I’m Robin Hawkins, owner of Green Envy Hydro Farms—and that handsome guy next to me is my partner in life, Mike Kovaleski. I may be the farmer behind Green Envy, but this story has a prequel. Without it, my little hydro farm probably wouldn’t exist.

Mike knows microgreens. In 2015, he co-founded Carolina Hydro Farms in Charlotte, building a successful commercial operation that supplied restaurants including Stagioni and 5Church, as well as Quail Hollow Club. When COVID devastated the restaurant industry, small growers felt it too. The farm eventually closed, Mike moved to Charleston, and microgreens became part of his past.

Meanwhile, I was reaching a turning point of my own.

I’d built a successful corporate career, much of it spent in front of a computer. Somewhere between the all-nighters, politics, unrealistic expectations, and a life increasingly lived through a screen, I realized I’d been confusing endurance with ambition. I knew I didn't want the next chapter of my life to look like the last one.

What I wanted wasn't really something new. I wanted to return to the things I'd always loved.

I grew up on horseback and with a mother who was a phenomenal cook. I've gardened for years. I hunt, fish, crab, and camp. I love making things with my hands, being outside, and figuring out how things work. And I am extraordinarily stubborn about solving a problem once I've decided it needs solving.

Moving to Charleston was the first big change. It's where Mike and I met and built a life together—and where I began to see his former microgreen business through a very different lens.

Here was something that brought together so much of what I'd been missing: growing, food, working with my hands, continual learning, and the opportunity to build something of my own. Better yet, I had the benefit of Mike's years of hard-earned knowledge—the successes, failures, techniques and tiny details you simply can't pick up from YouTube videos and seed catalogs.

In 2025, I stopped thinking about it and started growing.

Green Envy Hydro Farms is my return to work I can see, touch, taste and share. Mike's experience gave me an extraordinary foundation to build on; curiosity, problem-solving and sheer tenacity are helping me make it my own.

And somewhere along the way, I've discovered that trading a laptop for a grow room suits me just fine.

Of course, growing some damn good microgreens doesn't hurt either.

— Robin