Conversations with David Friesen

Today we’d like to introduce you to David Friesen.

Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started beekeeping 12 years ago after being introduced to it by my uncle Tim and my great uncle Bob. It’s a wonderful and rewarding practice, and I wanted to find a way to make it a job without simply putting hundreds of hives in the country somewhere and selling them in markets. Having always been interested in urban farmers, I realized I could start a nonprofit to place hives all around Kansas City (on urban farms, educational campuses, and elsewhere)–this would pollinate the farmers’ plants and a two-mile circle around the hives, give the farmers honey for free, and allow me to visit schools and hold workshops. It’s been wonderful to connect to so many people and help out our urban ecosystem, which can use all the help it can get.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, has it been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I’ve started and grown a for-profit business before (three locations, 80 employees), which was extremely hard and involved intense work. In some ways, starting the nonprofit has been easier, and in some ways harder. Assembling a board and becoming a certified 501c3 was a lengthy process; getting an EIN and business license and selling products is much easier. I tell people that opening a liquor store would be easier, less work, and more profitable than an entity serving the public good, which unfortunately tells you a lot about our society. On the other hand, having altruistic motivation makes people much more open and trusting, excited to be involved, and makes you feel good every day–I wouldn’t trade that for anything!

Let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I chose “other” because I get to be a business/practice/firm/employee/professional/artist/creative all at once! There are the nuts and bolts of organization management, the craft of beekeeping, woodworking for hives and other objects, creating illustrations and graphics, working with local artists to paint hives and other art, and so on. I get to work with passionate small-scale farmers like Ophelia’s Blue Vine and Pink Pony Farms; groups like Drumm Farm (foster neighborhood and working farm on 4 acres in Independence) and New Roots Farm at Juniper Gardens (refugee farmers working free land); great local businesses like Q39, Tom’s Town, Fox & Pearl restaurant; and so many more!

Do you have any advice for those just starting?
Know what you are passionate about and learn it well. Work in that field first, from the bottom up, and learn from those with more experience than you. Take advantage of every opportunity to connect with people, but don’t push yourself too hard–my background is in the restaurant industry, where you move at an intense pace and always take on more and more, which is rewarding but easily leads to burnout. Have an open heart, and don’t be afraid. If you love what you do, you can pass on that love to everyone you meet, which is priceless.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.beekc.org
• Instagram: @beekcmo
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@beekc7636

Image Credits
All photos by me, with the exception of the newspaper story on my great uncle Bob