#104. Rosa Dixon: From Commune Roots to Community Builder to Gluten-Free Empire

A bottle pops, and so does a life story. Rosa Dixon joins us to share how a childhood on a Tennessee commune shaped her instinct to collaborate, how New York City sharpened her operator’s edge, and how a frightening misdiagnosis led her to build Raised Gluten Free—now a national brand with 18 products in 7,500 retailers. From pies at the farmer’s market to private label partnerships with Walmart and Sprouts and a recent Target launch, Rosa breaks down the unglamorous math of scaling food: distribution hubs, shared kitchens, and community support that makes the difference between a hopeful idea and a healthy company.

We also go deep on Humboldt Made—what it actually does for local makers, why Friday Night Markets fund the mission, and how storytelling inside grocery stores helps shoppers discover the people behind beloved products. With new Headwaters backing, we’re taking a Humboldt row to Natural Products Expo West, putting Maka Pierogies, Jersey Guy Scoop, Nomolina Pesto, and Shroom Shots in front of the buyers who can change a company’s trajectory. Rosa explains how to prepare for trade shows, turn a single email into a regional launch, and keep wins circulating here at home.

Then crisis hits close to home. The Arcata fire destroyed seven businesses and threatened the historic downtown. Within 48 hours, more than 50 community leaders aligned on roles, relief, and fundraising—PG&E pledged $50,000, banks and the university followed, and a committee is forming to assess needs and distribute funds. We lay out simple ways to help: show up for the porch-party fundraiser weekend, spend with neighboring shops, and lean into the Choose Humboldt app and articles that make supporting local easy and fun. Along the way, Rosa shares a personal health reset—losing 70 pounds, lifting heavy, and finding daily discipline—and the legacy she hopes to leave: wake up trying to help, support, and love.

If this resonates, share the episode with a friend, subscribe for more Humboldt maker stories, and leave a quick review to help others find the show.

Transcript

Meet Rosa Dixon & A Surprise Pour

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, and uh all you friends out at sea, it's Scott Hammond with the 100% Humboldt Podcast with my very new best friend, Rosa Dixon.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Rosa Dixon's he knows my name for sure, people. For sure.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

For sure. Absolutely. Hi, welcome.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 0:50

How are you?

SPEAKER_03 0:51

I'm great. How are you?

SPEAKER_00 0:52

I'm well. Rosa, what's your deal? What do you do? What's your what's your life about?

SPEAKER_03 0:56

Oh my gosh. I have so much about my life, but I'm going to start with my um my passion project. So I'm the executive director for Humboldt Made, which at Humboldt Made, we support local businesses grow within the Redwood Curtain and beyond, which one of our local businesses is Humboldt Distillery. I just happened to have found this as I walked in the door. Nick, where did that come from? We don't know.

SPEAKER_05 1:21

Huh.

SPEAKER_03 1:22

But um I think we're gonna open it, we're gonna have a drink, and that's gonna just lube it up for this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

This is a first, folks. I don't know how she she's persuaded me to do this thing. Uh so welcome. So you tell me more about your um your past. I want to start there. Where are you from? Where do you hail from? And how did you get to Humboldt?

SPEAKER_03 1:42

Well, um, I'm from Tennessee, which um, you know, you might think southern accent and conservative, y'all. But I actually grew up on a commune.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Uh well, this there's a variety.

Growing Up On “The Farm”

SPEAKER_03 1:59

Yes. So a hippie commune.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

There's a spectrum of communes.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

Yes, a hippie commune called the farm, which is very famous.

SPEAKER_00 2:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Uh the largest intentional community in the U.S., still going today.

SPEAKER_04 2:11

How many people?

SPEAKER_03 2:12

Now there's about 300. My mom still lives there, so I still have my home hometown, my house that I grew up in. And cool.

SPEAKER_00 2:19

They grow their own food the whole nine.

SPEAKER_03 2:21

You know, weirdly enough, they were never good at growing food.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

How about how about weed?

SPEAKER_03 2:26

No, they didn't do any weed either. Yeah, I know. It's odd.

SPEAKER_00 2:29

What kind of hippies are these?

SPEAKER_03 2:31

I know. But they um they did some interesting things, like uh they be midwifery. They brought that mainstream to the U.S. again. Uh they also are all vegetarians. So they kind of led that that in the late 60s, early 70s.

