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How Kate Gessford Sells Out Her Farmers Market in 30 Minutes in a Valley With No Frost-Free Days

Episode Summary

Kate Gessford farms in Star Valley, Wyoming, where there are no frost-free days on record. Every experienced farmer in the valley told her the same thing: you cannot make it here, go to Jackson Hole.

A year ago she was weeding alone, crying in her beds, hauling unsold vegetables home from a market that netted her $120 on a good day.

This season she sells out in the first 30 minutes. Her chicken price went from $6 to $10 a pound with zero pushback. Her second five-day launch sold out in three days, and she never sent the last emails she had written.

And the autoimmune symptoms she came into the program with are gone.

This is a conversation about what actually changes when a farmer learns to price, market, and think differently.

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What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How Kate used the pricing worksheet and the belief triad to raise her chicken price from $6 to $10 a pound without a single customer complaint
• Why her second five-day launch sold out in three days when her first one took all five
• What shifted when she stopped running a scattered, year-round selling season and moved to one concentrated launch
• Why the mindset work, not the growing systems, turned out to be where the profit was hiding

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Key Takeaways:

• The farmers who told her there was no market in Star Valley were not wrong about the valley. They were wrong about marketing.
• A 30-minute sellout beats an all-day self-serve stand. Concentrated hours create energy, and energy makes people buy more.
• Writing emails to one real person is why customers walk up and say, “I feel like you were talking just to me.”
• Asking for help is not a failure of scale. It is the thing that made Kate’s work share crew, and her workers thank her for it.

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Memorable Quotes

“I would be out in the garden by myself, no help, weeding and just crying listening to your podcast.”

“The farmers who said it’s really hard, you better go to Jackson Hole. The difference is marketing.”

“It just feels different to live in my body. It’s a more peaceful place.”

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FAQ

Q: Can you actually make money farming in a short-season climate?

Yes. Kate farms where frost has been recorded every day of the year and sells out her market table in 30 minutes. Season length limits what you grow. Marketing determines what you earn.

Q: How do you raise prices without losing customers?

Run the numbers first so you know your real cost, then answer three questions: how is this price best for my customer, for me, and for my farm. Confidence in the price is what customers respond to, not the number itself.

Q: What is a five-day launch?

A concentrated week of emails that sells out a product in days instead of dribbling sales out all season. Kate sold out her chickens in three days and stopped worrying about freezer space for the rest of the year.

Q: Is a self-serve farm stand worth it?

Usually no. Limited, staffed hours outperform all-day self-serve because customers buy more when they see other customers buying.

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Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Farm Marketing Fix (free masterclass) – If you’re heading into another season unsure how to price or where to start, this is a full week of marketing help at no cost, and a real taste of what a year of coaching looks like. Save your seat at charlottemsmith.com/masterclass
• The Profitable Farmer — We build your marketing for you + weekly coaching, charlottemsmith.com/mastery
• The Profitable Mindset Podcast — subscribe for weekly farm marketing strategy

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About the Host

Charlotte Smith is a fifth-generation farmer, marketing and mindset coach, and host of the Profitable Mindset podcast. When she started her farm in 2009, she knew if she was going to work that hard it had to be profitable. She sold out her farm’s first season before she had anything to sell – and has since taught thousands of farmers in 15 countries to build farms that actually pay them. Food Tank named her one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Food and Agriculture.

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Connect with Charlotte

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Click HERE and Let’s Meet!
Chat with us to see if The Profitable Farmer Marketing Coaching Program can break you out of marketing misery.

Hi, everyone. Welcome back to the Profitable Mindset Podcast, where today I have a special guest,

my client, Kate Gessford. And I love these interviews like we’re going to do today.

So you can hear firsthand what it’s like to struggle and then find some help and she’s going to

share her successes. So let’s dive in. Kate, tell us, introduce yourself,

who you are, where you are, your website, so people can look you up and what you sell.

