#127. After Sun Valley: Lane DeVries on Finding Purpose Beyond Success

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's Scott Hammond and the 100% Humboldt Podcast with my new best friend, Lane DeVries.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Lane.

Lane DeVries: Hey there. How are you, Scott?

Scott Hammond: I am very well. I was just complaining on the way in about the fog and the overcast, but-

Lane DeVries: That's-

Scott Hammond: Hey, it's not 107 and, and it's not Redding.

Lane DeVries: Exactly. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know? It's, it's-

Lane DeVries: And you were reminding me that it's, what, August in Humboldt?

Scott Hammond: It's August in Humboldt.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Tell us the Lane story. Where, uh, where are you f- Let's start where you're from. Where were you born and how did you get here, and what's your day job?

Lane DeVries: I'm born and raised in the Netherlands.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and, uh, in the flower business. Fourth generation flower farmer.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: And I came into this great country in 1983.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: Uh, uh, you know, replying to a advertisement in a horticultural magazine-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, for a job as a lily grower in Oregon, of all places.

Scott Hammond: Oh, really? What part?

Lane DeVries: Um, actually in the northern Willamette Valley, Canby.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Uh, actually I started in Sandy, Sandy, Oregon-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … just east of, um, uh, of Portland. That's where I started.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And, uh, but they had a farm in, in Canby as well, and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … so that's where I spent my first, uh, three months of my, uh, journey in America.

Scott Hammond: Your first part, your first leg.

Lane DeVries: Yes.

Scott Hammond: What part of Netherlands?

Lane DeVries: Uh, I'm from Beverwijk, uh, which is west of Amsterdam, right on the coast.

Scott Hammond: Toward, like, Rot- Rotterdam?

Lane DeVries: No, Rotterdam is farther south.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Uh, you got a, a big steel mill, uh-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Lane DeVries: … in, uh, in, in the North Sea canal-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … which basically connects Amsterdam to the North Sea.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Right there is a steel mill, and right next to it is a town called Beverwijk.

Scott Hammond: And so where did we go to si- we saw that pottery with the bl- uh, with the blue…

Scott Hammond: Delft?

Lane DeVries: Yeah, Delft is-

Scott Hammond: Delft's south

Lane DeVries: … farther southeast.

Scott Hammond: Okay, yeah.

Lane DeVries: Correct. Correct, correct.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. What a-

Lane DeVries: But-

Scott Hammond: What a great country.

Lane DeVries: Yeah. A lot of history.

Scott Hammond: A lot of tall people like you. My son informed me, you know, he's about 5'7", he goes, "I was always in elevators looking up at coworkers."

Lane DeVries: And they're getting taller and taller.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah, the women and men-

Lane DeVries: The next generation-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … has a, has a couple inches again. It's amazing.

Scott Hammond: Tallest in the world. He said maybe-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … Sweden might be-

Lane DeVries: Yeah. Yeah

Scott Hammond: … a little taller.

Lane DeVries: Pretty crazy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, we went three summers in a row. Didn't make it this summer.

Lane DeVries: Oh, wow. Okay.

Scott Hammond: Great, great time.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Went down to, uh, uh, uh, Belgium and, and, you know, train everywhere.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: My wife loves the trains.

Lane DeVries: The trains, yeah. The, the whole train system is very well-

Scott Hammond: Cal-

Lane DeVries: Uh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … and I'm always freaking out. "I missed the train, Jesse." He goes, "Give it eight minutes. There'll be another one."

Scott Hammond: "Or less."

Lane DeVries: Yeah, exactly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So hey, hey, welcome to the States. Glad to have you.

Lane DeVries: 4- 43 years later.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. That counts. So where'd you… Where was your journey after, uh… So did you do, uh, university in Netherlands as well?

Lane DeVries: Uh, horticultural college, yes.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah. Got a BS in horticulture and, uh…

Scott Hammond: Which is specific to horticulture.

Lane DeVries: Correct. Yeah. Plan-

Scott Hammond: The school was itself?

Lane DeVries: Plan sci… Oh, yeah, the whole school was-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … in Aalsmeer right next to that big flower auction over there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, yeah.

Lane DeVries: And a hor- hor- horticultural cal- college that, uh, um, yeah, it was different. You know, they had the floral design but also-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, plant science, and I took the plant science side, and, uh…

Scott Hammond: And that auction's world famous, right?

Lane DeVries: Yes. Yes.

Scott Hammond: Wow. What's it called?

Lane DeVries: It, it used to be called the VBA.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, now it's called Royal Hol- Holland.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Um, uh, Floral Holland. But yeah, it's, but-

Scott Hammond: I've seen footage. They fill orders all day long, and it's all automated.

Scott Hammond: It's-

Lane DeVries: Right

Scott Hammond: … it's football f- it's Amazon scale, right? It's football fields.

Lane DeVries: Oh, huge.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Uh, one of the largest buildings in the world.

Scott Hammond: Wow. How about that?

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: Not as exciting anymore, though. W- I- in the old days, you could go there, and all the, the, the banisters or all the, the clocks that… three clocks at a time-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Lane DeVries: … or two clocks at a time with different products going through, and all the buyers, you know, sitting out there-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Lane DeVries: … you know, 400 buyers at a time, but that's all gone.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's-

Lane DeVries: It's all virtual now.

Scott Hammond: It's all, uh, probably on cell phones.

Lane DeVries: It's all virtual.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: So there's really… I, the, I went there this year.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Hadn't been there in many, many years and-

Scott Hammond: Disappointed?

Lane DeVries: It was very disappointing. The whole, the whole atmosphere is, is, it's, it's gone. I mean, there's-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the electricity

Lane DeVries: … it, it just, yeah.

Scott Hammond: I think of the stock market, everybody freaking out doing their orders.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So Canby, how was… H- how, what brought you south from Canby?

Lane DeVries: So Canby is where I started.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Company called Oregon Bulb Farms.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: And th- they brought me in from Holland to set up a lily program.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Um, they were growing some lilies for cut flowers there, uh, but they were mainly a bulb farm.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: You know, it was called Oregon Bulb Farms, and they grew a lot of lilies.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: A lot of the Asiatic lilies in those days-

Scott Hammond: True

Lane DeVries: … were actually hybridized there.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: And actually, you know, they grew them. Um, but their f- flower program was not great, and so they brought me in to improve that.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And, uh, so I came there, um, the third week of October. Um, and the first five days was beautiful weather. Like, "Well, it's pretty neat here." Yeah. You could see Mount Hood, and uh, so like- … this is a great place to be.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Well, then it started raining.

Scott Hammond: And it never stopped.

Lane DeVries: And raining, and raining. It never stopped. I mean, a- apparently during that fall of, uh, 1983, they had a series of atmospheric rivers.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: And it just, it just never cleared up anymore.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's still raining today.

Lane DeVries: Yeah. So anyway, my first job, uh, was going into a greenhouse which was owned by Z- Crown Zellerbach-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, which is, you know, one of the timber companies there in, in w- in Oregon, and they had used that greenhouse for seedlings.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: You know, for, you know, replanting, reforestation.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: Uh, but that greenhouse was probably 30 years old-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … maybe older, and was built out of fiberglass.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Lane DeVries: And that fiberglass, after about 30 years-

Scott Hammond: Disintegrates, right?

Lane DeVries: … had gotten kinda dark.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: You know, a lot of dust had kinda gone into the pores.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, that on top of all that rainy weather-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, when I came in there it felt like a Like a cave.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Or the lilies they were growing there on benches, uh, in crates, uh, filled with soil. Uh, in and by itself not a bad concept-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … but, uh, that lack of light-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: … uh, the lilies didn't like. It was one variety-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Lane DeVries: … called Sunray that actually-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Lane DeVries: … did okay.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Lane DeVries: All the other varieties had lost their buds.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Lane DeVries: They just had aborted because of the darkness.

Scott Hammond: Interesting.

Lane DeVries: And so I s- ended up spending the first week out there pulling up lilies that, uh, were unsellable-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Lane DeVries: … and putting them in dumpsters. So it was a very good- … lesson, uh, getting, getting, getting that experience, so.

