We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leigh Anne McGill a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Leigh Anne , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you as a business owner?

The most important lesson I learned on a prior job was not to take peoples behaviors personal.
I worked at a dentist office and the dentist would become irrate when things didn’t go how he wanted.
I was very young, fresh out of college and I was assisting the doctor for the first time. It was a procedure that needed multiple xrays throughout. I was so nervous. I was struggling to get the angle where he could see what was going on. He started throwing instruments and telling me to hurry up, and finally pulled me aside and told me if I didn’t get it this time to get my stuff and go home.
I managed to get the xray, with tears rolling down my face. He was satisfied and we finished the procedure.
After that I was so scared to do anything, and wound up leaving about 6 months later. It wasn’t the place for me. I did find out after I left, he had some really big things going on in his personal life, not that this excused his behavior, but it helped me understand his frustration. When people have hard things going on they tend to not have room in their brain and heart for anything else.
This lesson helped teach me to stop and think when i’m upset and not be quick to act. I also want to be conscious when dealing with others that are upset, to give them grace.
The experience, at the time, really upset me, but I was able to go on later in life and work with someone similar with no issues. I learned and corrected my reaction and it helped me to continue in my career and then also as a business owner.
Giving myself and others grace, I feel, really improves relationships with everyone in our lives as well as business relationships.

Leigh Anne , 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?

We are Leigh Anne and Daniel McGill. We operate a small mushroom and Cattle Farm in Junction City, GA.
We both grew up in Greenville, SC. Leigh Anne grew up on a small peach and Cattle Farm and Daniel spent his summers growing up on his grandfathers peanut farm in South, GA. A seed was planted at a young age for us both. Daniel has worked in agriculture since he was 13 from repairing tractors, owning his own tree service, working on cattle ranches, to bringing water out of the laramie mountains of Wyoming for irrigation. His favorite has always been working with and studying cattle and dogs.
Leigh Anne has done lots of different things over the years, but never concentrating in agriclture. She began her journey in agriculture in 2020 when she lost her job at a local bank. Living in the woods she started forging as a way to spend her days during covid and fell in love with studying mushrooms and medicinal plants she found.
In 2023 a farm was placed in our path and we took the opportunity to start a Mushroom and Cattle Farm!
Our farm Is a regenerative farm that provides healthy protein for all. We pride ourselves on our process and the quality of our beef and mushrooms.
We raise all natural longhorn beef, they are genetically leaner than other cattle. The cattle are grass fed and grass finished which helps them to stay lean. We do not spray our pastures with any herbicides or pesticides and we do not use any antibiotics or hormones. We are careful to not overgraze our pasture which keeps us from having to give any chemical dewormers.
With growing cattle this way we are providing a healthier beef for people who want food they know is good and they dont have to question what is in it. People who may have health issues where too much animal fat in their diet can pose a problem or are watching their calorie intake. Longhorn beef is much lower in calories than other beef.
We also find that longhorn grass fed and finished beef has a much better flavor and texture than Angus Grass fed beef.
Our Mushrooms are great for everyone! Weather you are plant based or adding them to the top of your steak they are delicious. Mushrooms are nutrient dense and can have some medicinal value as well.
We feel our farm is providing healthier options for our community and surrounding areas. Where our food system is misleading people, we want to give people another option…..a healthy option that they can trust what they are getting is the best. We always invite our customers and clients to come visit the farm and see what we are doing. We love what we do and we think it shows.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

The best source for us finding new clients is going out in the community and talking to people about our products. We attend 3 farmers markets a week and we meet new customers each week as well as retain repeat customers. Word of mouth has been a great source for new clients as well.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

Our reputation has grown quickly. We believe honesty, quality over quantity and helping others has helped build our reputation within our market. We look forward to seeing it continue to grow through the years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Linktr.ee/belledawgfarms
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/belledawgfarms?igsh=YzU1NGVlODEzOA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100093631661879&mibextid=ZbWKwL