Elevate Springfield

Elevate Springfield featuring Morrisa Reynolds: Elevating Through the Power of Curated Experiences, Authenticity, and Social Media Presence

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Summary

In this conversation, Morrisa Reynolds shares her journey from being a pharmacist to starting her own flower farm, Coyote Acres. She discusses the challenges and joys of running a flower farm, the importance of her pharmacy career, and the impact of automation on both fields. Morrisa also provides insights into gardening and the growth of her business, emphasizing the personal connection she has with her flowers and customers. She discusses the duality of her identity, the creativity she discovered through floral design, and her approach to wedding arrangements. She also highlights the significance of self-care and offers valuable advice for both personal and professional growth, encouraging authenticity and intentionality in life and business.

Takeaways

  • She has a background in pharmacy and has worked in the ER for 13 years.
  • Coyote Acres began as a passion project and has grown into a business.
  • The flower farm has expanded to include subscriptions and event services.
  • Automation in healthcare raises concerns about job security for pharmacists.
  • She encourages home gardeners to cut flowers to promote growth.
  • The flower farming experience is unique and cannot be easily automated. Marissa's humor and personality shine through her social media presence.
  • Floral design has unlocked a newfound creativity for her.
  • Sharing both successes and failures creates a relatable narrative.
  • She values client input and encourages creative solutions for weddings.
  • Community engagement is vital for local businesses.
  • Self-care is essential, even amidst a busy schedule.
  • Intentionality in time management is crucial for personal growth.
  • Avoiding the use of AI for authenticity in business communications is important.
  • Showing up for community events fosters local support and connection.

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SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Elevate Springfield, where we will dive into strategies and stories that help you rise to your full potential. Each episode, we'll talk about how you can take intentional steps to elevate your life and your business while making a meaningful impact on those around you. Along the way, we're gonna bring in the change makers from our community that are already elevating. We'll bring the actionable strategies, you bring the discipline and follow through, and together we can elevate Springfield. Alright, let's go, Springfield. Time to 10X your life, your business, all of it. Time to crush those goals, time to get after it. Let's go. You are listening to the Elevate Springfield Podcast. Robert Farrell here, certified 10X coach, speaker, and mentor here to bring you actionable strategies. You bring the discipline and follow through. And together, we're gonna Elevate Springfield. We're coming to you again from beautiful downtown Springfield in the big dog construction studio. Hey, we've got so much going on in Springfield right now. Make sure you are participating. Get out there, network with folks, be a part of the community, support local businesses, support local nonprofits, and let's go. We can all grow together. So, hey, another great episode for you today. We're gonna get right to our guest after the break. Hey, Springfield, when it comes to reliable, high-quality roofing, you don't want to leave things to chance. That's why you should reach out to Acosta Angeli Ruffing, your local roofing expert serving Springfield and surrounding communities, from quick, dependable repairs to full replacement, from residential to commercial. They are your trusted pros. Call them today at 217-993-2748 or visit their website to book your free quote and inspection. Don't wait. A little leak now could lead to major damage later. Trust the local experts, protect your home, and get peace of mind with Acosta Angeli Roofing. All right, and we are back. Hey, joining me in the studio now, we've got Marissa Reynolds from Coyote Acres. Marissa, how are we doing today?

SPEAKER_02

We're doing good. A little nervous, but mostly good.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, you're gonna do great. You're gonna do great. I know we met out at the Westside Market. Yeah. You always do a phenomenal job out there with your flowers and everything. Thank you.

SPEAKER_03

We love it out there.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we're gonna talk about all that and you know how that came came to be and everything. But first, let's learn a little bit about Marissa. Tell us a little bit about your background.

SPEAKER_03

Okay. Uh my background gets a little complicated. So we have a flower farm, Coyote Acres. A lot of people will see it called Coyote Acres Homestead. That's because we do have future dreams of expanding the farm, bringing in other things. My husband has an ag background. So there's other things we want to do, but for right now, we're just focused on flowers. So I don't have any kind of a background in flowers. I learned how to grow flowers in 2022. We bought our property in 2020. It's 20 acres on the south edge of Chatham, and it was just farm ground. And so we had to develop the whole thing. We were out there all the time. We used to spend so much time at the farmer's market. Like when our kids were little, we would go to the farmer's market every Saturday that I wasn't working at the hospital. And we would pick up flowers and have breakfast and all those things. And as we started working on that property, that took up so much of our time that we were out there all the time. And I was really missing getting flowers and fresh flowers and just things like that. So I thought, I think I'm gonna learn how to grow some. We're out of the time. You know, like Chet's like building, you know, he's working on building everything. And but we were always out there. So I was like, I think I'm gonna learn how to grow flowers. And people that know me know I don't do anything just a little. So it exploded and I loved it so much. Um, it just brought me so much joy. And I felt like when I was handing off flowers to somebody else, because everyone, small people would ask me for them, it just felt so good and it's so different from what I do every other day. My background is that I'm a pharmacist. I've been a pharmacist for 16 years. Uh, I've worked in the ER solely for 13 years. So I really identify in the emergency department. I have these two completely separate worlds where, you know, one is often a lot of tragedy, a lot of miracles, and then the other one is just like a lot of personal joy that I get out of growing the flowers. So I told my husband I wanted to start selling flowers in 2023 through a subscription service. So he likes to remind me that when he was developing our property and mapping everything out because he's very symmetrical and everything is planned, that this was an afterthought. So I get reminded of that often. So I was like, well, I'm just gonna do this. And I put out there that I was gonna have these spring subscriptions and we were gonna have tulips and peonies, and then we were gonna have summer flowers, and it's just completely exploded. That was in 2023. And when I look back at 2023 me, it was kind of a mess. It was really me figuring it out, and I feel like I was dragging the customers along with me as I was figuring it out. But like, God love them. So many of those first customers of ours are cut have been customers for every single subscription I have offered since the spring of 2023. Love it. And I'm so thankful for those people. And they've really had a front seat of seeing our business grow and how it's different today than it was back then. So we sell spring and summer subscriptions, and those have changed a little bit, like I said, over time. And then we've also started expanding into events and weddings, and uh, it's just been so awesome.

