Building a Community to Build Your Brand and Find Profit
mary heffernan | five marys farms
Mary is passionate about small business and sharing her years of knowledge, experience, and insight with other small business owners. Her story starts in the Bay Area (where she met her husband Brian and became a mother to her four Marys!) and is a long journey of creating businesses when and where she sees opportunities, and then working hard to make them successful. She is a published cookbook author and has started over twenty small businesses in different industries, from tutoring to restaurants to ranching. Mary is an expert at starting from scratch, expanding your brand, telling your story, and she is excited to focus her time and energy to help YOU grow your business.
Keynotes on:
DIVERSIFYING YOUR REVENUE & OWNING YOUR AUDIENCE
Cultivating Your Brand Identity
danna larson | rural revival
You know her as the founder and podcast host of Rural Revival. And yes, she spends a good part of her time fueling Rural Revival, showcasing the hardworking people who are finding creative ways to do life in rural communities all across America. But beyond that, Danna is an entrepreneur at heart and loves bringing new ideas to life. She provides her clients creative and strategic solutions for brand ignition and social marketing through Spark Seven, her strategic consulting company. She also runs a nonprofit record label.
Keynotes On:
The Entrepreneurial Mindset
Telling Your Story
Nikki Callison | Callison Ranch Beef
Nikki is a fourth generation rancher, and grew up with four brothers and the family motto ‘Riasin’ Kids, Cattle, and Quality Horses.’ Over the last 20 years, Nikki, along with her husband Roger, have built a beautiful life together in southern Oklahoma, expanding their original herd of 20 heifers to over 350 cows. Nikki continues the wisdom of ‘Rancher’s Beef’ and her family’s legacy by offering premium beef from pasture to plate.
Dinner Presentation:
Purpose Over Profits
Brook Hickle | Rocking Bar H Ranch
In 2005, Brook’s family dove head-first into the purchase of an old dairy farm and a small herd of cattle. Throughout their journey, their setbacks sometimes seemed bigger than their gains, but they learned that the old saying is true, “When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” Fast forward 16 years and the original farm is now home to Rocking Bar H Ranch, where Brook and her family raise Red Angus and quality local grass hay. They also operate an online Ranch Goods store, allowing them to share a piece of ranch life with folks across the world.
Dinner Presentation:
How to Pitch Your Story & Get in the Press
Tess Maune | News on 6
Tess is an award-winning journalist, news anchor, and reporter. Tess has covered a number of major stories throughout the state of Oklahoma and connects easily with viewers with her down-to-earth approach of sharing news. Viewers voted Tess at Tulsa’s ‘Favorite Anchor & Reporter’ in 2015 and 2018. She was also awarded ‘Best Use of Social Media by an Individual’ in 2018. Tess is an avid outdoors woman with a passion for hunting and fishing - her biggest catch to date is a 52-inch pound flathead!
Net-Working Lunch Presentation:
Visual Branding & Building a Strong Website
Liz Langford-Cobo | Britelime
Liz is a professional website designer and Showit expert. She specializes in helping small business entrepreneurs in agriculture and rural areas build their own fresh, engaging and profitable websites using Showit.
Liz is a second generation cattle rancher in far northern California where she helps to run her family's cattle ranch.
speaking on:
Growing & Utilizing Email Marketing
Kendall Ballantine | Marketing for farmers
Kendall is a proud farmer and business owner who grew the annual revenue of her small scale farm-to-table business into the six figures, all through the power of digital marketing and without spending a dime on ads. After many failures, lots of learning, and a heck of a lot of successes, she is excited to share what she knows to help other farmers reach their ideal customers and grow their businesses. Kendall is the proud step-mom to two incredible farm kids, and fun fact - she won her class in the 50th Anniversary of the Baja 1000 after driving 1,200+ miles through the Mexican desert for over 46 hours without sleep.
