Meet Jessica
She/Her
Jessica brings a wealth of diverse agricultural knowledge to the Skout Strategy team. Jessica spent 5 years leading and operating Sananbio's first North American commercial indoor vertical farm, building operational game plans for Sananbio's largest US indoor vertical farm, and was a key contributor to the growth of Sananbio's global Radix sales. Jessica has spent the past 2 years building an urban flower farming business, growing primarily outdoors and in soil. This varied agricultural perspective paired with Jessica's track record of operational and team excellence makes her a crucial and key figure in any indoor vertical farming project.
Master of Landscape Architecture, University of New Mexico
BS Psychology, University of New Mexico
Associates in Controlled Environment Agriculture
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.”
— Ayn Rand
In Conversation with Jessica.
Previous experience prior to founding Skout Strategy?
I am a farmer first and foremost and grow edible and beautiful plants via hydroponic and soil methods.
The best piece of advice I’ve ever been given?
If you think a task will take one hour, multiply that by 3, and that is approaching reality.
What’s the most inspiring part of your job?
Helping entrepreneurs turn a vision into reality.
What advice would you give a candidate who wants to join Skout?
We work in a field where there are more questions than answers, and everyday we learn more about what we don’t know. Working with people who are inquisitive, open-minded and humble makes the journey far more enjoyable.
Favorite quote?
“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” - Ayn Rand
Top 3 favorite podcasts or books:
“Swindled: The Dark History of Food Fraud, from Poisoned Candy to Counterfeit Coffee” by Bee Wilson, “Snap Judgment: When to Trust Your Instincts, When to Ignore Them, and How to Avoid Making Big Mistakes with Your Money” by David Adler.
The Futility Podcast.
The future of CEA looks like…
Much more impactful. CEA will become a larger and larger part of food production across the globe, so we must continue to develop the infrastructure to support that growth. It will be an industry built by men and women alike, from various backgrounds across the world. It is not the solution to all the problems bearing down on our food system, but it is a part of the solution.
If I weren’t at Skout I’d be?
At my farm growing flowers.
On the weekend you can find me…
Growing flowers!
Favorite thing to cook/bake?
Good old-fashioned chocolate chip cookies.