SPEAKER_00

Great. No, I just saw a post of yours when you did the a full wedding not too long ago. Yeah, that's awesome.

SPEAKER_03

The last two weekends have been big, full weddings. It's been great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

No, awesome growth so far in these first few years. The pharmacist side, was that something you wanted to do? You know, like as a high school student, was that something that's like, hey, I'm gonna go be a pharmacist, or when did that come about?

SPEAKER_03

So everything about me is that I'm always prepared. I'm always prepared for a situation. So I grew up with a single mom and knew in high school, was raised by just my mom. And I knew in high school, going into college, I knew I was going to college, I knew I was going away, and I knew I needed to do something that would set me up for a career where I could be financially successful. That was important to me. You know, somehow, I don't know if my mom struggled, but I never, I never saw her struggle. But I also knew like there wasn't extra. We weren't going on vacations, we weren't doing anything extravagant. She never had a super nice vehicle. And so I was just kind of focused on like what could happen to me as an adult where I would need to have a really good job and be able to provide for myself and maybe some kids on my own. Cause I thought, you know, that's how I grew up. So that's what I was thinking. And going to pharmacy school just seemed like I could do this, I'll get this degree, I'll basically have a guaranteed job and I'll have a nice salary to be able to support myself and a family. Luckily for me, my last year of pharmacy school, we had all these weeks of rotations, right? And I had a trauma rotation and I fell in love with it. And I was already planning to just, you know, work at CVS or Walgreens. I just kind of assumed I would be a retail pharmacist. And that trauma rotation opened my eyes to so many other things that I could do and experience and be a part of. Um, and I somehow lucked out. I got a job at one of the local hospitals, and now I've been in the ER for 13 years and I get to do things that are like so wild and different. And I am actually the least pro-medicine pharmacist that you will meet. That's like a that's probably like a whole other thing.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we do a whole episode on that. That'll be good.

SPEAKER_03

Um, but I'm so glad that I landed in the ER and I I do get to see medications and people save lives. I get to see miracles all the time. And it's amazing. I'm just glad that I get to work as a pharmacist in that capacity because I don't think I could do anything else.

SPEAKER_00

So, what does that really look like compared to, like you said, the Walgreens CVS high V pharmacist that's there doing the medications and everything compared to what you do at the ER?

SPEAKER_03

So cardiac arrests, traumas, intubations, strokes. I'm a part of all of that. I'm in the room with the team, I'm helping making decisions on medications, I'm dosing them, I'm keeping track of time. Like, when do we need to do the next thing? And then, so that's like the crazy aspect of the job, right? But a lot of people, when I say I'm a pharmacist, they assume I'm dispensing medications.

SPEAKER_00

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

I'm not. So let's just say you come into the ER and you've got pneumonia. So obviously the doctors check you out and they come up with a plan for what you're gonna do. So I may intervene with, say, like your antibiotics or your fluids, or if I notice that your vitals maybe need something else, support in some way. So I'm dosing medications, approving them, renally adjusting them. It's crazy because like I feel like so many people don't even realize pharmacists are in a hospital doing that. Right. Like I feel like we're so often like team kidney. We're there adjusting things and like making sure like nothing else, you know, that your your body can handle what's happening to it, basically. Yeah, I think you're right.

SPEAKER_00

I think there's a lot of people out there that do not realize that. No, they don't.

SPEAKER_03

They either they don't realize that pharmacists work in a hospital or they assume we're just dispensing medications. You know, there's like so much more we do. We're dosing your antibiotics. There's like a whole protocol for the way that we work with physicians to basically we handle that.

SPEAKER_00

So yeah, we'll bring you back for a wellness segment and talking about that kind of stuff. That'll be fun. So you did you grow up around here then?

SPEAKER_03

Yes. I'm from Verdon.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Lived there my entire childhood.

SPEAKER_00

There you go. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It was I had a great childhood there. The town has changed a lot, but it was a good place to grow up.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So where'd you go off to school at?

SPEAKER_03

I went to Western Illinois University for three years. I was a pre-pharmacy major there, and I went to SIUE School of Pharmacy. I was part of the second class there. I graduated in 2010.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

So it was a brand new pharmacy school when I was applying to pharmacy school.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, that's cool.

SPEAKER_03

So yeah, my best friend from college and I got in together, lived together all through pharmacy school. It was a great experience. I actually started dating my husband the day I got my acceptance letter to pharmacy school. Oh, really? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's an easy one to remember then.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Yep. We had six weeks left together at Western and he had another year there, and I went off to Edwardsville. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Awesome. So did you write after all the schooling and everything, did you come directly back to the area here?

SPEAKER_03

So my last year of pharmacy school, I didn't have to live down in Edwardsville. I was able to do all my rotations up here in Springfield and in Lincoln. And Chet, my husband, and I lived in Lincoln to start out, lived up there, and then we bought a house in Williamsville, and I started working at one of the local hospitals here. And I've been there ever since. And we live in Chatham now. Um we had our daughter Paisley in 2011. And then when we were pregnant with our son Knox, and we had him in 2013, we moved to Chatham and I gave birth to him 36 hours later. Oh wow. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So a lot of a lot of change in a 36-hour period.

