know, it's just fun to see their skillsets starting to develop too as they get older and their desire for different things on the farm. And we're open to whatever our kids want, if not of 'em come back.
(20:18):
It is what it is, but we also want to give them the opportunity if they want to come back. And we are already starting to see little entrepreneurs in them. Our oldest two opened up their own little food stand last year and they're planning on running it again this year. And even just this past week they were talking about hiring some of their friends and so they're all about it. And then our youngest, our son, he's just all about working and tractors and all the thing. And so being able to incorporate them into that at a young age to where hopefully they see the business and how it runs and if they decide to come back, they do. If not, it'll be fun to see what they do in life.
Lucas Dull (20:57):
Our second oldest was asking my dad about why he was doing something or how he was doing it. So he kind of briefly explained it to her and she said, well, if I'm going to run this place someday, I have to know how to do that. She's got it in her mind anyway. But it is one of those things where we want to be able to provide the opportunity to them without the expectation that they're going to do it. And I hope that even if they decide not to, the opportunity to grow up on the farm and seeing the business, even if they don't pursue that is going to prepare them for a lot of opportunities in the skills that they've developed in just the experiences that they've had. How many eight or 10 year olds have had to interact with a customer in the way that they have? And so there's a lot of those elements that we love watching our kids get to experience, whether or not they come back to the farm at all, it's just that in the moment what they're learning and experiencing is really special.
Scott Eckart (22:04):
I love watching it too. It just gives me a lot of joy to see them do the thing. And then of course after you guys saying you would never get a puppy and then as Holly, right, joining with Frank. So Dana, in addition to doing all those things, let's talk a little bit about your role in terms of management. You've learned a ton about that. So what are been some of the highlights and also some of the challenges then in having married into this family, but you are really chief of operations and so you've got a lot on your plate, but what are some of the things that you've learned and running what's now a fairly large operation?
Dana Dull (22:42):
For me, coming back to the farm, I just wanted to be a support to Lucas. I knew this was his passion, his dream. And as we started it I realized, okay, I do have skillset that I can apply to this. And I went to Purdue for math education and pretty much only used it for a year. And then we started having kids, so I just stayed at the farm. But I do think Purdue helped set me up in the sense of I went through some engineering courses and some computer science things and stuff like that, and just the problem solving and organizing charts and that type of thing was something that I just enjoyed. And so I kind of just stumbled into becoming the operations manager at the farm. But overall, I think the challenges are that growing up I had Ottoman jobs, but never in the business industry.
(23:33):
And so learning how a business works and self-teaching ourselves where, how do you organize a business and how do you organize staff and HR and all of that, it's, it's been fun to learn and grow and there's a lot of things that we've taught ourselves to be able to do. But overall, I mean I enjoy the organization side of it and so for me, being able to know what our projects are and have lists for people and making sure those lists are getting done and that type of thing is something that I enjoy doing. And so overall it is been an interesting role for me to step into and to hear people say, oh, you're what helps keeps this business going. That's never what I envision myself being. And so I think that's a challenge too for me is to actually take on that role and be confident in it, but I do enjoy it. And overall, some of my favorite times at the farm are being able to serve the customers or serve our staff. And so being able to help from that level set those values and guidelines for our farm is something I really enjoy.
Scott Eckart (24:38):
How the two of you find time for you though, in the midst of all of that? I know you've got some pretty good babysitters across the street. So as the kids get older, I know high season it is what it is, but are you able to find time for the two of you in the midst of it as entrepreneurs?
Lucas Dull (24:57):
Yeah. I mean it is something that you have to pay attention to and be intentional about, especially when we work together, differentiating the time of, well, we're together a lot, but it's different to be out on a date than it is together in meetings or doing things at the farm all the time. So we need to be intentional about that. We also enjoy the opportunities that doing this together has allowed for us to go attend conferences together and do those types of things. Just us two don't take a lot of trips that are just a complete leisure, but a lot of the things that we attend to be leisurely in that they are fun in addition to having a purpose as far as the business is concerned, so they don't feel like business and we still get to go out to dinner during them or go out to dinner with other farms that have become friends. Those opportunities have been great.
