I went on food stamps while pregnant. Years later, I sold my company for $47.5 million.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Ashley Tyrner-Dolce, founder of FarmboxRX. It has been edited for length and clarity.

I like to say you've either got the entrepreneurial spirit, or you don't. Lucky for me, I have it.

When I was a teenager, I worked at Starbucks at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. I would buy the rare Beanie Babies in the airport gift shop and resell them on eBay. That's how I paid for my first car.

When my husband left me while I was pregnant, I went on food stamps briefly after his income disappeared from my life. Then, I started thinking like an entrepreneur. I needed a job where I wouldn't have to be on my feet all day in the Arizona heat while I was pregnant. So, I bought a bright pink ice cream truck for about $3,000.

The truck would make about $500 each afternoon, and I was only working a few hours. That allowed me to get off food stamps and save money to move to New York City, which had always been my dream.

I built a CSA-style produce box

In New York, I started working in fashion through a connection with a friend of a friend. My daughter, Harlow, was only 6 months old, but we were able to make ends meet in New York. We shared a one-bedroom apartment, and I found a nanny who worked for less than market rate. I'm still friends with her today — and as my income rose over time, hers did too.

I could have a bottle of Coke delivered at 2 a.m. in New York if I wanted to, but I couldn't find good produce. There was no CSA-style produce delivery box, so when Harlow was a toddler, I started one. I moved into a smaller apartment and cut expenses so I had more runway to get this thing off the ground.

Growing the company was a long, painful eleven years. During the pandemic, I had a big break. The government changed regulations to allow food to be offered as a health benefit by insurance plans. I pivoted from marketing direct-to-consumer, which is costly and unpredictable, to a business-to-business model, focused on using our produce boxes to help health insurance companies engage their customers.

I ensured my daughter had stock in the company

Making the change was scary — there were lots of tears. But I always stayed focused on the North Star of my mission: getting healthy food to those who needed it most. I could see that the new federal regulations created a huge opportunity, and I was able to take advantage of it.

That paid off in a big way. Last year, my company, FarmboxRx, was acquired in a $47.5 million deal.

That sale has created generational health for Harlow and me. I always made sure that Harlow owned 30% of the stocks that I did. So, when the sale went through, she became wealthy — wealthy enough to change her life and the lives of generations to come.

I want my daughter to be humble and productive

Harlow's money is kept in trust. To be honest, I don't know if she even knows how much is in there. She's 15 now, but doesn't have access to the funds yet. Before she can touch the money, she needs to become a productive human.

That doesn't mean going to college, necessarily — I didn't go to college, and I've done pretty well. But she needs to do something meaningful, whether that's work, art, or volunteering.

I used to dream about Harlow running the company I built, but she was never interested in that. She's a singer and very artistic. I don't care if she's an entrepreneur, but I want her to be humble and do something meaningful that brings her joy. She might have a trust fund, but she's never going to be one of those spoiled rich kids, like Billy Madison.