SPEAKER_03

I convinced my husband that we needed to be a little closer to my mom. She's just been such a wonderful help to us with our kids, and being closer to her is was a lot more convenient for us having two kids that were, you know, Paisley was two, exactly two when Knox was born. So busy time.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. So you got the farm now there. You got the flower farm. What all goes into having a flower farm?

SPEAKER_03

So, so much. I just I have no idea where it what it all happened. I have no idea what I was getting myself into. We know when I started, I was just taking seeds and throwing them in the ground and we're just having a really nice time and we'll see what happens. When we started, Chet was like, okay, I'll build you this like little fenced-in area. And uh that fenced-in area has had to be expanded every single year. And then now there's a second fenced-in area. We start seeds in December. Um, people don't realize that. Are some of our summer blooming flowers? We have to start seeds in December. I do a lot of seeds starting in December and January, and I'm still starting seeds now. So tilling, fencing, hot wiring. We live out in the country, so we deal with a deer. The deer have stolen so many. Oh, I bet they have so many flowers and so many probably thousands of dollars from me this year. It's been a real headache, but I think we got it under control now. Our dog is also a huge help. We have a high tunnel. We're getting an we're replacing it and high tunnel, it's a it's like a 16 by 50 plastic. Uh there's plastic over it. So it's not technically. Oh, that's what that thing's called. It's not technically like a greenhouse. A greenhouse to me is more of like a wooden glass type structure. I don't know. Ours is the plastic because we raise and lower the sides based on the weather and stuff like that. Um, we're getting a new tunnel, probably this year or next, raised boxes, bringing in soil. I couldn't have chosen a worse place to start to grow flowers. Our soil is absolutely terrible. Yeah. It's a nightmare. We have this awful clay soil. So we're constantly trying to improve that, which is a headache. Some flowers grow just fine in it, others don't. So we've had to make raised beds and bring in dirt. So I'm always on the lookout for fresh black dirt.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

Um, landscape fabric, miles of landscape fabric, pulling that up and putting that down every year and storing that. And I had no idea what I was getting myself into. And I try to share every aspect of what we do out there because I think a lot of people don't understand. Because for so many people, getting flowers is just like popping into the grocery store and grabbing the flowers that are right there at the at the door, which we could also do a whole other podcast about that. Just how, and no shade to you know any grocery stores that are local or anything. And there are a lot, you know, local flowers are bringing being brought into retail establishments like that so much more now. But for example, and there's not one around here, so I don't feel bad throwing them under the bus a little. Trader Joe's. Sure. So many people are like, oh, I got this from Trader Joe's. The flowers at Trader Joe's are what I call or anyone calls a loss leader. They're not making any money, they're actually losing money on those flowers, but they bring you in the door, and then you're like, oh, I'm just gonna grab everything for dinner while I'm here getting these flowers. Exactly. So you know it's like, you know, good for you, you got a good thing going there. And they do bring in beautiful flowers, but I'll never be able to compete with their costs because the business would fold.

SPEAKER_00

Mm-hmm. Yeah, because like I said, they're using it as a loss leader. So they know they're taking you can't take flowers. You can't take a loss on your flowers.

SPEAKER_03

No, like I'm sorry, but we have to make money to get to continue. Right. You know, like that's business. That is what it is. Step one, make money.

SPEAKER_00

Make some money, right? Exactly. So you said the soil, that probably takes some years in and of itself to get your soil right, you know.

SPEAKER_03

This all these things anyway. He's actually used to be a certified crop advisor. He'll love that I pointed that out. So we just we have years of improving. And the thing is, is we have improved areas of our soil already, but I just keep expanding the business. And so we just keep making new plots where we're growing new flowers. And he's like, well, awesome. This is the terrible soil. And so we also grow pumpkins every year. 2023, best pumpkin crop I've ever seen. It was amazing. First, the pumpkins kind of take a backseat to the flowers. So we had started them and they grew all year. And then one day I was like, Oh my gosh, we have all these pumpkins and they're perfect and they're beautiful, and this is so amazing. Haven't seen another pumpkin crop. Oh no, because I had to move flowers to that section.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_03

And then the pumpkins got bumped somewhere else, and the soil's terrible. And I'm not kidding you, they just like evaporate. They just don't grow.

SPEAKER_00

So that's why I guess that would explain why I haven't seen pumpkins from me. Because when you said you do pumpkins, I was like, oh, I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

No, so we get them from we get them from other local growers. Um, because I do a lot of fun pumpkin arrangements um come fall that people really enjoy. And I just I really love a pumpkin. You know, like I think my heart is the shape of a pumpkin. I love the fall. Pumpkin spice everything.

SPEAKER_00

You're getting awful close to that. It's into August now. So I mean, we're right around.

SPEAKER_03

Or you might already be there, but August, August 1st, it's fall.

SPEAKER_00

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I do still love summer in the pool and the sun, but I'm like ready for fall.

SPEAKER_00

Right. So those flowers or the seeds that you said you were planting like in December.