All right. My website is olddog.farm. We’re in the mountains of Western Wyoming,

a pretty harsh growing climate. And we grow regenerative vegetables is our main focus,

but also do a chicken broiler sale once a year and dabbling with turkeys this year as well.

So I have a few other.

Enterprises that are enjoyable with animals, but vegetables is the real heart of the farm.

How long is your season there, Kate? There are no frost-free days on record here.

So in recorded weather history, we’ve had frost every day of the year.

Are you kidding? I had no idea. You can’t use any planting calendars here.

It just says, you know, unavailable, not possible, or, you know, it won’t work. So we do a lot to

extend the season. Last winter was really mild, which brought its own problems.

I don’t know. The main season is really June, July, and August. We’ll start getting frosts.

Actually, we’ve already had one frost. We’ll start getting more frosts here soon. So it’s a really

short season. Yeah, that’s crazy. How long is your farmer’s market season?

We’re going to get into the details of the farmer’s market, but how long are most people able to go

to market? The farmer’s markets? My local market started last week of June and went,

it goes through the first week of September. Oh, so very short. Okay.

Very short. And I’m actually the only person in all of Star Valley,

which has maybe six major towns that is selling vegetables. So it’s…

I came to this as a first generation farmer, just my second year having had a big garden,

but seeing a need in this valley, a desire that people wanted local veggies and they’re just not

available. And I did have some of the long time farmers here say,

you can’t make it in this valley. There’s no market. You’re going to need to go to the bigger

Jackson Hole Market to be able to survive as a farmer. And I have felt very dedicated to this

valley and very passionate. That bigger market, it’s only about an hour,

a little more than an hour away. There is a backup, but I think the veggie people are here.

And so I’ve been very… very committed to serving this Valley. And it’s been incredibly rewarding.

I’m, I’m finding my people. That’s amazing. Well, so what were you struggling with before you

joined my program, which you’ve been here about a year in a year? Okay. Yes. What made you think I

need, I might need some help. How, what was your thinking on that? Scaling up from a garden to a

market garden. I did some coursework. I read lots of books. I did an interview tour and talked to

lots of farmers. It was much more difficult than I anticipated on a systems level,

dialing in succession, planting, keeping the weeds down at that scale, those things, but also the

mindset of selling. And I was so deeply overwhelmed and it was actually about this time last year I

would be out in the garden by myself I had no help weeding and just crying listening to your

podcast oh and that part in the in the intro where you say yes it’s possible to be a farmer and

make money And it wasn’t making money. I was taking things to the farmer’s market, but I wasn’t

making any money. I was losing money. And be calm and fulfilled. I just weep thinking,

that’s what I want. That’s what I want. And it felt so distant. I didn’t know how to get there.

And there were so many great tidbits in the podcast.

But I needed more to.

understand the marketing. And what I didn’t know then, but I know in hindsight is the mindset piece

is really where the magic is and where so much of the overwhelm was coming from.

The systems and the weeding and all of that can figure out,

but the mindset around it, that’s the piece that has brought me.

truly so much more calm. It came true. And my dad bought the course for me for my birthday.

Oh, I actually remember that conversation with you. Best birthday present ever.

And then this year I just had my birthday and I told him again, I can’t do this without Charlotte’s

program.

I’m not ready to graduate. I just, it’s been so valuable. So I’m back in for another year.

Yeah. This is wonderful. Good. Good. Okay. So let’s talk. I want everyone to hear your journey.

Like you were overwhelmed and sort of hopeless and not selling. How did the mindset coaching help

you? Like, okay, once a week. Now, every Tuesday, we jump on a mindset coaching call.

Tell me about how that shifted you. Okay. So many layers to that.

So one.

Being able to listen to the mindset coaching has brought such a feeling of shared humanity for me.

Problems that I thought were uniquely mine are not, not at all.

Like self-worth being based on productivity, right? That is so common.

And hearing other women come with those same issues.

I just felt really free.

