What were you doing when you were 12? Blake Shook, the founder of Desert Creek Honey, was wrangling swarms of bees and selling honey – all before middle school let out. What began as a childhood hobby sparked a decades-long entrepreneurial journey that led to the creation of a multi-million honey empire with over 120 employees. But before reaching that level of success, Blake lost his entire bee population – just as he was deciding whether to go to college – and had to choose whether to walk away or take the biggest risk of his life. Host Andrea Marquez explores how Blake scaled a business built around something delicate and unpredictable and what it takes to keep moving forward when your livelihood depends on something you can’t fully control. If you’ve ever wondered whether you really need a degree to build something big or how to bounce back when everything you’ve built disappears overnight, this is the story for you.

Got a bold leap of your own? Share it with us in an Apple Podcasts review, Spotify comment, or email us at thisissmallbusiness@amazon.com – you might hear it in a future episode.

In this episode you’ll hear:

(01:04) What is it like to peer into a beehive for the first time? Blake describes the moment he lifted the lid and discovered a hidden world of 80,000 bees working in perfect harmony.

(6:54) When do you know a hobby can turn into a business? Blake shares the “aha” moment when he got his very first honey order.

(10:36) What if your business disappeared overnight? In beekeeping, that can mean the death of all your bees. Blake talks about the hardest lesson he ever had to learn.

(14:42) When everything seems to be going wrong, do you give up or go all in? Blake explains the choice he made.

(16:14) How do you rebuild after losing everything? Blake turned failure into fuel by learning from seasoned beekeepers—and earned his comeback one hive at a time.

(18:02) Looking for some advice on managing risk? Here’s why diversification is important.

(19:21) What happens when you're suddenly forced to scale up? For Blake, a reality TV show became an unexpected opportunity that ultimately led to six separate businesses.

(23:07) Is passion enough to sustain an entrepreneur? Hear why Blake believes his real job is to work himself out of a job.