SPEAKER_03

What are those and how long do those take to So there is a there's a a flower that our customers love. It's called Lysianthus. It's actually in the flowers that I brought you today. So they kind of resemble a rose. A lot of people are like, is that a rose? It's not. They have a really awesome vase life, like a 10 to 14 day vase life, and they store so well in our cooler so I can get weeks out of them. We grow so many of them, but they take forever. They are the slowest growing seed. I'm sure there's things that are slower, but they just take forever to germinate and they grow so slowly. They start blooming at the very end of June and then in July for us, and that's how long it takes to get there. And that the seven months. Yes, the crazy thing versus like zinnias, which everybody that has a garden knows what a zinia is. You know, you've got blooms in 60 days. I mean, sometimes it's longer for us on those because I'm constantly pinching the plants to get longer stems. That's a whole other thing. It takes forever. And the Lycanthus, even when we put them in the ground, it's this tiny little plant. And you're just looking at it, like, are you ever gonna really grow? And then it's like in May and June, they just really take off and then they get so tall, and it's just they're they're absolutely beautiful. We will grow them always. While they take forever to grow, bugs don't bother them. They're not fussy at all. I don't have to deal with disease on them. They're a wonderful flower. Yeah. I actually love to harvest them.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's like my favorite plant to strip leaves off of. Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Side note. So bugs don't mess with them. Are there just certain flowers that bugs don't like going after? Or what I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

I've never really looked into that about Lysianthus, but I just don't deal with it on them. I don't know if they're lacking something that the bugs love, but I mean, you know, like Japanese beetles, they will destroy a zinnia plant in a day. You'll just go out there and it looks like a sp- the whole plant looks like a spider web because it's just like eaten all over it.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

And they just ever now next year I'm gonna deal with something terrible because you've asked me and I don't have any wood to knock on it.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_03

They just, I don't know. It's they're not fussy.

unknown

Huh.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I just didn't. I just I don't know much about flowers personally. So I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

People don't. And then I also didn't used to know, and now I know so much that I feel like when I start having conversations with people, I see them like black out. Like she's said too much. I don't know what she's talking about now.

SPEAKER_00

Right. What are some people have a small garden at home? You said anybody that has a small garden might have some zinnias or something. Any tips you could give them on keeping their garden healthy?

SPEAKER_03

I mean, a zin a zinnias a flower, like they're easy to grow. They want to live, they will grow in any kind of soil. A lot of people that are new to flowers, there are some flowers that you get one bloom out of, and there are some flowers that you can get multiple all season long. Like, for instance, a sunflower is one and done. There's then branching sunflowers. We don't grow those. We grow one and done. So I I actually seed start all of our sunflowers in trays and plant them out. Otherwise, the birds eat the seeds. Oh, okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, so those grow. I cut that off, and then I've got to like, we will eventually put another plot of seed starts there. But like zinnias, a lot of people don't realize the more you cut on them, the more they will grow. They want to keep blooming. And sometimes also I'll see people like they're not really sure. Like a zinia plant can get as tall as me. But people will cut super short stems on them. You can cut that all the way down and it's gonna regrow and just keep shooting off big, beautiful blooms. I think a lot of people don't realize that. They think they've got to leave it alone and enjoy it outside. It's like, no, cut that off and take it inside and enjoy it. It's gonna rebloom in another week, you know?

SPEAKER_00

Love it. Love it. So over the past few years, we talk about how much you've grown, how much and more plots you've had and everything. What would you say is some of the biggest reasons for your growth? Seeing you at these markets, all these different things, right? What would you say is your biggest reason for growth?

SPEAKER_03

Aside from loving it and pushing myself because I love it so much, as I think I said to you earlier, I'm prepared and I can anticipate a situation. And I just keep seeing more and more AI and more and more automation. And I realize that even though I love my job and I think the people that work with me appreciate what I do, I also recognize that I am extremely replaceable. If I called the hospital and said I quit, they could have somebody in my chair today because there are people that want my job that are interested in what I get to do because my job is so different in the ER. But I'm constantly afraid that automation is gonna take over my profession. You know, for for years, for decades, we've used automation to really push the envelope and push forward the profession of pharmacy, but I feel like we're on this edge where we're gonna see AI start to take over what I do. What I do when I'm sitting at a computer, you could teach a computer program to do. You could teach a computer program to recognize that something needs renally adjusted based on a patient's renal function or that the dose is wrong. There are so many things that a computer program could do. Now, and I've actually had this conversation with managers of mine, and they've said, well, yeah, but you do so many other things. Like when you go to codes and you're mixing medications and we can't really replace that. Well, there are a group of us that do that, but who do you decide to keep? Like if you're gonna cut the department in half because now you've got all this automation that can do what we do in some capacity, who do you keep? And so I think in the back of my mind, when I was learning how to grow flowers and I was like, I should turn this into a business, that I was like, a robot can't do this.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

I'm sure there's setups in other countries where they've got like these huge flower operations. I know they have automation. Yeah, sure. But I'm not selling that. Right. I'm not selling abundance and carnations and all those things. I feel like my flowers are an experience for a lot of people. Plus, they've seen me seed starting what they're then taking home. But to get back to that, like I just am constantly afraid that healthcare is moving in a lot of different directions. Right now, healthcare is so different than it was 10 years ago, five years ago. COVID really opened my eyes to how replaceable that I am. And we saw so many people lose their jobs during that time. And I'm a prepared person. And so while I'm only moving our business forward enough that I can handle right now, I know that if I needed to 10 times it, I could. I feel like I have the capabilities to do that if I needed to.

SPEAKER_00

I love a good 10X. It's on my head all the time, right? So absolutely. So I know one thing that I've seen about you over the past couple of years is your use of social. I think that's probably gone a long way for you, right? You're great on social. You do a lot of cool. I mean, you again, you show everybody what you're doing. I do. You do it in a funny way here.

