Brad Biren Of IQMOP: Urban Farming and Community Supported Agriculture; Why It’s Important and Why You Should Get Involved

An Interview with Martita Mestey

Be entrepreneurial and network with people in your community and around the world. I have met incredible people in Iowa and in Istanbul. People want to help other people intrinsically. But, if they do not know what you are doing or what your goals are, how can they help you. An entrepreneur always have an elevator pitch at the ready — be that person.

The recent growth of Urban Farming and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) has been a modern revolution in the agriculture sector. What exactly are the benefits of Urban and Community Farming? How is this better for the environment or our health? What are the drawbacks? How can one get involved? To address these questions, we are talking to leaders of Urban and Community Agriculture who can share insights based on their experience.

As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Brad Biren, Esq., LL.M., LEED AP.

Brad Biren, Esq., LL.M, LEED AP provides legal, taxational, estate planning, business & land-use planning to his community in Des Moines Metro Area. Brad is a trained landscape architect, plant scientist, and operates a demonstration farm on his land to provide insights to members of the community and to provide fresh food for his family and neighbors. His favorite area of agricultural research, quantum biology, looks to answer how plants and animals utilize quantum physics to optimize their internal systems.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

Keep in mind that farming does not mean one must be directly engaged in cultivation or husbandry. I am an attorney and LEED Accredited Professional that offers consulting services to people in the agriculture and life sciences fields to help solve their most perplexing issues. As a caveat, I grow an inordinate amount of food on my land, conduct original research, and enjoy time with my therapy horse Tivio. He is a spontaneous, non-achondroplastic dwarf horse (under 12 hands) Appaloosa that also suffered a traumatic brain injury.

My first article was published in Orchids Magazine 2001, when I was in high school. I liked plants and as many autistic people do, they tend to do a deep dive of sorts. I became an orchid-aholic. They are easy to grow and produce pollinia rather than pollen, so orchid allergies are few and far between. Soon, I began experimenting with various plant hormones and cross-pollination. My older sister used to provide me her placebo week of birth control too help me add iron when necessary. I also had an exceptionally large collection of reptiles that when packed into a bedroom in New York City, ended up resembling a jungle.

My mother had one rule: no bad smells. I followed that rule and well, she got a rotating collection of blooming orchids in the house. It was fun when the house would randomly look like Thailand in springtime in the middle of a winter Nor’easter. I also was very chatty and precocious as a youth and so my parents just let me run with it. Eventually I was able to get my first job as a zookeeper in 10th grade and the world just bubbled over with opportunities for a curious mind. I acknowledge my luck.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?

Before making the leap from landscape architecture and life sciences to focusing more on community agriculture, I focused my time experimenting on the land at my family home in Bethel, New York. They purchased the land with a plan to transition from living full-time in New York City to moving full-time to the Catskills. The property initially had a dwelling built about the 1950s, and dead or dying spruces, and one very smelly apple tree.

After incremental demolition and construction, the soil structure was compacted and unsuitable for native growth. My parents wanted a gorgeous, lush landscape the next day — more or less. When I showed them the price of instant gratification and its five digit figure, they were suddenly amenable to a five year plan. The plan would cost about ¼ the total cost, but would ensure an attractive, low to no maintenance, and highly biodiverse parcel of land.

My father wanted to be a marine biologist before deciding to become a pharmacist. He loves nature and is a stalwart conservative in the vein of Theodore Roosevelt. From an early age, he taught me the value of fresh air and water.

To turn their clay and rubble-laden soil into the foundation of an ecologically diverse environment, I focused on soil composition and land the first year. First, we brought in 30 cubic yards of soil that were going to be “moved” to build a home on a defunct farm. As the soil was a “nuisance” to the other landowner, we only had to pay to haul the soil. Now before you say that I cheated and brought in arable soil to avoid true remediation, please know that was merely the tip of a long process. The soil was spread and sculpted around the house into berms and swales. Next we spread coated alfalfa and clover over every square inch of soil.

