Redefining Rich: Achieving True Wealth with Small Business, Side Hustles, & Smart Living

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Publisher: BenBella Books, Inc. Distributed by Penguin Random

House Publisher Services Publication Date: August 10, 2021 ISBN: 9781950665891
eBook ISBN: 9781953295415 Price: $ 16.95 US / $ 22.99 CAN Format: Trade Paperback
Page Count: 224

2022 NATIONAL INDIE EXCELLENCE AWARD FINALIST — BUSINESS, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, & SMALL BUSINESS • 2022 AXIOM BOOK AWARD BRONZE MEDALIST — ENTREPRENEURSHIP/SMALL BUSINESS • NAUTILUS BOOK AWARD SILVER WINNER — BUSINESS & LEADERSHIP 

“Redefining Rich is inspiring, thought-provoking, and highly recommended both as a fascinating story in its own right and as a call to reconsider what one truly aspires to in life.” —Midwest Book Review

In our dysfunctional economy, “success” often comes at great personal cost . . . we’re tired, we’re stressed out, and we have no time for family and friends. It’s time to redefine “rich.”

From a third-generation farmer and successful entrepreneur, Redefining Rich is an entrepreneur’s guide to balancing work and family with the pleasures of the good life, with simple exercises and important lessons to serve everyone from the new sole proprietor to a seasoned CEO.

Shannon Hayes was in the final months of her PhD program, recently engaged, and beginning to plan her future. Having grown up on a northern Appalachian sheep farm, she had two advantages: a hard-won education and hillbilly pragmatism. But when it came time to enter the job market, Hayes made a tough discovery: the economy just doesn’t work. It doesn’t work for women, for free thinkers, for the working class, or for white-collar professionals. It doesn’t work in rural America, much less in the cities and the suburbs. It forces us to choose between career and family, profit and creativity.

So, Hayes and her husband walked away from their career paths and chose to forge a life on her family’s frost-plagued mountain farm, starting up a small café in town. Together, they found their sweet spot: a place where the Appalachian farm culture and sensibilities she and her community have lived by helped them thrive, even in a tough economic environment. Against the odds, the Hayes family built a business that lets them live abundantly, spend time with family, and enjoy the gifts of nature. And the business even helped reinvigorate their chronically economically depressed town.

But the journey to this point was rife with challenges, tumbles, and mistakes. With humor, lively stories, and assurance, Hayes reveals the best lessons she’s learned for taking an alternate path, whether it lies in rural America, in the ‘burbs, or the heart of the city. She outlines the fundamentals of sustainable wealth, how to develop income streams, get organized, bring family into the business, ask for fair prices and market efficiently, and—the most important lesson of all—set personal boundaries and say “no” even while sustaining relationships. Hayes shows entrepreneurship is the means to build sustainable communities, keep families together, and foster great creative fulfillment.

Redefining Rich will comfort, instruct, amuse, and inspire those of us who are trying to make our lives work in untraditional ways.

“Funny, humble, and wise . . . Hayes encourages us to live more simply, think more courageously, and perhaps most important, recognize we can begin right now.”

—Forrest Pritchard, New York Times bestselling author of Gaining Ground and Start Your Farm

“Redefining Rich offers a new, more holistic view of income and security . . . Shannon Hayes has learned the hard way how to build a successful and abundant life by accessing wealth with a different lens.”

—Diana Rodgers, coauthor of Sacred Cow

“We live in a world of side hustles, passion projects, and calls to ‘do what you love.’ But for too many of us, the result isn’t wealth, but overworking, burnout, and lives that are ever-harder to hold together. As Redefining Richargues, we can build lives that focus on what matters, combine diversity and unity, and give us back time. ”

—Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, founder of Strategy + Rest and author of Shorter and Rest

“Redefining Rich is a treasure map to remaking our idea of fulfillment from the purely financial to a principled and ultimately more sane pursuit of quality of life . . . But this slim book is something else: a manifesto about how to save the planet, one small business at a time.”

—Dan Charnas, author of Everything in Its Place

“We can redefine rich to mean a work life that is profitable while also keeping us connected to the people and world we care about. Redefining Rich offers readers a detailed guide for building richer, more rewarding lives.”

—Yael Schonbrun, PhD, assistant professor at Brown University and cohost of the Psychologists Off the Clock podcast

“Redefining Rich offers a road map to rejecting consumerism and carving out a more satisfying lifestyle—through thrift, entrepreneurialism, creativity, and conscious living (plus naps!). Hayes is that rare author who manages to be both inspirational and deeply pragmatic. . . . Required reading for anyone looking for achievable alternatives to the insanity of our current culture.”

—Tara Henley, author of Lean Out

“In Redefining Rich, Shannon Hayes strikes just the right balance between pragmatism, honesty, and inspiration as she offers an actionable roadmap toward creating a livelihood—and equally important, life—rooted in an abundance of wealth that transcends mere numbers.”

