WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.640 Welcome to Rooted Agritourism. I'm Dr. Liz Fidler 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:04.900 -Murgan, owner of Sunny Mary Meadow, a you -pick 00:00:04.900 --> 00:00:07.019 flower farm, wedding florist, and event venue 00:00:07.019 --> 00:00:09.539 in central Minnesota. Our mission is to serve 00:00:09.539 --> 00:00:12.400 anyone rooted in agritourism, value -added agriculture, 00:00:12.699 --> 00:00:14.880 and rural entrepreneurship. The people turning 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:17.280 ideas and raw products into thriving businesses 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:20.519 and experiences. Let's dig in. Hello and welcome 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:23.079 back to another episode of the Rooted Agritourism 00:00:23.079 --> 00:00:25.359 podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Liz Fidler -Murgan, 00:00:25.480 --> 00:00:28.500 and today we're just going to do a bit of a reflection 00:00:28.500 --> 00:00:32.399 episode. of 2025. Next week, I want to announce 00:00:32.399 --> 00:00:35.240 a lot of the big goals that we have set this 00:00:35.240 --> 00:00:38.060 year, how it's important for me to have measurable 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:41.079 goals, smart goals, et cetera. But if you're 00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:43.280 listening to this, you're someone who's probably 00:00:43.280 --> 00:00:46.859 driven, has big goals. And I'm going to talk 00:00:46.859 --> 00:00:50.119 about something that I've noticed on social media 00:00:50.119 --> 00:00:55.289 the last week and continuing in today. It's probably 00:00:55.289 --> 00:00:57.170 going to come across as a little harsh. And I 00:00:57.170 --> 00:01:00.070 hope that no one takes it out of context because 00:01:00.070 --> 00:01:03.929 I do mean it when I say, yes, give yourself grace. 00:01:04.090 --> 00:01:06.730 Yes, your mental health. Yes, your hustle. Yes, 00:01:06.769 --> 00:01:10.329 all of those things. But I've also seen a little 00:01:10.329 --> 00:01:13.469 bit of shaming for people that are goal -driven 00:01:13.469 --> 00:01:17.010 and people that are highly productive. And I 00:01:17.010 --> 00:01:19.590 don't like how it feels. And I did this episode 00:01:19.590 --> 00:01:21.849 maybe six months to a year ago where I talked 00:01:21.849 --> 00:01:25.969 about how People just tell me that my life exhausts 00:01:25.969 --> 00:01:28.090 them and how I just have so much going on and 00:01:28.090 --> 00:01:31.269 I don't know how you do it. You need to slow 00:01:31.269 --> 00:01:34.049 down and you're doing too much. And the posts 00:01:34.049 --> 00:01:36.329 that I'm talking about are saying, you know, 00:01:36.329 --> 00:01:38.290 a reminder when people are doing their year in 00:01:38.290 --> 00:01:41.989 review, if this year didn't go as planned, it's 00:01:41.989 --> 00:01:43.969 okay if all you did was get through it. And I 00:01:43.969 --> 00:01:47.480 do agree, of course. There are definitely years, 00:01:47.700 --> 00:01:51.019 2020 when Josh died, many parts of this year. 00:01:51.140 --> 00:01:54.459 I'm ending the year with my barren womb again 00:01:54.459 --> 00:01:58.159 with no pregnancy, infertility. We had our miracle 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:00.359 child that we got pregnant with and then we lost 00:02:00.359 --> 00:02:04.819 it at 12 weeks. And just that sucks. My family 00:02:04.819 --> 00:02:07.540 doesn't feel complete. I'm pretty sad about it. 00:02:08.139 --> 00:02:10.180 And, you know, there were a lot of things that 00:02:10.180 --> 00:02:12.419 I didn't achieve and goals that I had to pivot 00:02:12.419 --> 00:02:15.699 on. And that's absolutely okay. But if year after 00:02:15.699 --> 00:02:17.759 year, you're saying, you know, you didn't do 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:20.139 anything big this year and all you did was survive. 