I felt free like this. I’m not alone.

Yeah. And I, and just that realization, it doesn’t feel so big anymore.

It’s like, Oh, we’re all dealing with this and we can get through it. This isn’t like some deep

issue that I have with me. This is being human. So that piece has been really profound.

And I came into the program with a handful of autoimmune diseases.

The main one being celiacs, which I still avoid the gluten, but then I was collecting others and I

still don’t eat gluten, but the rest have really cleared up. You know,

I just, I gotta say this. I can’t. did not know that about you. And I cannot believe how many women

I talked to in the program who say that. Like, oh, yeah, we’re making more money on our farm.

We’re finally profitable. But the biggest thing is my autoimmune diseases symptoms went away.

They’re gone. Yes. Oh, amazing. And I have done I’ve listened to a few books while I’m out there

reading and I can’t. I haven’t found answers really as to why, but the best way I can explain it is

my thoughts just feel different in my body. I think that I,

well, I know that I used to put a lot of shoulds on myself. Yeah.

There’s so many, so many studies that correlate stress with autoimmune diseases.

And so when you get mindset coaching and you clean up your thoughts and you make them useful and

productive instead of stressful and overwhelming, that’s the best explanation I can give that

doctors tell me over and over. Because we have doctors in the program, physicians in the program

who say the same thing. So I am elated to hear that about you because I did not know that.

And it’s a side benefit so many people are getting in there. completely unexpected.

It just feels different to live in my body. It’s a, it’s a more peaceful place.

Maybe more grounded. Like you’re in your body, you’re present. Yes.

And with the mindset, I

am able now to either catch thoughts, be like, whoa, I was just blaming myself for this thing that

wasn’t in my control. Like, you know, irrigation. hose popping off and flooding the greenhouse,

which happened last night. I felt no blame. I felt like, okay, it’s a problem. I can, I can solve

it. These things happen. Whereas a year ago before mindset coaching, what would have happened

instead? I would have felt like I had done something wrong. I should have known. I should have

checked it.

And really none of those things are true. This just happens. And whenever problems come up,

I hear your voice say, okay, there’s problems. Farming is about solving problems.

Yep. And so then I think, great, I’m right on track. Yeah. Everything is as it should be. I have

problems. Yep. And you can do it with overwhelming stress like you did a year ago and it’ll make

you sick or do it with confidence and secure,

grounded certainty. And you just move through it with ease. You go through your day solving

problems and you don’t beat yourself up. You no longer feel terrible. Yes. And if I start to feel

bad, I can like, okay, I’m feeling a little frustrated or upset. I can trace it back and figure out

what was the thought. Great. Why, what, what got me here? And now I can choose a different thought.

and feel differently about the situation. So I don’t always catch them in the moment, but then I

can retrace my steps. You have the tool to identify what is the thought causing you stress.

And then, and only then can you shift it and choose a new one. And you’ve truly rewired your brain.

Like that’s one of the benefits I tell people is you’re going to rewire your brain after your time

in this program. Yes. Yes. And I try to listen to

some coaching every day because I, I, it’s ongoing or at least so far for me,

I need to constantly be reminding myself of this way of, of thinking and operating in the world.

Um, or I can slip and fall back into shoulds and overwhelm. Totally.

Well, you’ve done that you’re for decades. So naturally we’re going to default to that for a period

of time. Right. If not forever, like I, I have people who’ve now been in this coaching program,

coaching with me for 10 years. And I’ve been meeting with my own coach once a week for many years

and we’ll never give it up because our brains are wired to go negative. So you’re,

I love that you’re doing it and you have the coaching calls on a podcast. You can listen out in the

garden, like you said, private podcast. Yeah. And it’s really shifted my relationships too.

That’s what I was just going to ask about. Tell us more. Yeah. And I’ve done some coaching around

hard dynamics with my husband.

Really me being when I’m during lambing season.