SPEAKER_03

You know, yeah, I'm funny. I tell my husband all the time, like, I am so funny. And he's like, Yeah, okay. I'm like, no, Chet, really. Like, I'm people think I'm funny. I'm really funny. You are? I didn't think so. I've been on social media forever. So when I was at Western, we got Facebook because you had to have a college email address. Like, so I was like, I'm an original the Facebooker. Okay. It was the Facebook. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So I've been on social media forever. So I just feel like it's been second nature. We started when I wasn't selling anything. We were I was still putting everything out there, but I think I get that from my mom. So a lot of what I do on social media is sharing, right? I can remember like sitting at home and we would go shopping or whatever, and my mom would get home. You know, there's no cell phone. So, you know, she's standing in the kitchen at the phone on the wall, right? Calling her friends to say so-and-so is having like this store is having a sale or this store has this or whatever. And I saw my mom so naturally share stuff like that that I think I just that became part of what I do and who I am. And so I've just always shared everything on social media. And I don't know, people seem to like it for some reason and find it interesting. It's kind of crazy because I feel like I live two different lives and I'm two separate people because I'm this whole I'm Mo at the hospital.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

Most people call me Mo. Like the people I grew up with still call me Marissa, but like anybody I met college and after, it's Mo.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, so I'm Mo at the hospital and a totally different person. But I'll have people come up to me and they're like, oh my gosh, I love your social media. And I'm like, I don't want to talk about this right now. We can't, I don't want to talk about this at work.

SPEAKER_01

Different person.

SPEAKER_03

And they'll be like, oh no, I just love your stories. You're so funny. I to like my husband will be like, Oh, are you watching Mo again? Is your show on? And it's just, it's kind of, I don't know, it's kind of nuts. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

No, you do a nice job with it. Like your time lapse and everything where you're putting together the the bouquets and you always throw the little dances in there. Those are fun.

SPEAKER_03

Yes, I love to listen to 90s music. It takes me back to being a kid in the front seat with my mom. I wasn't old enough to have a job. I didn't have any responsibilities. Life was so much simpler. All my favorite people were still alive. It just takes me back. So when you see me do those videos, I always have my earbuds in. That's because the kids and Chet are also in the shop doing whatever. But I have to focus on having a clear mind to open up being creative. I've never considered myself a creative person. I cannot draw you anything. My husband, the things that he can see and do and draw are crazy to me. Like my brain just doesn't work that way. But I feel like with flowers, it's the first time I've ever been creative in my life. And I think that's part of why I enjoy and love it so much because it's so different.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. No, that's funny. I I felt the same way growing up. Like, man, I am not creative at all. That's it. That's the way I was like, I am not creative. I can't draw for anything. I can't do anything. But now, like, I love the media side of things. Yeah. And I and I feel like I'm very creative when it comes to that. Yeah. You're great at what you do.

SPEAKER_03

It's crazy when you find something that you were really meant to do and you tap into that.

SPEAKER_00

Do you feel like when you started transitioning to social media for your business for Coyote Acres, was there any hesitation there? Sometimes business owners, when they're first starting, there's a little hesitation on what to get out there, but were you just, let's roll?

SPEAKER_03

You know, I really feel like I am who I am. Like I said what I said, and I am who I am. And I think most people that know me know that. And a lot of people follow me on social media because of that. Right. Now, there are some opinions that I have that I hold back on that I don't necessarily share on social media because I don't necessarily feel like everybody needs to know every thought that I have or every opinion that I have. And I also don't ever want to be offensive. If my opinion is different from yours, I'm willing to have a conversation about that. And I'm so interested in why you believe something different. But that's really, I think, rare. And I don't want to be off-putting to someone based on a belief that I have. So there are some things that I hold back on social media, but I also share quite a bit. I share our success. I also share lots of failures. I have shared all year long about our issue with we had deer just coming into this one plot and they ate thousands of dollars worth of flowers, and it's not even the money, it's the time. And then those are flowers I can't get back because maybe something that takes forever to grow. And it's just like, well, we're not gonna have that this year.

SPEAKER_00

Right. Well, no, I think that creates the more human element. So maybe when you do both sides of that, it's not just, well, hey, this is great, I'm great, this is all great. No, but when you throw in those, I think it adds the human element.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's not butterflies and daisies and rainbows. You know, it's a lot of sweat. It's a lot of sweat. I bet time. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's awesome. So you say you just got done with my two weddings in a row, right? So what's your process? If somebody comes to you, hey, Marissa, I want you to do my wedding. What do we got?

SPEAKER_03

First of all, I always say, text me. Don't call me. Call me if maybe the world's on fire. Yeah. Just text me. I have to know the date, obviously. And that's another thing is when we got into flowers, I used to tell people like I can only do things during our growing season, and right now, which is May, to mid-October when we get our first frost. A frost kills a lot of our flowers. I am 365 now. So um I've kind of tapped into using flowers from our wholesaler, a local wholesaler that we have here. And I also get some things online, which has opened up new elements and textures and designs that I can do. So I love it. Um, and so I am expanding the business that way and offering like events and weddings and whatever year round. It's just I can only incorporate what we grow certain months out of the year.

SPEAKER_01

Sure.

SPEAKER_03

So I love to see a Pinterest board. I love to see what their vision is for their wedding day. I also like to see if I think I can pull it off. There are people I've said no to. It may just not be right for me. I don't feel like I can creatively design like what they want. So I love to see a Pinterest board. We talk about like what they want. You know, there's a lot of people that are kind of cutting back on wedding florals and like, I get it. Everything's expensive. Flowers are not cheap.

SPEAKER_01

Sure.

SPEAKER_03

Um, you have to be creative with how you can use them. And so I mean, I'm never gonna talk somebody into having more. In fact, I'm like, well, why don't you take these bridesmaids' bouquets and use them as arrangements at your reception and save some money that way? Yes, I have a business. Yes, I need to make money, but I'm also human and like to give those tips. Yeah, you're serving your stink out of the box. Like, would you want to use this at your during the ceremony? Let's move it to the reception. That's one less thing you have to pay for.

SPEAKER_00

Makes sense. Um, I think your clients would probably appreciate that that you're serving them in that way, just not trying to sell, sell, sell, hey, let's get this, this, this, this, sure.

