Stacey Antine, MS, RD, 39
Founder and CEO, HealthBarn USA
www.healthbarnusa.com
During Stacey Antine's 16-year career in public relations, including two years as senior vice-president for Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, she created educational campaigns for children and adults on behalf of Kellogg USA, The Dannon Company, The Minute Maid Company, Unilever, Hoffmann-La Roche, and Pfizer. Her decision to leave the PR world behind came while completing her master's degree in food, nutrition, and dietetics, a goal she was pursuing at night while continuing to work full-time. Antine, 39, says she was on a pediatric rotation at New York City's Beth Israel Medical Center when it dawned on her that families needed to get the whole story about nutrition, not just messages she was used to creating like "buy this yogurt because it has calcium in it."
Antine's HealthBarn USA, which is based at Abma's Farm, a small family farm in Wyckoff, N.J., relies on a handful of staffers and interns from Montclair State University, and has doubled its revenues since launching in April, 2005. HealthBarn USA generates revenues through enrollment fees for its year-round programs at the farm (where children learn to grow, harvest, and cook vegetables), educational materials it publishes, presentations at school assemblies, and school field trips to the farm. Antine says she is considering starting more programs at other family farms or ranches around the country and is publishing HealthBarn USA's recipe book soon.
Now that you are experiencing the realities of committing to a startup business, do you have regrets about leaving your old job?
I have no regrets— I'm doing what I believe in. And I've gotten much better at fixing my computer— I can't call tech support any more.
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