He said, I needed his help. And he said something like, I didn’t even want these sheep,

you know, and he was like, that’s not what I, I never said that. But that’s what I heard.

Yeah. And I got some coaching around that and really got to the point of,

I, I don’t need to look outside of myself for validation around choices about the sheep or the

farm. I know it was thoughtful. I have that value and worth and confidence inside myself.

I don’t have to look for it, even from people that I love very much. Because you’ll constantly be

chasing it. You will never feel enough validation or fulfillment. You can’t. So I’m so glad you

brought that up. And I think he is free from that too. He feels more free.

And I’ve noticed that. If something’s bothering me now, he is willing to drop everything and talk

to me about it. Whereas before he’d kind of be like, I gotta, I gotta go, I gotta go do this thing.

And I think it’s because of how I approach problems now, feeling so empowered and less reactive.

I think I’m a better listener. Um, and it shifted my parenting as well.

Things. just don’t feel as hard. And your daughter is how old?

Almost 10. Okay, I was going to guess 10. Okay, great. So how has that shifted?

Does she notice? Like, has it shifted your relationship with her? I should ask her it feels I feel

more at peace, even with, you know, difficult parenting situations where She’s made a mistake.

Or I’m having to say no. I’m just able to hold those boundaries better with love.

Like for this pot, she wanted to be in the room with for recording the podcast and knowing her,

she would jump in with like little jokes or little additions. And part of my attention would be on

her. So I, for me, really wanted to have the room to myself. And I was able to communicate that

with love and just hold that boundary. Be like, I can love you and have you out of the room.

being worried, like, oh, is she going to be upset? You know, is she going to feel like she’s not

valuable to me? I was like, no, it’s not about that at all. That’s life-changing. It’s life

-changing. You’re going to change her life and how she, as she goes into her preteen and teen years

and early adulthood, you will change your modeling and relationship with her.

We’ll teach her those skills. And having raised, had three kids go through the ages of those ages.

It’s amazing. There’s could be so much drama if they don’t have the skills and your daughter will

have those. It’ll make her life so much easier. And I think I’ll be able to

handle the drama without engaging in it as much.

Right? Yeah. Well, speaking of relationships, I know we recently coached on your staff.

you felt really bad and obligated. And so I know it’s,

tell me how it’s changed your relationship with the people that work for you too. Yes.

I have a small group of women that come and do work share and I just worried when they were here,

like, am I asking too much? Are they getting value out of this?

Am I giving enough information, not too much information? And you just said, well, answer those

questions. We need to answer the questions. And that’s a great model to apply when I start swirling

with all of this. I think, okay, answer the questions and slow down and go one by one.

And one of the answers. You said,

well, are they getting anything out of it? I was like, well, they always thank me when they leave,

but I don’t believe them. Yeah.

Like, how could they be thanking me? And just the way you’re so direct.

coming from a very caring place, like, do you think they’re lying to you? Right? Oh,

my gosh, why would I think that? Of course, they’re not. And it just lifts the cloud of worry and

burden. And now, when they say thank you, I am able to receive that and also thank them.

And I overheard one woman say, this is my happy place. Oh, and I could just take that in.

Yeah. Yeah. And trust them and know, and also make time to get their feedback and ask how it’s

going. And if there’s anything that I could do to make it a better experience for them so that I

have those answers and we can be building and growing together. And it just took,

I would feel like tightness in my chest the whole time they were here because I wanted to make sure

they were cared for. And that’s just gone. Yeah. It’s amazing. coaching,

like you can swirl and loop and think you’re working problems out yourself. And then an external

coach, someone that’s trained in the skills I’m trained in, just like a flash can shift everything

that you’ve been looping on for weeks, can fix everything, turn it around. It’s like when I meet

with my coach, I’m like, oh my gosh, that was magic. I went in there thinking I had this problem

that was going to. be bigger than anything. And I walk away feeling light.