Scott Eckart (25:58):
Nice. So meeting with your mom one time, Kerry, we were just chatting and she was just remarking to me. She goes, Scott, I can hardly believe that we started as this literally mom and pop thing and now we're this real business and we have books and taxes and all these employees. I guess my question for the two of you is do you remember a point in time when you're like, we did it. We're here. This is what we do now and this is where you're going to ride into the sunset.
Lucas Dull (26:27):
It is been more of a process than maybe individual moments, but a couple that do stand out. When we did completely get out of grain farming, that was a moment of essentially collectively saying, this is working and it's going to work and we are expecting it to work. That's where it was like, well, now this is our full-time thing. This is the only thing that pays the bills. And there's been several instances where Dana will actually make comments about when we do something better than what we've been doing. And she'll be like, now we're a real farm. And I mean one of those is we used to almost all of our signage was the backside of seed signs that you see at cornfields and bean fields and just handwritten signs on the back, the blank sides. And now we pretty much print get professionally printed all of our signage and things so that it obviously looks better than all of our handwritten signs. But I can remember times where we've switched from one to the other and when we put it up, Dana will be like, ah, see, now it looks like we're a real farm, a real business.
Scott Eckart (27:37):
Yeah, it's the small things.
Dana Dull (27:39):
I think in the last few years as well. It's just his sister came back a few years ago as well, and we brought on more staff in the last few years. And to see us actually be able to sustain that year after year and again is moments where it's like, okay, we're doing this and probably need to add on even more staff now, what does that look like? But overall, I think taking those initial first jumps, especially out of the grain farming and then just where we are in these last few years have felt like, yeah, this is a business.
Scott Eckart (28:10):
I know in working with you all and just looking at the org chart and we sit down and we kind of look at them, I'm like, Hey, where's that person coming from? And do we need to do this and that for sure. Very interesting. And I know that you want to keep traditions, but you are innovating. What are some of the things maybe that you're thinking about now in terms of innovating even further?
Lucas Dull (28:36):
My next big thing, Dana's heard this a thousand times, but my next big thing is while we've made little small changes mostly to accommodate the number of people visiting and specifically during our Christmas tree season, the options of what we could add to that season is a huge list. And so really, I've just recently completed a growth plan specific to this, and the three elements to that are creating an atmosphere where people will just want to be providing food that is not just the run of the mill. It's not a concession stand-style food. It's food that makes people come just for the food.
(29:22):
We're not going to be a restaurant that for those four weeks operate like a restaurant. And then entertainment and the entertainment options are very broad. We haven't really narrowed that element down yet, but essentially creating enough of an experience that right now, 95% or more of our visitors during tree season are there to get a tree. There's a lot of people that don't get a real tree and that's okay, but we want to attract those people to the farm as well, even during our Christmas tree season. And so creating an experience that appeals to everyone to come to the farm and enjoy the farm, even if they don't leave with a tree, we have plenty of visitors that come during fall and don't leave with a pumpkin. And so kind of mimicking that same sort of thing, but it has to be different than fall because people don't want to spend four or five hours outside in December like they do in September, October. So.
Scott Eckart (30:20):
Well, that's exciting. And I can't wait to learn. I'm more, and I know when I'm up there, we bring clients and I love to stand back and I have such a shared sense of pride and I tend to get a little emotional as you guys know about you guys, certain points you can be and you can see a lot. And I see kids coming down the slide. I see people getting on the wagons, I see kids down at the petting thing. I see the pumpkin cannon, which is of course my favorite. I also know there's been some low points to you, and there was a particular thing that happened that was pretty crazy. I remember I was calling up for something and I was talking to you, Lucas, and you said, Hey, we had something major happen. Can you share that story with me?
Lucas Dull (31:06):
Sure. Yeah. So I guess it's been a couple of years ago now, but...
Dana Dull (31:1):
Yeah, it was four.