Alfalfa and clover are both leguminous plants, meaning that they fix nitrogen (produce fertilizer) and are phreatophytes. Such plants are known for sending their roots down much farther than other plants. Most plant roots, including trees, do not go beyond 24” below the soil’s surface. Alfalfa in particular has been known to go beyond forty feet down to find water. My goal was not to find water and draw it to the surface like most farmers who use it typically would. Rather, the clover acted as a cover crop to prevent wind and water erosion; while the alfalfa was planted to incorporate, aerate, and facilitate improved soil structure. Both plants can be mowed like turf and will look like turf — just know that stepping on mown alfalfa is not suitable for bare feet. Therefore, we planted most of the alfalfa atop the berms and are purely.

My parents’ property was 60’ x 100’ and yet was the most speciose parcel of land in their County. Of the 129 native species of orchids, we had four present at different times on the property within ten years. We attained such a high level of biodiversity that we were able to receive acknowledgement from the World Wildlife Fund. At completion, we had over well over 200 documented species of plants taking residence on our land throughout the year. We had mayapples, persimmon, and even an American Chestnut immune to Chestnut blight. Granted cool things like Lycopodium obscurum and Cornus racemosa do not take much of the limelight, but those plants, like the orchids were more than novelties — they were indicators of success!

You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

An indefatigable curiosity for all living systems. Curiosity comes from the word curo/curare meaning to care. The word in itself implies a level of interest beyond the idea of “a curio” — a mere thing that is cared for and on display for viewing. Curiosity is to go one step further and ask a question. In middle school, I went to sleepaway camp like all good suburban Jewish kids from the tri-state area did. While bunkmates with Mark Zuckerberg, yes that one, we went to a space observatory with telescopes and fun lasers and such. I went over to the gift shop, purchased this spinning disc of polished galvanized steel with a dimple in the center to allow it to spin on the ground. Imagine the world’s lamest disco ball. I then approached a scientist there and I asked him if we could use the laser.

After a quick explanation he agreed. He set up a laser (extremely low power) and placed it on a tripod and pointed it at the edge of my new toy from the gift shop. I then spun the disc with the laser pointing at the outer centimeter of the disc. On the opposite wall appeared a three-dimensional figure that seemed to roll, spin, and change form. What it did not do was scatter the light in every direction like a disco ball, but rather helped to keep the light grouped in the reflection. In short, curiosity introduced me to life.

What allowed that curiosity to flourish was a big mouth (and being born into privilege). It had never occurred to me that because of my age that I was meant to not ask questions or answer them. When I was 11 years old, my comedian parents took their kids in Montauk, New York. We all apparently needed trip to the wine country. While on a tour, the adults were getting bombed and barely paying attention to the tour guide. The tour guide was explaining the steps of viticulture and enology when she stopped and asked the group if there were any questions. She forgot one crucial step in the process that no one had picked up on and I was curious. The kind tour guide stopped and asked if there were any questions. I raised my hand and asked, “how do you get the skins off the grapes?” The adults laughed at my precociousness, so I took it as a sign to keep being heard.

Life is hard. I have survived brain injuries, temporary homelessness, and even relying on bugs — many pounds of bugs — to stay alive. Perseverance is not a mantra — it is a lifestyle. Success is fleeting, but no matter what, you have to persist and persevere. When life gets you on the skids, only you can get yourself up and dreaming about what opportunities lie over the next hill. I faced demons and had to do things that continue to embarrass me and will stay with me for life. But I hold on to one thing my Holocaust-survivor grandmother said to me, “Remember, there is no shame in staying alive.”

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“We cannot build peace on empty stomachs.” –Jon Boyd Orr via Norman Borlaug (World Food Prize)

We have to figure out how to feed an extra 3,000,000,000 in 20 years while decreasing the amount of carbon emissions and pollution. That is quite the tall order for any society or species. That is why I focus on novel food sources, including insects. As of right now, I produce far more protein and fat solids from the insect-based sources. If we look at resource needs, insects beat all known domesticated animals and plants handedly.

A few things to consider before refusing the concept outright may perhaps open your mind. For example, one kilogram of beef, about 2.2 lbs., requires,15,500 liters of water, 20 kg of feed, 250 square meters of land, and produces 2.85 g of carbon emissions (not including methane). Now let us compare insect-based protein production. One kilogram of insect protein requires 5 liters of water, 1.7 kg of feed, 3.6 square meters of land, and produce 1 g of carbon dioxide. The math stands for itself. If we want to meet future food production needs.