00:02:20.379 --> 00:02:24.319 At some point, you got to kind of pause and say, 00:02:24.379 --> 00:02:26.520 okay, well, what do I want to be different? Because 00:02:26.520 --> 00:02:30.360 time is going to pass anyway. And I shared a 00:02:30.360 --> 00:02:32.520 little bit on my Instagram stories today about 00:02:32.520 --> 00:02:36.500 how... So 2026 is going to look like a huge year 00:02:36.500 --> 00:02:38.840 for me. I'm really proud of that because we've 00:02:38.840 --> 00:02:40.740 worked really hard. I mean, the guests that we 00:02:40.740 --> 00:02:43.580 have lined up for this podcast, we started leveling 00:02:43.580 --> 00:02:45.979 up the podcast, Rooted Agritourism, and then 00:02:45.979 --> 00:02:47.560 honestly, we just had to take a little bit of 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.599 a pause with how my business was opening and 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:54.180 the time that that took. And now it's really 00:02:54.180 --> 00:02:56.419 going to take off. I am so excited for what's 00:02:56.419 --> 00:02:58.379 going to happen. The Farmers to Florist app is 00:02:58.379 --> 00:03:01.259 launching. My book is getting published in March. 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:04.479 It's already written. It's done. I have a team 00:03:04.479 --> 00:03:06.860 that's marketing it and publishing it. Everything's 00:03:06.860 --> 00:03:10.960 in motion. I get to just enjoy that work. The 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:13.400 bloom room is getting rented out. My weddings 00:03:13.400 --> 00:03:16.120 are booked. Everything is just happening. We're 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:18.080 able to just use it. We have this farm store. 00:03:18.180 --> 00:03:21.460 We have all these things in place. And I've spent 00:03:21.460 --> 00:03:26.530 five plus years. building it quietly. I didn't 00:03:26.530 --> 00:03:29.030 just suddenly build this business and hope people 00:03:29.030 --> 00:03:31.509 show up. I have an email list of 3000 people 00:03:31.509 --> 00:03:35.789 with an open rate of 70 % and that's curating 00:03:35.789 --> 00:03:38.789 it. And yeah, I only have about 8 ,000 followers 00:03:38.789 --> 00:03:42.349 on social media, but a couple thousand watch 00:03:42.349 --> 00:03:44.430 my stories every day. And that's because I show 00:03:44.430 --> 00:03:47.789 up every day in it. And so there's that saying, 00:03:47.870 --> 00:03:50.150 it takes 10 years to become an overnight success. 00:03:50.270 --> 00:03:54.199 And that really is it, April. I had no idea how 00:03:54.199 --> 00:03:58.360 much permitting and time and just hurry up and 00:03:58.360 --> 00:04:01.199 wait it comes to when doing something like this. 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:04.740 We didn't open until October and that was after 00:04:04.740 --> 00:04:07.639 flower season. My bank account looks terrible 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:11.099 right now because it was not a fun year. We didn't 00:04:11.099 --> 00:04:12.840 do a lot of you picks. We didn't have people 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:16.199 at the farm. I didn't even really want to have 00:04:16.199 --> 00:04:18.680 extra market bouquets for sale and pick up here 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.629 because I didn't have the capacity. to train 00:04:21.629 --> 00:04:24.269 customers for our temporary setup and where you 00:04:24.269 --> 00:04:26.990 pick things up. So really, we just served our 00:04:26.990 --> 00:04:29.550 existing audience, fulfilled our existing weddings, 00:04:29.730 --> 00:04:33.529 did our subscriptions, and just did what we could 00:04:33.529 --> 00:04:35.649 and did a lot of planning for next year. And 00:04:35.649 --> 00:04:38.189 now we built another high tunnel, all of those 00:04:38.189 --> 00:04:42.209 things. And now in 2026, we have the space and 00:04:42.209 --> 00:04:44.430 the infrastructure to actually meet all those 00:04:44.430 --> 00:04:47.529 needs. And so my revenue predictions, for example, 00:04:47.769 --> 00:04:52.000 I mean, I better triple. my revenue from 2025 00:04:52.000 --> 00:04:56.980 to 2026, which is crazy, but it didn't happen 00:04:56.980 --> 00:04:59.060 overnight. And it's not like, I'm not going to 00:04:59.060 --> 00:05:02.800 be able to reflect back on 2026 and say, oh my 00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:04.560 God, that was the year everything took off. It 00:05:04.560 --> 00:05:07.680 just happened. No, the truth is it was years 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:12.759 of quiet work of barely, you know, just really 00:05:12.759 --> 00:05:15.800 unrewarding work, if I'm being honest and just 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:19.139 grinding. And behind the scenes, not hustle. 