Lucas Dull (31:12):
So we built, I'll call it a low ropes course. It's kind of a giant jungle gym type of structure, and we were real excited about it. It was at that time definitely the biggest single activity type of investment that we had made. We started in January and worked on it over the course of the year all summer, building this new activity. And so we had a lot of anticipation for it. And so I had kind of put the finishing touches on it on Tuesday after Labor Day Wednesday night. About 70% of it was burnt to the ground and they deemed it was arson. Nothing ever came from that at this point. It doesn't matter to us so much, but it was a very gut wrenching two or three days of can't believe this and what are we going to do and those types of things.
(32:10):
And then we pretty quickly decided, okay, it's happened. So now really what are we going to do? Let's actually decide what we're going to do. And then we started getting all this community outpouring of support. Hey, what can we do? And so we essentially had a group of community members come together to tear down everything because before we could even think about rebuilding, there was this giant mess of burnt stuff in the middle of the farm. And I'm thinking, if I were to clean this up, it's going to take me weeks. And so we put together a group of community members that had reached out, they came in and did all the just demolition of getting everything out of the way. And then a local contractor who we had worked with before on our own home, essentially in some ways came out of retirement to come and say, Hey, I can help with the rebuild of this. And because we were thinking there's no way that we're going to accomplish it, we're two weeks away from our opening date. It took us months to build. There's no way that we're getting it turned around. So basically, between all of those things happening, it was usable again by the middle of the season.
(33:28):
So essentially by the second week, maybe third week, I'm not sure of October, we were able to open it up and allow public to use it for the last part of our season, even the same year that all happened. So it was a low turned into an encouraging thing for us to see the outpouring of support. And then ultimately now we look back at it as something that we came out the other side stronger than before. So what was that like for you, Dana?
Dana Dull (33:56):
I think for me, a lot had happened the year leading into that. My mom had actually passed away. We had just had our youngest son that same year, and there was just a lot of life. And so that kind of felt like just another layer of man, it just felt like attack after attack basically. And I can remember him calling telling me that I was on fire, I was trying to put the kids to bed for a moment. It felt like almost this lack of sense of security or peace for our family. Our house is just not that far away. And just to see our kids' response felt kind of scary to an extent. And so it did take me a while to work through that side of it, but just sitting here listening to him share the story again, it just reminds me of how they say God takes the ashes and can turn it into beauty.
(34:42):
And I do think overall seeing the outpour of support, and then also it was about that year where things really started to take off in terms of growth at the fall season too. And so as low as that felt like there was also a lot of them blessings that poured into the business, just seeing that people even inside of our business who had been placed with different managers and that type of thing, and how they came alongside of us and knew we couldn't handle this right now, so they took more on to help us open that type of thing, fill that support as well was something that I think I'll always remember.
Scott Eckart (35:18):
So people stepped up in the special way, even inside the organization. So why didn't you give up? Why didn't you just say, we're not going to try new stuff?
Lucas Dull (35:30):
The first thought in that moment was like, is it worth rebuilding or not?
Dana Dull (35:37):
Which part of that's, he doesn't like to do anything twice. So if he built something, that's it. So for him to have to redo that project was asking a lot of.
Lucas Dull (35:45):
Yeah. Yeah. The other thing that made us definitely want to rebuild is our second oldest daughter, you take over about that.
Dana Dull (35:57):
So I mean, like I said, I was trying to put them to bed realizing this isn't going well where we live, there's a tree line, so you can't necessarily see the farm, but you could see the flames that night. And so I'm calling staff members who I know will pray and they're praying, I'm calling my best friend to let her know those types of things. And so the kids, I mean the kids are aware. You hear the sirens and everything, people are asking What's going to happen next? But our kids start being like, it's going to be okay. We can rebuild this. That night. Lucas comes home from after everything, the fire department's left and all that, and our second, you're going to have to say what she said to you.
Lucas Dull (36:32):
I mean, she just came up to me and handed me 87 cents. That was her money that she wanted me to use to rebuild the ropes course because she wanted to see it rebuilt.
