Microgreens That Change Lives: Connor Hiebel’s Mission

Hello. Welcome to Leading with Purpose. I am here today with Connor Hiebel, a founder of island micro greens, and I'm really excited to share this conversation. In fact, I first met Connor after he and his mom got off the marketers cruise. We'll hear a little bit about that and how that came to be, but many of our friends and clients that were on the marketer screws. Then we're coming over to our soulful leadership retreat in February of 2025, was that just this year? It's so crazy, yeah, so we're less than a year of knowing each other, but I've been able to watch what you've done Connor in your business, and what you do is a lot different. You know, you actually have a physical not only a product to me, but an experience and different than a transformational training or coaching. Author, you're in that world, but yet you do something very, very unique. And I wanted to hear and share a little bit about your story. But to start, it was very interesting that at my event, you and your mom got to drive me home, back to the grand tower Reunion Resort after a late night party. So I just wanted to say thank you again for that, and what a fun way to get to hear some of the story that I wanted to have you share with other people. First, what are micro greens?

Great question. So Hey everyone. I'm Connor Hiebel and thank you for having me on this podcast. It's been so awesome getting to know you as well, because of, like, just seeing you and all the amazing things you're doing in the world. It's so powerful and impactful. So going back to microgreens, so you have, there's stage in a veggie, so you think of like a seed, then you have the sprout, which are usually sprout, them in those little jars, then the stage right after is called microgreens. And what microgreens, why they're so popular right now is because they're 40 times more, up to 40 times more nutrient dense, than your mature veggies. So think of like a handful of broccoli versus broccoli microgreens. Those broccoli microgreens are going to have up to 40 times more nutrients than your regular broccoli, and in phytonutrients, there's actually up to 100 times more phytonutrients so super powerful for your body. And when you grow them, they're clean, they're pesticide free, organic, heirloom, and they take seven days to grow so tiny baby veggies that are super impactful and super foods.

It's so funny, because I'm almost embarrassed to say we have a tower garden. Oh, I love that. I love them too. If you get to use it, we haven't never planted it because we were always afraid, my wife is afraid, that if you don't take care of it, it'll grow mold and mildew and it ruins the whole thing. So rather than ruining the whole things, we've never really even started with micro greens. It's like, first of all, very easy to do, from what you share with me, almost composable, and it's very, very inexpensive. I want to go into the story, but just so people understand a little bit more about doing micro greens. And to me, I'm excited to get started, happy to have you on here, and happy to like learn more for myself, because I think it'll be fun for our kids to be doing it. But you can grow a variety of different types of greens. What are the types of greens and how do they do it? How do we do

Island Microgreens , we have 11 different varieties, everything from broccoli, kales, collards, peas, sunflowers, even cantaloupe. So you can grow just about anything. In fact, the only things you cannot grow as a microgreen are any plants that have stems that are poisonous to you, so like potatoes or tomatoes or stuff, you can't grow as a microgreen. But most everything else you can grow and eat, and it tastes so similar to your mature veggie. And in fact, a lot of times I'll sample the microgreens, and people will be like, how did you flavor this? Because it tastes so much better because you're getting that level of nutrient content in there that it tastes so good. And so going back to the growing aspect of it, it's super easy to grow. In fact, I like to say, you may not have a green thumb, but you have a micro green thumb. I've had so many people who are like, I can't grow anything. I have a brown thumb, but I can grow these microgreens, because all you need to do is you put your soil down, your seeds down on the tray, then you just water once a day, just once a day, and then in seven days, you have your microgreens. So if you can keep a plan alive for seven days, you can grow your microgreens.

And so if you're growing for us, I've got a family of 415, year old twins. They eat veggies once a day. If I was to replace it, how? What would they eat? Do they just eat a handful of these microgreens? Do you put them in other foods that you cook? Are they added to salads? What are the best ways to consume these microgreens?