00:05:19.360 --> 00:05:22.279 I really was careful about not overdoing it. 00:05:22.339 --> 00:05:25.819 And I knew that sustainability in terms of burnout, 00:05:25.860 --> 00:05:28.699 I was really careful to just, you know, make 00:05:28.699 --> 00:05:30.779 sure that we had enough help and make sure that 00:05:30.779 --> 00:05:34.819 if it requires me working late evenings and on 00:05:34.819 --> 00:05:36.860 the weekends constantly, that's not going to 00:05:36.860 --> 00:05:40.600 work either. And so I do think that it's just 00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:43.990 a reminder that. The slow and steady, you know, 00:05:43.990 --> 00:05:46.089 the everyday habits that you do, that's what 00:05:46.089 --> 00:05:48.949 really is going to help you reach your goals. 00:05:49.050 --> 00:05:51.990 It's not one big thing. It's that quiet, you 00:05:51.990 --> 00:05:54.529 know, every time I subscribe someone new to the 00:05:54.529 --> 00:05:56.649 newsletter, it's every time that I, you know, 00:05:56.649 --> 00:05:59.589 every single follower, every single thing, posting 00:05:59.589 --> 00:06:02.750 every day on social media, training people to 00:06:02.750 --> 00:06:04.730 go to my email list, training the customers, 00:06:04.930 --> 00:06:07.810 having that word of mouth, asking for referrals. 00:06:08.620 --> 00:06:10.620 Having, you know, that fertilizer framework that 00:06:10.620 --> 00:06:13.100 I always talk about, the customer journey, what's 00:06:13.100 --> 00:06:15.120 the next step? That's exactly what's happening 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:18.639 right now. So 2025 was such a foundation year, 00:06:18.759 --> 00:06:21.259 but it was heavy. It was unglamorous, but it 00:06:21.259 --> 00:06:25.490 was so. necessary and it tried me primarily as 00:06:25.490 --> 00:06:29.189 a business owner the responsibility of not being 00:06:29.189 --> 00:06:31.589 able to give myself grace and pause because this 00:06:31.589 --> 00:06:34.689 is no longer a hobby side hustle this is a real 00:06:34.689 --> 00:06:37.970 business with real risks now and the decision 00:06:37.970 --> 00:06:40.589 making without clear answers and there was no 00:06:40.589 --> 00:06:43.149 good answer balancing that growth with sustainability 00:06:43.149 --> 00:06:47.050 of the business and having to fight for my rights 00:06:47.050 --> 00:06:50.129 as a business owner and as a landowner and understanding 00:06:50.129 --> 00:06:52.800 that It's no secret. I have some neighbors that 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.000 are really mad about my business and they live 00:06:56.000 --> 00:06:58.420 a half a mile to a mile away. I can honestly 00:06:58.420 --> 00:07:01.959 say, I do not believe that my farm store and 00:07:01.959 --> 00:07:05.019 small event space is going to affect them whatsoever. 00:07:05.399 --> 00:07:08.540 I don't think anything's changed. They don't 00:07:08.540 --> 00:07:10.620 believe that businesses like this should exist 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:13.079 in the country. They think that if you want to 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:14.899 have a business like this, you should do it in 00:07:14.899 --> 00:07:16.740 town. These are all documented things people 00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:20.519 have said. And ultimately I got really bullied 00:07:20.519 --> 00:07:23.259 into, I mean, I had a County official call me 00:07:23.259 --> 00:07:25.620 and say, Hey, let's just sit down a select few 00:07:25.620 --> 00:07:28.240 of us and, you know, rediscuss the conditions 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:30.660 that you're allowed. I'm like, no, that's not 00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:33.879 the way this works. And it was just really hard 00:07:33.879 --> 00:07:36.100 to stand up for what I believe is right. What 00:07:36.100 --> 00:07:38.800 I believe for my community, try to do it with 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:40.939 grace. When people are being not kind to me, 00:07:41.019 --> 00:07:43.060 when they're driving by and honking the horns 00:07:43.060 --> 00:07:47.399 and screaming and calling me a liar and. screaming 00:07:47.399 --> 00:07:49.740 f -bombs at committee meetings and being told 00:07:49.740 --> 00:07:51.899 over and over again just kill them with kindness 00:07:51.899 --> 00:07:55.459 and just calm down it'll it'll work out just 00:07:55.459 --> 00:07:59.360 your silence speaks when eventually You have 00:07:59.360 --> 00:08:01.500 to speak up and say, no, that's okay. This is 00:08:01.500 --> 00:08:04.139 not just business. I am not going to grow calluses 00:08:04.139 --> 00:08:07.860 and let people treat me this way. Enough is enough. 