Midlife Metamorphosis: From Corporate Suits to Farm Boots - Ep 61

Ever thought about leaving the corporate world behind for a life in the country? Mary Fleming Sandy, owner of Kings Landing Farm in Rock Hill, South Carolina, did exactly that, trading in her corporate career to run a Game of Thrones-themed farm. Join us as we explore her journey from navigating livestock auctions to implementing a Rent-A-Chick program.

Mary's story will give you a glimpse into the realities of running a farm, from the joys of early morning summer wake-ups to the challenges of maintaining small farms in a country that’s witnessing a decline in their numbers. She also enlightens us about her upcoming festival, Winter is Coming to the Farm, complete with a barbarian feast and artisan vendors. You'll gain a new appreciation for the daily life of a farmer and come away with an understanding of the intricate balance of work and passion that running a farm demands.

This is not just about farming, but about following your heart and embracing change, even in midlife. As Mary transitions her farm into a destination spot, she shares her experience of downsizing, accepting help and creating more time for family. Her story serves as a beacon to other women contemplating a significant lifestyle or career change. So, tune in to hear how Mary followed her passion, turned it into her life's work, and encourages others to do the same.

Transcript

Tish: 0:21

Hey, today we're going to be talking with Mary Fleming Sandy, the owner and operator of Kings Landing Farm in Rock Hill, south Carolina. Now Mary traded in her corporate career into running a Game of Thrones theme farm. Now, ellen, you know, it never gets old for me to hear personal stories about women reinventing their lives and careers in midlife, and this is just what Mary had done. She was trading in, working in a cubicle farm for a real farm.

Ellen: 1:00

I like that. I like that. You know, Tish, I think so many of us dream about making a change from corporate America to careers outside of the office, and especially at midlife. This is a kind of a decision point. Full disclosure from me. I would love to go to estate sales and sell antiques and interesting pieces a few days a week from my barn or my carriage, in a row straight, and our college friend Kathy and I talk about doing this together all the time, knowing we'd have so much fun. I'm not sure we'd make too much money, but I love to learn from amazing women like Mary who've made the leap.

Tish: 1:41

You know, for me I think my dream would be having what I refer to as a holiday house, a place that I could put on like special events for different holidays, you know, like doing like really high end special Easter egg hunts or Mother's Day teas. But I digress here, right.

Ellen: 2:03

Somehow I have a feeling you'd be in some sort of outfit that your daughter, mimi, made for you while you were doing that. Exactly, exactly, and that does sound exactly like you.

Tish: 2:17

So, alan, you know, I met Mary when I went to visit her farm this past February and so I went there to have an opportunity to go play with her baby goats. And I was surprised a friend of mine that was in town and we got to go and spend time in this little horse stall with the baby goats and, oh my gosh, they were just, it was just magical. They were so fun. And while I was there, mary was kind enough to show me around her Game of Thrones theme farm and I can tell you I absolutely fell in love with this place and her staff and it's just a wonderful. It just takes you to a different place.

Ellen: 3:06

Noticious. So true, being with animals really is special, and I saw those photos you posted of playing with those baby goats and I was so damn jealous Amazing. And I know how much you loved Game of Thrones and I loved it too, so I can't wait to hear what made Mary choose the theme. But before we get into meeting Mary and hearing all about this great leap, you know my favorite part of the show every week is talking about our obsession. So what do you got for me this week, Tish?

Tish: 3:40

Well, my obsession this week is my daughter is going to be helping to design a costume, because I am planning on attending, and this was my obsession. Mary's farm has a festival in November that it's called. The Winter is Coming to the Farm Festival, and I'm obsessed with having my Game of Thrones outfit done.

Ellen: 4:10

Goodness. And we know how good Mimi is at costume design, so I can't wait to see how this develops. And you know what winter is coming?

Tish: 4:20

It doesn't feel. It's like 95 degrees here, so it doesn't feel that way, but it's coming. What about you, ellen? What is your obsession?

Ellen: 4:28

Well, my obsession is a recipe that I'm going to share with our listeners from someone called Faked, by Melissa, and I think everyone knows that I'm gluten free right now and it can be really challenging. I love to have a little something sweet after dinner, and she has a recipe with only like five or six ingredients to make these bars using huge chocolate, which is a chocolate I love. So it's kind of like a cookie dough bar and you cut them up, you wrap them, you put them in the freezer and you have one every night. I made these last week and I am truly obsessed with these, and, as we've been talking a lot about whole foods, natural and processed foods, fish around our health, these are really yummy.

