How I’m funding my farm (without a trust fund)

SUMMARY

Alex, a 32-year-old solo entrepreneur, shares her self-funded journey from freelancing on Fiverr to transforming seven acres in upstate New York into a pollinator oasis, driven by a calling to support bees and nature without a trust fund.

STATEMENTS

Alex quit her corporate PR job in New York City after one month at age 22, realizing she thrived as an independent worker rather than in enclosed, hierarchical environments.
Starting with $5 editing gigs on Fiverr, Alex expanded into press releases, blogs, and website content, eventually earning a full salary of $36,000 in her first year without benefits.
By 2018, Alex was selected for Fiverr Pro, which boosted her income tenfold, allowing her to reach six figures through ghostwriting ebooks and other high-value services.
Alex worked relentlessly for eight years on her freelance business, taking no days off, which enabled extensive travel across the US and abroad while running her operation from her laptop.
In 2022, Alex published the book "Freelance Your Way to Freedom" with WY Publishing, offering guidance on side hustles, quitting jobs, and freelancing as a single parent.
Facing burnout in 2023, Alex shut down her lucrative freelance business entirely, prioritizing joy over maximum earnings, and relocated to the UK amid personal trauma from Hurricane Ian.
On the Isle of Man, Alex experienced a profound connection to nature, feeling an overwhelming urge to protect pollinators like bees, butterflies, and moths, which reshaped her life's purpose.
Returning to upstate New York, Alex purchased nearly seven acres of land using a loan from Farm Credit East, funded by savings from her freelance career, to create a pollinator habitat.
Currently, Alex sustains her farm through past savings, social media support, and donations like seeds from followers, while planning a self-sustaining business by fall without external financial aid.
Alex emphasizes authentic online sharing to attract communal support, viewing her solo efforts as inspiration for others, especially women, to pursue risky, passion-driven pivots.

IDEAS

Quitting a soul-crushing job spontaneously at 22 led Alex to discover her entrepreneurial potential through low-stakes freelancing on platforms like Fiverr.
Embracing low expectations for income from passion-driven work paradoxically attracts greater financial success, as seen in Alex's rapid scaling from $45 monthly to six figures.
Selection for elite programs like Fiverr Pro can multiply earnings unexpectedly, even on gig sites originally built around $5 transactions.
Relentless daily work without breaks, fueled by genuine love for entrepreneurship, builds skills and resilience that enable major life pivots like global travel on a laptop.
Burnout from peak earnings signals the need to abandon profitable paths entirely if they no longer spark joy, prioritizing fulfillment over financial security.
Traumatic events, like losing a home to Hurricane Ian, combined with career dissatisfaction, can catalyze profound personal revelations during solo travels abroad.
A sudden, visceral emotional connection to overlooked creatures like pollinators on a remote island can redirect an entire life toward environmental stewardship.
Community generosity online—such as seeds and donations—emerges when one vulnerably shares a "divine calling," fostering energetic connections that aid unconventional pursuits.
Focusing on perennials like fruit bushes and native flowers reduces long-term labor in solo farming, aligning sustainability with personal capacity limits.
Vast farmland transfers—$24 trillion over 20 years—present opportunities for new stewards to revive land for ecological benefits rather than traditional agriculture.

INSIGHTS

Authentic self-awareness about thriving in independence, not corporate structures, empowers early career pivots that align work with innate strengths and avoid prolonged misery.
Peace with modest goals in joyful pursuits often invites abundance, illustrating how detachment from pure financial motives amplifies success in creative endeavors.
Elite recognition in freelance ecosystems can transform marginal gigs into sustainable empires, highlighting the power of consistent effort in democratized marketplaces.
Trauma and disconnection from old careers can forge deeper purposes through immersion in pristine nature, revealing humanity's interdependence with unsung ecological heroes like pollinators.
Radical decisions, like fully closing thriving businesses, reclaim life for meaning over money, underscoring that true flourishing demands periodic reinvention despite risks.
Vulnerable online storytelling builds unexpected support networks, proving that shared passions connect people across distances to co-create missions beyond individual capacity.

QUOTES

"I knew I am not meant to be inside enclosed by walls. I am not meant to report to someone. I do not do well reporting to a boss if you guys can't tell."
"I sometimes find in life when you make peace about doing something that brings you so much happiness or joy and you're not just doing it for the money. Ironically, the money follows after you make that decision."
"I just felt this overwhelming sense of care and emotion come over me for pollinators. You're probably sitting there going, 'Yeah, okay, lady.' Like, what are you talking about? No, I swear you guys, I just felt this."
"If you fully share something that is on your heart authentically on the internet, you will connect with the people that are meant to help you see your next mission through."
"Being outside every day after being inside writing on my laptop for eight years is the most rewarding thing I could have ever asked for."

HABITS

Maintaining a relentless work ethic by taking no days off, even on holidays or when ill, to build and sustain a freelance business through consistent output.
Regularly browsing real estate listings on Zillow during transitions to identify opportunities that align with emerging life goals, like land for farming.
Documenting detailed financial breakdowns in writing, such as on Substack, to track costs, share transparently, and educate others on personal projects.
Prioritizing solo travel and exploration, including driving through non-trendy areas and staying in unconventional spots like barns, to gain enlightening perspectives.
Focusing daily learning on new skills, such as farming and gardening from scratch, to embrace pivots and accelerate competence in passion-driven endeavors.