SPEAKER_00 2:49

Wait, I got it. Homeschoolers.

SPEAKER_03 2:51

Yeah, well, there's a school there. They're fully self-sufficient. So there is a school, there's um a store, there's a book publishing company. Anyway, lots of interesting things. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 3:01

This is not this is infamous.

SPEAKER_03 3:03

Yes, it is infamous. Pretty famous. So I'm just gonna pour us a cocktail because Okay, get that done.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

It's got it's here.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

You already poured some ginger beer in here.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

Did I? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 3:11

So I don't know how much we're going, but we're just gonna we're just gonna do it.

SPEAKER_00 3:14

We don't know. I think you're in charge here.

SPEAKER_03 3:16

I think you're we don't know. We don't have any uh anything to measure but from. Oh, could I have your what is that?

SPEAKER_00 3:23

That's the ginger beer.

SPEAKER_03 3:24

Cock beer?

SPEAKER_00 3:24

Cock and bowl, uh extra ginger, soft drink, uh, and Moscow meal mixer.

SPEAKER_03 3:31

Perfect. Here we go.

SPEAKER_00 3:32

Well, this is a first. Eric Hollenbeck uh is telling you did his own uh drinking on on air.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

Oh, but you didn't join him?

SPEAKER_00 3:41

I did not.

SPEAKER_03 3:42

I think that's very strong.

SPEAKER_00 3:44

This is I think so. This could be uh this could be Jody, help me. This could be a disaster. No.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

We don't know, we don't know.

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Cheers.

SPEAKER_03 3:51

Cheers.

SPEAKER_00 3:51

To the communes and all the uh the the people out on communes.

SPEAKER_03 3:55

The communes and the people on communes.

SPEAKER_00 3:58

And the hippies.

SPEAKER_03 3:58

Well, why don't we toast to Humboldt made?

SPEAKER_00 4:01

Let's toast Humboldt Made.

SPEAKER_03 4:02

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:02

And who's the guy that does Humboldt Distillery?

SPEAKER_03 4:04

Uh that's Abe. Um and yeah, he does a great job. And is that strong?

SPEAKER_00 4:09

Delicious and strong. That's really strong ginger beer, too.

SPEAKER_03 4:13

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Is it strong enough?

SPEAKER_03 4:16

We feel it.

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Oh yeah, I know. It's gonna be right to the head. Is that maybe you. Not me. Uh so where so you grew up on the farm.

SPEAKER_03 4:26

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

Till when?

SPEAKER_03 4:28

Um, so I was born there and I kind of moved on and off.

SPEAKER_00 4:31

Um birth there too? Home birth? I was.

SPEAKER_03 4:34

Home birth? Yeah, I was born there. Um so when I graduated high school, I moved to New York City, which I did uh, you know, as as every 18-year-old uh commune kid does. And I did a few, you're really gonna learn about it. Most people don't know this part of my. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 4:52

Yeah, don't please.

NYC Hustle: Bars, Film, And Bottle Service

SPEAKER_03 4:53

So um I did a few interesting things when I was there. Well, for one, I realized that, you know, not going to college and being 18 and living in New York City, I could make a lot of money bartending and waitressing.

SPEAKER_00 5:07

Uh huh.

SPEAKER_03 5:07

And so I started doing that.

SPEAKER_00 5:09

And pouring strong drinks.

SPEAKER_03 5:10

And pouring very strong drinks. Um That'll do it. That'll do it. And then I was a personal assistant uh who I actually met through the bar um for a film company, uh, the owner of the film company, which is Jersey Guy Films, which later sold to Danny DeVito.

SPEAKER_04 5:28

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 5:29

Um and so I spent about four years as a personal assistant to the owner of that, which was an incredibly fun job. I traveled all over the world and showed at CanFest and you know, did events.

SPEAKER_00 5:42

Is it 18 or 19?

SPEAKER_03 5:44

Yeah, 18, 19, 20, 21. And then I decided, well, you know, I had traveled all over Europe. I had been to all these bars and restaurants and clubs, and bottle service was really a thing in Europe. And so when I came back and I decided I was they had sold the company and I wanted to do something different, I was like, you know, New York City needs to do bottle service. So a group of my friends that I had waitressed with, um, we formed a consulting business. And so we would work with nightclubs as they opened and staff them and um get them up and running and then move on to the next one.