So everyone has their own preference. I love just cutting and eating them plain. A lot of times you'll add them to, like, soup, salad sandwiches, anything you're eating in the day, just put a little micro greens on top as a garnish. I really like oriental mustard. It's the cousin to wasabi. It has that nice spice, which is really good on, like a taco, where you want that flavor, really rich flavor for, like a salad. Would recommend, like a solid mix, or kind of more mellow microgreen. And when you said, like to replace the veggies, I don't think it would be good to replace them. I think it's a good enhancement. And so it's that combination of having both your veggies and your microgreens that'll really help improve everything you're doing in your life.

Well, I'm glad that you said that, because I'm sure that my wife would agree the cook of the house and loves to have that at least one solid bill in school. They say they get a vegetable, but we don't know how much that.

There was a period of time where schools were counting pizza as a vegetable because it had tomato sauce on it, so that was a vegetable.

Even ketchup, yeah, they were counting ketchup with fries. As a vegetable, you have potatoes and ketchup tomatoes. So that goes back to the thing that you were saying about the vegetables. You know, the vegetables get added fiber and other value, and nobody gets enough vegetables anyway. So this, this, it's almost like taking a supplement. People take these vitamins of micro greens, but the supplements are micro or master process. Mega process is the word I was looking for, rather than, like, really let right off of your shelf, and you said that they're organic, that island micro greens offers organic. Are they all organic, or just some of them?

It depends upon what seeds you get from us. We get organic, heirloom, non GML seeds. And what's most important within that is we also test for pathogens. Or there was a period of time where there was an equilibrium salmonella scare and sprouting, and that was because people were getting seeds that weren't tested for pathogens. It's like equilibrium salmonella they weren't tested, and so they were incubating it in this tiny, little jar. And so we make sure that we have clean seeds when we do this, it's okay when you're growing out in the garden, because you're not eating so close to that seed, but when you're growing so densely with the microgreens, you want to make sure that you have those good quality seeds. And so we make sure we do that. And within all of that, it's just really powerful to be able to add it. You were talking about the supplements. With a supplement, not only does it have the ultra processed stuff like what you were saying, it also usually is specific to one vitamin or mineral. So like Vitamin E, for example, if you were to eat an orange, it's not just vitamin E. There's a whole series of vitamins and minerals that are in that orange that they don't extract to put into that supplement. So when you're eating a microgreen, you're not just getting one particular nutrient or phytonutrient, you're getting all of them, and you're adding, like, an extra boost because you're eating it so young.

I have some more technical questions about it, but I want to save those, because I'm very excited about your story, and that's a big part of, really, the whole marketing, the business, all of that, being an entrepreneur. And when did you start? How old were you when you started your business?

I started my business when I was 14, right in the middle of covid.

Okay, yeah, so I was gonna get to that part too. Okay, so in the middle of covid, 2120 20 was right in 2020 Okay,

yeah, right in the middle.

And so right in the middle of 2020, you're 14 years old. Had you been growing microgreens? What made you go into creating a business selling microgreens in the middle of covid in 2020, at 14 years old?

So I'll go all the way back to when I was super young. My why is because my whole, well, my full life, had had genetic health challenges, and when I was seven, it got to be to the point where I couldn't get outside, I couldn't go to school. I pretty much just stayed at home because I was in so much pain. I was so inflamed that my doctors were throwing around, like cancer, Ms Chiari, like all these big diagnoses, but no one could figure out what was going on. They could see that I was more inflamed than any adult they had seen. They were super concerned about that, but none of the tests were showing why. So I went on a I found a holistic doctor, and I went on a gut repair diet, and during that time, I wasn't the most popular because I can only eat some fruit, some meats and some vegetables. So birthdays are kind of a little chaotic, but it was so worth it, because within eight months, my body completely changed. It was like night and day. You can see a difference in my level of inflammation, and a big part of that is because I was growing microgreens, they really helped me move forward in that space, not only in my health and being able to reduce that level of inflammation and calm my body down, but also in the sense of being able to grow something. Because during that time, I wasn't really able to do much, but I could take care of the microgreens and I could grow them, and that also enhanced my mental health. And so I've been growing ever since I was seven years old. And then when covid hit and the produce got so wacky, like you'd go to the store, the prices rose and the quality of the produce dipped. I was getting concerned about that food chain, and I knew other people were too, so I started growing microgreens at home. Started a garden. I was like, gardens are so hard, why don't I share what's been really helping me with microgreens with everyone else? Because in seven days you count fresh vegetables, and with a garden, it's so much

longer. So that's when I decided to create Island microgreens to empower other people to grow their own vegetables.

