Gavin Ciccia , USA
My Story
This space is for you . In this issue of Worm ' ag three worm farmers I found on the WFA will tell their story .
Gavin Ciccia , USA
Our first guest , Gavin Ciccia is the youngest commercial worm farmer in the United States . He started out his business as a young 15-year-old , a freshman in high school to be exact . Gavin currently owns and operates Jersey Worms on a daily basis . Along with Jersey Worms , Gavin runs a local landscaping business and is a full-time student at County College of Morris where he is majoring in Agricultural Business . Throughout his youth years Gavin has become an outdoor enthusiast as well as an entrepreneur .
October 11 , 2013 , I received my first pound of worms . Originally , I had purchased them for nothing more than growing my own fish bait . But low and behold it would turn into something I would never imagine . It was hard at first to grow these worms ( Red Wigglers ). After doing several hours of research to determine the best bedding , feed , bins and more , I found several different ways that were possible .
That night my father gave me an idea to grow and sell my worms . I thought about it for a second and then I specifically remember saying , “ You ’ re crazy , who would ever buy worms ? It ’ s just a worm !”
The only response from him was , “ You bought them , didn ’ t you ?” Then it clicked , I did , didn ’ t I ? I thought about it for a bit and began to wonder what in the world people use worms for . Being a fisherman , the first thing that came to mind was fish bait . Then more ideas followed , gardening , composting , waste reduction and more ! It was in that moment I had something more than just a pail full of worms in my garage . I had the start of my own personal business .
Over the next few months I started to grow several different types of worms . I did research on a day to day basis finding out new information about worms and their use to the environment . As a freshman in high school , I never thought I would picture myself growing worms .
When I expanded my collection to 5 pounds I thought I had enough to sell . I put an add on craigslist that said “ Worms for Sale .” I had planned on selling them for fish bait by the dozen . Within ten Minutes I had four calls from people offering as high as forty dollars for a pound of worms . I was ecstatic . I managed to sell all my worms . Every last one of them . I immediately thought to buy more , and so I did .
As time went on I realized that I should take it a little more serious . If I want to make a business out of it , I had to be professional . I created a quick website as a selling platform . Since then my website has come a long way . I took a class to learn how to build websites . Immediately I knew I wanted to name it Jersey Worms . It was the first thing that came to mind and I was happy with it . Simple and easy was the way to go for me . I began to use Facebook as my tool for marketing . That ’ s where things got complicated . After joining Facebook groups about worm farming , I realized I wasn ’ t the only person selling worms . As I constantly tried to pitch my business to others I was constantly fighting a losing battle . Other worm farmers who clearly knew more than me were swallowing up sales before I could get to them . That wasn ’ t my main issue though .
Starting out , my biggest issue was my age . At 15 nobody took me serious about selling worms . Everyone thought it was a joke . Surely , they thought I couldn ’ t be serious or successful . Not many 15-year-old kids run a business or even have the responsibility to feed animals daily . I didn ’ t expect there to be a real difference between growing 1 pound of worms and 100 + pounds of worms .
I ended up joining the Worm Farming Alliance ( WFA ), I was offered a lifetime membership and I thought , “ When opportunity knocks , answer .” And so , I did . I joined the WFA as a lifetime member . With the contacts I have made though the organization I have come along way . I know almost all the members and most of them know me as well . I became more and more well known as time went on . Through the WFA I have also gained many friends /
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