—Ben Hewitt, author of The Town That Food Saved and Home Grown

 

“This is exactly the book I needed to read right now. Shannon unfailingly writes about the exact things I’ve been turning over in my mind, and in conversations with friends and family. Her writing is not only a hopeful balm about the life-serving economy; she actually provides readers with the tools (and even the math!) to increase their non-monetary wealth. I wish this book was required reading for everyone!”

—Erica Frenay, owner of Shelterbelt Farm and The Meadow at Shelterbelt LLC

 

“Shannon Hayes shares her personal experience with the harsh realities of what it takes to succeed at a family friendly community serving business in the midst of an extractive economy. And explains how she made it work.”

—David Korten, author of When Corporations Rule the World and Change the Story, Change the Future

 

“A practical guide to moving from an extractive, non-generative living system, to one that is holistic, dynamic and productive . . . it will inspire each of us to transform our thinking and practices in a way that is healing for self, community and planet.”

—Vivian Williams-Kurutz, founder and E.D. of Harlem Wellness Center

“Unlike business books that promise a roadmap to only economic profit, Redefining Rich offers an honest and encouraging picture of what life running a small business can look like, and clears a path toward a life-serving economy for all.”

—Katie Spring, The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association

” If you have an aspiring entrepreneur in your life, giving them this book may fire them up to take the next step and start their own business.”

—Ann Adams, Holistic Management International

Publisher: BenBella Books, 2021

224 pages

– A definitive guide to the health, animal welfare, environmental and culinary benefits of grass-fed foods.

– Simple strategies for finding, preparing, and cooking pasture-raised foods, as well as techniques for getting the most out of your purchases.

– More than 125 delicious recipes by some of today’s best pasture-based farmers, featuring beef, lamb, pork, venison, bison, goat, veal, poultry, rabbit and dairy products.

– Countless tools to help farmers market their products, including cutting instructions, explanations for consumers who choose to buy whole, half and quarter animals, and easy-to-read reference charts matching all the cuts on an animal with the appropriate cooking methods.

“The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook is a required companion for all of us who wish to enjoy these [pasture raised] foods and support a better way of farming and eating.” –Bruce Aidells, author of The Complete Meat Cookbook and Bruce Aidell’s Complete Book of Pork.

From the back cover:

“Farming is a world of its own, tied more to the ebb and flow of nature than to the pulse of changing food trends.” These words echoed around the globe after Shannon Hayes wrote them in 2004, when the first edition of The Grassfed Gourmet hit the markets, becoming the best-selling grassfed meat cookbook ever written. She changed the world of meat cuisine by grounding it with the common-sense practicality of a farmer, seasoned it with experience from her farm’s meat cutting room, and served it up with a hearty dose of reality that only a parent committed to local food and healthy kids can offer. In this updated and expanded edition, Shannon’s own culinary journey from farmer to foodie and back to the farm resonates as strongly today as it did so many years ago. She has included all the newest data on the nutritional, environmental, social, and animal-welfare benefits of grassfed and pastured meats and dairy products; updated the cooking information with her most recent research, kept all the recipes from the original edition, and tucked in more new recipes and stories than ever before. This is the book that turned thousands of inexperienced readers into savvy meat cooks. It is the book that has turned vegetarians into meat eaters, and the number-one most recommended cookbook by grassfed livestock farmers across the country. If you are new to the world of sustainable meat cookery, The Grassfed Gourmet is the classic that you will turn to again and again.

 

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From America’s leading authority on cooking sustainably raised meats comes this concise nose-to-tail guide for home cooks to prepare grassfed beef. Shannon Hayes has selected the best recipes from each of her three prior grassfed cookbooks, combined them with her signature easy instructions and explanations, and served up a simple, easy-to-use cookbook for the newcomer to the world of grassfed beef. This book offers a wide array of time-tested family-friendly recipes, with chapters dedicated to pan-frying and oven roasting; braises, stews and soups; ground beef; grilling and barbecuing, as well as a complete section on using the bones and fat. Free Range Farm Girl: Cooking Grassfed Beef offers clear information on making cut selections, candid explanations about navigating the world of farm-direct purchasing, and up-to-date information about ecologically friendly and humane livestock farming. As with all Hayes’s cookbooks, the culinary concepts are easily learned, and the extensive section covering spice rubs, marinades and sauces will liberate home chefs who long to improvise and invent their own grassfed beef dishes. This little volume is the perfect introduction to Shannon Hayes’s vast writings on the subject of sustainable meat.