SPEAKER_00 6:26

So, what is bottle service for those of us that don't know?

SPEAKER_03 6:28

Well, pretty much what I just did. I opened up a bottle of alcohol on the table, gave you a mixer, and walked away.

SPEAKER_05 6:35

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 6:35

So instead of cocktails, which is very trendy now, uh, in New York is bottle service, but I would have charged$250 for this bottle. So it just it changed kind of the trajectory of how um how New York City club life was. So after that, I left New York and realized that I have a passion for cooking and became a chef and wound up in Humboldt County.

SPEAKER_00 7:03

Wow. So where did you go from New York to Humboldt?

SPEAKER_03 7:05

Yeah. So I back to the farm? No. Um I moved to well, I moved to Asheville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_00 7:14

Cool town.

SPEAKER_03 7:14

Yeah, it's a very cool town. And then I moved here from there. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 7:19

So Humboldt wasn't a big mystery when you came to from the farm and from Ashville.

SPEAKER_03 7:24

Well, so funny enough story. Um I know a ton of people from the farm here. So my uh so I own another company, not just executive director of Humboldt Made. I am the co-founder and CEO of Natural Decadence, and our brand is raised gluten-free. And my co-founder is also from the farm. We grew up together and we've been best friends our whole life. Uh, we moved to New York together. We lived in Asheville together, and then we lived here together.

SPEAKER_04 7:54

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

And so Melia is my my business partner. She was at the event that I met you at as well.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

And I may have met her.

SPEAKER_03 8:03

Yeah, she's she's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 8:04

The rotary. Hey, Rotary, Rotary.

SPEAKER_03 8:06

Hey Rotary.

SPEAKER_00 8:07

What's up, Rotary?

SPEAKER_03 8:08

That was the Sunrise Rotary. We're just plugging you guys away.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Arcade of Sunrise meets every they're either Thursday or Friday morning. They're Friday morning at 7 a.m. Are you part of them?

SPEAKER_03 8:19

No. But I present all the time.

SPEAKER_00 8:21

Yeah, Rotary's kind of a cult.

SPEAKER_03 8:22

Oh, I could totally see that. But I didn't say it. I just want to be clear. I wasn't the one that said that.

SPEAKER_00 8:28

No, no. Let me let me clarify. So the farm with so would the farm be a cult?

SPEAKER_03 8:35

Well, that's a funny story because um I didn't ever associate it with a cult. And then I started listening to this podcast a few years ago.

SPEAKER_00 8:45

Is it a cult?

SPEAKER_03 8:46

And it was called Am I in a Cult?

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Is that the one with the two women?

SPEAKER_03 8:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:50

Hilarious. And I love that show.

SPEAKER_03 8:52

Yeah, it was amazing. And I'm listening to it and I'm going, oh my goodness. I was born into a cult. And so then I asked, um, I asked my business partner, I said, Did you know that the farm was a cult? And she was like, Yeah. So then I asked another friend of mine, I was like, Did you know that the farm was a cult? And they're like, Yeah. Yeah. So then I asked, you know, my, my, my, you know, my parent or whatever. And it was like, everyone knew this except for me. So better for it. So yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:24

So one of my favorite podcasts. So we listened, Joni and I listened to that. Mary Kay is a cult, Taylor Swift as a cult.

SPEAKER_03 9:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Fine, like upgrade, like crazy upgraded wine cult. Oh, yeah. The wine society is.

SPEAKER_03 9:36

Ooh, I would love to be in that cult.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

That's an interesting episode. I didn't know there's$20,000,$30,000 bottles. I know. And of course, Essalon and all the old darker ones, the Jim Joneses, and so they explore them all. And they cuss a lot. Oh. I suspect there's drinking on that set too.

SPEAKER_03 9:54

I mean, I really curse a lot too. But I'm going to keep it toned down because you're my uh, you know, I did four interviews earlier today on live radio. And was there drinking on those? No, they were in the morning. I don't know how to suggest that. Morning cocktails.

SPEAKER_00 10:10

Hear that, Nick. So yeah, I um so you you came from back east and came to Humboldt.