Scott Hammond: You got to do the labor, the labor part, yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yeah. And seeing what did not work-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Lane DeVries: … which was a great, you know, building, uh, block of, of, of actually, you know, going forward and learning from what I e- encountered there, so.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you're this young buck coming from Amster- well, from, from Ne- Netherlands-

Lane DeVries: From Holland, yeah

Scott Hammond: … and people are gonna go, "Hey, come over and fix our farm."

Lane DeVries: Right.

Scott Hammond: And so it, and so you probably had a chance to make a lot of mistakes too, and-

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah. I made-

Scott Hammond: … and honing your craft, right?

Lane DeVries: I made plenty, yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, for sure.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. Who- H- So say we all. Right? Right out there.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So if you're just joining me, my new best friend, Lane DeVries, from formerly of Sun Valley Bulb Farms.

Lane DeVries: Sun Valley Floral. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Floral, sorry.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: We'll talk about that. And, uh, we wanna talk about the book. We'll talk about all the common people we know, and wanna talk about, uh, uh, heaven forbid, but not forbid, God, some God stuff. I'm looking forward to that part.

Lane DeVries: Yes.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause I read some of that in the book too. Oh, if you, if you didn't get his book yet I shout out right away, man. Who do I hold back? Pursuit of Purpose. How does one find this book?

Lane DeVries: It's available in local stores-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … here in Humboldt. Uh-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … Eureka Books, uh, and, uh, the Book, uh, Legger both carry it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Um, and then on Amazon as well.

Scott Hammond: Amazon.

Lane DeVries: Uh, Amazon has it in paperback-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … ebook, hardcover, and as of this Monday, also on audiobook.

Scott Hammond: The audiobook.

Lane DeVries: So.

Scott Hammond: All four.

Lane DeVries: All four versions.

Scott Hammond: Way to go.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: My favorite audiobook is, uh, Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Great book.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Like 10 hours, but it's-

Lane DeVries: Oh, wow

Scott Hammond: … I digress. We'll talk about that. So, uh, tell me more about your journey to Humboldt then. So, uh, can be, uh, you must have gotten a job offer or…

Lane DeVries: Yeah, I, so I started for this company, Oregon Bulb Farms.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And when I… After I had started, uh, I say about a couple of weeks later, I heard them talking about Sun Valley Bulb Farms in Arcata.

Scott Hammond: Interesting. Where's that?

Lane DeVries: And like, "Where is that?" So I'd brought my Rand McNally map with me from Holland. And I looked at all and like, "Hey, Northern California." And I, and I found Arcata-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Lane DeVries: … you know, just on the map there.

Lane DeVries: Just-

Scott Hammond: Not Arcadia. Didn't …

Scott Hammond: L- LA.

Lane DeVries: No, no, no. This is it. Yeah. So I found it right there north of the bay and like, and like, "Oh, wow, this is interesting."

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: And then I started looking at the climate, uh-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … information and, and I pulled up some, you know, some of those sheets from the National Weather Service.

Scott Hammond: Similar to Holland, right?

Lane DeVries: A- and actually better.

Scott Hammond: Better. Better for flo-

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … for floral.

Lane DeVries: Our summers are definitely cooler-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … than they are… 'Cause in the Netherlands-

Scott Hammond: Right

Lane DeVries: … it can get hot.

Scott Hammond: It's miserable in the summer.

Lane DeVries: It can get hot in the summer.

Scott Hammond: Oh, some days are awful.

Lane DeVries: Yeah. And so our summers were m- much cooler than the Willamette Valley.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Lane DeVries: And our winters-

Scott Hammond: Warmer

Lane DeVries: … have way, yeah, better light levels than-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … Holland-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … or the northern Willamette Valley.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: Um, you know, so, you know, you look at Arcata- … you know, it's, it's comparable to Naples-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … you know, in terms of its latitude.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that I did not know.

Lane DeVries: So, so, so the light levels actually are pr- actually really good.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Um, and so after looking at climate information, I put together a report for, to the CEO of the company like-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … "Hey, I don't know if you're buying Sun Valley, but if that were to happen," and at that point it wasn't clear that that was happening yet.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: "But if that were to happen, um-

Scott Hammond: You wanna know this

Lane DeVries: … I think we wanna go to Arcata and set-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … up a lily operation, and not in the northern Willamette Valley."

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Lane DeVries: And so he looked at that report for about 10, 15 minutes, and he said, "You know, uh-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … if we buy Sun Valley, that's where we're gonna build a greenhouse."

Scott Hammond: Huh. So Sun Valley's preexisting at this point.

Lane DeVries: Sun Valley was there, not with lilies. They had some lilies, but they were all field grown.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, the, you know, for instance, the Stargazer-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … was hybridized at the grounds of Sun Valley by Le- Leslie Woodriff. Uh-

Scott Hammond: I've met Leslie.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I'm glad you brought him up.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I'd like to honor his name for a second.

Lane DeVries: Oh, uh, he's great.

Scott Hammond: What a ma-

Lane DeVries: He's amazing

Scott Hammond: … great guy.

Lane DeVries: Amazing. Um-

Scott Hammond: I have a story of Leslie. Can, can I tell my story?

Lane DeVries: Sure, absolutely.

Scott Hammond: So my dad, Bob, who you'd, you'll get to meet one day- … great guy, and he loved flowers. He'd come visit us with our nine kids in McKinleyville, and he's got, "Who's got bulbs?" You know, there's, uh, Bill Waggle had some bulbs-

Lane DeVries: Sure

Scott Hammond: … down the street.

Lane DeVries: Sure. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, but there's this Stargazer dad, and then Leslie's still got a little farm down there. He'd already sold the rights, I think.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, in School Road.

Scott Hammond: And, and Leslie was very sick and, and dying and in bed.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I'll never forget, uh, he, he managed to wrangle a, wrangle a couple of bulbs from Leslie's daughter, who was very sweet. "Would you like to meet Dad?" And they brought Scott and Bob into Leslie's, uh, room, his, his sick room and, and my dad was very tender. He kissed Leslie on the forehead and he, and he, and he, he, he… I don't know if he prayed for him, but he, he said, "Hey, old-timer," and he's very tender, and it was a really cool moment to see my dad go-

Lane DeVries: Wow

Scott Hammond: … "Whoa, God's changed my dad in a big way." He's-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … transformed s- spiritually transformed man from a World War II fighter pilot to this tender man kissing Leslie on the forehead.

Lane DeVries: Wow. Wow.

Scott Hammond: A stranger. And, but he, he had that compassion. He knew that, he knew what was going on. He was, he was very sick, and I, I think he died shortly thereafter.

Lane DeVries: Oh, sad, right. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But, uh, next… So as I s- as I smelled that Stargazer last night on my patio in McKinleyville-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I thought … th- that man was key to that, correct?

Lane DeVries: Oh, totally.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. How did he do that magic? 'Cause it's… Uh, everybody knows it's the p- So y- I'll let you describe. It's pink, and there's nothing on God's green earth that smells quite as magical.

Lane DeVries: Prior to, you know, the mid-'70s, because that's when Stargazer was, was, was c- selected-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … all the Oriental… Uh, they weren't c- even called Orientals yet.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: There were all kinds of different species of lilies-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … that were all down-facing.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Lane DeVries: Uh, you got speciosum, you got aureum. Y- so there was, like, a whole range of different, uh, lilies.

Scott Hammond: Interesting.

Lane DeVries: Uh, but they were all down-facing.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Lane DeVries: And so, um-

Scott Hammond: Right, 'cause they had that-

Lane DeVries: Yeah, the… Yeah. All the-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: … the trumpet lilies. I mean, the aureums. I mean, they, they all were down-facing. So Leslie Woodriff was just a, a pioneer, and what he did, he took pollen from all these different types of species of lilies-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … and he mixed it together and then put it on the stamens of all these different species as well. So he went completely back to the core-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … of the, the, the genetics essentially.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Lane DeVries: And, and that's how we ended up with that one variety with the buds going up rather than going down.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Lane DeVries: And that ended up becoming Stargazer.

Scott Hammond: And it's… It, there's nothing like it, yeah.