I love it so that actually, it's such a beautiful story that leads right into the technical questions. So you grow them at home, do you have like, a tray of each of the different vegetables? How much space did that take up compared to my tower garden.

Yeah, so if you give me one quick second, I can go

get it real quick. That'll be really fun.

So here's the trick. So this kit, you just open it up, and also you can see me on the back. I have a lot of people who ask, is this an MLM? And I'm like, No, this is really my company. You open it up, and you can see there's all the seeds in the soil. So these are the soil. This is called Coco foyer. It's a sterilized grow medium, which you just pour water on and it expands like those expandable washcloths. And the reason why we like a sterilized grow median, and so you don't have brisk as around the buds.

So the word is sterilized grow Medium. Medium. It's a place replacing soil in a pot. Love it, and

Then you have your seeds. So in our standard kit, we give you oriental mustard. This one's my favorite and most popular. Then there's broccoli, and then there's salad mix. And on here is a little QR code that takes you to a video on how to grow microgreens. So makes it super simple. Then the tray, which you're asking about, this is your tray. So it's super small. You can see it's like nine inches by 12 inches. You just put it right next to your window, ambient lights, all you need. So and then

How many of those little pads can you fit on that? So you would do

One soil and one seed, so that would cover this whole tray, and you get that lush microgreen,

That one circle that you just showed me will fill that whole tray.

It expands to eight times its size. And then, because it's super compressed, and then you can see all the seeds in there. If you were to go to a store and get some seeds for your garden, it would be like a 10th of that much seeds. So really, a lot of seeds in there?

Yep, yep. And so if you're going to do three or four different types of seeds, you're going to use three or four different

Exactly, yes. And we have a kit that has two trays where that particular reason, because when you're eating off of one tray, you might want to start growing that next one so you have that rotation, so you don't go seven days without microgreens. Love it, yeah. And so this is the tray you just put, lift this up, you put a cup of water in and put that back down. And seven days you had microgreens. Super simple, yeah.

And so, again, you had been taking greens since you were seven years old, yes. And this was something that you you enjoyed getting, but your mom would go get them at the store.

No, I actually garnered growing them myself the whole time. And there was the original tray that I had. Like, there were so many things that I wanted to adjust. So as soon as I started my business, I was like, Okay, I work on those. And I got trays that I like so much better than what I had.

So you had been growing for literally seven years before you started selling this kit to other people at 14 years old

100% and it's been so cool to see the impact, like you were mentioning, with kids in particular, a lot of kids won't eat their vegetables. I had one kid in my neighborhood who had no interest in fruits of vegetables, none. Just wanted chicken nuggets and ham. Yeah, chicken nuggets and hamburgers. And then he started growing his microgreens, because he saw a particular microgreen that's, like, really bright and it's super cool looking. And he was like, I want to grow it. I don't want to eat it. I just want to grow it. So he started growing that microgreen. Then a miracle happened. He started to eat that microgreen. And then he started eating vegetables. And this was a kid who wanted nothing to do with fruits and vegetables. Started eating vegetables. So when kids start growing their own microgreens, it really makes a huge difference.

I love it. I love again, the the health benefits, and you taking your story at such a young age and not being able to help other people. And I know, again, the entrepreneurial part of that, and I'm excited to hear a little bit more about that, because it takes a lot to put together a product and then to start selling to other people and all of the pieces, what have been some of the biggest challenges that you face as an entrepreneur over just when you were growing your own microgreens as a farmer?

