When he was a kid dreaming of what he wanted to be one day, Austin Webster remembers designing colorful paper plates, practicing for the day when he would become a party designer.
Then, when he was 5 or so, he thought of being a train conductor with his own railroad line.
That was followed by YouTube celebrity creating his own clothing line, and then, inexplicably, a scoreboard company during his high school days where he served for a time as a scoreboard operator.
Looking back, Webster can see the common thread that ran through it all.
“I’ve just always wanted to own my own business,” Webster told Cowboy State Daily. “That was my dream.”
That dream has finally was realized for Webster in a big way — with a mushroom business in Evanston that’s growing like, well, mushrooms.
He’s sprouting up all over the place. He’s at farmers markets in the Evanston area and in gourmet restaurants in Utah.
Before too long, he will be popping up on menus in and around Evanston as well.
“We’re in the works of getting a distribution account right now through Charlie’s Produce,” Webster said. “When we do that, we’ll be increasing by about another 500 pounds.”
That’ll be on top of the 400 pounds of mushrooms Webster has already been growing.
“I know there are a couple of restaurants here in Evanston that do use Charlie’s Produce, and I haven’t told them yet because it’s still in the works, signing papers, figuring out prices and all that,” Webster said. “But I bet as soon as I tell them, those restaurants are going to be super, super excited to get my mushrooms!”
From left, Austin Webster, baby Annalise Stilts, Cassie Stilts and Arryl Webster. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
Austin Webster, left, supplies local restaurants with fresh mushrooms. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
The mushrooms from Webster Mycology are always a hit at farmers markets. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
Webster Mycology at a food fair. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
The newest member of the Evanston mushroom family, Annalise Stilts, and Mr. Fungi. (Courtesy Webster Mycology)
An Inspired Texas Trip
While mushroom growing never entered the imagination of a young Webster, he realized it would be the perfect business for him after visiting his brother in Texas.
His brother already owned a thriving mushroom business and could show Webster all the ins and all the outs to get started.
Then, all that remained was to go back home and get everything in Evanston all set up.
But Webster didn’t start small the way a lot of first-time mushroom growers do, in a little garage that might or might not provide the best growing environment.
Webster has a baby boy, so he couldn’t afford to start small. He needed to start big and make real money right away.
He also took to heart this Kevin Ngo quote: “If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life that you want, you’re going to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.”
So, last year Webster and his father Arryl built an honest-to-goodness mushroom shop, and then planted 30-some varieties to figure out which ones would grow and taste best in Wyoming’s climate.
It Wasn’t All Smooth Sailing
At first, Webster faced serious trouble getting contracts for his mushrooms.
For one thing, most of the restaurants in Evanston have signed exclusive agreements with food distributors, so they could not even try his product.
But all was not lost. Over the border in Utah, Webster found lots of high-end restaurants that haven’t signed exclusivity agreements for better rates that were actively seeking to source fresh, local produce.
Webster had a unique sales approach to crack his market. He would just show up unannounced with a charming smile and a big box full of fresh mushrooms as a gift for the restaurant’s chefs to try out on a Friday night special.
At first, Webster didn’t think that was going so well because he had only a 15% success rate doing that.
But then he learned that a more usual success rate for selling in a cold-call situation like that is more like 2% or 3%.
Realizing he was doing way better than average helped bolster his confidence and kept him working toward his goals.
A grow room at about half capacity. There are two mushrooms on the right that are almost ready to harvest. The first is snow oyster and the second one peaking behind the photo is lion's mane. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
One of the most famous and revered culinary mushrooms, the shiitake. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
Austin Webster makes a variety of mushroom-based seasoning mixes. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
Along with many varieties of mushrooms, Webster Mycology also raises microgreens, like these sunflower microgreens. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
Pink oyster mushrooms. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
King blue oysters. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
Golden oyster mushrooms, aka yellow oyster. (Courtesy Webster Mycology) 
Along with many varieties of mushrooms, Webster Mycology also raises micro greens, like this tray of basic salad mix microgreens. (Courtesy Webster Mycology)
Building The Takeoff Runway
His 15% success rate gave him a great runway to keep going and growing his business, and he’s already looking at hiring more people soon.
He’s also added new products to his lineup, like the fresh microgreens his father is managing, as well as mushroom-enhanced spice mixes like Italian, steak, Western and New Orleans. The latter is a delicious cajun-style seasoning made with premium-grade dried oyster mushroom powder.
Once Webster cinches a contract with a distributor, he believes he’ll be ready to own his own shop instead of renting. That will plant his feet firmly on the runway to a future he was planning a long time ago, when he was just a young boy drawing paper-plate designs for a party-planning business.
The only thing that’s really changed in that vision is the product he’s producing. The mindset is the same he had back when he was too young to think about obstacles, and all the things that try to hold adults back from their dreams.
“The main thing is persistency,” Webster said. “If you believe in something, or if you really want something, stay persistent on it and just keep working at it. It will eventually come to fruition, and you will have your dream.”
Contact Renee Jean at renee@cowboystatedaily.com
Renée Jean can be reached at renee@cowboystatedaily.com.