Lane DeVries: And so from thereon, you know, hybridizers from Holland came over-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … and started, you know, uh, you know, using some of his, uh, genetics.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And that's how, you know, all the Orientals… Well, n- not necessarily all, but many of the Orientals you see today-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, have genetics going back-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Lane DeVries: … to the material that Leslie Woodriff developed-

Scott Hammond: In, right here in McKinleyville

Lane DeVries: … you know, in the, in the '70s.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Let me use my prop. Are you ready? You'll like this. Okay. Right over here, Nick, is, uh, McKinleyville, California. As we, uh… How do I do the deal? Wow, Scott. Oh, there it is. Do I push the button? There's the bright light.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, Lane's going, "What are you doing here?" So anyway, McKinleyville's over there by map. That's where Leslie's from, and that's where I live. I, we live on Dows Prairie.

Lane DeVries: Oh, okay. Okay.

Scott Hammond: But, you know, look… You know, experienced in a man like Leslie, you'd go, "Hey, he's gonna wear a lab coat and he's beautiful," and he's not. He's a dirt farmer. And he, and he was lovely and kind enough-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … to have us over and, um, show us around. Anyway, so that became more or less your, um, your, your focal point, right, it's, to some degree at Sun Valley? That, that particular flower? Or w- I know s- there's many others, but…

Lane DeVries: Uh, y- yeah. Actually, the, the lilies we started growing originally-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … were Asiatics-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: … which are the yellows, the oranges.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: Um, you know-

Scott Hammond: Down-facing

Lane DeVries: … w- No. No.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Lane DeVries: They're upright as well, but it's a different type.

Scott Hammond: I see.

Lane DeVries: So Asiatic lilies already were up-facing.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Lane DeVries: But the speciosum types, um, uh, which original- eventually became the Oriental types, those were all the ones-

Scott Hammond: Gotcha

Lane DeVries: … down-facing.

Scott Hammond: Now we're nerded up, nerding up here on flowers. But people that love flowers are gonna love this show. You're gonna be going, "Well, I want more." Talk about that other flower.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, so-

Lane DeVries: Yeah. That's all described in the book too, so.

Scott Hammond: Oh, the… Yeah. We'll come back to that.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, e- let's go, let's go to Sun Valley then. So did your guy up in Canby, along with you, buy, buy this property? Is that how that went down?

Lane DeVries: So, so the original owners of Sun Valley, uh, Ted Kurz and the Layards from Oregon-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, they sold out to, uh, Melrich in those days-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … or George Ubelyn was the CEO.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, so they sold the company-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … to this larger congl- conglomerate.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and so-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … Sun Valley became part of that group, but then a whole range of other companies. They do wholesalers.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Six different wholesalers across the country.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, they bought some o- companies in Holland, uh, an exporter and a-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Lane DeVries: … bulb trading company. They had a farm in Africa-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Lane DeVries: … a farm in Spain.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, so yeah, they were well on their way. And, and they became public. Yeah. They actually went public-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Lane DeVries: … in 1984.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and so they went on a pretty wild ride there.

Lane DeVries: But, uh-

Scott Hammond: So did you guys come in and buy them out or buy just the one property?

Lane DeVries: So-

Scott Hammond: Or the whole thing?

Lane DeVries: No. We just bought Sun Valley.

Scott Hammond: I see.

Lane DeVries: A- and that hap- that didn't happen till 1991.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Lane DeVries: Uh, so that's way later, after a series of things happened.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, which-

Scott Hammond: Talk, talk about those real quick. So are you still in Canby the whole time or did you come down to work in Arcata?

Lane DeVries: No. I moved to Arcata in January of 1984.

Scott Hammond: '84.

Lane DeVries: Right in the middle of the daff season.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Uh, because in those days, Sun Valley's main crop were daffodils.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Daffodils in the winter, iris in the spring-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … and then a few lilies in the summertime. But it's mainly it was a daffodil and iris farm.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Lane DeVries: That's what Sun Valley was known for.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: Um, so yeah, when I came, um, we started building that first greenhouse in 1984-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … uh, f- to grow lilies.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Um, and so the first year we only grew the Asiatic lilies.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: A year later we built another greenhouse-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … and that's when we also started growing some Orientals.

Lane DeVries: Uh, s-

Scott Hammond: How many greenhouses were there when you were done?

Lane DeVries: Uh, by the time… Like two years ago?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Um, we were up to about two and a half million square feet of greenhouse space.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Lane DeVries: So.

Scott Hammond: I'll have to look at that. I, I wanna verify that. And, and you're going, "What is he saying?" Just stay with me. Stay on the show for a minute. You'll go, "Okay, that's where he's going."

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, so there was no greenhouses when you showed up and you were the

Lane DeVries: When I came, there was one small 10,000 square feet greenhouse

Scott Hammond: They're sort of vital to the show, right?

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That, that, that was, that's what we did.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, my wife worked for f- with you for a minute.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah?

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So anyway, the acquisition happened and you, you owned it. And somewhere in there you married Kathy, so I'm gonna start name-dropping.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, we didn't own it at that point.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: I didn't own it.

Scott Hammond: When, when did you meet Kathy and marry Kathy?

Lane DeVries: Uh, we… I met Kathryn in, uh, the December of 1984.

Scott Hammond: '84.

Lane DeVries: At a car giveaway at-

Scott Hammond: The radio sta-

Lane DeVries: … Eureka Toyota.

Scott Hammond: Was it the Eureka… W- was she working for the radio station?

Lane DeVries: Yes, she was working for KATA, correct.

Scott Hammond: And that's k- she and I worked for KATA, KFMA in South G Street.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: So I spent my first year of my career. Uh, we came on with a preexisting condition. His name is now Jacob, and he's 42 years old.

Lane DeVries: Wow.

Scott Hammond: And so she and I sold advertising together for a minute, and then I went over to the Tri-City Weekly-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … to work for Ron Pileggi. Hey, Ron. What's up? Hi, Kathy. So I look forward to seeing Kathy, 'cause I haven't, literally haven't seen her in 50 years.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Maybe 40.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, 40.

Scott Hammond: Let's say 40.

Lane DeVries: 40. Yeah, 40.

Scott Hammond: I've been married to Joni for 45 years, so.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, so about 40-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … 44.

Scott Hammond: So yeah, she was t- uh, terrific.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I, I… It, it'll be interesting.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, say hi. Say hi to Kathy.

Lane DeVries: I will. Kathryn. Yeah, I will.

Scott Hammond: And so, and so we… And I also know your friend Bruce Brady, who's a brilliant flower man, right?

Lane DeVries: Right, yeah. Worked with Bruce for many, many years.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is his life a testament to you in terms of how he did life and, and-

Lane DeVries: I know. Great, great guy

Scott Hammond: … great, great man.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Sweetheart, sweetheart. I haven't seen him in too lo- You know what? I think I'm gonna call him on the way home. I think I s- I have his phone number.

Lane DeVries: There you go.

Scott Hammond: Why wouldn't I?

Lane DeVries: Yeah, exactly.

Scott Hammond: Is it hard to dial people?

Lane DeVries: I think I'll do the same thing.

Scott Hammond: Does my hand hurt? I should be able to do this. So one thing that I do, uh, you'll like this, is when I'm inspired or barely inspired, I pick up the little device and I'll call my, my sister, Saint Beth. I'll call Bruce Brady today.

Scott Hammond: I'll call my kids. "Hey, what's up? How's it in Oregon?

Scott Hammond: Hey, great."

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I'm dad and I'm touch- and I'm connected because relationships and connections are really what makes the, this whole thing work.

Lane DeVries: Right. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so, uh, and I know, I know you would appreciate that. And, um, I'll drop some more names. How about, uh, Dottie Hockenberry?

Lane DeVries: Oh, yes. Dottie. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: She was terrific.

Lane DeVries: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yes, she came on board in 1985-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … as the administrative assistant of, of, of one of our sales managers in those point-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … at, at that point. And, uh, and actually became my ad- administrative assistant-

Scott Hammond: That's right. Shortly after you, right?

Lane DeVries: … uh, shortly after. And, uh, worked with Dottie for many, many years. I think she retired in like 1998, somewhere around there.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: So yep.

Scott Hammond: Wow. She… Quick Dottie story. When I had double hip replacement surgery from Stanford, same day bilateral hip.

Scott Hammond: Uh, they-

Lane DeVries: Wow

Scott Hammond: … he goes, "Oh, we do them all the time." And I got… The nurse goes, "We're like the, you're like the second guy we've ever seen." I go, "Wow." So I got home after, uh, you know, a week in the hospital, and here's Dottie. She comes by with a book, a really nice book by a guy named Joseph Prince, who's a pastor in, um, Indonesia, I think. Great book.

