Paul Greive, a former intelligence officer in the Marine Corps, almost couldn’t keep up with an army man’s routine because health problems including arthritis caused him pain all over his body in 2007.
Greive made efforts to consume wholesome and clean foods after a fellow soldier suggested he switch to an anti-inflammatory diet to relieve arthritic pain. However, he was frustrated that clean and environmentally responsible meat and produce were hard to find.
In 2012, Greive started the family farm Primal Pastures as a result of a surprising act by his brother. A few months later, he joined the Fully Employed MBA, or FEMBA, program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management because he said he wanted additional education on how to be an entrepreneur.
The FEMBA program is a three-year program that allows students who work full-time to take the same classes offered in the regular MBA program, but in the evenings and on weekends, said Dylan Stafford, assistant dean and director of admissions for the program. Greive graduated from the FEMBA program in June.
SPECTRUM GALLERY: Paul Greive and Primal Pastures
At their Easter dinner, Greive’s family members joked about farming free-range chickens to enjoy because naturally raised chickens were not easily available. Greive’s brother then left the dining room and returned to announce he had ordered 50 free-range chickens, turning a dinner joke into a family business.
After realizing they couldn’t consume all 50 chickens, a family member posted an advertisement on Facebook, hoping to sell the remaining chickens. They sold quickly, and Greive’s family decided to turn selling livestock into a business operation.
Greive’s family then increased the order of free-range baby chickens, as well as other animals, to raise on pastures. As the business grew, Greive’s family worked with FedEx to deliver customers’ online orders to their homes.
Greive said Primal Pastures farms livestock naturally, raising them on spacious pastures and with organic feed that adheres to their natural diet. He added that unlike the common organic farm practice of crowding animals in a small space, he ensures that every animal has enough space to move around as they naturally would.
Stafford, who said he is familiar with Greive’s business idea, said he is impressed by Greive’s ability to come up and follow through with an idea that impacts our future by improving sustainability.
“I love what he is working on,” Stafford said. “He is looking at the way we get our nutrition with brand-new eyes.”
Greive said his family’s goal is to use the farming practice to improve the environment. For example, his family moves livestock from one pasture to another every year to preserve the soil.
“(We want) the land and the soil to get better and better each year, through a process that follows nature’s lead,” Greive said.
Greive said the student and faculty network from the FEMBA program was an integral propellant. His classmates shared their career experiences and acted as his first customers, and Greive said his professors were patient and willing to go over his business contracts and make helpful suggestions.
“When he runs into problems with running the business, he can reach out to professors and pick their brains,” said Rob McDaniel, Greive’s brother.
Phil Thorson, who also graduated from the FEMBA program in June and is familiar with Greive’s farming business, said he thinks the FEMBA program is valuable because its flexibility allows students to choose and follow their own career paths.
“It allows us to take our own paths while interacting with and getting help from each other,” Thorson said.
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