Yeah. So one of the biggest things for me is that right before covid, I was at the point where, like, if I was to call someone, I could only call them for one minute. I had so much social anxiety, and I'd go to vendor markets and I'd be like, I can't talk to anyone. Like, I'd literally get a panic attack, or I'd start crying in front of people. It was so awful, and there were so many times within that that I wanted to quit. But there was one thing that I knew, and that is that when I felt uncomfortable, that's when I needed to move forward. And so even through that uncomfortableness, I still stayed with it, and I still did the things because my vision. Was so much bigger than the pain that I was experiencing in that moment, and it's that comfort zone. So you have your comfort zone, say, it's like, right here, if you start getting out of it, and then you come back, then soon your your comfort zone is going to expand and expand just like that. And then soon you'll look back and you'll be like, that comfort zone really wasn't that comfortable. Like, I have so much more of a comfort zone now, and so it's just that consistency of doing the things and moving into that space, of being more comfortable in the uncomfortable, and just knowing that fear is there to serve a purpose, but is it really helping you? And if it's not, then go ahead and do the thing that's going to help you the most.

Oh, that's so beautiful again. That's why I love to hear the entrepreneurial story of it, and you were talking about having a vision that was bigger than your fear. And again, people hear this interview and they'd like, no way he is exaggerating and all of this stuff, but these were really what you overcame by stretching your fear through entrepreneurship. But you said you had a bigger vision. Tell me a little bit more about that. What is your vision?

That is such a great question. So with microgreens, they've changed my life, and I've seen how much they can impact other people. And so I want to share this gift with the world, especially people in food deserts where they're not able to go to the store and get fresh veggies, they're able to come home grow their microgreens. Whatever space they have, they're able to have fresh, live veggies. And especially for kids who are starting to grow and they're starting to need more energy, having all of the processed foods that a lot of food deserts tend to have really can impact them. And I want to make sure that everyone has the ability to have fresh, live produce, no matter their economic situation, no matter where they are. And that's my biggest mission.

Again, love that. Love the beauty of your your service and how you want to help other people. It brings up something when you say everybody, it's available. It takes very little water. What is the cost of it? The cost of your product? And then, like, for ongoing, it's always gonna be a farmer like, how much does it cost to eat veggies all the time?

Yeah, that is such a great question. So for our standard, currently it's $35 so you have your three grows and the tray, and then you can get seed refills. After that, that ship right to your door. And then for the Deluxe, it's just $15 more. So it's $50 and it goes right to your door as well. And the great thing about that is, when you buy your kits, we're setting up a foundation to start being able to go into schools and teach other kids how to grow microgreens. So it's going to be a part of like a buy one give one experience. And so that's one of our future goals, is setting that into the time of what we do and how that that that cost, is going to make an even bigger impact into the world. And so, yeah,

I love that idea about the further impact. And I'm thinking of other organizations that work, especially in Africa, where, you know, water is such a challenge that they can't really harvest lots of vegetables, but to be able to add this there and into schools, literally, things like unstoppable foundation is what I'm thinking of. So it's great thinking about like, being able to get those into other organizations as well. Have you partnered with other, you said, schools where you're teaching them, you have a nonprofit that you're doing that with? Or what does that look

Right now, I'm doing it more in my business, and I'm moving to having a foundation that's specifically set up for that. And I do want to dive into the whole like going to Africa and helping people there, because I have looked at that, and there's a couple organizations that I've been looking at working with in particular there. And the cool thing about microgreens is we can bring the trays. I don't know if we can bring the soil, but you can use the soil that's available there. The thing that's most challenging are the seeds. And what's really well is that you can get seeds from that particular country, wherever it is, and then you just have to make sure that you sterilize it. And so there's a few different ways that I've been looking at sterilizing the seeds, so that when I go there, I can teach them how to do that. So then they can grow their own microgreens without my help or without anyone else's, because once you get those foundations set, then you can start growing it pretty easily.

