Meg Hirshberg - Applaud Women

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Writer & Entrepreneurial Wife: Meg Hirshberg
by Emily Pietro

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Freelance writer Meg Cadoux Hirshberg has always had a passion for writing, but she wasn’t always able to pursue
it as actively as she liked, particularly during the first several years of her marriage. Interestingly enough, while she
put her love of writing aside to help her husband Gary pursue his dream of creating what is now the yogurt empire
of Stonyfield Farm, it’s through this very experience that she now draws the inspiration for her writing. Her
escapades on the farm not only have inspired her writing, but now inspire others who relate to her experiences of
owning a small family business. Meg’s story is honest, gratifying, and most importantly, inspiring.

Meg met her husband Gary at an organic farming conference in 1984. After they decided to get married, Meg and
Gary moved to a very isolated spot in Wilton, NH to what would become their home and their business, Stonyfield
Farm. “I moved to Stonyfield on an icy January day. When we had almost reached our destination, our U-Haul truck
just happened to slip into a ditch at the bottom of the road – all I could do was think that hopefully this wasn’t a
metaphor for the years to come! It actually did turn out to be one, for the first years of our business experience. We
were constantly falling into ditches and having to get ourselves out; it took nine years for our company to reach
profitability. The early years were a very stressful time,” Meg remembers.

They soon became completely immersed in their yogurt production business, since it required all hands on deck at
all times. The farm had a 19th century building, an 18th century barn and neither had been updated to current
living standards. Meg remembers that the farmhouse was always cold, and recounts her experience in the
basement. “The floor was entirely made of dirt, and every time I went into the basement, some furry creature would
scuttle across my feet…I would get so creeped out, and it was never fun going down there!”

To escape from the stresses of managing an organic yogurt farm, particularly in the early stages, Meg found that
one of the best ways to relax was with a bath. However, this was not an easily obtained luxury, mainly because the
only bathtub was in the employee bathroom in the barn. “Living at the farm could be such a stressful experience. It
was often physically uncomfortable; there was no privacy, since I was physically living with the business. I would
sneak in there (the employee bathroom) late at night to take baths to relax. The lines between work and home didn’t
exist – the two had completely blended together.”

Although she didn’t get much of a break from the work, Meg transitioned from yogurt maker to mother. After
becoming pregnant, Meg realized that the stress was becoming too much for her, and removed herself from some
of the hands-on work. She kept involved by writing a few yogurt cookbooks, the first published in 1990.

“I knew living on the farm wasn’t going to be glamorous because I had been raised on a farm. So I knew not to look
for the white picket fence, but I wasn’t expecting the smell of manure. The combination of being assaulted by the
smell of the yogurt (since our bedroom was right next to the leech field) and the smell of the manure was revolting. I
would cover my nose and mouth at night just to filter the smell, and I knew that this couldn’t be my baby’s first breath
and we absolutely had to do something.”

In 1989, Meg and Gary were finally able to fund a factory, despite having been pessimistic about the future of
Stonyfield Farm. The cost of production soon went down, they turned a slight corner and became 75% profitable,
and in 1991, the Hirshbergs finally moved off the farm and to Concord, NH.

When thinking about her experiences in the early years, Meg is extremely realistic. “I don’t romanticize anything that
happened – I look back and shudder. Despite all this, it never even dawned on me to leave. I loved Gary with all my
heart, I believed in what he was doing, and I was very supportive of the mission. What is common for everyone in
any entrepreneurial situation is that it’s never just about the entrepreneur: the family is always affected and
involved. It’s so different from a regular 9-to-5 job, since in those situations you can leave work, you get paid
vacations, and you can think about life and plan, you can even get a mortgage and have a reasonable expectation
that you’ll be able to pay it. When you start a business and you’re not making money, all of that is out the window.
You literally can’t bank on anything. Everyone is taking a risk, whether they want and understand it or not.”

Even though she experienced initial hardship with the business and admittedly “was not the best cheerleader,” Meg
sees the light in her family’s situation. “In the end, it’s such a gift to be able to have a passion, to do something that
you believe in and you love. People who find a way to incorporate their passion into their work really do live happier
and more successful lives, but this happiness is often met emotionally rather than financially.”

Meg finally was able to take a breath and focus on what she wanted to do, which was writing. Even with all the
madness going on, she was able to secure a few smaller jobs over time, writing for law firms, doing grant proposals
and research. After taking a seminar course at Boston University for mid-career writers, Meg says that her writing
narrative nonfiction skills greatly improved, and thus she launched her freelance writing career. The first personal
writing she had ever done was a short piece for the Boston Globe about her experiences as the spouse of a
business owner. Inc.® magazine noticed her piece and wanted her to write a feature for them in September 2008.
Inc.® received so much mail about the article that they asked her to become a columnist for them.

On her life in journalism, Meg says, “It has been such a great experience. I didn’t even know that I had so much to
say about my experiences on the farm, but there are a lot of different aspects that I am able to bite off and chew. I
have lots of devoted readers, and I feel like I have been helpful to others by sharing my own experiences.” She also
recalls Gary’s reaction to seeing her in the spotlight. “He told me that he had been talking to someone and they
said, ‘Hey, aren’t you the guy that Meg writes about?’ It was so funny.”

Meg’s story is truly inspirational. She is grateful that reflecting on and sharing her experiences with her readers has
forced her and her husband to look back, review their experiences and discover the meanings that these
experiences held for them. Meg shares her story with her own genuine, straightforward style, and while she is
candid about her negative feelings while going through some of her experiences she also presents them with a
positive outlook. She says, “Even when it was terrible, it certainly was never boring.”

To get more information about Meg and read her articles visit her at www.meghirshberg.com.