Tish: 5:15

Oh, I'm going to try this recipe. I'm not gluten free myself, but they sound amazing and I know you had a lot of family challenges around foods and food selections, so I love that people are making an effort to make those healthier choices more delicious.

Ellen: 5:36

I mean it's almond butter and maple syrup and dark chocolate are three of the five or six ingredients.

Tish: 5:44

So you really can't go wrong with that you had me at the dark chocolate.

Ellen: 5:50

Well, let's move on and welcome Mary to show.

Tish: 5:55

So, yes, welcome Mary. Mary had been a recruiter for pharmaceutical companies and she was part of corporate America and ran her own consultancy and left it to start this locally owned and operated farm. And your farm is 100% non-GMO, no soy and antibiotic free farm. What made you want to leave your safe corporate job and start this magical farm, mary?

Mary: 6:30

To be honest, it was crazy. It was 100% a fluke. If you would have told me this is where I would end up, I would have called you a liar. We moved to Rock Hill because of my husband's work and we were house funding and about a year and change later I finally gave up trying to find my perfect home and started looking at houses that were on the market. And this farm was on the market and I went and saw it and I told my husband this is it, I want this place. And he said what are you going to do with seven acres? And I said whatever I want. And that was kind of the beginning of it.

Tish: 7:09

Wow, what an amazing dream, though, and so, when you were purchasing the farm, you didn't really know what you were gonna do.

Mary: 7:19

No, not at all.

Ellen: 7:22

But you knew you were done with corporate America. At that point, right, it was like, okay, this could be my future.

Mary: 7:29

Absolutely yes. The rat race, the. I worked with a lot of women and that can be difficult for a lot of different reasons in an office space, and I don't miss it at all.

Tish: 7:46

So what is your favorite part so far of having a farm?

Mary: 7:53

When I was younger, I absolutely loved animals I still do, obviously and at one point, probably when I was a teenager, I thought I was gonna be a veterinarian and then one of our family dogs died and I thought, oh no, I can't manage this. And so I've just always had a passion and love for animals, and right now at the farm, whenever there is new life, it just brings new breath into the farm. Every single time it never gets old. And whenever those baby goats goes bouncing across the field and do their little hitch kick on the side, it just never gets old, every single year. Matter of fact, I actually have quail hatching this morning and I still peer into the incubator every time, like it's the first time.

Tish: 8:44

There's just something about baby animals too. That's just, it's just like being around little baby people. It's just that innocence, that freshness, that is amazing.

Ellen: 8:58

And, if I agree with you, tish, that circle of life, so to speak, right and just really being able to do something that you feel passionate about, mary, what I think is so great. So I'm sure a lot of times it doesn't even feel like a job when these things are happening, but I wanted to bring up a stat, tish and I love stats that in 2023, the Department of Agriculture said that small farms accounted for 89% of all US farms, but only 30% of those farmers are women. So you know that it kind of was. It came at you and you became a farmer, but what did you do at the beginning? Kind of learn how to do this against farming.

Mary: 9:52

When we bought the farm there were three goats. We ironically and quite funny, we had to write them into the contract when we bought the farm. And so we started off with three goats and I would look out my kitchen window and I would see these goats when the sun was rising, you know, standing on the rock in the field. I was like this is just so magical. And so then my husband and I, one Friday or one weekend, we ended up going to a livestock auction and I told my husband I said, boy, you really have red neck and eyes to me now what we're doing on a Friday night, we're going to a livestock auction.

Mary: 10:33

And we ended up buying a little Nigerian goat and she rode home on my lap and I was in love. That was just the start. And we named her Khaleesi, of course, the very first one and only the queen. And that's how we got started. And I ended up selling the other goats because they were meat goats, and I just continued buying the little goats that I fell in love with and then met other farmers and got into different types of chickens, and that's how I got started.

Tish: 11:10

Wow. So like it's funny, because that same article that Alan was referring to from the Department of Agriculture tells us that there are now 200,000 fewer farms, fewer farms than there were in 2007. So, in this time of decreasing small farms, were you at all nervous about taking this leap?

Mary: 11:37

Yes, and still, sometimes it can be a challenge. You know, after you know 2020, everybody got really afraid. Everybody didn't know where their food was coming from. A lot of animals were called because the manufacturing plants had to shut down. So, yeah, it was a little scary, but I started on such a small scale that I could manage it. And right now, really my only challenge is the price of feed, and you know it just keeps going up, up, up, but so does everything else. But I'm not like I said, I just keep it small and manageable and I follow my passion, and my husband bears with me.