FACTS

Fiverr's Pro program selects top 1-5% of talent, enabling earnings up to ten times higher through hand-picked premium gigs on a platform starting with $5 offers.
Hurricane Ian in 2022 devastated Florida, killing thousands, wiping out entire towns, and leaving Alex homeless after she rode out the storm.
The Isle of Man's Tynwald parliament is the world's longest continuously running, over a thousand years old, symbolizing sustained peace on the island.
Nearly $24 trillion in U.S. farmland value will transfer hands from retiring farmers over the next 20 years, creating openings for new ecological stewards.
Alex's seven-acre property in Saratoga County, New York, was financed via a Farm Credit East loan, allowing purchase and initial development without prior farming experience.

REFERENCES

Freelance Your Way to Freedom (book by Alex, published by WY Publishing in 2022).
House of Green (Alex's Substack for detailed cost breakdowns and farming guides).
Fiverr (freelance platform where Alex built her writing business).
Zillow (real estate site used to discover and evaluate the farmland property).
Farm Credit East (lender providing loan for land purchase and farm startup).

HOW TO APPLY

Identify your misalignment early: Reflect on daily emotions at work; if it causes distress like crying, quit impulsively but with support, then pivot to freelance platforms for immediate income.
Scale small gigs methodically: Start with low-barrier services on sites like Fiverr, expand offerings based on your skills (e.g., from editing to ghostwriting), and obsess over consistent delivery to attract elite opportunities.
Save aggressively during peaks: While building a business, forgo breaks to amass funds for future risks, enabling mobility like travel or property buys without external backing.
Seek nature-inspired clarity: During life transitions or trauma, travel solo to pristine areas; immerse in hikes and observations to uncover profound callings, like environmental protection.
Share vulnerably online: Publicly document your authentic journey on social media or newsletters to draw community aid, such as donations of seeds or advice, accelerating solo projects.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Embrace risky pivots from profitable paths to joyful callings, funding dreams through saved grit and communal energy for true fulfillment.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Shun corporate conformity if it stifles your spirit; test independence via freelance gigs to uncover scalable entrepreneurial freedom.
Detach from money obsession in passions—joy-first approaches often yield ironic abundance and sustainable motivation.
Close draining ventures completely during burnout; reinvest savings into nature-aligned pursuits for renewed purpose.
Harness online authenticity to summon global support; sharing heartfelt missions attracts allies and resources unexpectedly.
Prioritize perennials and natives in solo homesteading to minimize labor while maximizing ecological impact and pollinator benefits.

MEMO

At 32, Alex stands amid the wildflowers of her seven-acre plot in upstate New York, sleeves rolled up, dirt under her nails—a far cry from the windowless Brooklyn apartment where she once typed away in despair. Ten years earlier, fresh out of a soul-crushing PR job in Manhattan, she had quit on impulse, tears staining her keyboard after just one month. "I knew young that I wasn't meant for walls or bosses," she recalls, her arms gesturing freely in the video that captures her unfiltered energy. That spontaneous leap, supported yet fretted over by family, marked the start of a self-made odyssey, one now transforming overgrown land into a haven for bees, butterflies, and the quiet heroes of pollination.

What began as $5 editing gigs on Fiverr—humble hustles for coffee money—snowballed into a six-figure freelance empire. Alex ghostwrote ebooks, crafted press releases, and even starred in a commercial for the platform's elite Pro tier, a selection that multiplied her earnings tenfold. She toiled without pause for eight years, her laptop a passport to 30 states and foreign shores, nights spent in Midwest barns rather than trendy spots. "I loved testing my limits," she says, crediting that grind not just for financial independence but for the savings that bought her land through a Farm Credit East loan. Yet, by 2023, burnout loomed larger than any paycheck; clients soured the joy, and after surviving Hurricane Ian's devastation in Florida—losing her home and witnessing tragedy—she shuttered the business entirely.

A solo sojourn to the Isle of Man, that rugged speck in the Irish Sea with its ancient Tynwald parliament, proved transformative. Hiking cliffside paths amid blooming stone walls and buzzing bees, Alex felt an inexplicable surge: a calling to champion pollinators, those overlooked stewards of life. "Nobody's paying attention to these butterflies, these moths," she shares, voice laced with conviction. Returning north, past her Albany roots to Saratoga County, she snagged the Zillow listing that seemed too good to be true. No trust fund, no OnlyFans, no handouts—just past earnings fueling permits, an Amish barn, chickens, rabbits, and berry bushes fetched from Vermont's border.

Today, as the farm edges toward opening this fall, Alex navigates the entrepreneur's familiar ebb: savings dwindle between ventures, supplemented by social media cheers and stranger-sent seeds from across the globe. She's plotting a secret business, aligning with town officials after permitting marathons, all while planting perennials to ease solo toil. Her Substack spills the beans on costs, a transparent ledger for aspiring stewards eyeing the $24 trillion farmland handover from retiring farmers. "Shout about your crazy calling online," she urges, "and help will find you—we're all connected."

In Alex's story, risk isn't recklessness but revelation: a 5'3" woman alone with her vision, proving that pivots born of authenticity can restore not just land, but lives. As she drives for those berry bushes, the horizon whispers promise—of self-sustaining blooms, communal bonds, and a world where pollinators, and dreamers like her, finally thrive.