It’s harvest time at the Reimagination Farm in Lake County, California. As autumn turns the air crisp and the leaves begin to change, former UC Davis Asian American Studies professor Robyn Rodriguez surveys the land in front of her and reflects on the rhythms of nature. “Even the earth follows cycles of rest,” she muses. “That’s how we regenerate.”

The line from “The Godfather,” “It’s not personal, it’s strictly business,” does not apply to the members of a family business. For us, there are a wide range of emotions that start at an early age as we realize that we are part of something that consumes our parents’ time, including conversations at dinner and the holidays. 

Wayne Bishop of Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm in Wheatland claims the farm is the largest pick-your-own pumpkin patch in the world. It remains a true family-run business, with Wayne, his wife Ann, his sons Lee and Austin, and his daughter-in-law Courtney leading the farm his parents started more than 50 years ago.

In the notoriously car dependent Central Valley, a new public transit option could have significant impacts on mobility and quality of life, as well as economic development. But delays to the Valley Rail project are reflective of the challenges involved in building intercity passenger rail anywhere in the United States. 

Over the course of summer and the first weeks of fall, over 60 varieties of peaches and nectarines pass through The Fruit Bowl, a 76-year-old produce stand on the rural outskirts of Stockton. 

The Mayfield siblings grew up in the charmed nautical world of their father’s imagination. At the Sub Sea Systems workshop in Diamond Springs, power tools whir as two generations work side by side to build custom submersibles that resemble something out of a Jules Verne novel. 

Women of Sacramento is an organization that gathers the next generation of entrepreneurs, businesswomen and creatives to initiate conversation around the topics they are passionate about. From building a business to raising money, they hit all the topics for modern working women.

Let’s find out in today’s discussion.

The show producer opens his laptop, and with a touch of the keyboard the magic begins. Music swells, and a spectacular vision of multicolor sparkling flowers explodes in the night sky, along with golden starbursts and shiny cascading waterfalls. 

In his lifetime of entrepreneurship, Don Whitaker has managed to mostly avoid competitors. “You try to find a niche where you have no competition,” Whitaker says of his approach to business. He found his niche market with Ceronix, which he started in 1984 out of his Auburn home. 

The oil industry doesn’t typically evoke warm-and-fuzzy words like kindness, compassion and unconditional love. That is, unless, you’re speaking of the Ramos Oil Company.