We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Jennifer Rossi a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Jennifer, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

My glimpse into goatscaping began in college, while working towards my degree in Environmental Science at Virginia Commonwealth University. In fall of 2019 I took an invasive species class that focused on the invasive plants in Virginia, a lot of which are also in Georgia. The class was extremely hands-on, every time we went out in the field I was surprised at how the park systems and neighborhoods were overrun with invasive plants, especially English ivy and kudzu.

During that semester my class and I worked alongside a local goatscaping company. We helped trail cut, build fencing, identify plants and release the goats. As soon as we let the goats out of the trailer they began working, I was amazed at how quickly they were clearing areas. When the partnership with the goatscaping company ended, I called my mom and said, “We have got to look into goatscaping, it’s a super effective way to clear out these invasive plants that are killing our ecosystem without spraying a bunch of chemicals, plus it’s cute!”

Fast forward to spring 2020: I graduated with my bachelors degree in Environmental Science-right when the pandemic hit. While the world was up in the air, I chose to keep with my steady work that was outside of my field, though I would run into the local goat crew often in the Richmond park systems. I couldn’t unsee the swarm of invasive plants taking over. Every time I saw the goat crews out working I would day dream about owning goats to clear land, but I had no access to land, goats, let alone a farm.

In June of 2023, after a divorce and nearly a decade in Richmond, I moved to the farm my mother and stepdad had purchased while I was in college. This was a massive change, we grew up at the oceanfront in Virginia. My mom was a hobby farmer when I first moved to Georgia, she had roughly 10 goats. Mentally I was in a rough place with so many abrupt changes in my life, but every day I kept working outside, growing closer to the small herd we had. A few months later, Spring 2024 rolled around and we had a few pregnant goats. Some of the mothers rejected their babies, I then bottle fed those babies the whole season. I would drive the baby goats around town in my van and became known as the goat van.

One day I decided to decorate my van like our goat Charlie Moo-who looks like a cow. I thought it would be a fun thing to see around town, which it was. One afternoon, in a Walmart parking lot, I had a woman approach me and ask me if I clear land with my goats. Georgia is riddled with invasive species, kudzu in particular. Suddenly it hit me! I realized everything I had originally wanted to do was right in front of me, I just had to put the pieces together.

From that moment GoatVanGo was created (named after our lovely goat van). I traded my Prius for a shuttle bus and with the help of my dad and step-dad we created a custom cage inside the bus that protects the goats while driving to new job sites. I focused on sharing our journey of GoatVanGo on all social media platforms. I wanted the goatscaping business to be more than just land clearing, I wanted it to be an identifiable brand that people felt connected with.

For me, GoatVanGo is my purpose. I always wanted to work with animals and I care deeply about preserving our natural habitats. Goatscaping has allowed me to combine my love for animals and passion for the environment into a joyful, effective way to rid invasive plants in Georgia.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I first became interested in goatscaping while pursuing my bachelors degree in Environmental Science. Having this experience in college is what eventually led me to create GoatVanGo. Today, GoatVanGo provides land clearing using goats and sheep. We not only focus on invasive plants but also any overgrowth a client has. Goatscaping is a productive way to clear land without the use of heavy machinery or chemicals. Our herd can also reach steep inclines with ease, a common occurrence in the Georgia mountains. While the goats are grazing they are also fertilizing and aerating the soil.

What really sets us apart from other companies is the top level care we provide for our animals. All of our livestock and livestock guardian dogs are kept up to date on vaccinations. Our goats and sheep even get a rabies vaccine, which a lot of goat farmers don’t opt into. We do daily checks on our herd and livestock guardian dogs when they are on the job to ensure they are happy, healthy and making progress. At GoatVanGo safety is a top priority, we perform daily fence inspections to ensure everything is secure and working properly.

Besides land management, we want our clients to have a memorable experience. We always try to provide hands-on experiences with the animals while we are on the job site. On our website we have a “Meet the Goats” section where customers can learn each goat’s name-kids love this. When we’re not on a job site, we love taking some of our smaller goats out on leash walks to bring a joyful moment to a person’s day.

I’m most proud of our level of care and attention to detail our company has. For us, goatscaping isn’t just clearing land; it’s an educational opportunity, a path to restoring habitats, caring for our animals, and giving people an experience they will never forget. I always do my best to work within clients’ budgets because preserving our natural habitat is something I care deeply about, and I want it to be accessible to as many people as possible.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

The best way we’ve gained new clients is through a mix of consistent social media, an interesting and informative website, and the classic word of mouth. Staying active on social media helps our company show off our goats and how job sites progress throughout the days. Targeted ads on Facebook and Instagram have pushed our businesses’ reach farther than we anticipated. Some advice that really helped us was to check the analytics before each ad, we saw a huge difference in the amount of messages requesting our services.

Something simple, but fun we’ve done is place yard signs in front of our clients houses while the goats are working. The signs are bright, informational, and have funny goat pictures on them to catch people’s attention as they pass by. Together all of these tools have helped create brand visibility and trust.

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

The best advice I have for managing a team and maintaining high morale is to listen to the people that help you and to be flexible, whether they are volunteers or employees. People want to be seen, heard, and valued. Flexibility within your company shows that you care about the person you are working alongside, not just the goal of getting the job done. Creating an environment where people feel seen and have flexibility allows a space for mutual respect and trust to be built.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.goatvango.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goatvango/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/p/Goatvango-llc-61565789147631/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@goatvango

Image Credits

All photos: Laura Rossi