And so you’re describing the same thing. And it is, it’s just magical. It’s the best part of the

program, I think, is the mindset coaching. It’s amazing. So let’s talk about your sales.

Like you’re here to make more money. And tell me about your journey with that in chicken and

vegetables. Okay. Chicken. Chicken, I have more experience selling than vegetables.

So that’s been an interesting journey for me. One of the first things I did in the program was do

the pricing worksheet. And it came out to cover costs and pay myself very little,

but still pay myself a little bit. It came out to $10 a pound, which seems extraordinary.

We do live in an expensive area. But I could confidently raise my price to that because I knew if I

didn’t, I would be losing money. Yeah. And then there’s the belief triad of how is that price the

best for my customer, for me and my farm. And I could answer that. So very confidently could ask

for that price without any. complicated feelings of worry or it’s too much or what are people going

to think? Because I knew that that’s how I would cover costs. Yeah. And that belief triad is one of

the skills I use. And as soon as farmers go through that little,

those three questions, the decision is easy to make like, Oh, of course I will charge $10 a pound.

And then I think that comes across in how we’re communicating with our customers confidently.

Yes. And they don’t. I didn’t get any pushback or questions. Yeah. That’s amazing.

What did you go from? It was $8 a pound before and maybe six before that.

Okay. Six, eight, 10. Great. Yeah. Okay. And I did my first five day chicken launch just a month or

two after I had been in the program before that. I would just bring people a chicken or two here or

there all throughout the year and I’d store them in my freezer. And then we wouldn’t have as much

space when hunting season came around. And, um, it,

it was long and drawn out. Um, so I did the five day chicken launch.

I didn’t quite sell out. I think I had two or three extra after that first launch.

And they actually sold at the pickup party. People wanted, you know, another one or two.

So you did sell out in that launch because they wouldn’t have been at the pickup party if they

hadn’t. So you sold out your very first one, one to two. I just want to underscore this on this

podcast episode because.

You can have results right away. You can do a five day launch a month into the program and sell

out. Yes. Yeah. I don’t guarantee that, of course, but the skills are right there.

If you have the time to dive in and learn them and do that five day launch. And then this year it

went even better. Yes. So. With your help looking at the calendar,

I moved it earlier and did a five-day launch. But I sold out in three days.

I didn’t even get to use the last few emails I had written. And it just was so easy.

It felt so easy. And over that year, my writing had evolved a lot,

listening to email critiques in the calls. my skill got better and my email list had probably about

doubled at that point. And then it just felt very smooth and people were so grateful to have the

chicken and the pickup party is fun to get people on the farm. A handful of returning customers and

then a handful of new customers as well. So it feels like a good balance there and reaching new

people and people are coming back for more. And then it also lets you off the hook the rest of the

year. You’re not looping on, oh, shoot, I should try to sell. I need to make room. Elk hunting

season’s here. I need to empty the freezer. You’re not looping on that all year long. Three days

and you’re done. You’re done selling. You can get back to connecting with your customers instead.

And it’s great in that way to be able to take care of the chickens and then be able to focus on the

vegetables. And that power of one is something I’m still trying to figure out because I got into so

much so fast. But at least I was able to sell the chickens before vegetable season was in full

swing. And now I’ve been able to just focus on vegetables. and that it just feels chaotic trying to

do multiple things at times. So that has been really helpful for my mental burden and just knowing

the turkey lunch is scheduled, everything’s laid out. I don’t have to worry about it while I’m in

veggie season. Yeah. So then tell me the marketing success you’ve had with vegetables and getting

people to market and selling out. What would it look like last year before you signed up?

Last year, I was at our one tiny little farmer’s market. The only farmer,

it’s mostly crafts. There was a raw milk.

farmer who had been there in previous years she wasn’t there last year but she has come back this

year so i’m even starting to see our little local market shift and grow as well um last year i

wouldn’t sell out i would go home with a lot of vegetables and that it i’m It was hard.

I was working so hard and then hardly I might go home with like one hundred and twenty dollars.