Ellen: 12:29

I love that. I know we've talked about goats and chickens. Do you have other animals on the farm, Mary? I sure do?

Mary: 12:38

I have two alpacas, booker and Dewey the goats, and then lots of different kinds of chickens and then quail. I started raising quail specifically for my Renaissance dinner coming up this November. So interesting.

Ellen: 12:57

I have wild quail in my yard out here, so they're really beautiful. I just think it's great, though, that you have such a nice breadth of animals on the farm.

Mary: 13:10

I've had turkeys also, but unfortunately the coyotes got my turkey, so I will get turkeys again, and I also have guinea fowl. I've raised ducks. So seriously, I just follow my passion and I like learning new things and learning how to take care of new animals. When we had the baby ducks, I just loved them waddling along behind me, but then I learned that ducks are very, very messy and dirty and if they don't have a natural body of water they can make a mess of things, and so I ended up selling the ducks. But I just I follow my passion.

Tish: 13:46

I love that. I love that and I love how your husband supports you in that dream as well. You know, not everybody has that type of support, but you know Ellen brought up that November festival that you have, that I can't wait to attend, that the winter is coming to the farm festival and it also includes like a happy hour and a barbarian feast. And you do all of this with farm to table products, correct, and you cook on open fires. Can you tell us what visitors could expect if they attend this full day of events, and are there advanced tickets available?

Mary: 14:30

Absolutely. The event is November 4th and during the day it's open to the public, so I encourage everybody to come out. I have a bunch of volunteers that come out and help me so you can visit with all the animals, and then we have live music. I've actually been speaking to Greg Parrish, who is a well-known country singer here in the area, and he's planning on coming out to the farm. Then I recruit several different artisans, and when I say artisans I truly mean people that have a craft. Last time we had the event, I had over 20 different artisans come out, from soap makers to a gentleman that built his own Dalsamers, which is a musical instrument, and I've had somebody come out and blow glass. So it's really whatever I can get my hands on, to be honest. And these folks come out during the day so you can come out, enjoy the live music, do some shopping, and then we have several different food trucks and, of course, I try and have turkey legs available.

Tish: 15:38

Oh, you got to have the turkey legs. You're going to have a barbarian stuff going on, right?

Mary: 15:44

And then the dinner follows that. So there's basically all the artisans pack up and we have the dinner set up in the front of the barn. The tickets are on sale or will be on sale on Eventbrite. Seating will be limited. There'll be only 60 tickets available, so make sure to check that out as soon as it goes live, which I'm trying to work on it sooner rather than later. It did sell out quickly last year.

Mary: 16:16

So that dinner itself, the gentleman that caters it for me, he uses product from my farm and then other local farms. He comes out and he starts the fires with the flamethrower and it's all very kind of authentic in a way, but a lot of fun, and he cooks everything over the open fire. So we've had turkey. We typically do a whole hog. And then I told him I want to do a really nice charcuterie board this year and, as I mentioned, we're introducing quail this year. So he's hopefully going to put some quail on the open flame and potentially pickled quail eggs will be on the menu again this year. So I'll be meeting with him soon to develop the menu for that.

Tish: 17:03

I'm going to be ready for those advanced tickets because my daughter is already working on a fur trimmed cape for me. I'm excited.

Ellen: 17:14

I love that dish.

Mary: 17:16

I love it?

Ellen: 17:17

And who doesn't love a farm to table event with the ability to have food just locally sourced and grown, mary, I want to go back, though, to something I'm not sure we completely talked about. I know you said your first goat was Khaleesi, and a lot of this is around King's Landing, so the chicken coops are called Red Keep or Dorn or Winterfell. So were you obsessed with the show or how did this come to you?

Mary: 17:53

My husband and I just really really enjoyed the show. And when I was in high school I was part of a vocal group, the magical society, and we would dress up in the costumes from that era and we'd go around and sing, we'd have concerts in church, we'd go to other homes for elderly folks, and so I've always kind of had a passionate interest in that era. And when the show came, you know who didn't fall in love with John Snow, you know? And we, just we.

