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

Kristy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think it takes to be successful?

There are many keys to success: Tenacity, perseverance, a willingness to pivot, and a boat load of faith. When we first came up with this crazy idea to own a sheep and goat farm, run a bed and breakfast and make and sell sheep and goat’s milk cheeses from our flock, we didn’t know the first thing about any of it! But we knew we wanted to do it, and we knew that in order to turn our dream into a reality we had to stop calling it a dream and start referring to it as our plan. We researched, we practiced making cheese in our kitchen, we added to our plan until it seemed out of control, and then reeled it back in to something we thought was going to be a huge undertaking but well worth the effort.

When we moved to Paso Robles, CA in 2013 we expected that it would take five years to go from what we had, which was a single family home on 10 acres, to a full blown B&B, creamery and farm. It took us nearly 10. We worked tirelessly on financing, building, expanding, and creating our vision, and bringing it to life. There were so many times when we wanted to give up. Times when we didn’t see a way to the end, and times when we thought we had taken on more than we could handle. But fortunately it was never both of us feeling that way at the same time. One of us ALWAYS kept us focused on the end game. And we took turns at that role.

There are still obstacles and times when we need to pivot to make it work, but we are so glad that we didn’t give up. We are so happy we chose to follow a dream, no matter how crazy it seemed to us or anyone we shared our dream with. We did what we set out to do, Own a farm, a B&B and make and sell cheese from our flock. Following a dream and making it a reality is one of the hardest most rewarding things you can ever do to be successful.

Kristy, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

The whole thing started from an innocent off-handed conversation about what we wanted to do when we retired. I was in cancer care, as a Radiation Therapist, and Evan was a professional photographer. Emotionally I was pretty burned out, and Evan had always planned on changing careers before he turned 50. Somehow, we went from “oh let’s get a beach house in the Carolinas” to Evan saying, “I’ve always wanted to have a few acres and some sheep.” I asked what we would do with the sheep, and Evan said we could make cheese. I asked what I would do, and he reminded me I had always wanted a B&B and coffee shop. That was the point at which I knew we needed to make it happen now, instead of waiting for retirement.

We learned everything we know about farming, and cheese making by trying it. We joke that Professor You-Tube and Dr. Google are our two biggest consultants. We started our B&B in the house as soon as we moved to Paso Robles, CA and we loved it. Meeting new people from all over, hearing their stories, and listening to them re-cap their days adventures was a treat for us. We had been practicing making cheese in our kitchen to see if we even liked it, and if we could do it. We did enjoy it very much, and we had as many failures in the beginning as we had successes. But over time, Evan developed some pretty outstanding recipes and had a great deal of success.

There are only about 200 sheep dairies in the USA, and we are one of them. There are only five creameries in SLO County, and we are now one of them. We feel pretty proud of that. We want our guests to feel like they can enjoy our farm and experience our space like they’re friends and family. We have built our guest spaces to encourage folks to linger as long as they’d like. We want people to take time to slow down, and be present in the space and we hope they feel that from the moment they arrive.

Something that sets us apart from some others in our industry is that we offer farm tours and tastings here on the property. Everything happens right here. We raise the sheep and goats, we milk here, we make the cheese here, and we sell it here.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I feel like Pivot is the middle name of our business! When we first dreamed up our plan, we wanted to have individual cottages on our property for guests to have a private space. We opted to welcome travelers into our home and we shared our space with guests for the first four years we were a B&B. We ultimately ended up purchasing retro-style RVs and used those as our guest space. They were very well received. People love them. Yet we find ourselves pivoting again to something that our county will find more acceptable. We want to be re-designated as a California Agricultural HomeStay, as we feel like that’s the best fit for what we want to offer our guests, and so we are now working to make that happen.

We planned on the cheese kitchen being completed within five years of us moving here. It took nearly 10 years. I continued working my full-time job while Evan took care of the animals and farm and we both took care of the B&B. I think that was the hardest pivot for me. I wanted to be here on the farm, living our dream full-time too, but I knew we weren’t ready to support ourselves on our business alone, so I kept working. I was finally able to come onboard here at the farm this past May 2023.

When you hold on so tightly to the things you think you want, you can miss opportunities that will get you to your end game, and you can ultimately end up sabotaging your dream. We knew from the very moment we dreamed all this up, that we would HAVE to pivot from time to time. Being flexible doesn’t mean giving in, it means bending to allow for better to come your way.

How’d you meet your business partner?

My business partner and co-founder is my husband Evan. We met in Maryland, where we are both from, at a photoshoot and through a mutual friend. From the moment we started dating, we started dreaming of things we’d never done before, but thought we might like to experience together. Our first adventure was moving across the county. We settled on San Diego, CA, and packed up our houses, sold them, and started our drive across the country. We have always been supportive of each other’s dreams, no matter how crazy they seem, and we’ve dreamed together on lots of things too, which is how we ended up in business together!

Being able to trust that your business partner has your back is so important. Evan has as much invested in our success as I do. We both came to the table with different skills, strengths, and weaknesses, and we compliment each other very well. I know working with your spouse isn’t for everyone, but it works for us, and I’m grateful for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blackmarketcheeseco.com
• Instagram: blackmarketcheeseco
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100092749716179
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/black-market-cheese-paso-robles?osq=cheese

Image Credits
Black Market Cheese Co.