In early February 2020, I suffered a traumatic brain injury and, several weeks later, my previously undiagnosable Autism became very apparent. Brain injuries change the architecture of the brain due to the very process of healing, founded within our neuroplasticity. My body chose to heal my brain using more autistic clusters of cells.

It altered my perception of everything. Autism takes the separate silos of ideas your brain has so nicely separated out and pushes them over, sending grains of ideas rolling and tumbling into an indecipherable pile of information. Lots of analogies work here — throwing hundreds of different crayons into a massive pile also works. As my brain healed, I started to see that those original silos were mostly arbitrary.

During that time, I became food insecure. I survived by cultivating three species of insects. You do what you have to do to survive. There is no shame in it. The world wants us to live. I was able to feed the coleoptiles (beetles) plant-waste and the moths ate Styrofoam. That is another interesting thing — it is not hard to get insects to eat Styrofoam. The difficult part was to get them to pupate on a diet of Styrofoam. That has been the Holy Grail of waste management: to create a self-sustaining system that eliminates non-biodegradable Styrofoam. With what can only be described as feeling like Matt Damon’s character in “The Astronaut,” seeing that experiment replicate itself close to five times felt like a victory. Even if that insect protein goes on to become bird food, it still solves a major issue in waste systems management.

Can you share something about your work that makes you most proud? Is there a particular story or incident that you found most uplifting?

My favorite part about growing food is using it to welcome people to the community. Last summer, I sparked a friendship with my neighbor from West Africa who lives across the street. I grew up in New York City, where there is no majority anything and you spend most of your childhood calendaring when the next holiday or parade would so you could get free food.

My neighbor is a very dark-skinned African man in the whitest place on earth. At the same time, I was literally the whitest thing on earth (my visual handicap kept me indoors). We were both within one another’s orbits, as we live across the street. But it was Afre that made the first move. He saw me struggling to use my lawn mower and he came over and helped me. He became a person I felt I could trust.

As a person on the spectrum, you are always anxious about who you can trust because we have trouble perceiving facial expressions. From that moment on, we became very unlikely friends. He would tell me about his farm in Liberia and we would bond over our love of the earth.

Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about Urban Farming and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). Let’s begin with a basic definition so that all of us are on the same page. Can you help explain to our readers what Urban Farming and Community Supported Agriculture is?

Farming, or rather agriculture, means to “cultivate (or tame) the wild.” If we broadened our lens to the Modern Era, we understand farming to mean simply, “growing or raising food and resources.” This can include growing small batch Indigo, shiitake mushrooms, rainbow trout, Serama chickens, clover honey, sea salt, etc. Farming is exceptionally broad.

The word urban implies a thing that is “in or in close proximity to a population center that typically contains hundreds of thousands or even millions of people per square mile.” Such areas are net importers of food because the value of land is too high to be offset through traditional agricultural means. For example, even if the land grew saffron at no cost, the farmer would never see a profit in Tampa, let alone Tokyo. So, then why even bother discussing urban farming?

Urban farms offer opportunities for fresh resources close to the consumer. Urban gardens in New York were already known for producing an average of 20,000 lbs. of produce per quarter acre in 1999. These areas also filled in socioeconomic niches known as, “food deserts.” These are areas with no source of groceries, let alone fresh produce, within a given radius. Such food deserts exist even in my state of Iowa. Therefore, this is not just an urban problem, this is an American problem. Indigenous reservations, rural towns, and cities of all sizes — each face food deserts. Luckily, there is a solution: farming and, especially, urban farming.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA], “Community Supported Agriculture [CSA] consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production.” As a lawyer, I can tell you without any hesitancy, that there are few times such welcoming and empowering language is ever used. CSAs are also serious businesses.

The best way to describe the most modern business models of CSAs is integrated supply chain management mixed with distributed risk. CSAs operate much more like a traditional farmer’s market but distribute goods more like a SYSCO. For example, a group of farmers will come together to grow a variety of food and resources and then create a common CSA label. All your food is fresh, clean, likely organic, seasonal, and delivered every week or two during the growing season. Yet, the customer of a CSA has limited choices as to what they can purchase for their “share.” So, in a way, CSAs have removed the “market” experience from the consumer. Granted, each CSA is different and may encourage consumer interaction.

