Leadership Q&A: Jamie Fielden, Founder & Co-CEO, Jamie's Farm
At Moon Executive Search, we are interested in the people behind successful organisations: the leaders shaping culture, making difficult decisions and creating environments where others can thrive.
To launch our new Leadership Q&A series, we are delighted to feature Jamie Fielden, Founder and Co-CEO of Jamie's Farm. From its roots in the Wiltshire countryside to a nationally recognised charity supporting over 2,300 young people a year across seven farms, Jamie's leadership has helped grow his farm into a nationally significant organisation and force for change.
In this conversation, Jamie reflects on building a commercially sustainable organisation, the importance of culture, and what young people can teach leaders.
Vanessa Moon: “What has been your proudest moment since founding Jamie's Farm?”
“Since the start of Jamie’s Farm, we’ve worked hard to be commercial. I’m proud of the strong financial base we’ve built through owning and developing property, and through the astute acquisition and sale of assets. That commercial discipline was there from day one, in our commitment to earning a significant proportion of our own income rather than relying entirely on the generosity of donors.
This financial base has allowed us to deliver real impact to over 20,000 children over the years, and that same commercial mindset now extends directly into how we measure and deliver impact for every child who visits the farm. ”
Vanessa: “What was your original vision for Jamie's Farm, and how has that vision evolved as the organisation has grown?”
“Jamie’s Farm was founded on a simple but powerful conviction: that hard work, connection to nature, and a sense of community could change the trajectory of a young person’s life.
That belief still sits at the heart of everything we do. What has evolved is the sophistication of our approach. Our regenerative farming has matured into a genuine model, one that restores the land while producing high-quality food, demonstrating that environmental and commercial outcomes aren’t in tension.
Alongside this, we’ve built a growing ambition to influence education more broadly, sharing the methodology behind our work with young people so its impact reaches far beyond our farms.
Looking ahead, two priorities will define the charity’s next chapter: establishing ourselves as a credible voice in regenerative farming, and indirectly scaling our approach’s influence through the practitioners, schools and organisations we share it with, all while maintaining our founding commitment to working face-to-face with more than 3,000 children every year. ”
Vanessa: “What have young people taught you about leadership?”
“Young people have taught me that humility and humour are vital to leadership. Engaging them takes energy and joy, and we’ve tried to build the same culture for our staff: professional, yet fun and purposeful.
Young people have also taught me never to lower my expectations. Many who visit the farm have been written off long before they arrive, and yet, given the right opportunity, they do extraordinary things.
The same principle holds for our staff: high expectations and stretch aren’t a pressure, they’re what allows people to thrive and do the best work of their working day. ”
Vanessa: “I understand ‘Real jobs with real responsibility’ are part of the Jamie's Farm experience. Why is that important? What can employers learn from the way young people develop confidence, responsibility and initiative when they are trusted?”
“Hard work and purpose sit at the core of everything we deliver with young people, and that principle is mirrored exactly in how we lead our staff.
Giving young people real autonomy, and trusting them with a degree of risk, is what allows them to grow, take initiative and genuinely learn. We see it happen in a single week on the farm: a young person handed a real task, with a real consequence if it’s not done well, will rise to meet it in a way that no amount of instruction could achieve.
The same is true for our team: when staff are empowered to take ownership of their area, they don’t just meet expectations, they’re motivated to go above and beyond, day in, day out.
For employers, the lesson is the same one we’ve built our whole model around: confidence isn’t built by protecting people from responsibility, it’s built by giving it to them. ”
Vanessa: “Many organisations are thinking about how to develop the next generation of talent. What do you think young people need most from adults, schools and employers if they are to thrive?”
“Everything starts with culture. The workplace has to be somewhere people want to come to, where they build real connections with colleagues, have the opportunity to contribute, and feel both accountable and celebrated for what they achieve.
When we’re genuinely clear about what we’re trying to achieve, and why, everything else follows. If work is fun, purposeful and meaningful, we create workplaces where everyone is pulling in the same direction, no distraction of politics, no lack of clarity, just everyone moving the organisation forward together.
Culture isn’t a department. It’s the strategy. ”
If you would like to find out more about Jamie’s Farm please visit their website www.jamiesfarm.org.uk