 

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“Every earth-conscious home cook who wishes to nourish his or her family with sustainable, local, grassfed and pastured meats should be able to do so, regardless of income,” argues Shannon Hayes. “We just have to change how we’re eating.” In her largest, most comprehensive volume to-date, North America’s leading authority on grassfed meat examines the conundrum of maintaining a healthy, affordable and ecologically conscious meat-based diet, while simultaneously paying America’s small sustainable farmers a fair price for their food. The core reference for any home cook, Long Way on a Little is packed with Hayes’ signature delicious no-fail recipes for perfect roasts and steaks cooked indoors and out on the grill, easy-to-follow techniques to make use of the less-conventional, inexpensive cuts that often go to waste, tips on stretching a sustainable food budget, and an extensive section on using leftovers and creating soups. Written with her accessible style and engaging wit, Long Way on a Little not only helps home cooks make the most effective and economical use of their locally raised livestock, it also delivers a practical understanding of the role of livestock in rebuilding a sustainable society. While addressing the topic of making local food more affordable, Hayes also frankly grapples with tough health issues confronting so many Americans today, from diabetes to grain, dairy and gluten intolerance. The result is family-pleasing, nutrient-dense, affordable cuisine that is a joy to prepare, rich in authentic flavor, and steeped in the wisdom of the world’s greatest culinary traditions. She has served up an illustrative and thought provoking guide that is as stimulating to the mind as it is to the palate.

Features:

• Recipes for cooking all major cuts of grassfed and pastured meats indoors and out on the grill
• Carbohydrate counts on all recipes for low carb and diabetic diets
• Guide to Grain-free, Legume-free, Dairy-free and Paleo-friendly recipes
• Full-color insert illustrating fundamental techniques for working with whole animals: from grilling steaks and rendering fat, to making soap, salve, candles and more
• Extensive section on soups and leftovers
• Lively, up-to-date discussions of current issues pertaining to sustainable livestock farming in North America
• Money-saving tips for making delicious meals go as far as possible

Advance praise for Long Way on a Little:
Certainly Shannon Hayes’ crowning achievement to date and most carefully researched culinary guide, this gem should grace every omnivore’s kitchen— open, stained, spattered and loved.
—Joel Salatin, Christian libertarian environmentalist capitalist lunatic farmer, author of Folks, This Ain’t Normal and other books

A necessary and important book for the conscious omnivore. Shannon Hayes gives practical advice on sourcing ethical meat and using the whole animal from snout to tail.
—Kelly Coyne and Erik Knutzen authors of The Urban Homestead and Making It: Radical Home Ec for a Post Consumer World

Tired of spending $20/lb on grass-fed ribeye from Whole Foods? Read Long Way on a Little and you’ll never have to do that again.
—Mark Sisson, MarksDailyApple.com and best-selling author of The Primal Blueprint

Since the dawn of life on earth a dynamic interplay of plants and animals has ensured a stable biosphere. In this book you learn about how sustainable meat production not only works but also helps to heal the planet. You will have a full accounting of where your food comes from, and how to prepare nutritious meals for you and your family.
—Robb Wolf, NY Times best-selling author of The Paleo Solution

 

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Mother Nature has shown her hand. Faced with climate change, dwindling resources, and species extinctions, most Americans understand the fundamental steps necessary to solve our global crises: reduce driving; consume less; increase our self-reliance; buy locally, eat locally, rebuild our local communities.

In essence, the great work we face requires re-kindling the home fires.

Radical Homemakers is about men and women across the U.S. who focus on home and hearth as a political and ecological act; who center their lives around family and community for personal fulfillment and cultural change. It explores what domesticity looks like in an era that has benefited from feminism; where domination and oppression are cast aside, where the choice to stay home is no longer equated with mind-numbing drudgery, economic insecurity, or relentless servitude.

Radical Homemakers nation-wide speak about empowerment, transformation, happiness, and casting aside the pressures of a consumer culture to live in a world where money loses its power to relationships, independent thought, and creativity. If you ever considered quitting a job to plant tomatoes, read to a child, pursue creative work, can green beans and heal the planet, this is your book.

 

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In her first book, The Grassfed Gourmet Cookbook, author and livestock farmer Shannon Hayes introduced a radically simple concept: sustainable practices like pastured-based farming translate into food that is tastier, healthier, and better for both people and the planet.

The key to getting the most out of pasture-raised meats, though, is understanding how to cook them properly. The Farmer and the Grill, Hayes offers useful tips on grilling, barbecuing, and spit-roasting all cuts of pasture-raised meats: beef, lamb, pork, and poultry. Dozens of simple, straightforward recipes provide all the basic cooking instructions, plus directions on how to make a variety of herb rubs, marinades, and barbecue sauces to accompany the meats. Traditional techniques such as Southern barbecue and Argentine-style asado cooking will help readers grill like the pros. And specific notes from pastured-based farmers on dealing with natural variations in grassfed meats will ensure success every time out.

Creative and mouth-watering recipes include Tamari-Orange Whiskey Kebabs, Grilled Steaks in a Cilanto-Olive Paste, and Rack of Lamb with a Spiced Fig Crust. Plus, special sidebars on choosing meats, basic cooking techniques, and other topics mean that socially-conscious cooks will gain a real understanding of grassfed meat and why it is starting to occupy a central place on the American dinner plate.

 

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