In terms of risk distribution, CSAs can pool their risk amongst the shareholders, farmers, and or community, and thereby offset the marginal cost of risk per farmer. Prior to CSAs, the USDA inadvertently created inter-farmer competition with the use of farm subsidies and broadening of the definition of the word “farm.” CSAs solve that problem while still leveraging the power of the USDA.

Can you help articulate a few reasons why Urban Farming and Community Supported Agriculture is better for the environment?

The term, “better for the environment” can be bifurcated into two general camps: 1.) resource and waste reduction; and 2.) ecological restoration. In other words, does the intervention either reduce fuel consumption and exhaust; or does it help clean water? It goes without saying that most interventions being examined do a multiplicity of benefits that run the gamut of both camps; therefore, let us consider this more of a Venn Diagram of benefit.

Urban Farming reduces the use of carbon because of the elimination of transport and any fuel required to ship it to your home. Strangely, there is scant evidence that CSAs produce less carbon on a per tonnage of produce basis when compared to domestically grown produce grown on a large-scale operation. The likely reason is scale. Most of the carbon farming produces is not occasional as many people assume. Large scale farming is on a near constant basis of rotating cycles of plant production. All of that is being automated very quickly to electrically-powered devices that can plant, monitor, and harvest. On a CSA, multiple people must drive to a central or set of satellite locations to plant, monitor, and harvest. Then there are the customers that must either collect their produce regularly or the CSA uses a distributor. The only way the CSA produces less carbon on per ton basis is if all of the people at the CSA, the resources delivered to it, the refrigeration, and customers, all used low to no carbon fuel sources for those activities.

Urban farming and CSAs appear to both improve local ecology on nearly every measurement. The one is the increased use of fertilizer and pesticide usage and relative exposure. Keep in mind not everyone is growing things organically, organic does not mean pesticide-free. As for opportunities for pollinators, increased biodiversity, improved mental health as humans are part of community ecology, decreased “heat-island” effect, and a list that seems near unending.

It is not hard to imagine the positive environmental benefits of urban farming. For context, imagine the proverbial tree growing in Brooklyn. CSAs appear to have the greatest ecological benefit in suburban areas that service urbanites. How is this possible given the whole diatribe about carbon? That “discussion” was related to resource usage and here I am concentrating on ecological impact. CSAs in suburban areas tend to be able to improve local ecology through intentional diversity. For example, where once only a monoculture of turf grew, there is now a field of possibly 50–100 varieties of plants and endless opportunities for local wildlife to enjoy new food sources. Bees pollinate, ants defend, mantids monitor, birds snipe, and ecology returns.

Can you help articulate a few reasons why Urban Farming and Community Supported Agriculture is better for our health?

Before reading further, keep in mind that I am a proponent of both urban farming and community supported agriculture. Many people believe that in order to support a cause, you need to only concentrate on the positives. My paternal grandparents survived the Holocaust, and this likely caused many people like me to see things differently. We believe identifying all of a nascent industry’s shortcomings is a form of nurture and mentorship. Put simply, if we love something, we criticize it. Welcome to Jewish Guilt 101.

I will quickly dispense with CSAs. There is little to no peer-reviewed research that indicates a causative link to CSAs and improved health. But there is ample research that indicates a correlation to CSAs and improved health. Until a strong causative relationship is established in a peer-reviewed article and whose results are confirmed by another researcher, I cannot advise my clients to advertise that such a causative link has been proven. That would be legal malpractice, as that would be recommending that my client potentially commit fraud.

Do CSAs improve health? Yes, but mostly for the people harvesting and schlepping the produce. There is much more evidence that the people that grow the food experience improved health due to their involvement with the CSA, than that of the shareholders that merely consume the produce.

I do not think urban farming has a net benefit to our health, yet. For this answer, I will focus solely on the sanitation issues of produce grown outdoors in urban environments. That narrow definition describes a hypothetical and typical individual growing a common fruit crop like tomato on their balcony in an urban area, with a reasonable likelihood of a zoological interaction. This definition may sound narrow, but it does describe a “typical” sample or greater than 68% of all urban producers.