Oh, it’s just not worth it. Yeah, it was crushing. And then as far as expenses go and then you’re

in weeding your beds going, wait a minute, this woman’s saying I can make money.

How can this be? So then tell us what this season looks like. So this season.

I have been connecting with people through email usually twice a week.

My email list now has more than doubled and I’m selling out of the vegetables in the first half an

hour. Oh, wow. That’s great. Which is a little silly because then I still am standing around for a

few more hours, but I’m still meeting people, still getting emails. I always have some extra

parsley and kale. You know, there’s always like a little something to bring people over.

But there’s a line and really dedicated people trying to beat each other to get to the cucumbers

and tomatoes and salad greens. So that. The farmers who said,

oh, it’s really hard. You better go to Jackson Hole. The difference is marketing.

They don’t know how to market and sell. And you know, yeah. And the relationship piece is so real.

I feel it. I’m making a big effort to learn everybody’s name. And then connecting with them.

pretending that I’m writing to one person, seeing a real customer that I care about in my mind,

as I’m writing emails, they, they different people, not the one I’m picturing even,

but customers will come and say, Oh my gosh. feel like you were talking just to me.

And I was like, oh, yep, this is working. That’s exactly what I say. You don’t have people walk up

to you and say, I feel like you’re talking to me. And then they want to spend money with you. Yes,

they feel so seen. And they don’t balk at the prices.

I have had a harder time getting the pricing calculator really nailed in for the vegetables.

I just didn’t have the data. But I’m keeping lots of good records. And I really look forward to

working with the numbers this winter so that I can have that same confidence in the veggie pricing

as I do with the chicken pricing. So I know that’s coming. I know the data I need to collect to get

there. But nobody complains about the prices. And did they go up from last summer?

They did, yeah. They did. And the having the line is a little bit stressful.

I’m actually one of my work share angels is going to come and help me for that first half an hour

today. Perfect. But there’s a ton of energy and I do see them being like,

Oh, you’re getting the broccolini. I want to go. I want to try the broccolini too. What do you do

with the kale? Like it’s just to each other. This is music to my ears. Cause that’s what I teach

you. If you have a self-serve farm stand, you will never make enough money to make it. it worth it

when you have limited hours even two hours or in your case 30 minutes and it’s it’s limited only by

um supply but the energy of people seeing other people buying stuff,

you sell more. So the more you can concentrate, you know, for the listener is still doing a farm

self-serve farm stand. You got to get out of that. It would be easy. You will make so much more

money being open one day a week or two days a week for two hours at a time. Then. All day,

every day, self-serve. I can’t say that enough. And you just exemplified the reason why.

People see each other. They engage. The energy makes them like, oh, you got two heads of lettuce?

Oh, I’m going to get two heads of lettuce. It’s amazing how much more they buy with that energy.

And it feels good. Something I didn’t anticipate at all. I really thought it was about the

vegetables and the local produce. And that’s why I was doing this. Now I realize it’s really about

the community. And there are a lot of people here that maybe commute or have moved and don’t have

community. And the farm is becoming that for a lot of people and finding a sense of belonging.

And it’s like this everywhere where the dominant…

food quality is pretty low. Yes. And I think people who enjoy local vegetables and are willing to

pay for them can sometimes feel lonely. One ideal customer that I interviewed,

she was like, I don’t even want to go out because I know the food’s going to be terrible. Yes.

And so seeing other, it’s like bringing people into our arms and being like, we have a voice here

too. You know, we. we can buoy each other up and make new relationships and new friendships.

You’re transforming lives. I say this all the time in my market, like you’re transforming lives

with your farm and farmers like, what? I don’t see it. You are describing exactly what that is.

There’s so much research out there on the blue zones. Maybe you’ve heard of blue zones. There’s a

special on TV and there’s books about it. A big reason people in blue zones that are all over the

world, not just one place, it could be, you know, up in the mountains of Wyoming, is the community

aspect. They aren’t home alone. They are engaging with other people.