Love that, yeah, well, definitely have more conversations, and we'll follow up with everybody listening about opportunities with that. And then if you've got a school or an organization you want to bring Conor in, I'm sure Connor would be happy to speak. Please leave comments below, and we'll respond to that. I want to just ask one last question again about the technical part. So once you have the trays and then each pad, how much is it to get another pad every seven days? I can replace it for how much

So for this? So you'll get the seed and the soil. So you get both of these. Each one is approximately $5 so just $5 and if you think of going to the store and getting ahead of broccoli, like it's so much less expensive, and this will last you for a good week, and if you have, like, a family for it, it'll probably last you two to three days, so pretty good amount of time. And it's super nutrient content.

Yeah, and you have, like, a membership model where people can just subscribe and just get it automatically sent.

Yeah, it's just directly on the website, Island microgreens.com

Love it. I was gonna ask you to repeat that again. You read my mind yeah. So mind reading indeed. So again, we talked about the biggest challenges of coming through on the other side. What have you seen as the biggest wins, both for yourself and how you've grown both, or we heard about your confidence and then, like some of the other people, yeah, I know you've helped a lot of other people who shared one of the stories about somebody that started to eat vegetables. What other big wins Have you felt personally in this business?

I would say one of the other best wins is watching my clients succeed and growing their microgreens and having the connection with their friends and family. Because a lot of times we're around our friends and family and we're like, we know you so much that we don't know what questions to ask, because we know everything about you. So creating a new experience that is different, so you have something to talk about is really powerful. And one of my favorite moments was when someone bought a kit, but they bought six kits and sent them to all of their grandkids. It was their birthday, and they all hopped on Zoom, and we got to teach them how to grow their microgreens. And you could just see the joy in the kids eyes as they were growing their microgreens with their grandparent. And it was just so much fun to be a part of that, because microgreens are such great gifts to give to your friends and your family, because you had that experience that really makes a difference, especially when you're working with kids. And so it was so much fun to see that. And then the other day, one of my own highlights is I got to record a podcast with Marie diamond from the secret and so it was really cool just to get to know her more and learn more about the power of our environment, because what we have around us really makes a difference and our level of success, whether it's in health, wealth or our relationships with our friends and family. So it was really cool whether

You brought that up. I was going to ask you about that interview. So you interviewed Marie diamond for your podcast, which we I was on your podcast as well. Tell me a little bit of background. How did you get to speak with Marie diamond and get to share your story? It's fantastic.

So this is actually a really funny story. So I was at an event you know James dutley, right? So he has you like, he'll be like, turn to the person left and right and tell him you don't know who you're sitting next to. So mom start. My mom started doing that, you don't know who you're sitting next to. And the person just thought, Okay. And then he had everyone get up and be like, I am, and then your name, I am a dragon slayer, I'm a mountain mover. And then, like you keep repeating your name, and she went all in. She was saying, I am Christy hueb. I'm a dragon slayer. I'm a mountain mover. And then goes back to you don't know who you're sitting next to, so that I run over and I'm like, Hey, Mom, I really want to meet Marie diamond. She's like, Yeah, I do too. The person right next to her was Marie diamond. She really did not know who she was sitting next to when we went over, mom introduced herself, and she was like, Oh, I know who you are. So you never know who you're sitting next to, who's going to be that next incredible person that's going to change your life or be a part of your journey. And so, yeah, it was a really cool experience to really learn you don't know who you're sitting next to,

Absolutely and it's fun because you have put yourself into these environments, these cruises, these events, and your mom has been very supportive in you growing as an entrepreneur and as a person. I really appreciate watching that as a parent myself, and all of the opportunities that come from entrepreneurship, but not every person has the ambition and everything else that you've taken, or they might feel like it is too much. You said you took a lot of courage, and to me, that's one of the biggest pieces, is the courage and stepping outside of the comfort zone. You mentioned your vision. Is there anything else that you can share for anybody listening to help encourage them to step into something that is bigger than them?