Lane DeVries: Okay, okay.

Scott Hammond: And chocolate-covered strawberries- … and a big deli sandwich. And I'm going, "Dottie," you know? And, and she's sitting there praying for me and, and it was just like, "Oh, that's who you are. You're, you're amazing."

Lane DeVries: I know. She was special.

Scott Hammond: She used to host the men's groups up at her house and-

Lane DeVries: I know, I know

Scott Hammond: … for all those, uh, those wacky guys from, uh, what's the church called in Mc веllville? I should, uh… My friend Dave Turner goes there. Loves them. New Heart.

Lane DeVries: New Heart. New Heart Church.

Scott Hammond: New Heart, yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Great.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Great, great fellowship, so.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so Dottie, rest in pe- Hi, Dottie. Rest in peace.

Lane DeVries: Rest in peace. Yeah, I know. Wonderful.

Scott Hammond: She's not resting. She's probably conquering some universe. The people that you walk to through, through a crowd to go visit, that's Dottie.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah. She-

Scott Hammond: You know, I'd walk through the gym and I'd go over to her, she-

Lane DeVries: Never met a stranger.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Lane DeVries: Never.

Scott Hammond: Lovely.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Her and Bill would be working out at, at HealthSport and-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … getting it done, so.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so you've surrounded yourself with some amazing folks over the years.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, for sure.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Absolutely. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. And you thought it was all you.

Lane DeVries: No.

Lane DeVries: No.

Scott Hammond: You didn't. May we never think that.

Lane DeVries: Yeah. No.

Scott Hammond: So-

Lane DeVries: No, we had a great team.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So tell me, so t- describe the arc of the Sun Valley experience and when, then I wanna talk about the book. But how, uh, the growth, uh, the ex- expansion and the deceleration and kinda what happened in your life toward that, um, toward that part of the journey.

Lane DeVries: So we ended up, uh, purchasing the company actually out of a bankruptcy-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, of a company that had bought the El- Melrätt's assets, and it just… You know, they, they bought it with all debt, and they, it, they mismanaged it and it show. It, it didn't work at all. So 22 months after this company had bought Melrätt, we actually ended up… Uh, that, that company actually went into bankruptcy, and about a year later, I put a group together with two partners from Holland-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … that were bulb growers and hybridizers.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: And, um, so the three of us bought the company in November of 1991.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: And we changed the name at that point-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … from Sun Valley Bulb Farms to Sun Valley Floral Farms-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: … because that's truly what we were doing. We were no longer growing bulbs. You know, we were in, we were growing flowers, so-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … so it was really a misnomer to be called Sun Valley Bulb Farms. So we changed the name to Sun Valley Floral Farms, and we just slowly started growing. Um, you know, growing tulips. Tulips was one of our Um, main crops, iris, and of course lilies.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And so from 1994 on, we started building greenhouses, warehouses-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … coolers pretty much every year.

Scott Hammond: So did you buy all the assets or just the Sun Valley?

Lane DeVries: Just the Sun Valley. All that.

Scott Hammond: Okay, so you could focus on one enterprise.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, the, the other company that was part of that group was Oregon Bulb Farms.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And Oregon Bulb Farms is actually the one that was losing money-

Scott Hammond: Oh

Lane DeVries: … uh, you know, pretty heavily.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: And so Sun Valley was the one company within that group that actually did pretty well.

Scott Hammond: Was making money.

Lane DeVries: So it was making money, so-

Scott Hammond: Turns out-

Lane DeVries: So-

Scott Hammond: … it's about making money sometimes

Lane DeVries: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's all about-

Scott Hammond: A lot of times

Lane DeVries: … cash flow-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … and being cas- cash flow positive.

Scott Hammond: It's, it's-

Lane DeVries: But anyway, so, um, so through the '90s, yeah, we just started getting more and more customers knocking on our doors-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … looking for our flowers.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, you know, so it… First, it was mainly wholesalers, but then, uh, supermarkets came knocking on our door. Kroger, Safeway-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … Trader Joe's, Whole Foods.

Scott Hammond: Those are all the big guys.

Lane DeVries: Um, and then, uh, H-E-B in Texas, Central Markets.

Scott Hammond: H-E-B's huge.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, and then-

Scott Hammond: Hubert Edward, or it stands for a guy's initials.

Lane DeVries: Yes.

Scott Hammond: Hu- Hubert Edward Burr. Anyway.

Lane DeVries: Butt.

Scott Hammond: Butts.

Lane DeVries: Butt-

Scott Hammond: Butts

Lane DeVries: … is his last name.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: B-U-T-T.

Scott Hammond: They're, they're at the… That's a cool market.

Lane DeVries: Yeah. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's a great, great-

Scott Hammond: Went to one in Houston that's just-

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … great store.

Lane DeVries: They, they dominate the Texas market.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Everybody loves, everybody loves H-E-B.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, exactly. And then, um, Sam's Club came knocking on our door.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh-

Scott Hammond: That's big

Lane DeVries: … and then-

Scott Hammond: That's a little outfit

Lane DeVries: … uh, and so pretty soon we were doing all the Sam's Clubs, uh, stores throughout the country, uh, with our tulips and, and, and iris, but mainly tulips. And then when Walmart saw the success in the Sam's Club stores-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … then they came knocking on our door.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: So, uh, so at one, we started with eight divisions of, of Walmart, and then the year after-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … they gave us the entire country.

Lane DeVries: So, so yeah-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … phenomenal growth, uh, for many, many years.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: Um, and so in the book, I call that chapter The Golden Years.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and then in the early 2000s, we actually, um, started spreading our wings. I actually bought a company in Or- Oxnard-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … and started growing some crops that do very well in that Southern California climate-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: … that don't grow well here-

Scott Hammond: Right

Lane DeVries: … but that grow very well there, and so-

Scott Hammond: A lot of farms down there.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's not all buildings anymore.

Lane DeVries: No.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: No, no. That Oxnard plain is still a, is a significant agricultural area.

Scott Hammond: I remember Bruce used to fly down there, I think.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah. We used to go there every week.

Scott Hammond: Do you know Derek Kingham, too, our neighbor?

Lane DeVries: Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Scott Hammond: He's a flower guy, right?

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah. He used to work for us as well.

Scott Hammond: A sweetheart.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: They, they are very active in Girl Scouts, have been for decades.

Lane DeVries: Yes, they have been. Yes.

Scott Hammond: And it raised a lot of young women up into, uh, adulthood and-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … kudos. Hey, Derek. And, and his lovely wife. Yeah, they are, they do a great job. So, uh, you, you continue on. So you guys are, are starting to peak out and, and expand and-

Lane DeVries: Yeah. So by the mid-2000, 2007, 2008, we were-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … you know, riding pretty high.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And then in 2008 is when things really started changing for our company.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, we, we got a, uh-

Scott Hammond: How so?

Lane DeVries: We ended up with a, um, an, an audit from ICE-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … that was looking for all our I-9s, and we submitted all our I-9s.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And that, that actually happened in the fall of 2007.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and then-

Scott Hammond: So ICE ex- preexisted. It's not the ICE we know today, but it-

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … it was a whole thing.

Lane DeVries: It's been around since 9/11, really.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: That's when, you know, Homeland Security, that's when, you know, uh, that's when ICE really, you know, kinda-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … you know. Anyway, um, so 2007, November 2007, we submitted all our I-9s, boxes and boxes and boxes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And then we didn't hear anything anymore.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Lane DeVries: And then in the end of May of 2008, uh, we got an ICE agent, uh, delivering a letter in which it indicated that 287 of our team members were ineligible to work-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … in the United States-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … so for our company. And so we, uh, we set up a meeting with the entire team-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … um, and told, you know, uh, the group that there were 287 team members that could no longer work for us.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Um, so that was very devastating-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Lane DeVries: … uh, going through that process.

Lane DeVries: Uh-

Scott Hammond: What p- what portion of the, the team was that?

Lane DeVries: At that point, it was about 60, 65% of our team.

Scott Hammond: Whoa.