Mary: 18:30

I'm not a super fan by any shape of the imagination, but I really really enjoyed the show and it was just the timing was right and I was looking for interesting names for my animals, and so that's how it got, how the idea was born. And we also have a throne that while I was walking around in the pasture one day, we have a bunch of cedar trees and some of them had fallen over and their roots were exposed from you know the rain and I thought to myself that's very interesting looking. And so I gave my husband the vision and he built this spectacular throne that basically turns the roots upside down and then there's his feet, but it's a very farm throne, if you will. So I basically gave him my vision and he built the throne for me, so we also have a throne that you can take a photo on.

Ellen: 19:24

I love it All natural too, from trees, from the farm. You know I have heard about your rented chick program and I fell in love with this and I know, if I look closer, Mary, I would be right there for this, even though my kids are grown, it would be for me. But maybe you can share with our listeners a little bit about this program. What inspired you? What kind of families participate? It sounds delightful.

Mary: 19:53

Absolutely so. The baseline is that the program itself this past year was $60. To participate, you get a brooder box, a feeder, a waterer, bedding, the food and then two baby chicks and a heat lamp, of course, and you take them home for two weeks and the kids get to love on them, raise them, see how much they change in two week period and then they bring them back. It also includes a memorabilia T-shirt for the kids which is a lot of fun that says I rented a chick. The kids get to wear the T-shirts.

Mary: 20:31

So a lot of the folks that like to participate in the program they're interested, they're interested in farm life, but they don't have any other way to participate. So I would say they're definitely more city folk. You know what I'm saying? Yeah, and I've had some folks that have returned three, four years and their kids just keep growing and they love it so much.

Mary: 20:57

And then this past year I had a woman that totally fell in love with the chicks and she did not return them until just like last week, sometime, I think. So she kept asking me she's like, if I buy them more food, can I keep them? Because she just fell in love with them. So it's a really nice way for them to experience farm light. And the chicks go from like little fluffy bitties to becoming fully feathered and getting their grown up feathers in. So the kids get to actually really see the process and hopefully you know the parents have the conversation with them about. You know this is where your eggs come from and this is where chicken comes from in, you know, in the grocery store.

Tish: 21:40

I love this hands-on learning, learning to take care of another animal. Without that, you know, super long commitment. I'm sure it's hard for the kids to part with it. But again, that's farm life, it's on a farm. They're not always pets, you know. So I think it teaches kids on so many levels. And I was telling my oldest son about this, my son Alex, and he said he said if they had had that program when I was little, he said I said yep, yep, I know he goes you would have got them for us, wouldn't you? I said, oh, for $60, what hands-on learning that you are giving some local parents. I'm just crazy about that program, I know.

Ellen: 22:26

I agree, mary. What a program. I'm lucky because my neighbors have about 10 or 15 chickens and a rooster, so I get to hear just that. I love just a little noise from chickens too. I think it's so cute and they're so beautiful when you get the fancy ones as well. But I know I'd be right there. I don't know if I could give them back.

Tish: 22:51

Mary Alan's neighbors. Theirs are solar-powered and heated and they don't let the chickens out until like 10 o'clock in the morning.

Ellen: 23:04

They do have a solar-powered chicken coop, which has helped me out when we've had some of our rolling blackouts in the past. I've been thrown a lifeline from the chicken coop, but I think it's so great to have that kind of experience just close to me. I really enjoy it. So, yeah, tisha's gotten to hear them up close and personal, including the rooster.

Tish: 23:31

I would imagine, Mary, that this program must grow every year when more parents hear about this.

Mary: 23:37

Absolutely. It's a lot of word of mouth and that's really how I like to grow my business too, because you know whoever the customers are coming to. You already know who you are and support what you are.

Tish: 23:50

Yeah, yeah, and I'm sure the kids love to see the farm when they return the little baby chicks.

Mary: 23:57

Absolutely.

Tish: 24:00

So, mary, here's a really important question, I think, when people think, oh my gosh, I don't think I could be a farmer, because they work from first daylight to sunset, what does your typical day on your farm look like? What time do you start your day?

Mary: 24:19

It depends on the time of year. Obviously, in the summertime I want to try and get out before the heat of the day and in the wintertime issue I kind of slide the scale thing done within two to three hours, depending on if I have any extra projects. And you know I always joke. I say there's no two days that are alike. For instance, I actually was just telling Tish when I got here yesterday I was a snake wrangler. I had to relocate a black snake that had helped himself to all my quail eggs yesterday. So you know there's always a little extra and you know you never know when a coop is going to need to be cleaned or bins will need to be washed or feed bins will need to be filled. But typically I can get everything done within two to three hours.

