My mom was a single mom and my grandparents helped to raise me, so I would spend every day before school and after school with them, helping them with things around their property. I loved it so much.
I decided to go into FFA in high school, where I spent two years as president, and I ran our horticulture program. We went to nationals in Indianapolis — so, I had a lot of exposure in agriculture and other commodities when I young.
Then after high school, I decided to go off to college for something completely different. I went to school for psychology, and I wanted to get out of farming.
I wanted to move to a big city and see what that was like. You know, be around hustle and bustle and have new experiences, learn new things. While working on my psychology degree, I met my future husband, then packed up to move to Hawaii for his graduate degree. At that time, I got involved working with a nonprofit, rescuing excess food from restaurants, catered events and farms.
It was those connections to people in the farming community that made me realize I had to get back into agriculture. The love that I have for nature and the community brought me back. I was able to get a job in a tasting room to learn the basics about wine and fell in love with the context behind a bottle of wine. I landed a summer internship at Ciel du Cheval Vineyard to learn from the vineyard manager. My love was being outside and working, hand-in-hand with Mother Nature.