Lane DeVries: Uh, so-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … the next morning, we, you know, the group that was left, uh, we, uh, you know, tried to pick up the pieces.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Um, and but then a few months later in the f- in, uh, September, or actually in August, uh, we had another audit for all the people that had been hired from November 2007 till May of 2008.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: Because tho- those were, you know, had come in the door, and so that, that was a whole new set of I-9s.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: So there was another 40 people-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … that we had to let go basically the Tuesday after Labor Day-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … in September of 2008.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: So by that Wednesday morning, we figured, "All right. This whole thing is behind us. We can now look to the, the future."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Well, then on that Wednesday morning, I'll never forget it. I w- I had a cleasteaning appoint- cleas- teeth cleaning appointment-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, in, in-

Scott Hammond: Teeth

Lane DeVries: … uh, Bayside. And, uh- I drove onto the freeway, and I see all the, the parking lot at Tony's is just filled with cars, and I see guys walking around with big ICE on their, on their-

Scott Hammond: Oh, no

Lane DeVries: … T-shirts. It's like, "Well, this can't possibly be for us, because we just let the last 40 people go yesterday."

Scott Hammond: You're complying.

Lane DeVries: Well, so I went to my appointment. Uh, I say about 20 minutes into the appointment, my production manager comes running in and said, "Lane, we're having a raid by ICE."

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: Like, so I just ran out.

Scott Hammond: Oh, man.

Lane DeVries: Got to the farm. The farm was surrounded. 130 ICE agents-

Scott Hammond: Is that right?

Lane DeVries: … in 50 vehicles.

Scott Hammond: Pshh.

Lane DeVries: Helicopter going above the farm. Higher up there's an airplane circling.

Scott Hammond: Whoa.

Lane DeVries: And so it's like, so I got onto the property, it's like, so I go to one of the supervisors of, of, of this operation. I was like, "What's going on here?" He said, "Oh, we have a, an arrest warrant for, uh, for about 50 people-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Lane DeVries: … that claim to have driver's licenses from Oregon and the State of Washington."

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: "And therefore, they, you know, portray to be either, uh, citizens or, uh, legal aliens."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And so- … so they went through the entire farm, ended up with 16 people that were arrested.

Scott Hammond: 16?

Lane DeVries: Yeah. Uh, the other fif- the other ones, who knows where they ended up.

Lane DeVries: But anyway.

Scott Hammond: Your tax dollars at work.

Lane DeVries: So 16 people, uh, they were taken to the local, uh, Coast Guard station.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: They were being interviewed for about 20 minutes.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and all they, the, the agents were after is to get some dirt on the company.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and after that they were released.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, they went their own way. Uh, and so that was the whole premise.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: And so-

Scott Hammond: It's a lot of resources.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I don't know if there's 150 for the Humboldt riot when they, uh, took over campus two years ago. I'm not sure there's 150 law enforcement. There's a lot, but I don't know if there's that many.

Lane DeVries: Yeah. Well, 130. It was 130 agents.

Scott Hammond: That's still-

Lane DeVries: But, but still

Scott Hammond: … crazy.

Lane DeVries: I mean, it was, it was… Yeah. So it was very painful-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … very traumatic-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Lane DeVries: … for our team. Uh, and so, but now 287 in June, another 40, uh, the f- of, uh, yeah, another 40 the first week of September-

Scott Hammond: Right

Lane DeVries: … and now we lost an additional 50. So by now we have lost 80% of our workforce.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: And so we're trying to replenish it with- …

Lane DeVries: new folks.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, we voluntarily, uh, engaged with, uh, E-Verify-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … not realizing at that time how that would really restrict us-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … from hiring people.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and so that whole 2008 year-

Scott Hammond: Tough year

Lane DeVries: … became a nightmare.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: Complete nightmare.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: Uh, and it, it had honestly lasted all the way into 2009.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: And, and as a company, it really changed the trajectory of our company.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: And we honestly never came back. Um, I mean, we pretty much kept fighting-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … um, yeah, to survive-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, rather than grow. And so our, our whole mindsha- chain- mindset changed-

Scott Hammond: Oh, boy

Lane DeVries: … to that point.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: And, um, so yeah.

Scott Hammond: Trauma.

Lane DeVries: So that was a turning point.

Scott Hammond: Traum- trauma.

Lane DeVries: It was big time trauma.

Scott Hammond: All you were trying to do is be farmers.

Lane DeVries: And trying to do-

Scott Hammond: And grow

Lane DeVries: … a good thing

Scott Hammond: … and grow some stuff. And try to do the right thing, yeah.

Lane DeVries: And try to help the community. It was, you know, f- uh, funding, uh, any way we can.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And, and yeah, we gave our people health insurance-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … 401 K. The health insurance-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Lane DeVries: … you know, and this is 2007, right? This is before any of the laws was, were really in place.

Scott Hammond: Indeed.

Lane DeVries: We were paying 100% of the premium-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: … of all our team members.

Scott Hammond: That's great.

Lane DeVries: So these are all things we were able to do.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: But after 2008-

Scott Hammond: That changes

Lane DeVries: … it, it, it got really difficult, so.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's tough.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So we'll get to y- how, how you dealt with all that.

Scott Hammond: But first, I w- I have a little bit of good news for you.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Come on in. No, I'm kidding. I'm not bringing anybody in. I have a, uh, we do a little quiz on our show.

Lane DeVries: All right.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, this is my bell.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Ask a couple of questions. Usually you get lucky and you'd be playing for a Dick Taylor chocolate bar.

Scott Hammond: However- … today we have a different prize for you.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And, uh, I, when I saw this I thought of you, and I thought, "I don't even know this guy, but, uh, he's gonna love this." So if you play your cards right, you'll get this prize.

Lane DeVries: All right.

Scott Hammond: You, would you like to see it first?

Lane DeVries: Sure.

Scott Hammond: Okay. You're go- gone, "I don't know." The, the build-up's pretty big here. Um, I found this… My friend Gary Todoroff.

Lane DeVries: Oh.

Scott Hammond: Gary's a really great fishing guy who was the-

Lane DeVries: Sure. I know Gary very well.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, Gary was, uh, official photographer for the Coast Guard.

Lane DeVries: Right.

Scott Hammond: First ever official with our friend Captain Bob Durfee.

Scott Hammond: Hi, Bob. And, uh, uh, I was at Gary's home a couple w- weeks ago.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And they were clearing out all of his stuff, and I said, "I think I'd like that." And so what I've got for you, should you play your cards right, is a, um, a, a picture of all your greenhouses.

Lane DeVries: I, I know. I know this picture very well.

Scott Hammond: So this is an aerial photogra- photography from Gary Todoroff, the man, the myth, the legend. And you, Lane DeVries, could be the lucky winner. We'll see. Don't, d- don't get carried away now. So first question, are you ready?

Lane DeVries: Sure.

Scott Hammond: Oh, don't, don't-

Lane DeVries: Uh-oh, don't drop it now.

Scott Hammond: Oh, no, just, it slipped. Okay. Pshew. What's, what's, what was your best day of your life?

Lane DeVries: Best day of my life.

Scott Hammond: I think you just told me your worst day. One of, one of-

Lane DeVries: Yeah, that was-

Scott Hammond: … some of the worst day

Lane DeVries: … definitely one of my worst days.

Scott Hammond: I won't ask that question again.

Lane DeVries: The, the best day of my life, I would say when I met my wife.

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: At a car giveaway at Eureka Toyota.

Lane DeVries: Eureka Toyota, exactly.

Scott Hammond: Was that Gary Barker back in the day?

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah. Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Gary. Gary "No Fault" Barker, man. He was legend.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Great. That's a great day. Hear that, Kathryn? Question number two. What do you find crushing in your life? What, what just takes it out of your sails?

Lane DeVries: I mean, for all these years, we were trying to please our customers, building our business.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: If a customer was unhappy for whatever reason, that just stuck like a knife in-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … in my heart.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: I mean, 'cause we were out to please.

Lane DeVries: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … so an unhappy customer, that just really, really hurt.

Lane DeVries: Um-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … so.

Scott Hammond: Those are hard when you, when you do everything you, you know to do and still it's not enough.

Lane DeVries: Yep. I know.

Scott Hammond: That's, that's life, too.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I, I accept that. As a good neighbor, I, I try to… I get some bad neighbors once in a while.

Lane DeVries: Yep. Yep.

Scott Hammond: So that's, that happens. Um, okay. What have you learned, lessons learned from defeat or failure or setback?