speaking on:
Shopify eCommerce & Product Shipping
Amy Buchstaber
Originally from Minnesota, Amy made the move to California last year and now works for Five Marys where she manages the farm store, handling all things shipping and customer service. Last year, she designed and built M5's current ecommerce website on Shopify. Her past experience includes managing a variety of wineries, breweries, and restaurants. She loves rural living and both her and her adorable Bernese Mountain dog, Bentley (dad to Bitsy's puppies!), are getting used to the California heat and sunshine.
breakout sessions:
Brand Photography & Flatylays
Della Hayden | Circle Bar Co
Della started Circle Bar in 2010, with a camera from Costco and a herd of cows willing to get in front of that camera. For the past 11 years, Della has photographed livestock, babies, weddings, families, births, pets, couples, events, and businesses. In 2015 she started her print shop, and her artwork now hangs in homes across the country. Over the past decade, she has failed, learned, and grown - she is excited to share with you all what she has experienced along the way!
breakout session:
Marketing Materials: adobe illustrator 101
Becca Lorenz | M5
Becca left Wisconsin late last summer and moved out west to the mountains of northern California, where she now works for Five Marys. After working as a reading teacher for several years, both in the states and abroad, she is loving this new chapter of working for a small business. She has always enjoyed being a creative - her newest hobby is overtaking family and friend's walls with colorful murals. She is looking forward to sharing the creative tools available to you so YOU can create your own beautiful and effective marketing materials for your small business.
Mini sessions
Balancing Life & Dreams
Karmen Smith
As a wife, mother, teacher, speaker, and blogger, Karmen is passionate about encouraging and exciting others with real stories about real life. An enthusiastic speaker and author with a growing platform, she touches on a variety of topics near and dear to her: living life on purpose, entrepreneurship, infertility, loss, adoption, and fostering children on their Alabama farm. You can read more about Karmen and her passion for life on her personal
blog at karmensmith.com.
Mini Session:
Subscription Boxes
Amy | Salt River Ranch
Amy is a first generation rancher who left her corporate career in the city to move with her family to the country for a different way of life and to create a source of food for families that they could trust. She wants to know exactly what she feeds her children and believes that everyone should be able to have that knowledge and peace of mind. She is happy to work hard every single day on her family’s ranch to provide pure Wyoming beef, knowing that there is nothing hiding in it.
Breakout:
Small Town Revivals
Joni Nash | Pawhuska Chamber of Commerce
Born and raised on a farm in Georgia, Joni Nash grew up showing horses and was involved in the Nation’s original youth leadership organization — 4-H. Joni makes her home at the Coy T. Ranch, affectionately named after her dad and four generations before him, outside Pawhuska. Joni is an independent-contract auctioneer specializing in benefit and non-profit fundraisers, including work with the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, Easter Seals, the Mark Harmon Project, Tulsa Boys Home, the National Wild Turkey Federation, International Professional Rodeo Association, Miss Rodeo America, Inc., and the University of Oklahoma men’s and women’s athletics.
Mini Session:
Merchandise & Retail
Michelle Myers | Dirt Road Candle Co.
Michelle started Dirt Road Candle Co. in 2016 after she and her husband bought a farm on a dirt road. While making quality candles with premium ingredients is her bread and butter, she has expanded her brand to hand soaps, products for pets, car freshies, and she is constantly looking for and testing ways to bring new products into the DRCC line. Michelle is a pro at making connections with people and she is so excited to share her story with you!
Breakout:
Marketing Materials: adobe illustrator 101
Bre Ledesma | m5
Bre is from a small town in Arizona and is a new member to the Five Marys team! She is a pro at all things photography, graphic design, and Illustrator. She spent the last several years as a wedding and senior portrait photographer and as private photo editor. Bre grew to love agriculture after being involved in her high school FFA program, learning to hunt, and working on a farm in Montana. She's very passionate about educating others on the benefits, traditions, necessity, and challenges of the agriculture industry through creative multimedia and storytelling.
Mini Session:
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