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:09.480 I'm going to do what I'm doing. I'm going to 00:08:09.480 --> 00:08:11.279 do it respectfully, but also I'm not going to 00:08:11.279 --> 00:08:13.860 keep taking this criticism at the same time. 00:08:13.980 --> 00:08:15.899 It was a really hard year as a business owner, 00:08:15.980 --> 00:08:18.360 and there'll be much more about that coming out. 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:20.759 I'm ready to start talking about it, but it's 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:23.540 conversations that I realize need to happen because 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:26.379 things are changing. I really hope that my farm 00:08:26.379 --> 00:08:29.600 in... 30 years is still a farm and a functioning 00:08:29.600 --> 00:08:33.179 business and not a housing development. I'm really 00:08:33.179 --> 00:08:34.940 leery about what everything else is going to 00:08:34.940 --> 00:08:37.019 look like. And you have to, you know, I can't 00:08:37.019 --> 00:08:40.080 control what is built across the road from me, 00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:44.080 but I can control my own property. And so it's 00:08:44.080 --> 00:08:47.299 a hard, a hard thing to do. Sunny Mary Meadow 00:08:47.299 --> 00:08:52.139 in 2023, we did two weddings. 2024, I think we 00:08:52.139 --> 00:08:54.059 had, I don't know, somewhere between nine and 00:08:54.059 --> 00:08:56.669 11 weddings and they were all pretty small. And 00:08:56.669 --> 00:09:00.289 then 2025 this year, we had 31 weddings and that 00:09:00.289 --> 00:09:03.350 was a mark of trust and not just volume and being 00:09:03.350 --> 00:09:05.049 really intentional about the weddings that we 00:09:05.049 --> 00:09:08.490 said yes to and watching how couples engaged 00:09:08.490 --> 00:09:12.389 with the farm beyond their wedding day and just 00:09:12.389 --> 00:09:15.129 seeing how that went. And right now it is January 00:09:15.129 --> 00:09:17.809 1st and we have 24 weddings already booked for 00:09:17.809 --> 00:09:20.090 this year. Last year at this time, we had nine 00:09:20.090 --> 00:09:23.750 and I am so excited. We have built everything 00:09:23.750 --> 00:09:27.429 to help reflect that. help us allow to grow more 00:09:27.429 --> 00:09:31.789 flowers, bigger coolers, more staff, convenience 00:09:31.789 --> 00:09:35.049 of picking up, and then that continuous customer 00:09:35.049 --> 00:09:37.990 journey where every offering fertilizes the next 00:09:37.990 --> 00:09:40.389 and they can host their showers here and they 00:09:40.389 --> 00:09:42.509 can come back year after year and get their bouquets 00:09:42.509 --> 00:09:45.909 and pick the flowers. And it's just, it's really 00:09:45.909 --> 00:09:49.149 exciting to see it in practice. And I know that 00:09:49.149 --> 00:09:52.250 readiness matters more than desire. It just took 00:09:52.250 --> 00:09:54.970 a long time for the building to get ready. The 00:09:54.970 --> 00:09:58.250 other thing that is really exciting for this 00:09:58.250 --> 00:10:02.570 year, I entered 2025 thinking that my book was 00:10:02.570 --> 00:10:04.549 going to stay in draft mode forever. It was about 00:10:04.549 --> 00:10:08.809 200 pages of random little stories and I was 00:10:08.809 --> 00:10:10.929 trying to turn it into a self -help book and 00:10:10.929 --> 00:10:13.490 I just, it didn't feel right. And I went to a 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:16.049 podcasting conference and I met the founder of 00:10:16.049 --> 00:10:19.379 a publishing company. And he was like, you know, 00:10:19.379 --> 00:10:20.960 the reason most people don't finish their book 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:22.500 is because they're writing the wrong book. And 00:10:22.500 --> 00:10:24.899 I realized immediately what that meant to me. 