Ivy Phillips, Crew Leader
Ivy Phillips started with Nash’s in 2012. She and her little brother Abe were born and raised in Low Gap, AR in the beautiful Ozark Mountains. She attended Drury University, a liberal arts college in Springfield, MO, but her love of the outdoors and hiking in the mountains drew her to the Olympic Peninsula where she can indulge that passion in Olympic National Park.
Ivy is a very hard worker and has never been afraid do all the tasks required of a produce worker and member of the packing crew, including pulling weeds, planting seeds, transplanting, caring for the greenhouses and working the packing line, bunching carrots and bagging all sorts of root crops. She also anchors Nash’s farmers market in Port Angeles, and she drives tractor! Her enthusiasm and dedication impressed the management team so much that when Chris Tipton decided to step down, he recommended Ivy take his place.
Since January 2015, Ivy has been the crew leader and liaison between the managers on the farm and the crew workers. She brings their concerns and suggestions to the team and conveys decisions and announcements to the crew. “I make sure everyone stays on task and has things to do,” Ivy says. “We are a pretty tight group and we work really well together.”
Ivy takes real pride in her crew’s accomplishments, especially this year, when the farm has had to cut back on labor costs, but still stay on top of all there is to do. She is particularly excited about the fact that starting next Spring, the packing crew will be all women for the first time.
“So many of our staff support families, and I love the fact that we are hard-working families growing food for other hard-working families. Farm share members are the people who ‘get it’ and really appreciate organic food. We are fortunate to have them as part of our community.”