Lane DeVries: Well, I have, I've had my share-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, sure

Lane DeVries: … of setbacks and defeat.

Scott Hammond: Join that club, yeah.

Lane DeVries: And at the end of the day, I mean, looking towards Jesus as your Lord and Savior-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … has carried me through some very dark nights.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Absolutely.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: He said He'd never leave you or forsake you or me.

Lane DeVries: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: But even more than that, we're beloved, which is even other, other thing. We'll get to that. Um, okay, great. Uh, what's your biggest, what was your biggest failure?

Lane DeVries: My biggest failure. Personally or business-wise?

Scott Hammond: Either. Both.

Lane DeVries: That's a good one. I mean, I have so many, I honestly can't think.

Scott Hammond: I got so many, you have to pick some.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah. I mean, um, just one thing I learned is that sometimes it's better to say no.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: Always saying yes-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … and in particular when we started building the company-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … and expanding-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … um, you know, all these customers coming online. There may have been times where it would've been better to say, "You know what?

Lane DeVries: No."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: "We're, we're okay."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: "We, we don't need this business right now."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: And always saying yes-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Lane DeVries: … is exciting-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … when it's happening, but down the road-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … you kind of regret, you know, actually always saying yes-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … or saying yes too often.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. The ho- the holy no.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: My dad used to say, "Watch what you pray for.

Scott Hammond: You might-"

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: "You might get it."

Scott Hammond: So okay, great. Hey, next question. And I haven't asked this yet, so this is kind of a bonus question. If you could live one day in, in life, in history, a day in history, what… Not your history. It could be your history. What day would you go back to and live through?

Lane DeVries: A day in history. I mean, any history?

Scott Hammond: Any history. World history since millennium. Is it millennium? Millennia. Beginning of time.

Lane DeVries: I mean, I grew up hearing the war stories from my parents-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … virtually every night-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Lane DeVries: … around the dinner table. World War II had such a tremendous impact.

Scott Hammond: How old were you during the war?

Lane DeVries: Oh, I, I was not born yet.

Scott Hammond: Oh, you were not born. You heard it after the fact.

Lane DeVries: I was born in '60, but I heard the stories-

Scott Hammond: Right. You were born in-

Lane DeVries: … from my parents

Scott Hammond: … '60? '60?

Lane DeVries: '60, yes.

Scott Hammond: Oh, you and I are the same age.

Lane DeVries: Oh, is that right?

Scott Hammond: What's your birthday?

Lane DeVries: Uh, Sept-

Scott Hammond: I guarantee, I guarantee I'm older.

Lane DeVries: September 17th.

Scott Hammond: January 2nd.

Lane DeVries: Oh, okay. There you go.

Scott Hammond: Were you class of '79 or eight?

Lane DeVries: What's that?

Scott Hammond: Class of '78 or s- '79 in high school?

Lane DeVries: I don't even remember.

Scott Hammond: Doesn't matter anyway.

Lane DeVries: But, um, but hearing the war stories-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … from my parents around that dinner table-

Scott Hammond: Oh, boy

Lane DeVries: … I mean, almost every night. I think that day, May 5th, 1945-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … when the Germans were defeated, at least in Holland-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … when Ho- Holland was-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, um, liberated-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … that would have been the day to witness.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Good one. That's a good choice.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: I was reading a book in Amsterdam while I was in Utrecht that the Jewish population was huge, and it w- it had dwindled to 70,000 or less.

Lane DeVries: I know.

Scott Hammond: I, I had no idea that the impact in the c- the arts and the culture, and it was quite-

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … quite a city-

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … uh, pre-war and, um-

Lane DeVries: Yep

Scott Hammond: … and post, for that matter. Anyway, um, what's your… Last question. What's your biggest victory in life?

Lane DeVries: Biggest victory.

Lane DeVries: It's a good one.

Lane DeVries: I, I think having peace with some of the troubles that we went through-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … and still being able to look back on that-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … and having learned from it-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … and still being able to move forward.

Lane DeVries: I mean-

Scott Hammond: That's good

Lane DeVries: … I, I, it's not necessarily any one particular point, but-

Scott Hammond: It's a victory process.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, exactly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: And you seem pretty joyful.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: That, that's a plus for a victorious-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … well, space.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Well, hey, winner, winner, chicken dinner. You, my friend, have won an exclusive… I was gonna say signed Gary Toderoff, but-

Lane DeVries: Yep

Scott Hammond: … hey, what a great guy. He-

Lane DeVries: I know

Scott Hammond: … he probably very much appreciated what you-

Lane DeVries: I know

Scott Hammond: … you guys were doing

Lane DeVries: He was a great guy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yes.

Scott Hammond: So I'm gonna hand you this over the table so I don't-

Lane DeVries: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … uh, damage it any more, any longer.

Scott Hammond: But, uh-

Lane DeVries: Well, thank you

Scott Hammond: … from, from me to you, my friend.

Lane DeVries: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Enjoy that. I know you probably have a place for that. An original Todoroff

Lane DeVries: This is fantastic. Thank you

Scott Hammond: It might be a little dusty, but it'll clean up nice

Lane DeVries: This is great

Scott Hammond: That's a lotta, that's a lotta greenhouses you got there

Lane DeVries: Uh, yes. Yes. This picture was taken in 2003

Scott Hammond: Two… Yeah. It's, it goes back a ways

Lane DeVries: Yep

Scott Hammond: So, uh, let's talk about the book for a little bit and then your legacy. Uh, I really liked a lot of the things I was reading in here in terms of, uh, mission statement and all. But, um, give us the, give us the gist of the book and the, the arc and, and, you know, the, the elevator pitch for why someone might wanna buy this book, what it's about

Lane DeVries: Really in a nutshell, the book comes down to we went through a great run, a lot of success, but then we had our time of failure-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … or, and, and hardship and, and, and we w- definitely went through the dark valley.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: Um, but at the end of the day, what is life all about?

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: And I think coming to the realization that purpose in life is way more important than anything else, be it m- yeah, m- anything material, uh, be it success, be it building the largest flower farm in America-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … all that becomes really secondary as long as you have a purpose in life. And I think that's really the main theme-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … of the book.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And, and so, uh, and there's many touch points in the book where I, where I bring that back.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: And, and, and my faith journey obviously is a, is a big piece of that. Yeah

Scott Hammond: Sure. Yeah. Man of faith. I love it.

Scott Hammond: The, um… It's funny we, we talk about purpose. I'm talking to my 40-year-old who's, um, he's struggling in, in, in Seoul, South Korea as a, an American. And he's traveled internationally, but it is a tough place to learn the language-

Lane DeVries: Oh, I bet

Scott Hammond: … to navigate, to order soup-

Lane DeVries: I bet

Scott Hammond: … get a haircut

Lane DeVries: How's-

Scott Hammond: Get directions

Lane DeVries: Do people speak English there at all?

Scott Hammond: No, no. No, no

Lane DeVries: Not at all?

Scott Hammond: Oh, v- very, very little-

Lane DeVries: Oh, wow

Scott Hammond: … unlike, unlike Netherlands, which-

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … you guys speak better English than Americans

Lane DeVries: Oh, I don't know about that

Scott Hammond: Some guys. I mean, it's- … very articulate. W- which was an interesting journey. But yeah, that, that idea of purpose, uh, and, and purpose outside of, inside of us but outside of us.

Lane DeVries: Right. Exactly

Scott Hammond: And I, I suppose let's talk about some purposes that people could lean into. It could be a faith journey.

Scott Hammond: It could be, uh, legacy with children or grandchildren

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Lane DeVries: Yep

Scott Hammond: I suppose career could be a purpose, but is, is that enough?

Scott Hammond: I think-

Lane DeVries: No

Scott Hammond: … what he's finding is that it's not

Lane DeVries: Exactly

Scott Hammond: He, he thought the job… And, you know, sorry, Jesse, for divulging your conversation here, but it's a good conversation, uh, 'cause it's a common error, uh, in, in a journey and that is that a job is gonna make me happy. 'Cause it's structure, it's money, it's instant gratification. I'm doing it, and I'm, I'm in this thing. And you know what? We all find out eventually it's not.