Dana Dull (36:46):
And the next day they had used paper and cardboard and rebuilt their own replica, like we can...
Lucas Dull (36:52):
Here's the model to build off of, rebuild it. And so for them to just be like, it's not even a question, it's going to get rebuilt.
Scott Eckart (37:02):
And what that tells me is that they have incredible belief in both their parents that this will happen and my dad and my mom can do anything. That's amazing. So the road of the entrepreneur is not an easy one. And I've often said that when I started my business, if I'd known how hard it was going to be, I never would've done it, but if I'd known how well it turned out, I probably would've started sooner. You don't really know how things are going to go, and yet people still come to the farm, they leave there lifted up and encouraged, and I see you doing it every day and it's hot and it's cold out there, and so you make life better. Given the legacy of the farm is what have you learned from Tom and Kerry because they're two amazing people?
Dana Dull (37:51):
Yeah, I mean, one thing that has always out to me with Tom, anytime he's interviewed about the farm or asked the question about the farmer, are you the owner? And he always responds with God's the ultimate owner, but I'm the caretaker of it. And so just that mindset of this is just something we get to steward for however long God allows us. And being good stewards of that in terms of, I've mentioned with our staff or with customers, and I mean one word that comes to my mind with them is consistency. And so if you want to find them at any given time, they're probably out in their tree field and they're just very consistent in their work and in what they do. And so those are two things that really stand out to me from them.
Lucas Dull (38:34):
I would say those would be the same for me, and I'll add work ethic. I definitely admire their ability even as they've gotten older, they will still outwork any of our other staff. Young, old, doesn't matter. They're very hardworking people. And then also I think they also have done a good job, as I mentioned earlier, of following their passion. What they're passionate about, they pour into heavily and make it happen. For dad, that was growing the tree farm from nothing to eight years of work with no return to what it is recently. You cannot that without being passionate about it.
Scott Eckart (39:20):
Thank you, the two of you for sharing your story. I know it will encourage folks immensely, give them courage to try again, to get up, to begin anew, to begin again, I guess I should say in many different ways. Thank you.
Scott Eckart (39:37):
Our conversation really speaks to what this show is all about, the moments that reshape your business, the action and the mindset it takes to keep moving forward. Here are three things that really stood out to me from my conversation with Lucas and Dana as we look at how to future proof your business. Those three things were vision, communication, and responsibility. When Lucas came back to the farm, what was really striking to me was the clear vision that he had. Now, Lucas isn't the kind of person that walks into a room and says, okay, everybody listen to me. I have this vision. So one of the things that he had to really work on was to gather people around and be very clear about his vision. So if you are a leader, that is where I would start, is make sure that people really understand and really take you seriously as you think about vision.
(40:27):
So when you bring in number two communication, you must be crystal clear. And if this is something that you really struggle with, you need to ask for help where you can, but be very clear as you seek to bring other people along with your ideas and the communication that goes along with that. I've always said that responsibility without authority is a disaster. And there were times intergenerationally where he was told to go do a task but didn't necessarily have or know he had the authority to do so. One of the things that goes back to communication is to say, do I also have the authority to make this happen? And I have the responsibility, but are you going to give me the final say to get it done? And that wasn't always clear as they began to look at who's in charge, who's on first, who's on second?
(41:19):
So as you go forward and you want to future proof your business, think about your vision, think about communication, how you're going to tell everybody what you're going to do, and then do you actually have the authority to go along with the responsibility that you've been given to complete the task at hand. Dull's Family Farm is very active on social, and you can connect with them on Facebook, Instagram, or head to their website. You can find links to their profiles in the description of this episode. The future is bright. I'll see you on the next episode.
Scott Eckart (46:47):
Thank you for listening today. If you like what you've heard, please join us in the Velocity Network and sign up at www.velocoaches.com, which is a gathering of entrepreneurs, business owners, and people who desire to learn more about running and owning a business. Also, you can subscribe to Future Proof on Spotify, Apple, YouTube, or wherever you listen to podcasts.