Olympic Level Business Management: U.S. Olympian and Dairy Farmer Elle St. Pierre
What is the one old farming adage that an Olympic athlete and her equally driven dairy farming husband can say to each other when it's "go" time on the dairy or training season on the track, that flips them into high gear?
"Make hay while the sun shines."
Elle Purrier-St. Pierre and her husband Jamie St. Pierre of Pleasant Valley Farms in Vermont had sweet smiles on their faces as they talked about what these words meant to them on the Uplevel Dairy Podcast.
These two farm kids that found love showing cows at the county fair knew these words to be true as life-long residents of a state where cloudy and cool days make hay harvesting windows tights. Elle, who grew up on a smaller dairy, tossed hay bales with the best of them. Jamie too, as an active part of the workforce on a dairy farm that grew and evolved during his youth to an enterprise that includes cows on several sites, methane and maple sugaring today.
But those words have such a bigger meaning to what makes Elle and Jamie who they are today.
In fact, the history of Pleasant Valley Farms is an example in its own right of what it means to make the most of the opportunities that open up as the clouds part. Jamie's dad, Mark St. Pierre, the son of French-Canadian immigrants, grew up on a dairy farm in Canada. French was his first language, and in the 1980s, he made his way to the U.S. and started his dairy business importing cows from Quebec and selling them as dairy replacements in the states. When cattle didn't sell, he kept them and milked them. This was how he built his own herd and started his first-generation farm. Before they were milking cows in multiple tie stall barns and buying land is it came available.
Even in the face of the unfortunate event of a barn fire, the St. Pierres found a way to rise of above and make the best of a tough situation by deciding to build a free stall barn and milking parlor to house their cattle all in one place. And that is now the main hub of Pleasant Valley Farms. In addition to the dairy, the family got into other business ventures like a maple sugaring business, and they were one of the first to build a methane digester in Vermont.
For Mark St. Pierre, "making hay while the sun shines" defines the growth mode of his farming business. And after sitting down with Elle and Jamie, I could hear in their tone that those same words define their growth mindset. These two are avid learners and high performers, who set the bar high for their individual goals, as well as their dairy farming dreams together. They are not afraid of hard work, and they know there are seasons when it's time to "make hay."
For Elle and Jamie, that means supporting each other as Elle pursues her running career. At times, that has required Elle to go to Arizona for training, but they both understand that training is just a different way of making hay. And for Elle, her "hay day" came in the form of setting U.S. records for the indoor 1 and 2 mile, as well as a spot on Team USA at the Tokyo Olympics. (BTW - She's not done yet. Elle's got her sites on Paris in 2024.)
It's no wonder these two make such a good match. They both handled enough hay bales as kids to build incredible strength, yet their most powerful tool for success is their mindset of resilience and endurance in they way they approach both careers - running and farming.
So even on this chilly, white winter morning, perhaps you also are now inspired to see that we can "make hay" all year round.