From Chef To Humboldt Life

SPEAKER_03 10:16

Yeah. So, you know, that's one of the amazing things about being raised in community. You really um crave community. And so that's been such an amazing thing with stepping into my role as executive director of Humboldt Made. Um, is I love for us all to work together and to collaborate. Um, I'm not, I'm a very competitive person with myself, but I'm not competitive with other people. And I believe in supporting and uplifting everyone. And that was really the morals that came from the farm. And it was about us working together on a collective bigger picture. And I feel like that's kind of what Humboldt Made's about. But before you get into Humboldt Made, let me get back to my business. And then we get there. I'm gonna take us through the whole path.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

I'm following you. Go ahead. You got this.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

So um I had been, I had moved to Humboldt and I was, I had started a um a catering business for specialty food. I did a lot of wedding cakes. That was kind of my thing. I love um cake decorating and I love baking and creating, and I just found it so fulfilling. Um, and my youngest daughter, I have three girls, uh, got very sick when she was a baby, and she was actually misdiagnosed with a terminal illness that she does not have. She was misdiagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

SPEAKER_05 11:41

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 11:42

And we were living in and out of the hospitals. She was diagnosed as failure to thrive, and we are transferred out of the area.

SPEAKER_05 11:52

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 11:52

And we were at Stanford for uh only about 20 hours when she was diagnosed with celiac disease.

SPEAKER_00 11:59

It was not easy because Stanford's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

Yeah. And at that point, I was like, what is celiac disease? And the one and only cure is removing gluten from your diet. And I was like, I can control this through food? That's incredible. So um at that time, my business partner, childhood best friend, co-commune raised friend, Miley, said, Well, why don't we start a gluten-free bakery? Um, I have a severe tree nut allergy. My older daughter has a whole host of allergies. And Mileyah had developed at the same time as my daughter was sick, um, adult onset food allergies. And like, we just couldn't eat anything. We used to go around the world, travel the world enjoying food. And it went from like that to nothing.

SPEAKER_04 12:53

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 12:54

And this was about 14 years ago, and it wasn't like, it wasn't that popular then. And the stuff that was gluten-free and egg-free and dairy-free and nut-free just tasted terrible.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

Taste free.

SPEAKER_03 13:06

Taste free.

SPEAKER_00 13:07

Yeah.

A Child’s Diagnosis Sparks A Bakery

SPEAKER_03 13:07

So we decided to do something different and do something better. And we really missed the comfort food. And being from the South in Tennessee, uh, we missed pie. So we were like, let's just start a little pie company and let's just make pies and sell them at the farmer's market, two moms, best friends, baking together. It's gonna be so much fun. And we did love cooking together. We were in business for about six months. Um, we were in the local food stores, um, and I received a one-line email from someone that had a title of Whole Foods Food Forager. And I really thought it was made up because that doesn't sound like a real thing. And the email said this Are you interested in selling to Whole Foods?

SPEAKER_00 14:00

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 14:01

So I thought it was spam and I just replied, obviously. And within it was not spam, and that was a real job. And within two weeks, we were down at the regional office.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

They had so Where are they in Texas?

SPEAKER_03 14:19

Um, so they at that point they did regional buying. So their regional office is Emeryville. And so that's in Northern California.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

How many stores does Whole Foods have?

SPEAKER_03 14:29

So Whole Foods has about 350 now. Um at that point, I think it was around 250. Um and so, you know, we were tiny. I mean, we were we were renting an event hall kitchen at Redwood Acres by the day, you know, like we we didn't have our own space. And but I'm someone that will literally like I'll run to the edge of the cliff and jump off and just trust that my parachute's gonna open. You know, I'm that person.

SPEAKER_05 14:58

No.

SPEAKER_03 14:59

Um, I'm not the person that checks the parachute 20 times and goes through the classes. So I'm like, let's go. Like I'm I'm a true entrepreneur.

SPEAKER_05 15:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:07

That's that's what we do. High risk, let's go, let's do it. Yeah. That's what I, you know, I get asked all the time like, what would you say to up and coming entrepreneurs? And I would say it's 10 times the amount of work, it's gonna cost 10 times the amount of money, and it's gonna be 10 times the benefit.