Tish: 25:11

So in the summertime your day starts at what time? Between nine and 10 o'clock, and then in the winter it starts about when.

Mary: 25:19

Well, the sun comes up later, but I would say on average, probably between nine and 10 o'clock as well. During the summer, like today, I was outside at eight o'clock, so seven, eight. Sometimes in the summertime I'll go out earlier, but on average it'll be between nine and 10.

Tish: 25:33

You see, that's manageable. That's not six o'clock.

Ellen: 25:37

Right.

Tish: 25:38

I don't know, Ellen, we might have to get a farm with Kathy.

Mary: 25:43

And the worst, the worst traffic I have is trying to step over cats or kittens or dogs, you know, trying to get out the door in the morning. That's my, that's my gridlock. I love that gridlock.

Ellen: 25:54

You do too. It sounds dreamy. You know, though, mary, I I see that small farmers these days have to have several streams of income for their small farms, and you know, tish and I talk a lot about side hustles, right? I know you have eggs, you have events, you've goat play dates. We just talked about the rent to chick, and I think you've expanded into my dream area of antiquing, right?

Mary: 26:23

Absolutely. I actually turned one of the horse stalls into like a little country store and so, as you said, I like to go out and antique, I go to estate sales and, again, I just kind of follow my interests and my fat, my passions. I was a fashion design major in college and so anything you know fashion related I love, like the vintage clothing and gloves and hats. So that's kind of what I'm drawn to. So I just buy things that I'm interested in and fortunately, other people like those things. So the secret, if you ever plan on doing this whenever you buy something you have to be able to double the price to sell it. So, for instance, if I buy a vintage pair of gloves for $5, I have to be able to sell those gloves for $10. Other things that I do as well. I actually I did this last just two days ago and it's the first time I did it, so I think I'm going to add this to my repertoire.

Mary: 27:24

I've done physical farm tours before. It's $20. You bring your family out and I've actually had folks bring a picnic lunch and I take them around like I did with Eutician, introduced them to all the animals, talked to them about all the different breeds of chickens that I have, and I actually did a virtual one with one of my friends that's in Myrtle Beach. The other morning I just FaceTimed him and walked him around and showed him the entire farm. I also have a private party coming up. One of my friends was interested in the barbarian feast but it's going to be out of town and so she's actually booked a private dinner along the same lines that I'll be doing and for other money makers. I actually breed my chickens, which we discussed already. So those chicks that come back from the Render Chick program, other local farmers will be looking to buy pellets or female chickens and then I will in turn sell those chickens to local farmers, and when my baby goats are ready then I also sell them as well.

Tish: 28:32

Yeah, and now you also are planning to do a Madhead or Tea Party, aren't you?

Mary: 28:40

Yes, and you know what I might hit you up to have your daughter help me with a costume for that. This idea has been rattling around in my head for a very long time. I just love the Madhead or Theme kind of idea and then you know, I'll get someone local to provide the pastries and the tea and what have you, but it'll be more of a costume type party I've been thinking about doing in the springtime, before it gets too hot outside.

Tish: 29:08

I love all these programs and stuff that you're doing and I think there's such a desire for people to have an experience not just go to dinner, but to have a barbarian feast dinner. People want to like really delve into stuff. Like anybody can go to dinner but everyone can't do a barbarian feast, so I love all those. Those are great.

Ellen: 29:34

Now I know you already have a costume, though, for the Madhead or Tea Party, right?

Tish: 29:40

I do, because we went to something else and my daughter made it for me and I was the Queen of Hearts, so we have some pieces for you already, mary. That's awesome so I know there's a lot of help out there that the USDA Farm Service Agency has micro loans and direct ownership and farm credit loans. Are you aware of any of these programs? Do you know how well they work and do they have anything special for women?

Mary: 30:14

They do. Do you have any woman-owned business? You can get special loans, for I personally have not experienced them because mine is more of a hobby, you know, a labor of love type experience, so I've not checked into that. You know, of course, when it comes time for tax season, you know we do have tax write offs because of the farm and the equipment and the animals. But aside from that, I don't take advantage of any of those other resources. I do know some folks that have and they swear by it, so I would definitely encourage folks to check them out.

Tish: 30:54

So somebody wanted to do this. Is is more of a true moneymaker, like support their family kind of things. There's help out there, absolutely. Especially for these, these small farms, and I love that there's help out there for women in particular.

Mary: 31:10

Absolutely, and I would also encourage folks to find other local farmers and, you know, connect with them, because that's really how I learned a lot of what I know now.