And that’s all ages. And they’re healthier. So you are creating.

I just hope you. give yourself some appreciation that you’ve created a blue zone in the mountains

of Wyoming for the group. Even if you just touch one woman’s life,

you don’t have to create 10,000 people living longer, having better lives.

Even if you touch one woman’s lives, but you’re touching dozens and dozens and dozens and hundreds

of people’s lives in your area. And that’s what your farm is doing in your community.

And you can’t put a price on that. Like that is why we will not go out to dinner,

which is horrifically expensive. And instead spend that money on $10 a pound chicken,

$10 a pound tomatoes, whatever it is. Yeah. Yeah. That’s so true because it is still very

challenging, difficult work. Yes. Yes. Oh, yes. There’s always problems.

And like last night when I flooded the greenhouse or the drip line flooded the greenhouse,

it wasn’t really me. See, right. It wasn’t you. And I have a duck with a big injury,

you know, and I was like, it’s a turkey limping. It’s just all these things. And it’s like, it’s

okay. Yeah. I can handle the problems. We’re doing a lot of good.

I still, I have a little worry, like nobody’s going to show up to the farmer’s market. Maybe this

is going to be the week that nobody comes. And then I think, no, people are really excited doing

something important. So I do feel that value in the food,

in the quality of the food and in the quality of the relationships. And that’s what I can keep

coming back to when I’m tired and it’s hot and I have. thousand things on the to-do list and can

only get to one. And broken things. And broken things and expensive things and all of those pieces.

Well, the last part of the program, the time management, have you had, so we talked about the

mindset coaching, powerful marketing, powerful time management. How has that helped you that course

in the program specifically? It helped. It helped. And profoundly,

I came in so overwhelmed. Like I said, I think the first coaching call I did with you,

I had finished the time management program and I came in and I said,

I did the time management program and I still can’t get it all done. And now I can laugh because I

hear every cohort. There’s at least one call like that. It’s so universal.

And you said, no, you can’t. You need help. And that was that was actually the moment that that

opened my heart because I had another farmer. He’s had so much trouble with getting reliable help.

And I thought, I’m just going to I need to find the size that I can do it by myself. And so I was I

had people had offered to help customers that came through and I just.

I was closed off. And when you said you need help, I, that was the opening.

And that’s actually, that was the birth of the work share program. I called one of those women that

said, if you ever need help. And luckily she had just emailed and said,

do you have any zucchini? And the farmer’s markets were done. And I was like, I do have zucchini.

And she came over and we walked around the farm. gave her some zucchini,

and now she probably spends 10 hours here a week. She’s being open to that idea and acknowledging

that I do need help and I can’t do this by myself. And she’s thanking you for the opportunity to

work for 10 hours a week. Yes. And then has made friends with other WorkShare women.

And she was one that has a really strong community an hour or an hour and a half away.

She was like, Thank you. You’ve given me this here.

And that’s so powerful. Yeah. Again, you’re changing so many lives with your little farm.

And this is every farmer. Farmers don’t realize that. But when you look through it through the lens

of I’m changing lives. And if I’m going to be here a year from now, I need to increase my prices.

I need to learn marketing. I need to get my mindset coached. I need to get out from under the

overwhelm because you’re here with this purpose, this passion,

this calling. When worries come up about trying to sell in an email and being salesy and I don’t

want to be pushy or salesy, when I can come back to that mindset of I’m changing lives.

This isn’t I am serving them. Then it’s so it’s fun even to write.

Yeah. And connect. It’s just a very simple shift that feels so much better.

And again, one of those things that just keeps me going, even when I’m tired or doubtful or

whatever it might be. I’m serving people and making lives better. I can keep going.

And what’s amazing to come full circle is in serving other people and learning how to do it through

mindset coaching, you’ve healed your body. Yeah. Because you are in this calm,

grounded place from coaching and the time management program, you’ve gotten rid of your autoimmune

symptoms. That in and of itself is mind blowing and life changing.

