Sarah Frey
Sarah Frey founded Frey Farms and serves as its CEO, based in Southern Illinois where she was raised in Orchardville.
At 16, she started a produce delivery business from an old pickup truck to escape rural poverty.
Through determination and shrewd negotiating with major retailers as a teenager, she built a family enterprise managing thousands of acres across seven states.
The New York Times dubbed her "America's Pumpkin Queen" for selling millions of pumpkins annually.
She developed "Sarah's Homegrown," using unmarketable produce for beverages and natural foods.
An advocate for American farmers and rural communities, she raises her two sons on her childhood farm.
