The UCCEO team recently visited Rendleman Orchards and spent some time with the amazing Michelle Sirles. Michelle is married to Wayne Sirles, son of Ren and Betty. Wayne and Michelle are the 5th generation to continue the amazing legacy of their 151 year old family farm and as proud as they are of that, they also are proud of and excited about, the forward thinking ideas they are implementing to continue into the future.

As we stood outside of the Farm Market that Betty started several years ago, Michelle shared how the retail business had been about 10% of their sales/business but has climbed to about 30% as they’ve expanded and become a destination for visitors in the agri-tourism realm. Their successful commercial/wholesale business is still going strong and the retail/tourism side is continuously growing and bringing a new awareness to not only Rendleman Orchards, but other family farms as well.

UCCEO student Brooklynn Eastman, shared her takeaways from our visit, “On Tuesday, our team visited Mrs. Michelle Sirles at Rendleman Orchards. This visit was very educational and we learned a lot about Michelle and their business.

What I thought was interesting, was that Michelle originally wanted to be a makeup artist in New York but her parents told her to go to school around here and then decide if that is still what she wants to do. Michelle ended up at SIU, where she met Wayne and graduated with a degree in graphic design. She ended up working with large design companies such as Silkworm. It stuck out to me that Michelle went on her own and had her own career for 25 years before joining the farm.

I also thought it was very cool that they try hard to differentiate themselves from the other orchards around us. They do cider slushies, donuts, cider floats, etc and they are all delicious!” (They sampled these during our visit, thanks Michelle!😉❤️)

Thank you Michelle for sharing your story and your family business with us! The advice and wisdom from your experience will stick with us as we move through our class business, individual businesses and beyond!!