SPEAKER_05 15:27

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 15:28

So that's my thing. So anyway, we were down at the regional office at Whole Foods, and let me tell you what, our community rallied behind us to get us ready for that. The SBDC actually did these mock um meetings with us because we didn't know what to expect.

SPEAKER_00 15:44

Is that Greg Foster at the time?

SPEAKER_03 15:45

Um, it was Sandy and Michael Kraft.

SPEAKER_00 15:49

Michael Kraft. I know who shout out to Michael.

SPEAKER_03 15:51

Yeah, Michael, former guest. He's he's my board president. I was just on uh meeting with him right before I came here.

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Turns out he's a pretty cool guy.

SPEAKER_03 15:59

I know, he's great. So we get down to Whole Foods and we're prepared. We're ready for them to hammer us, and we're dressed in suits. I mean, heels and suits, and we look good.

SPEAKER_00 16:14

They're in jeans.

SPEAKER_03 16:15

And we say, as soon as the door opened, I said, wouldn't it be so funny if everyone was in jeans and a hoodie? Hilarious. And they were, of course. And uh we walk in and we're ready to just negotiate. And they're like, so we love your product, and we don't have anything like it. At that point, it was a chocolate vegan pie that was gluten-free, egg-free, dairy-free, nut-free. So it just checked all the boxes. And we would like to bring you into Northern California. And we said, Okay, here's our price. And they said, Okay, great. And that was it. Um, those two people who was the food forager, Harv, and Brad, who was the buyer, became very close friends of ours and um is probably the biggest fans of Humboldt I've ever met. So we launched a Whole Foods within the first year and opened.

SPEAKER_00 17:06

Which is a big deal.

SPEAKER_03 17:07

It's a big deal.

SPEAKER_00 17:08

It's a pretty big deal.

SPEAKER_03 17:09

And the county really showed up. Headwaters actually gave Redwood Acres a grant and they built out our kitchen because we were still renting by the day. And so us and a couple other businesses got a shared space at Redwood Acres, and it was really amazing. Um, it was just so incredible. I felt so lucky to be here in Humboldt. And during that time, Humboldt Maid was just starting. And that was Angie Schwab, and you know, the board was just kind of this all-star board, Don Bantucci and um, you know, Clint Victorine and uh Bill Prescott, just all these amazing people.

SPEAKER_00 17:50

Hi, Bill.

SPEAKER_03 17:51

Hi, Bill.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

Hi, Don. Don't amazing yakama guy.

SPEAKER_03 17:54

They're still on my board. Are they still your all still on my board?

Whole Foods Breakthrough And Scale

SPEAKER_00 17:58

So describe Humboldt Maid. What is it? What's that all about? And and I I don't can't shout out everybody, but yeah. So is Lacey still part of that, the cookies?

SPEAKER_03 18:06

Um, so Emerald's never actually been a part of it, but I'm gonna pull them back in. That's actually a great reminder. So Humboldt Maid's mission started 14 years ago, and it really started from the county, and they wanted to have just support for local businesses and develop economic development and support for the makers in particular, because makers are a little different than retail. Makers have the potential to grow really big and still have the money circulating in our community.

SPEAKER_05 18:41

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 18:42

So the mission was to grow within the Redwood curtain and beyond, and that's still the mission today. So I was on and off the Humboldt Maid board throughout the years. Um, and as my business grew, I was less involved, and then I would have a little bit more time and I would get more involved, and it was kind of this uh on and off. But I always loved the the nonprofit. Um so over the next, you know, 13, 14 years, um I'll skip to the punchline. We are now in about 7,500 retailers across the country. Um, we have 18 different products. I um we do the all the private label for Walmart baking mixes, we do private label for sprouts, we just launched to Target with our brand last week and all the Target stores. I found this in our local store, which was so exciting. That was cool and really fun.

SPEAKER_00 19:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:44

And um, so our business really has thrived. Uh, we ended up um having to take kind of a different model and moved our manufacturing out of the area because um having a frozen food company where you truck frozen food in and you truck frozen food out doesn't work in Humboldt County, unfortunately. So we manufacture at a couple locations across the country. So we're in about 34 distribution centers. So our manufacturing is close to each of those hubs of distribution. And we have amazing local partners. Um, the Littlefield family who own Eureka Natural Foods, their partners.