Now pause and think about the last few years. Was there not a pandemic that had a zoological vector, recently? Why yes, there was. But then why can large farms in America grow food, and yet create logarithmically fewer novel zoological viral transfers? Sanitation. Large farms typically use a form of Integrated Pest Management [IPM]. This considers the sanitation and health of your food from the moment the seed germinates to when it reaches your plate.

Keeping “Law of Unintended Consequences” in mind, can you see any potential drawbacks about Urban Farming and Community Supported Agriculture that people should think more deeply about? What can be done to address that?

Urban farming poses the bigger risk to human health. Farming of all types creates opportunities for viruses to transfer to people from animals. We just went through a pandemic caused by the transmission of a virus from a zoological vector. If you are thinking that your porch is nothing like a wild food market in Southern China, think again. Your porch has mice, bats, birds, frogs, and a litany of other fun creatures waiting to inspect your nearly ripe produce. Most people do not wash their own produce because of the implicit bias that they are themselves hygienic, and therefore, by extension their produce must be too. Outside is a dangerous place for a human cell. Therefore, urban farming’s biggest hurdle for outdoor growing spaces will be sanitation to prevent disease and contagion.

I do believe CSAs directly improve health of people who were already relatively healthy. Shares of a CSA could be close to a $1000 in some areas. A share is a predetermined number of units of food distributed regularly throughout the season. The exorbitant cost usually inclines people to split a share. Still, $500 is not a small amount of money for anyone to drop that is living in or near a food desert. Thus, CSAs are in many ways a luxury. Luxuries are things of the rich and the rich tend to already be healthy…

The solution is to merge both concepts into one known as “Urban CSAs.” They would essentially have the structure of a CSA overlayed upon the urban environment. The two concepts have a lot to offer one another, and greater collaboration would help us to reach that goal of a Return On Invested Capital [ROIC]. In particular, its feasibility requires an ROIC that is comparable to a well-established index like an ETF indexed to the S&P 500.

Where should someone start if they would like to “get into” urban farming?

If we are to consider urban farming as a viable and reliable food source, what is being produced must have a value to either you or to your community (marketplace). That typically determines the scale of an operation. For example, are you producing beans for just you or for the whole block? That has an impact on how to begin researching the subject.

For this interview, it is better to stay with the archetype of the individual urban farmer in a low-rise apartment interested in growing fresh produce; perhaps, even enough to supplement their groceries. If the goal is maximum production, you have to know what your growing conditions are — in particular, sun and wind exposure. South and West facing structures will experience intense heat throughout the year. The other side of the building may have more shade, but it will likely experience colder temperatures.

Wind increases in intensity, the higher one goes before reaching the tropopause. Air dehydrates plants, much like how a towel dries over a railing. When the air decreases in moisture, like in the summer and winter, the air can petrify a plant in hours. Therefore, if you are in a sunny or windy location, take that into account when choosing your plant species.

I tend to be conservative in my recommendations to people when it comes to investing their own money, Therefore, I recommend wholeheartedly investing in a hydroponic system capable of growing at least eight tomato-sized plants. Hydroponics is the cultivation of plants using a timed circulation of nutrient filled water through a substrate that is sustaining the plant. For example, in high school, I would grow a lot of vegetables in a hydroponic system that used perlite as the substrate.

This system is simple, because you just need to fill the water reservoir whenever necessary and plug the pump into a timer set to the needs of the plants and the space. There is more to it than this, but in reality, the whole system is super clean, efficient, and highly dependable. You will need to purchase nutrients (fertilizers) and pesticides (neem oil is a good place to start if you want organic).

How does inflation affect Urban Farming? What steps have you taken to keep costs down?

Inflation will have the largest impact on transportation, shipping, and petroleum-based products. The steep increase in the price of microchips is also having an effect on automation — which is crucial for small, high-performance urban farms. This means that urban farming will likely see lower investment in durable goods with a depreciable lifespan of five years or more. For example, these goods may include exhaust fans, water solenoids, and heat pumps. Thus, inflation will likely impact the pace of assimilation of urban farming because of initial startup costs being higher.

Inflation has affected my production model specifically in our transition to greater automation. We had intended to invest more in electric-powered implements, but the prices did not dip as expected during the pandemic or even in the winter. Therefore, we will continue to maintain and use our current suite of gas-powered tools.

