When Kait Thornton sold her first box of fruit, she needed a ride to the meet-up spot because she wasn’t quite old enough to drive. A fourth-generation apple and pear grower from Tonasket, Washington, her shift into selling fruit was inspired by her dad, who challenged her to sell 20 boxes of apricots grown in the family orchard. She posted an ad on Facebook marketplace and “ended up selling 44 boxes,” she explains on the latest episode of the Grow Getters podcast.
Her dad told her she was good at marketing and meeting the public and offered her an opportunity to sell their orchard’s apples and pears, which is the majority of their fruit. “I just enjoyed it and Kait’s Crates was born.”
Gifted with an entrepreneurial spirit, she flourished in selling and marketing the family’s fruit and, while still in high school, started making a name for herself on various social media platforms, especially TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. Even during her time as a student at Washington State University, she went home on most weekends. “I was tying down truckloads and getting social media content and selling a bit of fruit on my way back,” she tells podcast host Davis Michaelsen.
Now a 22-year-old graduate, she communicates regularly with a half-million followers as “Apple Girl Kait.” While she still works in the orchards, she fills much of her days creating social media content as well as helping to market and sell the family’s produce.
“A lot of people who do what I do don’t like to go by ‘influencer,’ but I don’t really care,” she says. “I want to change the connotation behind the word. I want to influence people to purchase fruit and to understand where that fruit is coming from and who they’re supporting with their dollar.”
From the techniques used to grow the fruit to the picking process to the complications of shipping, storing and selling, she introduces her audience to the entire supply chain. “I want people to realize that when they see fresh produce sitting on the store shelves, it’s a miracle that it made it there.”
As far as the secret to her success, she points to being raised in agriculture. “There are so many valuable things you can obtain by being a farm girl,” she says. “Honestly, if you can do that, you can do anything.”
Watch the full Grow Getters interview
Find Kait on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@apple.girl.kait
Find Kait on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/applegirlkait