SPEAKER_00 20:22

Hi, Rick.

SPEAKER_03 20:23

Hi, Rick. Um, and then Rick's up in here. Oh, hi. I forget. We're videoing.

SPEAKER_00 20:31

Rick and I are Rotarians together.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

We're not cultish.

SPEAKER_03 20:35

But you're noon Rotarians?

SPEAKER_00 20:36

I am.

SPEAKER_03 20:37

Okay, you're the nooners. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:38

We're the nooners down in Eureka. It used to be a big club.

SPEAKER_03 20:41

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:41

It's still the biggest club.

SPEAKER_03 20:43

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 20:43

But it was like the rock and roll club of all time.

SPEAKER_03 20:46

You guys need to invite me to come present.

SPEAKER_00 20:48

You're invited.

SPEAKER_03 20:49

I'm a great presenter.

SPEAKER_00 20:50

I bet you are. No doubt about it.

unknown 20:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:54

So Rick's a partner. They're awesome. Um, the HIC, which is Humble Investment Company, which is Cedar Rubin, and George Schmidtbauer partner. So we have some really amazing.

SPEAKER_00 21:05

Shout out to Cedar.

SPEAKER_03 21:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:06

What's up, Cedar?

SPEAKER_03 21:07

You just know everybody. He's my friend.

SPEAKER_00 21:09

Okay. He's a great guy.

SPEAKER_03 21:10

He is a great guy.

SPEAKER_00 21:12

Sweetheart.

SPEAKER_03 21:12

Cedar was actually our first partner. And it was, yeah, it was Jess, um, you know, who passed away. Yep. Uh talked to me about the difference in investors. And after hearing her story about Cedar, I was like, I want him to be my partner. And yeah, I love Cedar. So anyway, so that's kind of our story. It's a good story. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

So let's I'm gonna, I I want to almost do a quiz show. I don't have any notes. So um Larripin saw Larripin Dilsos part of your thing.

What Humboldt Made Does

SPEAKER_03 21:44

So, okay, so let me talk about Humboldt Maid then. So then Humboldtmade, I stepped into the role a year ago, and HumboldtMade um really thrived in the beginning and then really thrived with Alana Goldsmith as the executive director. Um, and she was the executive director for seven years. And Humboldt Maid kind of always struggled in the model of member-driven nonprofit. And we're not quite big enough or cool enough to get funding from the county or, you know, that that type of support that chambers get. And we are a 501, which is different than a 501c6. So Humultmade needed to create a revenue source, which Alana did. And that's where Friday Night Markets came from.

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Really? Okay.

SPEAKER_03 22:35

So Humboldtmade puts on the Friday Night Markets.

SPEAKER_00 22:38

That is y'all.

SPEAKER_03 22:40

That is us.

SPEAKER_00 22:41

Do you ever you but do you ever go?

SPEAKER_03 22:43

Do you ever go? I went to every single Friday Night Market store.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

I've been in there where you couldn't get parking. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 22:49

Oh yeah. Well, I hope you can never get parking. I hope there's always 7,000 people there. Right. Right. So um, so Humboldtmade, that's kind of that was the big uh thing that we did. And that's it was kind of a, you know, that's how we supported the makers. And then COVID hit.

SPEAKER_05 23:04

Right.

SPEAKER_03 23:05

And so our member-driven thing didn't really happen. And HumboldtMade kind of took a few spins in different directions. And then I, you know, I have a very full-time job. My day job is very full-time. I travel, um, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Kroger, and Albertsons are my personal accounts. So that's where I'm at. And um, so I like having a little bit of a passion project. And I had just completed one of the nonprofits I had been working with, which was um my kids are really into horses, so I had gotten involved in the horse world. And I just finished that. I just formed a nonprofit and kind of moved out of two years of, you know, being the board chair. And I was telling Alana how I I really, I really feel like I need something new. And I had planned on something fun like writing a book.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

That's fun.

SPEAKER_03 24:07

That that seems really fun. I was like, that would be amazing. Oh, you got a book?

SPEAKER_00 24:12

Got a killer book.

SPEAKER_03 24:14

Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 24:14

My book. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 24:16

Well, tell us about your book.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Well, it's about fathers and parenting.