One of the biggest things that, especially like schools and our environment, miss, is that they want us to be well rounded. Of like you do school, you do the math, you do English, you do PE you do all these things. And some of those things you're you have high strengths in, and some things you have high weaknesses in, and they want you to be well rounded. They don't want you to have those weaknesses. And so you focus on the weaknesses, and the more you focus there, the less you focus on your strengths. And so when you're in an entrepreneurial sphere, instead of focusing on your weaknesses, focus on those strengths, because those are going to be the things that really help move you forward. And so when you map out what your strengths are, you're able to figure out, how can I be the best leader in my business? And when you do that, then you're able to either delegate. Create or learn some of the other things that you're fully your strength, but maybe you can do. And so really having that honest assessment with yourself is going to make a huge difference in how far you get. Because if you're doing the things that you love that are your strengths, that's when you're going to succeed the most.

I love it. It's such a beautiful way to wrap up and segue into the final question. This is leading with purpose. And you just mentioned, leadership is part of this. It's such an important piece of entrepreneurship. What does leading with purpose mean to you, Connor?

That is such a great question, and I think I'll answer that with a story. So right, when I started Island microgreens, I was going down the route that a lot of microgreen farmers took, which is growing the microgreens and selling them. There's a much higher profit, and you can do it a lot consistently. A lot of people want already grown microgreens, and so I was growing them, but my mission statement didn't align with it. And one day, my mom asked me, What is your mission statement? Which is, we are on a mission to empower people to grow their own organic, nutrient dense, fresh food. And so she asked, Is this in alignment? And I really thought about it. I was like, it really isn't, because we're not empowering people. We're growing for them. And so then she was like, Do you want to keep doing this, or do you want to change your mission statement? And I really statement? And I really looked at it, and I was like, the reason why I started this was to teach people how to grow their own food. And so even though the profit margin is significantly less, it was in alignment with what I wanted to do and what my vision was. And so I stopped growing and selling microgreens as my main source, I started focusing on the kits, and that was my purpose. And so when you really are able to iron out who you are, what you want, you're able to follow that vision and purpose. And sometimes it doesn't feel great in that moment when you're getting a cut in how much money you're making, or you're having to set boundaries that maybe you didn't before, and yeah, it's so much better when you do that, when you're able to align with who you are and what your goal is and whatever area of life you're focusing and so that would be, what I would say, is just focus on the things that are most important.

Could not have said it better. That was absolutely beautiful. Again, I appreciate your leadership and what you're putting out there. I can see lots of Christmas orders coming in from me personally, hopefully others too. I think it's a great gift, especially if you have young people in your life. For me, I can see it for my parents. My mom loves to garden, loves to grow plants, so it's just the opposite. She has a great green thumb, but I think she'll really enjoy the process, and especially when the grandkids come over and stay for a week and they can actually watch their micro grown, micro greens grow.

I love that, and it's such a great gift for people who have garden, because it aligns so much with what they already have, and so they can add more to what they're doing with their fresh life, produce and often use

it as spicing and flavoring on your sandwiches and salads. I think

It's great. Yeah, it is so amazing. Yeah. And one last thing before we go, I just want to share that I'm launching my new book, The 4% edge, which is talking about a lot of what I said about that comfort zone. So if you're in that like stuck state, this book will be coming out next year, the second quarter of next year, so be sure to check it out.

I'm so glad to hear that I did not even know. Grateful that you made sure to get that in there, and we'll make sure to add that into the show notes as soon as the book is out. If you have pre orders already, or

I haven't set that up yet, so I'll let you know when I do. And then, of course, get this amazing book by someone that you might know. It's soulful leadership, tools for a new way of being. It is such a great book, and it's been really impactful. Awesome.

Thank you so much. Connor, I appreciate you. Thank you for having me on your show again. What was the name of your show for the audience? Where can we find that?

Let's get growing. So let's get growing.com. You should be able to find it there and just search up. Let's get growing, and it will be there. It's on growth for health wealth and entrepreneurship. Wait up, health, wealth and mindset. So it's growth in all of those areas and actionable steps with every podcast.

I love it, and I love growing with you. I appreciate it. Have a wonderful day. We'll talk to you. See it?