Kendall Keegan

Superior Fresh

Grower

What 3-4 professional and/or personal accomplishments are you most proud of?

• Landing a job at one of the most innovative businesses in the industry using my college degree
• Being a manager of one of the largest vertical aquaponic systems in the world
• Working close to home and being able to enjoy my life surrounded by family and lifelong friends
• Becoming a proud dog dad

What led you to work in the horticulture industry? 

• I found myself enjoying food more and more as I made my way through high school. But it dawned on me that I didn’t know much about where our food was coming from or how it was being produced, and my curiosity started to grow from there. As I made my way into college and started down my path of growing produce with sustainability in mind, it dawned on me that food I had once thought tasted bad, like tomatoes and fish, started tasting amazing when I was able to harvest it and eat it in the same day.
• This slowly trickled down into my love for fresh, locally grown produce, fishing and hunting. It can’t go without saying that my grandmother had a huge impact on me growing up. She was always tending to her beautiful flower gardens full of peonies and bleeding hearts, volunteering at local garden associations and clubs and, of course, her homemade blackcap jams and rhubarb pies that cannot be recreated. Without her introduction into what the industry now calls farm to table, I’m not sure I’d be sitting where I am today!

What’s the best thing about your job?

• Co-workers

Describe to a 6-year-old what you do in life?

• I grow salad!

What are your favorite hobbies? 

• Fishing
• Playing drums
• Hunting

When you’re not working, what are two to three things we could find you doing? 

• Petting my dog, Frank 
• Fishing 
• Spending time with my family

Do you have any unusual talents, or can you tell us something interesting about yourself that other people may be surprised to find out? 

• My family has direct ties to a local legend, Old Abe The War Eagle, which became a mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War. 

One thing you can’t live without? 

• Music

What are you (un)secretly good at? 

• Making people laugh

What are your top three bucket list items? 

• Get married
• Watch my parents turn into grandparents 
• Be a known face in the CEA industry

What’s your favorite plant variety and why? 

• Lamprocapnos spectabilis, or Bleeding Heart — it will always remind me of my grandma and being a kid running around her gardens. 

You’re buying a vacation package to anywhere in the world without a budget, where are you going? 

• European vacation. Specifically Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.