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:26.799 And that's because this book needs to be the 00:10:26.799 --> 00:10:29.980 story of how we got here and why it happened 00:10:29.980 --> 00:10:32.820 through grief and how the decisions led to Sunny 00:10:32.820 --> 00:10:35.139 Mary Meadow and the backstory of it. Because 00:10:35.139 --> 00:10:38.240 in five years, I want to be talking about flowers 00:10:38.240 --> 00:10:42.279 and building a business and agritourism. And 00:10:42.279 --> 00:10:45.759 I don't want to be talking about. grief and widowhood. 00:10:45.820 --> 00:10:48.320 I mean, it's part of my story. It's huge. It 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:50.759 resonates with people. It is a huge piece of 00:10:50.759 --> 00:10:54.019 it, but it's not the whole story. And so that 00:10:54.019 --> 00:10:56.480 book comes out in March and I'm so excited. You 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:58.940 know, this podcast here, the pivoting from Flower 00:10:58.940 --> 00:11:01.460 Farmer Forum to this, we're still having Flower 00:11:01.460 --> 00:11:04.039 Farmer Forum conference. It's just the podcast 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:07.759 is renamed and it's just a pull toward broader 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:12.169 agritourism and agriculture conversations. Just 00:11:12.169 --> 00:11:14.929 this desire to tell stories that often go unseen 00:11:14.929 --> 00:11:20.149 and feeling grounded rather than reactive. And 00:11:20.149 --> 00:11:25.730 I'm just, you know, 2025 was a year that it shaped, 00:11:25.809 --> 00:11:29.309 it clarified. I'm very proud, but I'm not going 00:11:29.309 --> 00:11:31.230 to gloss over the difficulty. It was a really 00:11:31.230 --> 00:11:34.570 rough year. Reflection creates better momentum. 00:11:34.750 --> 00:11:37.330 And so reflecting on this last year, what things 00:11:37.330 --> 00:11:40.830 we want to change and next episode. It's going 00:11:40.830 --> 00:11:42.809 to be all about goal setting, goal setting for 00:11:42.809 --> 00:11:46.070 the year, how we do it, how I categorize it, 00:11:46.129 --> 00:11:48.870 how I measure throughout the year. I'm going 00:11:48.870 --> 00:11:51.529 to try to use it with fake numbers, but also 00:11:51.529 --> 00:11:54.529 it's really hard to not just give my real numbers. 00:11:54.610 --> 00:11:59.210 So whatever, it's fine. But just how I set my 00:11:59.210 --> 00:12:01.570 goals for the year and how I measure them throughout 00:12:01.570 --> 00:12:03.370 month to month and make sure that things are 00:12:03.370 --> 00:12:05.970 good to go. But thank you so much for being here 00:12:05.970 --> 00:12:09.450 and bloom and grow. Thank you so much for listening 00:12:09.450 --> 00:12:11.830 to this episode of Rooted Agritourism. If you 00:12:11.830 --> 00:12:13.610 enjoyed it, please leave a five -star review 00:12:13.610 --> 00:12:15.429 and share it with someone who would find it helpful 00:12:15.429 --> 00:12:17.909 or inspiring. Your support helps us reach more 00:12:17.909 --> 00:12:20.610 rural entrepreneurs, dreamers, and doers just 00:12:20.610 --> 00:12:22.629 like you. You can explore all of our resources 00:12:22.629 --> 00:12:25.309 at SunnyMaryMeadowCoaching .com, where you'll 00:12:25.309 --> 00:12:27.690 find each episode in blog form along with free 00:12:27.690 --> 00:12:29.990 resources to help grow your business. You'll 00:12:29.990 --> 00:12:32.429 also find info on upcoming on -farm and virtual 00:12:32.429 --> 00:12:35.309 workshops, classes, and courses. Be sure to check 00:12:35.309 --> 00:12:37.629 out our monthly membership, Foundations of Peddling. 00:12:37.769 --> 00:12:39.889 perishable products where you'll get access to 00:12:39.889 --> 00:12:42.309 a full library of our original course content, 00:12:42.470 --> 00:12:44.970 plus ongoing support through monthly virtual 00:12:44.970 --> 00:12:47.389 meetups with others in the industry. Just click 00:12:47.389 --> 00:12:49.309 the link in the show notes or our bio to learn 00:12:49.309 --> 00:12:51.830 more. We'd love to have you join us. Until next 00:12:51.830 --> 00:12:54.149 time, keep growing with purpose and stay rooted.