SPEAKER_03

Also, I'm one person. And so I can only physically, I can only put out so much. So if you want a hundred table arrangements, it's probably a no for me, dog. Like it's probably a no from me. So I I have to get creative also miss myself with how I can pull it off for you.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Um, so we usually just talk through text. Uh that's like the easiest way to get hold of me and uh go from there. I give quotes. Um, I probably need to start doing something fancy, like a contract, like a sure. But I don't know. Like then you got involved, a lawyer, and have something like legally written up. And just why does everything have to be that way? You know? And I feel like for whatever reason, I'll have people like meet me in a parking lot to give me their little deposit. And I'm like, hey, like I know we've never met. I'm gonna pull this off. I promise it's gonna be really good. Like, I know you don't know me, but I promise.

SPEAKER_00

Right, right. Absolutely. Well, this weekend, another uh I think it's this weekend. Yes, yeah, Westside Market coming up again, right? So you gonna be there?

SPEAKER_03

Yes, for sure. We were there every month except the last market, which is in November. That's the last one. It's because we just don't have flowers. They are done in the middle of October based on our first frost. But yes, we will be there this weekend. I love the Westside Market. In the back of my mind, I I was always thinking I should start a market. And it's all I'm always telling myself like I should do this and that. And I think I told you I, you know, have a bad habit of spreading myself a little too thin. Like, there's no way. I do that a little bit too.

SPEAKER_00

I spread myself pretty thin sometimes.

SPEAKER_03

There's no way that I could develop a market. And I don't think people realize all the work that goes into it and all the work that those ladies and their husbands and partners are doing behind the scenes to pull it off once a month. And it's really a such a different event, too. There's nothing else like it in town. It's once a month, which makes it a little more special.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

There's live music, there's almost always a photographer there, so you can get a quick, nice family photo, which sometimes getting family photos is like a nightmare. I think most moms can understand that. You just go right there and have a red photo. Go right there, just wear something cute and it's quick and your kids won't be in tears. You know, but they have food trucks, you can get a drink. We're out in front of Los Altos now. So last market, my husband took it upon himself to get a margarita tower.

SPEAKER_00

There you go. There you go.

SPEAKER_03

And you know what? I was like, you know what, Chet?

SPEAKER_00

Have at it.

SPEAKER_03

You do you. You're doing the most. You got us here, you packed us up all nice, you unloaded everything. You were the one sweating. Get your margarita tower.

SPEAKER_00

There you go. That works. Yeah. No, we've taken advantage of the photo opportunities there a couple of times. Yeah. So we're going anyway. So yeah. Yeah, it's so something cute. Step in there, get your picture done. There you go.

SPEAKER_03

It's wonderful. It's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And you, you guys tend to sell out very quickly out there. Everybody loves you so much out there.

SPEAKER_03

Yes. I'm so thankful. We have such a nice following on social media. So people that don't get our subscriptions or people that live in Springfield and it's just a little, or you know, surrounding communities, it's just a little more convenient to grab from us there. So yeah, market is two to five. And last month, I think I sold my first bouquet at 12 30.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

We're unloading, and there's people that are like, Can I buy that? I'm like, You sure can.

SPEAKER_00

You sure can.

SPEAKER_03

One second.

SPEAKER_00

That that is the thing about that market. People start showing up pretty early. We were there last month for local first Springfield. So I'm on board there and everything. We had a booth there and we had an axe throwing thing, just having some fun out there for people. And my daughters came with me and they went shopping at like 12 30 as well.

SPEAKER_03

And they were everybody's, you know, it's a retail establishment, that area, and people are coming in out of Papo's anyway. So I people don't even realize it doesn't start till two, and that's totally fine. We've been completely sold out by 2 30 before.

SPEAKER_00

That's awesome. So yeah. That's awesome. So all the growth you've had over the last three years, you say you're always looking toward the future. Anything on tap for Coyote Acres here in the coming months, years?

SPEAKER_03

Well, like we talked about, I'm really loving doing weddings and I really want to see our business grow in that way. There's a lot of things that a lot of flower farmers do to move their business forward and to make it more profitable. There's a lot of things that I could do that I don't really want to do. Um, dahlia tuber sales, which dahlias, there's a dahlia in the bouquet that I brought you today today. They grow from this, what looks like a potato, and those multiply underground every year, and you dig them up and divide them and you can sell those. And a lot of I don't want to do that. That sounds awful. There would be op we live on 20 acres. So could we plant like you pick plots? Yes. But do I want to open up our property for people?

SPEAKER_00

Everybody to me. I don't.

SPEAKER_03

And I love to work alone and by myself or with my husband or with the kids. And so being in our shop and being in my own element and working on a wedding is has been wonderful for me. I have enjoyed it so much the because I I have done weddings in smaller capacities the last couple of years, whether it's just a bridal bouquet or just a few things, but these last couple weekends have been the full on shebang. And it's been wonderful and I love it. And so I want to see our business move forward. And plus, that's I can do that year round. And I can also pick based on busier months what I want to accept and what I don't. And I'm not tied to something in it, but it's gonna move our business forward. So I really do want to see that expand. There are so many things that I want to do and make and create for brides and give them something different. And I think I can pull that off well.

SPEAKER_00

There you go. Have an absolute favorite flower?

SPEAKER_03

I have a couple that I really love. We grow, we we haven't talked about this, but we grow peonies. We have over 500 peony plants. That's a spring flower for us. It's a one and done done in the spring. I really love peonies. They kind of start the season for us, get us out of like dreary winter. Um, love to see them bloom. And I also really love salosha, which there are different kinds of salosha. There's Cox comb, which kind of looks like a squiggly brain, and it's like a velvet texture. And I think I love that so much because that is one of my first memories with my daughter of going to the farmer's market and getting flowers. When she was a little girl, she we was we would always call them brain flowers. And she would always ask, like, will you ask them when the brain flowers are gonna be? Like, when are they gonna have the brain flowers? And so now that I grow them, I grow them. Well, I think of her when I grow them. And uh I've never heard of that. Yeah. Well, I'll show you sometime. Well, they're actually they're getting ready to bloom soon.

