We were lucky to catch up with Candice Wagner recently and have shared our conversation below.

Candice, appreciate you joining us today. Do you have a hero? What have you learned from them?

As cliche as this may be, my mother is without a doubt my hero. She found out she was pregnant with me at a young age and made the decision to completely change the trajectory of her life. Like many others, she overcame a number of obstacles, however I look up to her for her perspective and positive outlook. She handles challenges with such grace. She is a problem-solver. She is smart. She is hilarious. She works in corporate america and absolutely KILLS her career. She has always taught me how to balance motherhood and work life, making sure that my sister and I always felt loved and valued, yet was a total bad-ass at her job. She encouraged me to start selling cheese boards because she thought I was talented at it. She has influenced a lot of the decisions that I have made as a wife, mom and business owner, and I am so grateful to have a hero that I can also get to call “mom”.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I stumbled into this industry. I studied wine marketing in college, and planned to be in the wine industry forever. I met and fell in love with my husband who has a family dairy farm business. After getting married, I relocated to the farm. While I’ve always loved cheese & wine, when i was trying to build a new community in my new town, I would put together small cheese boards and take to new friends and we would get to know one another around a table with charcuterie. It became a love language; Gathering around a table to sit and have intentional conversations and grow deeper in our friendships. Having a wine background, I really started enjoying finding fun cheeses and pairing them with great wines. I quickly got a reputation of always being the one to bring the cheese and wine, and before I knew it, friends were offering to pay me for charcuterie boards.

Fig & Olive Graze Co. was born, and it has been such a fun and creative outlet for me. I also love the fact that my babies get to see their mommy do something that she enjoys and is passionate about.

I think what sets me apart from other companies is that when im selecting cheeses, im thinking about the rich conversations that are going to be had when this cheese and charcuterie is enjoyed. Community is formed around a table and if I can add fine cheese and wine to it, itll only be THAT much more incredible of an experience.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Last year, we ran into the unfortunate decision to sell the family dairy farm that my husbands family has owned and operated for over 30 years. It was a forced pivot that my husband and I were not expecting. Huge life changes were made and we have had a lot of learning and growth over the last year. My heart still breaks for my in-laws and my husband, who i know are/were so passionate about taking care of their animals, and providing a nutritious product to their community, but this shift in life has allowed for other growth and opportunities to happen, which i’m grateful for.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I’ve always been the type of person who pushes to be better. That has been instilled in my from early on in my childhood between my dad who is a coach and my mom. There is a particular memory that pops up that I am happy to share; When I was 16, I got into a very traumatic car accident with three friends. I happened to take my seatbelt off, and before I had an opportunity to put it back on, we hydroplaned and flipped. I was ejected from the vehicle, and the vehicle proceeded to land on top of me. Without getting into too much detail of that evening, the recovery that had to be overcome from that time in my life was quite the mountain to climb. Between physical recovery, fear of being in the car, out of control, and, being a competitive athlete, finding my way back on to the volleyball court seemed so far out of reach.
But going back to how I was raised, perseverance, growth, how to overcome obstacles, and having the mindset that focused on getting better everyday, I was able to eventually overcome the physical struggles and fear of that evening.
I think what we experience in our youth and how we choose to work through it, makes a HUGE impact on how we handle things into adulthood. Dealing with such an intense event in my life at a younger age, and having family members and friends who helped me overcome, has allowed me to be able to handle situations in life as an adult with a growth mindset, rather than a victim mindset.
Being able to adapt, pivot, challenge myself, problem solve, etc all contributes to a resilient person, and I am so beyond grateful to my parents for being there for me when I needed the push.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://figandolivegrazeco.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/figandolivegrazeco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/figandoliveboards/

Image Credits
Cristy Cross Photography. Kristen Hafner Photography.