There are seasons on the farm when the work seems harder to do. Lately, I have had days when I do not feel as though I am keeping up with everything that needs to be done. There is always another bed to weed, another irrigation issue to fix, another crop to tend, and another task that quietly waits for attention.
On those days, I sometimes wonder whether all the work is worth it.
Then Monday evening comes.
My Iron Mountain Organics customers arrive to pick up vegetables, and I get a chance to hear what they enjoyed from the previous week. Someone tells me how they cooked the peppers. Someone asks what is coming next. Those conversations are often brief, but they have a way of putting wind back in my sails.
The same thing happens when I bring vegetables to my coworking community. A few cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, or herbs can create a conversation that would not have happened otherwise. The vegetables may be the reason we stop and talk, but the real value is having a meaningful connection.
Recently, I also had the chance to catch up with a former ThreeWill employee, Peter Skelly (aka Pete). It reminded me that the work we do creates relationships that can continue long after a project ends or someone moves into a different season of life. I love seeing what my previous employees are up to and enjoy being a part of their journey.
The Quiet Work
Most of the work that produces a healthy harvest is not very visible. Customers see the basket of vegetables, but they do not see the irrigation repairs, the planning, the planting, the weeding, the failed experiments, or the mornings when the work begins before anyone else is awake.
Business is not much different.
At ThreeWill, much of my work can feel routine. It includes email follow-ups, meeting reschedules, travel coordination, proposal conversations, and the steady effort required to keep opportunities moving forward. None of those activities feel like the big moment. Most of them happen quietly and without much recognition.
But they create the conditions for the moments that matter.
A thoughtful follow-up can lead to a meaningful conversation. A rescheduled meeting can eventually become the right meeting at the right time. A trip that requires hours of coordination can lead to an hour with a client where trust grows and a real need becomes clear.
The visible moment is often made possible by a long stretch of invisible work.
Finding the Right Match
What gives me energy at ThreeWill is not simply winning more work. It is finding the right match between what an organization needs and what our team is uniquely equipped to provide.
When we discover that match, the daily grind begins to make sense. The follow-ups, meetings, travel, and coordination become part of helping someone solve a meaningful problem. We get to use our skills to make their work easier, more productive, and more effective.
That is the business version of a healthy harvest.
The same is true on the farm. The work becomes more meaningful when I see the vegetables feeding people, bringing them together, or giving someone a small moment of joy. Community helps connect the labor to its purpose.
Community Renews the Work
I am learning that community does more than encourage us. It reminds us why the quiet work matters.
We all have responsibilities that can feel repetitive, unnoticed, or disconnected from the result we hope to achieve. We may not always see how today’s follow-up, repair, preparation, or small act of service will contribute to something larger.
Community gives us a glimpse of the larger picture.
It may come through a customer conversation on a Monday evening, a vegetable shared with a coworker, a conversation with someone from an earlier chapter, or a client who realizes that our team can genuinely help. Those moments do not remove the work, but they renew our willingness to continue it.
Sometimes we do not need less work.
Sometimes we need to be reminded who the work is for.
Keep growing. Keep learning.
Farmer Tommy
This post first appeared on July 24, 2026 in Sowing Success, my weekly LinkedIn newsletter on leadership and organic farming. Read the original on LinkedIn.