SPEAKER_01

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03

But they just are they come in different colors and it's different texture, and it's something you don't again, it's something you don't see when you walk into the grocery store. So I I really love those. They're also not fussy.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_03

And they store well.

SPEAKER_00

Love it. Love it. Well, Marissa, so much great business stuff so far. Let's flip over to the personal side for a minute. What are some ways you elevate your life personally?

SPEAKER_03

I have to take time for myself.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

No matter how busy I am, my most favorite thing to do is to have my coffee on our porch with the dog and on the weekends with my husband. I go to bed and I can't wait to get up and have coffee with them on the porch. And it's so cool because even during the school year, when it's the hustle and bustle of getting the kids out the door, if they've got an extra five minutes, they now will come sit on the porch with me. And I just think that's so neat. So cool. Yeah. I mean, like our kids are getting ready to go into junior high and high school, which I can't even believe I just said that out loud. That's the that's bizarre.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, and I I know my oldest daughter's just about to get her license. She just turned 16. She has to wait like another week before the she can actually get her license. But yeah, it's just crazy how quick that goes.

SPEAKER_03

It's wild. And so, especially in this world, like having kids that want to come sit on the porch with you while you have your coffee is just neat. So I'm an only child. I consider myself a selfish only child. And so I have to have time for myself. So no matter all the things that I commit to in a day, which people often say, like, I don't know how you do what you do. And I'm like, well, let me tell you, I don't sleep much. I'm not watching Netflix. I couldn't tell you anything that's on TV right now. Right. But I love to take those few moments in the morning and just enjoy being outside, the peace and quiet, the bugs making noise, the birds chirping, some mornings watching the sun come up, or even in the evenings, just sitting on our porch. One of my favorite things about our house is that my husband built me a porch swing and uh I just love to be there.

SPEAKER_00

That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, it's good to not know what's going on on TV, really. It shows that you're you're controlling your time the right way.

SPEAKER_03

I know just enough to know that I've, you know, not knowing is great. Ignorance is bliss, I guess. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you're passionate and love what you're doing on the flower side and everything. Much rather spend time doing that type of stuff or hanging out on the porch swing or binging Netflix, you know.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So well, so much great stuff. I always like to close with these last couple of things, Marissa. Let's give the audience a piece of advice. One on the personal side, one on the professional side to help them elevate their life or business.

SPEAKER_03

Personally, I would say you just need to be intentional with your time. There's only so much that you can get done in a day. It's really easy to be hard on yourself, but you're one person. And so, like for me, I'm never gonna have employees. We're never gonna expand the farm in that way. And so I have to be very realistic on what I can do myself.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you can only scale so much.

SPEAKER_03

And pull it off well and still deliver a product to someone that they're gonna love. I could be a machine all day long, but people aren't gonna receive that as well. Right. I feel like what I do is handing people something special and different. And I very rarely even can make the same thing twice because flowers will bloom a different size or they may bloom in a different color or texture or whatever. So I feel like what I do is a little special in that way. So being intentional with your time for sure. So professionally, I would say definitely don't try to do everything. I think that's one of the biggest mistakes I made out the gate. I can remember being so overwhelmed with how am I ever even gonna remember what all these flowers are called? Right. How am I ever gonna know this? And then I was like, well, I have to grow this and I have to do that and I have to do this, and then I did none of it well. I felt like that first year I really did none of it well. For instance, the dahlias I was talking about that grow from like a potato. They need to be able to multiply underground. It's a part of their growing process. We have terrible soil. I threw them in the ground. I didn't know I needed good black loose dirt and raised beds.

SPEAKER_01

Sure.

SPEAKER_03

So that's just another thing. Like, you don't have to do it all. You you just need to figure out what you can do well, even if that's only a few things. I and over time I have seen other flower farmers that I look up to really scale back. I've watched one go from growing everything to really only growing peonies, okay, which is like one month out of the year. And now she's doing a few other things, but are kind of getting back to that. But I thought she was nuts when I first saw that, that she was only gonna do that. And then I'm like, well, I kind of get it now. I've seen another grower that is north of here that I have become friends with and kind of bounce ideas off of. She pulled back on subscriptions. And I can remember when she did that, I was like, she's nuts. And now I'm like, I think I'm gonna be pulling back on subscriptions. Yeah, you know, that has really made me this year, and I hate to say it, I kind of dread making them some days because it makes me feel like a machine, and I start to freak out like, do I have enough of this flower? Do I have enough of that flower? I think I've I put out too many spots, um, and it makes me feel like a machine, and I don't like that. Right.

SPEAKER_00

It feels like to me, listening to you want to give them that curated experience. And that's not that necessarily if you're feeling like a machine.

SPEAKER_03

For sure. So I think that next year you will definitely see us pull back on subscriptions and we won't have as many spots, and I will definitely be expanding and focusing on weddings, just because, like I said, it can be so different and creative and just feels better for me. The other thing, like a huge one for me professionally, is please stop using chat GPT for everything.

SPEAKER_00

There you go. Directly. I'm looking at you.

SPEAKER_03

And if you think I'm talking to you, I am. I don't want to see another chat GPT flyer. If I had a dollar for every time I saw one, I would be rich. I could sell the, I mean, I could just quit growing flowers. I'd be rich.

SPEAKER_00

Just the youth sports ones would be would get you rich.