Lane DeVries: Yep. Exactly

Scott Hammond: It's a false purpose-

Lane DeVries: Exactly

Scott Hammond: … or a, a masqueraded purpose

Lane DeVries: Yep

Scott Hammond: Um, so are other people sometimes. You know? That I'm gonna, I'm gonna marry her. She's gonna make my life amazing. Well, wherever you go, there you are- … pal.

Lane DeVries: Yep

Scott Hammond: You know? Bro.

Lane DeVries: Yep

Scott Hammond: So y- y- we look at that, and I go, "Okay." So let's talk more about purpose. So-

Lane DeVries: S- s- s-

Scott Hammond: How did you discover your purpose in this hardship?

Lane DeVries: So, so there's, there's one chapter called, uh, back, back pain experience.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: And so I went through, in 2007, through a, a pretty bad situation of a slipped disc-

Scott Hammond: Ouch

Lane DeVries: … uh, where it got to the point where I basically couldn't walk anymore.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: Uh, it felt like three knives were stabbing in my-

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah

Lane DeVries: … chin every step I made. Uh, so ultimately, um, I avoided needing surgery-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … which is a miracle in and by itself-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Lane DeVries: … given where we are.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.

Lane DeVries: Uh, Dr. Ariyampur who, who was, who was my, uh-

Scott Hammond: He's very good

Lane DeVries: … uh, you know, w-

Scott Hammond: Is he still around at Mad River?

Lane DeVries: I, I, I do not know. Uh-

Scott Hammond: He's a surgeon though, right?

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah. I, I think he is, but, um, but-

Scott Hammond: He's kind of legend, yeah

Lane DeVries: … yeah. But anyway, he, uh, um, he s- saw my situation, and he said, "Normally I would do surgery, uh, emergency surgery, but I'm going on vacation, uh, leaving," this is Friday afternoon at 3:00. He said, "I'm going on vacation for three weeks, so, um-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Lane DeVries: … I, you go- I'm sending you to Med or, uh, to St. Joseph's Hospital. They'll give you a hypodermic, uh, uh, cortisone shot."

Scott Hammond: Sure

Lane DeVries: "We'll… Hopefully that will subside the pain for, you know, for a while."

Scott Hammond: Right

Lane DeVries: "And when I get back, we'll take a look-"

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: "… see how you're doing." So that is, it's amazing how that helped me.

Scott Hammond: You did the cortisone?

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: And, and so three weeks later, I go back in his office, and I'm, I'm casually walking in his office.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Lane DeVries: And he's like, he said- … "Okay, we're not doing surgery."

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Lane DeVries: "We're, we're just gonna see this for a while-"

Scott Hammond: Wow

Lane DeVries: "… and, and kinda take…" And so but meanwhile, I had developed, I learned something about certain back exercises-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Lane DeVries: … by basically laying flat on your back, pulling your legs up.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: And at first I couldn't do that because of the pain.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. So on the back-

Lane DeVries: But, but-

Scott Hammond: … doing leg raises?

Lane DeVries: Yeah. And you're working on your core.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And so but the minute I started feeling a little bit better, I started doing that exercise.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: This is 2007. I've done that exercise every single morning for the last 19 years.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: And, and, and so I found purpose that in that pain, in that hardship, in that summer-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Lane DeVries: … just that exer- I've told so many people-

Scott Hammond: You wanna text me a link when we're done?

Lane DeVries: … a- about this. And- I've been able to-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … and so that's how I describe it in the book, find purpose that through the pain-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … and through that hardship, that's, um, I've been able to help others.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Good word.

Lane DeVries: M- countless people-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … by just taking that approach and, uh, how that has helped others.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: So that's just one tiny little example.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: Uh, but yeah, purpose in teaching others, inspiring others.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: I mean, the, the 10 guiding principles that I mentioned in the book.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: I mean, I actually spent quite a bit of time in the book-

Scott Hammond: Love it

Lane DeVries: … in the backside-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … with, um, a lot of short stories-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … uh, describing those guiding principles-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … and using life, uh, examples-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … on how we can apply those principles.

Lane DeVries: So-

Scott Hammond: My favorite part of the book.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I like that.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Let's pick, pick one. Let's talk about it. What, what's one of your favorites?

Lane DeVries: I mean, inspire and, inspire others and always keep learning.

Scott Hammond: Mm.

Lane DeVries: That's guiding pr- guiding principle number three.

Scott Hammond: Lifelong learner.

Lane DeVries: And that, that's, it's been … And, and I use many stories. I use, uh, Victor Frankl's story in there.

Lane DeVries: Um, I use-

Scott Hammond: Mm

Lane DeVries: … some, you know, stories of my own.

Lane DeVries: Um, so-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … but yeah, there's countless examples that I cite in the book-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … on how we can help others, uh, by inspiring them, and to always keep learning, and to-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … always … I mean, a lot of people, once they graduate from high school or college-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … they never pick up a book a- anymore the rest of their life.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Right.

Lane DeVries: It's amazing the percentages, the statistics out there.

Lane DeVries: It-

Scott Hammond: And now it doesn't even have to be a book.

Lane DeVries: Uh, that's true.

Scott Hammond: An audiobook.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, exactly.

Scott Hammond: I mean, for, for, uh, those who- of us who can't read a lot and big tomes of content-

Lane DeVries: Yep

Scott Hammond: … there's this thing called Audible by Amazon.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: It's amazing.

Lane DeVries: And you can-

Scott Hammond: You can become a genius.

Lane DeVries: And you can drive-

Scott Hammond: 10,000 hours you could master something.

Lane DeVries: Yep, that's true.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: No, I, I love that. You're right. To be a lifelong learner. Joni and I t- have the phrase in our next season, our new beginning that we're into, is let's get curious. Let's go learn something. Let's … You know, what are … What's that about?

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Let's go try, let's go try playing water polo.

Lane DeVries: There you go. There you go.

Scott Hammond: Hey, pickleball.

Lane DeVries: Yes, anything. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, anything. So that, that, that, that sense of discovery and fun.

Lane DeVries: Right.

Scott Hammond: You know?

Lane DeVries: Right.

Scott Hammond: And if you don't like it, then stop it and try something different.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, do something else. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: There you go.

Scott Hammond: And so it, it … You're right. And I think there, there is the key to staying and being young. Uh, so let's do the shout-out again. How do we, how does one get a copy of this book, uh, locally here in Humboldt?

Lane DeVries: Uh, Eureka Books-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … carries it. Book Legger.

Scott Hammond: Solomon. What a great guy.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah. Great guy.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, I did a bit of signing there.

Scott Hammond: Have you done a signing? You did a signing there already?

Lane DeVries: Yeah, uh, about two months ago.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Yeah. And then Arcata, we used to have it at North Town Books as well, but they're, they're gonna be up here.

Scott Hammond: They're gonna be up.

Lane DeVries: Uh, I think in, in about another month or six weeks.

Scott Hammond: In the old Arcata Auto building-

Lane DeVries: Right

Scott Hammond: … right? Parts.

Lane DeVries: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: And then you got Book Legger.

Lane DeVries: Book Legger.

Scott Hammond: Tin Can Mailman doesn't do new books, right?

Lane DeVries: I don't think so.

Scott Hammond: It's all used.

Lane DeVries: No.

Scott Hammond: I went in there first time two days ago-

Lane DeVries: Okay

Scott Hammond: … for, in y- decades.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: And found a Jesus Calling, the devotional.

Lane DeVries: Oh.

Scott Hammond: And I was looking for my book, th- this book I wrote called The Everyday Dad.

Lane DeVries: Okay.

Scott Hammond: I'll, I'll s- share that with you after the show. Uh, and, uh, I couldn't find one. I, I found one on Amazon. It's $119.

Lane DeVries: What?

Scott Hammond: I'm, I'm pretty big. I … No. It's like with the one copy that somebody held back, but- … um, that was a totally different journey. We're talking about your book.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, um, so any local bookstore, uh, and you said Amazon?

Lane DeVries: Amazon, yep.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: And then the audiobook is also on Apple Books.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Apple Books, Audible-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … and Amazon itself.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And that's available now or Monday?

Lane DeVries: It's … No, it's available now.

Scott Hammond: Right now.

Lane DeVries: It, it, it was actually-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: … became available this past Monday.

Scott Hammond: Okay. You just finished that up.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, that was a process in and of itself.

Scott Hammond: That's probably a lot of hours of reading, right?

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Take two. Take 17.