I’ve been chronically really ill and got over it completely. And the way I thought my life was

going is now shifted and it’s, that’s profound. And you did that for yourself through your farm

serving others. Yeah. And through this coaching and not just coaching of me again,

but listening to those calls is so helpful. And I’m still working on,

I’m still can fall into the trap of, trying to squeeze more things into a block of time than I know

I can get done or underestimating how much time something will take.

But then when I do it, I can laugh at myself, say, oh, I’m doing that thing again. And I know,

yeah. And I know it’s not just me. I know that there’s so many women that are struggling with that,

probably in the same moment and having overflow time.

Fridays are my overflow time or margin time,

which I learned from the program. So I can think I’ll add that to Friday’s list. Yeah.

And the neat thing is you now have the tools that when you catch, you can identify the thought

first. And then when you catch it, you have the tools to turn it around or come to a coaching call

next Tuesday or tune into one of the replays and you will turn that around. Yeah. It’s still a

daily, it’s still daily work of, of being honest with the calendar and just trying to get better

and better at it. It really has helped my overwhelm a lot. This is amazing. Well,

I would love to ask you the question. I’d love to ask everyone on there for the woman listening.

who this sounds amazing. Like I’m, I created the program and I listened to you with tears in my

eyes. It makes me tear up. And I’m like, this is incredible. I can’t believe, cause I, I created it

out of love and service, just like you’re building your farm. And it, it, it fills me up,

but instead of hearing it from me, what would you say to the woman? Who’s like,

I want some of this. I want to do this, but I’ve never invested. money in myself.

That’s a lot of money. I don’t know if I should, it should go to the kids. It should go to the

farm. It should go to anything else other than me. Cause you know, we’re brought up to often put

everyone else’s needs first. But if you were sitting down having a cup of tea with her, what would

you say?

Yeah.

I felt the same way that it was a lot of money and there was just a little voice inside of me.

That just kept saying, there’s something to this.

There’s something here. And I didn’t know the full depth, but I think that.

that voice knows who we pick up on all the clues and those little voices can help just quiet,

you know, can help get us where we need to be to have the life and the farm and the relationships

that we want. And so that little voice is worth listening to.

That’s wonderful. Good. And it affects the whole family. It’s not just for you.

It’s for your whole family, your community, your ladies that work for you. It’s for when you give

to yourself, you have so much more to give to everyone else too. It’s what’s going to keep me going

because it is hard. Good. It is, right? Farming is hard. Yeah. Well,

thank you so much for being here and sharing your story. I’m excited to be able to keep coaching

you. In the program, we just get to know each other intimately too.

You know, coaching is being vulnerable, sharing your struggles. And so we hold space for each

other. And that alone is such an incredible group. And I am just delighted to have you be a part of

it. And there one last thought, too, that I wasn’t expecting either is meeting other farmers across

the country that I can reach out to with farming questions or just share fun vegetable pictures.

Sometimes if something’s really hot or hard, I think, oh, yeah, I know they’re out there working

right now, too. And you’re all in a Facebook group. together to connect and do that. And one thing

we do is the Wednesday wins. We put that post up and it’s so fun for all of us to go in there and

see what each other are doing. Because even if we’re selling the same thing, it’s different.

You’re doing it in a mountain town that has frost every day of the year. That’s very different than

the farmer in Hawaii who’s farming. And it’s so fun to connect in there.

see that you’re not alone and you all have the same struggles, same brain, but different.

Yeah. Yeah. That’s been really valuable too. Yeah. Good. Well, thank you for being here today.

Big shout out to the other woman with me. I, I, I don’t, I, I want to stay in the community with

them. It is great. Well, we’re lucky to have you there and thank you for sharing your story here

today. Thanks for being here today, Kate. Yeah. Thank you, Charlotte. You’re welcome.