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TI: So what was the reaction of other family members? Because it's not just you, there was other family members. And as much as it fits, there probably was a case where you could sell the operations and stuff in different ways that would actually make more money. So what was the reaction of the family in terms of, in some ways, getting...

LI: Well, I kind of think my, maybe brothers and sisters really kind of thought it was maybe not so realistic. Because I've got that attitude on some other ventures that I've done. [Laughs] "He's not being practical." But my mom said, "If we sell to anybody, I think I'd like to sell to the tribe." And so that kind of kept me on tack to pursue this. And the more we talked, the better fit it seemed. And other communities, other tribal communities also had these food sovereignty concerns. You know, so hey, if we can not only benefit the Yakama tribal community as well as other tribal communities within the state, that's pretty cool.

TI: No, I agree. And you know and I know, I mean, the sale has gotten quite a bit of publicity. It came to my attention, New York Times did a feature article, there were other articles and so I think it's probably hit TV and all of that. I mean, so it sounds like the response to the sale has been pretty positive.

LI: Yeah. And I think people want to support it. Even the chain stores want to support it, because it looks good. It looks good, and people want to do some of these things. I mean, those are becoming more important to people now. Not just the money thing, but doing things for the right reasons.

TI: So what has surprised you with this decision? You probably said, yeah, it makes sense, it makes sense for the family, it makes sense for you and Wayne at this point. From what you've heard, it makes sense for the tribe. And so all of that was probably somewhat expected. What were some of the things that surprised you? Anything unexpected that has happened?

LI: It's taking a long time. It's taking a long time, and the transition is taking a long time. And I just have to... I'm not a tribal member, I don't realize what's going on in the tribal community. And so people don't always understand what's going on, but I think I've been very well-received with a lot of folks. And I'm taking the opportunity, we're building a greenhouse for the tribal school, we're working on these native healing gardens at the tribal jail. And I mean, I guess I didn't really expect all the publicity we were going to get. But it's kind of cool. It's kind of cool, and the cool part is that the tribal leaders are seeing that, and it really makes them feel proud, too.

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