Lane DeVries: It was, it was an experience.

Scott Hammond: Do you have to go in the studio with a coach and, and, and walk it through and-

Lane DeVries: Not so much with a coach. Uh, just, yeah.

Scott Hammond: A producer and-

Lane DeVries: Anyway, we're, we're, we, we stumbled through it, and I think it turned out okay. And, and then uploading it on ACX and all that was, it was an interesting, uh, learning experience.

Scott Hammond: I bet that was a learning curve.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Hey, not everything that's hard is bad.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah. It's all good. No, I love it, actually.

Scott Hammond: It's all good.

Lane DeVries: Something new.

Scott Hammond: And I see President Rollin Richmond gave your, an endorsement here.

Lane DeVries: Yes.

Scott Hammond: And would you sign this before, uh, before you go? You don't have to do it-

Lane DeVries: Absolutely

Scott Hammond: … on the air, but-

Lane DeVries: Absolutely

Scott Hammond: … yeah, I wanna, I wanna give this to you so you don't run-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … out of here without-

Lane DeVries: No, you bet

Scott Hammond: … giving that back.

Lane DeVries: You bet.

Scott Hammond: So any parting shots that you, you know, wanna talk about? Uh, buy the book.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What, so what do you, what's your day job now, besides writing?

Scott Hammond: You-

Lane DeVries: So currently I'm the president of the, um, American Floral Alliance-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: … uh, which is a, an, an, an, an organization of, uh, wholesalers-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … growers and retailers-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … in the flower industry in the United States.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Lane DeVries: So, uh, so yeah. No, I still find purpose in life-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … even after Sun Valley. I, I think that kinda proves the point, right?

Scott Hammond: Right. Right.

Lane DeVries: Uh, that even Sun Valley, you know, unfortunately, yeah, we had to close that, but still finding purpose in life-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … helping the floral industry in the United States, you know, at large.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: And, uh, and, uh, it's, it's fun. It's fun to be doing that stuff.

Scott Hammond: Do they call you Mr. President?

Lane DeVries: No, no.

Scott Hammond: It's … You have to fly and go places and meet people and-

Lane DeVries: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … probably Zoom now, right? So-

Lane DeVries: Actually, a lot of trade shows. I was in Pasadena last week, and-

Scott Hammond: Ah

Lane DeVries: … I'll be in, uh, Florida next week in-

Scott Hammond: Okay

Lane DeVries: … Amelia Island, so.

Scott Hammond: So you have to travel lots.

Lane DeVries: Fair amount of travel, yes.

Scott Hammond: I imagine a lot of the floral industry is shows, right?

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's-

Lane DeVries: Well, particularly in the off-season.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Lane DeVries: You know, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … that, that timeframe, there's nothing going on. But then in the summer and in the fall, which is kind of the off-season for flowers-

Scott Hammond: Then they do the shows. Yeah

Lane DeVries: … that's when they do all the shows.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, I l- I ask everybody this, Lane. What do you wanna be remembered by? Or four. What, in, in your celebration of life when we go to church out in Blue Lake or wherever that's gonna be, what, what, what would you imagine or hope for that people would have said about your, your life, your person?

Lane DeVries: I would say helping others-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … inspiring others, and s- and, and really be the best that you can be.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Lane DeVries: So.

Scott Hammond: That's good.

Lane DeVries: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Sounds like leadership.

Lane DeVries: That's, I, yeah. That's-

Scott Hammond: Any inscription on the gravestone? Ever thought about what-

Lane DeVries: No

Scott Hammond: … we'd put there? We'll, we'll let others worry about that.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, exactly.

Scott Hammond: I like that. And I, when I hear that, I hear leadership, you know, that idea of being a leader, uh, setting an example, setting the culture.

Lane DeVries: Yep.

Scott Hammond: You talk about that a lot in the book. So one more time, uh, The Pursuit of Purpose by Lane DeVries, available on Amazon, Eureka, at any local bookstore.

Lane DeVries: Correct.

Scott Hammond: What other booksellers are there? I mean, b- if you're not, I'm, I'm just thinking out loud. If, if it's not a local store and it's not Amazon, where would that be? I guess other distributors?

Scott Hammond: Do you-

Lane DeVries: Uh, uh, I mean, you could, when you're not in Humboldt County-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … and you're going to a Barnes & Noble-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … or any other bookstore across the country, you can order the book.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Lane DeVries: But they just w- I mean, the book is also available on IngramSpark-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … which is a, uh, basically the wholesaler that supplies all the bookstores across the country.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Uh, but they won't carry it-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … because, you know, it's not that well-known.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Lane DeVries: But if you, if you're, I, I, as a matter of fact, I know one, somebody who lived in Colorado-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … in Durango, Colorado of all places- … uh, used to go to our church here in Eureka, and that's where she now lives. And she went to a local… She didn't wanna buy from Amazon-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Lane DeVries: … so she went to a local bookstore.

Scott Hammond: And ordered.

Lane DeVries: Durango, Colorado. Ordered the book, and-

Scott Hammond: There you go

Lane DeVries: … a week later it showed up, so.

Scott Hammond: I know Northtown would do that, and others.

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, no, no.

Scott Hammond: No problem.

Lane DeVries: We'll have it at Northtown-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Lane DeVries: … once Northtown is back up.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: So, yeah.

Scott Hammond: I, I watched them clearing that, uh, that block-

Lane DeVries: Oh my God

Scott Hammond: … yesterday. They-

Lane DeVries: Ai, ai, ai

Scott Hammond: … they've been at it for two weeks and it's still a mess.

Lane DeVries: I know. I know.

Scott Hammond: So half of s- city block of Arcata, California burnt down on my birthday, January 2nd this year.

Scott Hammond: And, uh-

Lane DeVries: I know

Scott Hammond: … thank God, thank goodness, thank you fire guys and gals for-

Lane DeVries: How they're able to stop that

Scott Hammond: … to stop it-

Lane DeVries: Oh, yeah

Scott Hammond: … 'cause otherwise you might not have an Arcata.

Lane DeVries: I know. It's crazy.

Scott Hammond: That, that could be crazy.

Lane DeVries: Crazy.

Scott Hammond: We're in Ashland, Oregon watching it on my phone.

Scott Hammond: I'm going-

Lane DeVries: I know

Scott Hammond: … "What's going on?"

Lane DeVries: I know. All that paint at Hensel's blowing up.

Scott Hammond: Oh my gosh.

Lane DeVries: I mean, yeah, it could have been way worse. Yep.

Scott Hammond: Creepy thing was walking by at night and there was still a little beep, beep. It was a, it was a little, uh, smoke detector-

Lane DeVries: Oh my

Scott Hammond: … that went off for like another month.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Scott Hammond: All day long and all night long-

Lane DeVries: Oh, no

Scott Hammond: … in the rubble.

Lane DeVries: Oh.

Scott Hammond: That nobody wanted to bother to go into.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, no. Of course.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause you couldn't.

Lane DeVries: Don't go in there. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's fenced off. So hey, what a delight. Thanks for coming.

Lane DeVries: Thank you.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Lane DeVries: Thank you for having me, and yeah.

Scott Hammond: Appreciate you. Yeah, no, I'm really glad that, uh, you're here. And, uh, don't forget my inscription. Don't forget, you're gonna text me those back exercises.

Lane DeVries: I will.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Lane DeVries: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: And I'm gonna hold you to it too.

Lane DeVries: Yeah, no problem.

Scott Hammond: All right. Hey, if you're just joining us, you're way too late for the show. And seeing Lane, but you could watch it over on, uh, Access Humboldt TV. We're on YouTube. We're on, uh, Spotify, 15 or 20 other, uh, podcast platforms. And you could leave a comment. You could send us money on our website, hey100, 100humboldt.com. Uh, gold bullion is our favorite currency. Uh, if you have a Jag you wanna donate, just kidding. And, you know, thanks for the help for everybody that makes this possible. Nick Flores and his great, uh, podcast, Growing Pains. We've got, uh, so many people to thank in the community. Dick Taylor, uh, Quality Body, Advanced Security, people that just are friends that make, try to make this happen. So, and to you, Lane DeVries, thank you.

Lane DeVries: Well, thank, thank you for hosting me, so.

Scott Hammond: You're welcome. Have a great day.

Lane DeVries: You too. Thank you so much.