SPEAKER_03 24:19

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 24:20

And mothers that parent like fathers.

SPEAKER_03 24:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 24:23

Single single parents.

SPEAKER_03 24:25

Interesting.

SPEAKER_00 24:25

It's all about parenting.

SPEAKER_03 24:26

Okay, cool. My book would have been a little more risque. No, I don't know what it would have been about, but it would have been more like lifestyle stuff.

SPEAKER_00 24:36

Still write it.

SPEAKER_03 24:36

There's still uh there's still time. But she's like, Well, I have another idea. Why don't we stop by Six Rivers on our way home? We were at the beach, and so we stopped by Six Rivers. And um, she she, Meredith Mayer, who was the board chair of Humboldt Maid at the time, and she said, Meredith, Rose is looking for a project. Uh and they both said, Oh, you should be the executive director of Humboldt Maid.

SPEAKER_04 25:04

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 25:04

And I said, Absolutely not. You're completely underestimating the amount of time I have. I have maybe five to 10 hours a week, you know. And they um honestly got me very drunk and then convinced me I could do it. You said yes. And I said yes. Okay. And it has been one of the most fulfilling things I've ever experienced. So that was 2024 in October. And I just I always said, you know, running Humboldt Made and being involved in Humboldt Maid was my dream job. I always said that. And so I really feel like I had the opportunity to experience my dream job. And it's been so fun.

SPEAKER_00 25:46

Um I register all the products in the journal when I see the little ads in the journal.

SPEAKER_03 25:50

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, there are so many products. So, you know, you asked about Larapin soft. The interesting thing is Larupin actually isn't even made or owned here anymore, but it's still an iconic product. So, you know, there's that. And then there's like the local products that are like literally made here. And then there's the local, local products that are like grown here and made here. So it's kind of a really amazing different levels and community and all that.

SPEAKER_00 26:19

So Tom Pagano, is he still making Tomasa's pasta sold?

SPEAKER_03 26:23

So he sold his business.

SPEAKER_00 26:24

So he's done, he's okay.

SPEAKER_03 26:26

Yeah, but but there's new, there's new owners.

SPEAKER_00 26:28

How about Matthew at the tofu shop?

SPEAKER_03 26:29

Matthew sold as well. He's such a great guy. I know. So Matthew used to make tofu for my business.

SPEAKER_00 26:36

Right.

Raising Gluten-Free: National Expansion

SPEAKER_03 26:36

And Oh, Matthew's cool. Hey, Matthew. Yeah. So I so he but he sold his business. So there's, you know, there's a people sell and they move on, and you know, but there's amazing new up-and-coming um food businesses. I mean, you have Dick Taylor and you're on your table. They're not up and coming, but they're Oh, Dick Taylor.

SPEAKER_00 26:56

Have you heard of them?

SPEAKER_03 26:57

Oh, yeah, I have heard of them. So Dustin, Adam, Rosa, and Melea. So Melea's my partner. We kind of started our businesses at the exact same time. And so we've been each other's supporters and we've helped each other out, and they're just amazing people. And I keep saying, and I think I'm gonna do it one day, me and Miley want to dress up like them for Halloween.

SPEAKER_00 27:18

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 27:18

We're gonna have, you know, the banjo, the whole thing, and the whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 27:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:22

So that could be iconic.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

That'd be funny.

SPEAKER_03 27:25

That could be fun. But yeah, so we we um we've had a lot of funny stories about each other and and just kind of learning how to grow our businesses together. Because it's it's really hard. Like when you don't know and you don't you have no experience. I mean, they they they were carpenters, right? Like they have no idea what it takes to make chocolate, and they just did the best job of anyone.

SPEAKER_00 27:53

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 27:54

Exactly. So um that's nice guys.

SPEAKER_00 27:58

It's funny after a show, I'll see Dustin, you know, sweeping down at the factory. And I I go, how does it how does the adjustment from the adulation of Saturday night to Monday morning sweeping? And he just he goes, it's my day job. He goes, kind of relieved.

SPEAKER_03 28:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:14

I go, okay, that's good.

SPEAKER_03 28:15

No, they're they're they're amazing on every level.