SPEAKER_03

Oh my gosh, you guys. I mean, like for me, and I even see flower farmers do it. It's like you're trying to grow this different product. You're working out in nature, you're trying to offer something different, and then you're like, let me make this flyer about what I'm doing this weekend. Me personally, like when I get on social media, I would rather see a stick figure and you write, handwrite the details, take a picture of it and upload the picture than to see a chat. I will come more likely to that event than a chat GPT flyer event. AI is just like taking over everything, and it's not even the flyers, it's also when someone goes to Chat GPT for their captions. Please stop. You didn't write that. You didn't write that. Like, let's get real. And I think for me, I enjoy writing and I enjoy kind of storytelling about what I'm doing too. So that's important to me. So maybe that's why I just don't like like the chat GPT captions, also.

SPEAKER_00

But well, you'll also this that'll also be a differentiator for you. Because yeah, because as everybody is creating AI flyers and everything, the people that don't do it are gonna be the ones that stand out.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. I mean, like I want people to buy my local product. I want people to shop locally with me. And so if you're someone that you also need a local audience to buy your product, why are you using this generated thing? Like, find some find a local, like a graphic artist that's local if you really want something special and fancy, but it doesn't have to be so fancy. Right. The older I get, the more I realize like how much better simplicity is.

SPEAKER_00

Simplicity and authenticity works out great on social media. It really does.

SPEAKER_03

It really does. It really does. Like, I think that's why my social media following has grown, is because I like I said, I am who I am, I said what I said. And ChatGPT didn't say it for me. Right.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Yeah. No, when it comes to like video on social, some of the best ones out there are the non-polished. Yeah, you know, just I got my phone right in front of here and I'm gonna knock this out. Yes, for sure.

SPEAKER_03

The most random stuff will go viral versus something you set up and the lighting's just right, and then my outlets just right, my makeup are done, and then it's like something you posted off the fly goes viral.

SPEAKER_00

Yep. Well, last one for you is there anything we can do community-wide to help all of us here elevate Springfield and the surrounding communities?

SPEAKER_03

We talked about this last year at the market, and my advice is always going to be to show up. Yep. You know, I consider myself someone that doesn't really love a social event sometimes. I am a homebody, but when you see these things going on in town, you've got to show up. It creates community, it helps all your local makers, everybody that's out there working hard, that it takes so much time and effort and probably money. I know I don't know what it costs to put on that market, but I'm sure it's expensive. So like the best thing you can do is to show up for your community. I think we can move Springfield forward by showing up to these events, being a part of it, supporting the people that are there. And it's not even like, for me, it's not even, I want you to come buy my flowers. It's like, can you share the event for me? Can you post that you were there? Can you tell people to come with you? That's a huge thing for me. There are so many people that support what we do, but it's not necessarily by buying my flowers. It's, I know I don't pay for any advertising. We don't have an advertising budget.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_03

It's it's word of mouth, it's talking about what's going on, it's showing up and posting the photo that you were there. It may triggers somebody else, but oh, I want to go to that next month. That looks really fun.

SPEAKER_00

No, there's so many.

SPEAKER_03

It's such a trickle effect.

SPEAKER_00

It is, it is. There's so many free ways that you can help support local businesses. So many free ways. That's a great way to do it.

SPEAKER_03

It costs free dollars to support us.

SPEAKER_00

Absolutely. Well, if somebody wants to come support you, either at I mean, they could come see you at the market this weekend, but other than that, where do they uh get your flowers?

SPEAKER_03

We're all over social media. So all of my contact information is all over our social media. I have people text me all the time, 10 o'clock at night, Sunday night at 10 o'clock. Like, can I get flowers in the morning? So you can reach out to me. I think a lot of people have a misconception that I only do subscriptions or I only do the market and they can't get flowers from us any other way. I have flowers all the time, people, all the time. And I love to make little one-off arrangements for things. Uh, I do uh anniversary bouquets, birthdays, just because, thank yous, like all these things. People just text me. We talk about are they looking for a specific color? They have they seen something that I've done before that they want me to try to mimic? What's their budget and when do they want to pick it up? It's really simple.

SPEAKER_00

Come on, let's go. And they are absolutely gorgeous.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

So love it. Well, appreciate you spending some time with me today. It was great learning more about the flower farm. And sounds like we have at least two more episodes upcoming for what we talked about. There was a couple of topics, you know, we might have to see about those. We'll see. So, but yeah, appreciate you coming by.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00

All right, we're gonna let Marissa get back to Elevate in Springfield. But for the rest of y'all, we'll be right back. Looking for expert tree care with hometown integrity, look no further than Sangamon Tree Service. They're your trusted local pros, delivering quality workmanship, exceptional customer service, and fair, honest pricing. Every time. Whether it's trimming, removal, or storm cleanup, their team brings professionalism and care to every job, big or small. Call the name your neighbor's trust, Sangaman Tree Service, or visit them today at SangamentTreeService.com. Sangaman Tree Service, rooted in quality, built on trust. Looking for personalized insurance with hometown care, David Hilst, American Family Insurance Agent's here to help you protect what matters most: your family, your home, and your dreams. Whether it's auto, home, life, business, David and his team are proud to serve the Springfield community with trusted advice and reliable coverage. Local service, real relationships, peace of mind. Call today or stop by their office. They can build your dream protection plan together. Call 217-726-6343. Well, thank you for joining us today, everybody. Appreciate you making us a part of your day. Hey, don't forget while you're out on social, check ours out. You can check my personal one out at RobertFarrell at everywhere. Check out those Elevate Springfield pages, those big dog business coaching pages as well. Check us out over on YouTube. Give us a subscribe, give us a like or a follow on any of those channels. We would certainly appreciate it. So hey, take what you learned today. You bring the discipline and follow through and together. That's right, y'all. We're gonna elevate Springfield. Be great.