We recently connected with Vanessa Frias and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Vanessa, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Our mission is to educate and teach others about regenerative farms practices. In addition we want to supply nutrient dense foods to our community. We want our community to begin to understand the benefits of raising animals in the best way possible so that they live out their life happy. We believe that happy animals create delicious, nutrient dense foods.

It’s meaningful to me because number 1 there are not many black and Hispanic farmers. I feel as though we are showing all people that you can do it if you believe it!

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My name is Vanessa. We started out business in May of 2022. We wanted to create a more simpler life and become more self sufficient. We decided to start with a few goats. As we visited other farms we fell in love with the people that we had encountered. They had a whole different perspective on life and what it meant to be happy. As we learned about farming, we decided maybe we could give it ago! So we started learning about all the different species of animals and how they might fit our farm and family.

After realizing how are food systems work, we started to unveil the truths. So we started producing for ourselves and then the community.

We began to notice the increased need for healthy and nutrient dense food. People really wanted to know their farmer and know where their food was coming from! So we jumped into the adventure of forested and pasture raised pork, chicken, goat and lamb! All of our animals are outside and roaming free. We do not believe in traditional confinement of animals. All of our animals are raised in the way they naturally should be. This makes for a happy and healthy animal.

In addition, because my degree is in education, I thought it would be beneficial to start hosting classes, workshops, and events that surround agriculture. So we have classes such as sausage making, candle making, canning classes, herbal medicine making etc. All of these classes try to teach you and bring you back to the basics.

We solve problems for those who want to make a difference in their lives. Families who want to get back together at the dinner table and eat health options. We want to be the resource for healthy foods and education!

What sets us a part from the others is the educational component. We not only want to provide nutrient dense foods but we want to educate the community of the importance of sustainable agriculture and why its important to leave a positive carbon footprint.

What I am most proud of is our growth and community support for what we are doing. People believe in what we are doing have shown support.

We want people to know that without their support our farm cant grow! Small businesses need their community. If they don’t support the mission and product that we cant grow.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Farming today is a majority white American job. I am black and a women and do most of the business. My husband is a Black/ Hispanic man. We are Not the typical farmer in America. At first it was hard to get information about how to farm and what to do. We are first generation farmers. We were clueless on where to begin. Now we are at a place where we feel that we can do this and make it happen because we studied. We went to classes, seminars, read and asked people for help. It is so important to educate yourself so that you can pursue your dreams!

How did you build your audience on social media?

I bulit my following on social media by being authentically me. I have shared my backstory. I have given people a little insight about me and what I do. People love hearing about it. They love to know the good , the bad and the ugly. I explain when I have good days and when I have bad days. People then feel connected with me and begin to get to know their farmer!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.willowbrookmi.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/willowbrookmichigan/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3vk782M-ijZGB82b935H6YGrXtOjQy9mpKdsuhyIfqFj-LTKi2qyfUcI8_aem_5roP3VvYodXwgUUKfZMTZA
• Linkedin: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100088153730805