Aaron Law: The pure appeal of being an independent leader and entrepreneur

Aaron Law

Belleisle Bay, NB
Age: 38

Aaron Law hesitated for a long time before deciding to take over the family egg farm.

He’d already started another career as an engineering technologist when the desire for a change of pace got him thinking about going back to the family egg farm in Belleisle Bay, on the St. John River system in south-central New Brunswick.

Five years ago, he broached the idea with his parents. But he wasn’t ready to jump in right away.

So they all agreed he would try things out for two years. That would give him time to learn the ropes and decide whether, at a gut level, the egg farm was the right fit for him.

It was. Sometime next year his father Gailand will transition into retirement. And Aaron will become the third generation of his family to run the operation.

“The most difficult part for me personally was to decide whether this was the right fit for the lifestyle I wanted,” he says.

“For me, the major draw was just the pure appeal of being an independent leader and entrepreneur in my industry. And also realizing that we work in an industry where we can produce quality, nutritious food.”

Aaron says that running his own operation and making his own decisions gives him a great sense of independence.

He says that he feels that he can make decisions that not only help his business, but also the community around him.

Transitioning an egg farm from one generation to the next can require some work.

There were investments that Aaron’s parents, Gailand and Carol, didn’t want to make in the operation until they knew what its future was going to be.

So Aaron knew from the get-go he would have to modernize, and he is now doing just that–building a new barn to house all their 28,000 laying hens in one facility. The new barn will replace two old ones and will cut down on maintenance costs by being more efficient.

Once his father leaves, Aaron also realizes he is going to need to hire a second-in-command.

But the challenges don’t worry him.

He’s looking forward to entering a career that will not only be personally rewarding, but that will also allow him to contribute to something bigger.

“I see the future of our business as very positive,” he says. “The egg business in Canada is forward-thinking when it comes to things like animal welfare and consumer trends.”

“For me personally, the real reason I do this is because I can sustain myself and my family and produce a quality food product for my community, which allows me to contribute to my community.”

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