Ellen: 31:20

Right Connecting with the community, and I think that's great advice, mary, and I know we can put some links to in our show notes to some of these resources for women who are interested to to look at the programs for farming. One thing I learned about you, mary, through chatting, is that we're both breast cancer survivors and I wondered if going through that experience change your outlook on farm life in some way, and just if you could share with our listeners. I think that would be great.

Mary: 32:00

Absolutely, and congratulations on being a survivor as well. The struggle is real, but you know what? Thankfully there's a lot of technology out there that we don't have to go through what women had two years ago. So in regards to that, you're right, it does just kind of change your perspective on life in general. And I've got grandbabies, and you know my kids are fairly local.

Mary: 32:26

So you know, I'm really looking to downsize the farm a little bit, keep all my programs in place, because people do look forward to them. But you know, I just love sharing my knowledge and experience with other folks, as you know, tish, because I think I kind of threw up all over you the day you came out to the farm and told you everything I knew and you're like, whoa, that's a lot of information. I loved it. But yeah, I just I think I'm going to downsize a little bit. I want to spend more time with my family.

Mary: 32:56

We own a place in Myrtle Beach and so you know, going back and forth to the beach and, more importantly, I've learned that I really need to take advantage of folks that say, hey, do you ever need a volunteer? Because before I would let my pride get in the way and I would say no, no, I've got it. But now I've reached a point where, you know, I'm like I'm doing them a disservice because I'm taking their joy away from them if I don't allow them to help me. So that's another key thing that I think I've learned from my experience this last year.

Ellen: 33:31

And in midlife. I think we've all learned that it's. It's such a lesson to accept help right and be open to it. I think that happened to me when when I had breast cancer as well. Mary, it was definitely part of that life changing experience.

Tish: 33:48

But I, but I do think what. You have something there, mary is sometimes when we're prideful and think I can handle it, I'm one, we're supposed to be Wonder Woman, right, and you don't accept help. But you rob somebody of that joy to experience part of your farm, or you know to that they have a hand in it when maybe they can't take on a project completely for something like that, but they can still be part of it through through you and through Kingsland and farm.

Mary: 34:18

Absolutely my farm manager. I just hired her this last year to help me out so I could spend more time with my family and go to the beach more often. When she's so funny because she works Monday through Friday and if I tell her, oh, I'll be home on Wednesday, it's going to rain, don't worry she gets hurt feelings because she she says the farm is her therapy and she needs to come out and see the animals and she's fallen in love with the animals. So yeah, there is. There is that. You know you want to make sure you're not stealing anybody else's joy.

Tish: 34:50

Yeah, Now Mary, what would you give what piece of advice? What would you give to women, especially at midlife, who are thinking you know what I need to make a major lifestyle change or a big career change, and and they're afraid to make that step? What would be your piece of advice for them?

Mary: 35:13

That is a very important question. I would say listen to your heart, follow your passion, don't hesitate, don't be afraid, don't be apologetic. Feed your soul, oh my gosh, I love those words.

Ellen: 35:33

And you know, Mary, we love to ask our guests this last question of the podcast what is your superpower?

Mary: 35:41

That's easy sharing my love.

Tish: 35:44

Oh so true.

Tish: 35:47

I like that and you know what, when you meet Mary in person, you can see that's her superpower, because she just draws you in. You feel like you've met somebody you've known for years, so it is truly your superpower. I hope somebody listening to this today thinks you know what. That remembers their passions, because you kept every part of this. You are remembering that from an earlier time in your life where you were passionate about something, whether it was your schooling, your upbringing, your love of animals, and you have incorporated all of those into your reality today, and I want somebody to hear this today and think that's it. I'm going to remember those times, the things that I'm truly passionate about, and I'm going to make them front and center in my life today.

Ellen: 36:41

Pray for that as well, mary, just to build on what Tish said, what I loved is that you were not afraid to try something so new and to learn from the community of farmers locally and really just jump in. And I think, you know, sometimes in midlife we are afraid to make changes, and I hope too, that women, midlife women are listeners, really take this to heart. It doesn't have to be a farm, it can be anything you know, follow those passions and have an open heart when you're doing it right. Well, I'd like to thank you for being here with us today, mary. I am definitely going to make a trip out to King's Landing Farm next week, tish, maybe for the feast this fall.

Tish: 37:35

That would be great.

Ellen: 37:37

We'll make sure to put lots of links in our show notes for events and to the farm. So until next week, midlifers.