Jeremy Tolley worked his way up to the top of the corporate ladder, only to find that his true calling was down to earth. He spent 20 years as a corporate human resources officer, including 14 years with Towne Park, an industry leader in parking services. There he rose from a regional employment manager in Nashville to Vice President of Talent at the Annapolis, Maryland headquarters. In terms of recognition and such, it was a great and rewarding career. But it came up short in the areas of personal fulfillment and gratification.
“Towne Park was a great experience as we grew the company from 300 employees to 8,000, but it was extremely stressful staffing that big of a company,” says Tolley. “I just needed time away.”
So the native of Atwood in rural Carroll County returned to his home state of Tennessee in 2014 for a year-long sabbatical. He purchased an 8.5-acre parcel of land near Leiper’s Fork where he could plant and raise crops, something he had enjoyed since he was a youngster. “I have been growing food since I was about 8 years old,” says Tolley. “My earliest childhood memories are of a big garden in rural Tennessee. I guess I was a bit of an oddball. Most kids were playing sports, but I always had my hands in the dirt.”
As he had planned, Tolley returned to work in 2015, this time as Chief People Officer at Brentwood-based CareHere. He continued tending to his small farm on weekends and whenever time permitted. And it was during this time that he began selling his produce, because the quarter-acre of his property that was dedicated to crops was yielding so much. It was not intended to be a bustling enterprise, just something to do. He sold some. Had some for his family. And he gave some away. And the word got out.
As Tolley recalls, “The moment things changed was when someone knocked on the door one Saturday morning and said, ‘I heard you’re selling vegetables.’ This was before buying online was a thing. So we setup a website for people to order and pickup veggies.”
This went on for several years until 2020 rolled around and people all over the country began seriously reevaluating what they wanted most out of life. Tolley was one of those people and the thought of becoming a full-time micro farmer was awfully appealing.
“But there was absolutely a sense of fear,” he says. “My career was invested in human resources, and I worked like crazy to get there. So there were those thoughts of ‘What if this fails?’ It held me back until one day I just had to get over that hurdle. Seeing how other people were making decisions to do something else, and the success stories that followed, encouraged me to do the same.”
And with that hurdle cleared, Red Thread Farm was born. The name comes from an ancient Chinese proverb that says, “An invisible red thread connects those destined to meet, regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The thread may stretch or tangle, but never break.”
Located at 5562 Parker Branch Road near Leiper’s Fork, the Red Thread Farm store is open Wednesday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. But the busiest time is Friday afternoon when folks who preorder can pick up goods from that week’s harvest.
Tolley says that leaving the corporate world for a down-to-earth job has “been a great decision. It’s a lot of work. Physical work. But it’s like running any business. There are more hours here than at a stressful corporate job. But I’m outside, hands in the soil and growing food. The community loves it and it’s a blessing for so many people who are looking for good, organic food.”
Tolley adds that he puts in about 12 hours a day, six days a week. About a third of those hours are spent growing food, the rest is spent running the business and serving customers.
December is a slow season for growing and a little more laid back, but Tolley says there’s still plenty of produce, including a salad mix and fresh herbs. But it won’t be long until January when seed orders are placed so that early-season crops can enter their grow
rooms by the first of February. RedThreadFarm.com
“My earliest childhood memories are of a big garden in rural Tennessee. I guess I was a bit of an oddball. Most kids were playing sports, but I always had my hands in the dirt.”