On the flipside, we are expanding what and how we will cultivate plant material to reduce our carbon footprint and to increase our return on investment. First, we are growing alfalfa to improve soil moisture during the summer and to reduce fertilizer demand. Second, we will be renting out specific sections of our south-facing structures and fencing to people that would like to grow hops. Next, we are going to increase experiential attractions, such as picking your own pumpkin and sunflowers. Finally, we are going to provide more demonstrations to those within the life sciences. These revenue streams will help to offset the effects of inflation.

Can you please share your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Got Involved With Urban Farming and Community Supported Agriculture”? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

1. Be realistic about how much time, effort, hard work, and resources it will take to attain success. Small urban farming, using a hydroponic system, will likely have better success than a large operation. That is because the bigger the farm — the high number of variables, the complexities of land-use law, tax, and the USDA. Find someone that can walk you through the process.
2. Be entrepreneurial and network with people in your community and around the world. I have met incredible people in Iowa and in Istanbul. People want to help other people intrinsically. But, if they do not know what you are doing or what your goals are, how can they help you. An entrepreneur always have an elevator pitch at the ready — be that person.
3. Be open-minded to new people, ideas, research, and news that you encounter. Of course, take everything with a grain of salt. But maybe there is a trend you did not know about prior to listening to another professional. Just like, whenever I interact with my neighbor, I learn about a myriad of new ways of doing what I already do. The best part is, being open-minded allows for new ideas to cross-pollinate.
4. Be collaborative with others in your field. Discuss what issues you are encountering within your business and on your land. Typically, other people have experienced either the same conundrum or something similar. Modern agriculture is thousands of years old, so do not think anyone is expecting you to reinvent the wheel. Your neighbors rather lend you their wheel than watch you struggle.
5. Be grateful. Air, water, soil, opportunity, and waking up in the morning are all reasons to be grateful. Do not wait until you yourself have gone through a life-altering event to learn to be grateful. Gratitude means so many things within a community. Perhaps you take in the neighbors garbage cans; shovel their snow; lend them tools; share in your bumper crop — but especially, tell them how impressed you are with their work, and how it has had an impact on you.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them. :-)

Bethenny Frankel — because she saved my life and has no idea, that I even exist.

After my TBI, it was obvious to many kind people that I needed help learning how to live again. I had been going to occupational therapists and at one point had more healthcare providers than most counties in the state. Then my boyfriend walked in, and I noticed how effortlessly he “moved.” It occurred to me that treatment was mostly occurring outside of my home and my environment. Yet, I never received any guidance on how to live within my own dwelling. James showed me how to live and embrace living.

We had met just prior to the Polar Vortex of 2021. There was no going outside for anyone — it was -40 degrees in Des Moines for several of those days. So, we cuddled up on the couch and he asked me if I had ever watched the Real Housewives. My answer was received with such astonishment, he turned on Hulu and said, “Trust me, you’ll love Bethenny!” Turned out he was right. Watching Bethenny Frankel on the Real Housewives of New York City helped me to cope with my traumatic brain injury.

The Real Housewives of New York is a cacophonous reality show that should come with a warning for apoplectics. It is overly frenetic, confusing, and daunting trying to keep up with the storyline when you have a brain injury. There was one personality on the show that had a vision and was determined; yet no matter what crushing wave beset her, she kept on going. Of course, I am talking about Ms. Frankel. Now, there was suddenly a champion and entrepreneur for me to watch and observe. Throughout it, James would explain things I did not understand. Keep in mind that I grew up in “Stat Nisland.”

James saw something in me that I did not see. He did not have to read her autobiography to help better explain her actions and motivations to me. But he knew reading due to my vision impairment had made the process a challenge for me. He made me feel incredibly special and nurtured. James really loves Dorinda. I was afraid to mention it, but he said that it would probably make you laugh.

Why Bethenny Frankel? Honestly, she has chutzpah, and for me that resonated. I am originally from New York City and her tenacity reminded me of the persistence it takes just to live. It takes a lot of that to live. It takes a lot of it to live especially after trauma.

With that — I would like to first say thank you to my partner in life & love, James.

To Bethenny Frankel, if you ever read this, I want to thank you for helping me find tomorrow.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Feel free to follow me on IQmop.com and LinkedIn.

This was very meaningful, thank you so much, and we wish you only continued success.