When I watched Simon Sinek’s Ted Talk I was still struggling to decide on my topic. I had watched it in hopes of finding something that could help me decide my subject. His main point that he drilled home throughout the speech was, “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Since I was deciding between Vermonts growing opiate addiction problem and the ever decreasing number of people, more specifically farmers, staying in the state. This quote made me really think that maybe I needed a more personal connection to my topic. Since I have a family history in farming I think that this was the logical choice.

I think in order to stop this routine of our youths and family farms fleeting, we need a way to create more jobs and opportunities for our people. What happened to my moms side of the family farm was that it soon was no longer economically viable to keep it. It seems to me that maybe we should try and put money into our local farms and people before we worry about bringing in other people. I think one the most beautiful things about Vermont is knowing exactly where your food came from. Although that is still common to see, it is just as common to see large companies pushing some of these smaller farms out of our own stores.

With my subject the “what” is the fact that it is a big issue facing the state. It is clear that if we can’t keep people and business’ around, then how can we keep the identity of the state that we all know. The “how” would be coming up with solid plans on how we would keep people around. We also would need to put faces behind people leaving, failing farms, or even people who decide they want to stay. This helps the story be told from a more personal level. Then finally the “why” is the exact reason I decided to chose this subject. I have a personal relationship to this topic which allows me to truly believe in and share the story of our path to fixing our issue.