SPEAKER_00 28:18

Super humble and super cool. So uh do you want to talk about some of the brands real quick?

SPEAKER_03 28:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Um that we would know, and then let's talk about Humboldt Made and let's talk about your product too and where we could find those. And then we're gonna go into the quiz show.

SPEAKER_03 28:30

Oh no, I don't like quizzes.

SPEAKER_00 28:32

Good thing. Oh no. There will be a prize. Go ahead. I mean, well, I'll wait on that, but tell me you're I'm getting nervous. It's okay. It's there's a lot at stake here. Oh, wait. Oh, wait. Okay. So But I'm not gonna know any answers.

SPEAKER_03 28:46

Are they trivia quizzes? Are they quizzes about what we talked about?

SPEAKER_00 28:49

They're questions that are only in your heart. Okay you could answer.

SPEAKER_03 28:52

Okay, great. I like this. I like this.

SPEAKER_00 28:55

We could do those. You already know the answers. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 28:57

Um I'm gonna win that.

SPEAKER_00 28:58

So Humboldt Made, what are the some of the big products that everybody would know?

SPEAKER_03 29:01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 29:02

Well what are the up and comers? Let's go, let's go spectrum.

SPEAKER_03 29:05

Okay. Um so do you know Hum Yum?

SPEAKER_00 29:09

Nope.

SPEAKER_03 29:10

Okay. You should know Hum Yum.

SPEAKER_00 29:12

I've heard of it. What is it?

SPEAKER_03 29:13

So Hum Yum is a caramel company, and she makes hard, like soft candy caramels. And she has this like, I'm gonna say 500-year-old wrapping machine that's really incredible and really beautiful. Um, she also has a caramel sauce. Also, fun fact, the owner, El Kaya, was my head baker for six years.

SPEAKER_04 29:36

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 29:37

So when she told me she wanted to start her own business, I was like, I will totally help you do that. Let's go. I mean, she's amazing. So that product is sold almost everywhere in Humboldt County, including like, you know, fancy gift shops.

SPEAKER_00 29:51

I think I saw some in a Friday at that store down in Old Town.

SPEAKER_03 29:55

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:55

Next in the London closet.

SPEAKER_03 29:56

Yeah, the um local store. Yeah, the Humboldt Mercantile.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

Yes. Yes. That's got a lot of cool products.

SPEAKER_03 30:02

Yep, really cool products. Um, so one of the things we're doing in Humboldt Made is we got a grant from Headwaters. And so we are taking four businesses to the largest trade show in the world.

SPEAKER_04 30:15

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 30:15

The food trade show, um, called Natural Product Expo West. And my business will be there. And so I got the two booths next to my business. So we'll have a Humboldt Row, which we've done before pre-COVID. And so this is really exciting. So those four businesses is Maka Pierogies. Do you know her pierogies?

SPEAKER_00 30:36

I think so.

SPEAKER_03 30:36

Okay, she was at the Rotary event.

SPEAKER_00 30:39

Which one? The one that we went to.

SPEAKER_03 30:41

Yeah. Um, and then we're bringing um Jersey Guy Scoop. You know them, right?

SPEAKER_00 30:49

Of course, had them on the show.

SPEAKER_03 30:50

Okay. Yes. Thomas is amazing.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

That'll be fun.

SPEAKER_03 30:53

Yeah, that'll be fun. And then uh Nomolina Pesto. They're coming.

Friday Night Markets And Funding Models

SPEAKER_00 30:59

Okay. And she's been around a while.

SPEAKER_03 31:02

Well, so she sold.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

She actually sold.

SPEAKER_03 31:04

She sold to these amazing sisters, Uma and Ida. And they bought the pesto and they bought Diane's Sweetheat.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Oh, nice.

SPEAKER_03 31:15

And the ATL.

SPEAKER_00 31:17

What's ATL?

SPEAKER_03 31:18

The Arcata Theater Lounge.

SPEAKER_00 31:20

That.

SPEAKER_03 31:21

So they are these young women under the age of 23.

SPEAKER_05 31:26

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 31:26

And they just are so impressive. I have really enjoyed getting to know them. They're smart, they're hardworking, they have done an amazing job. So they built a manufacturing facility to produce for that. And they also do the production of Tommasos.

SPEAKER_05 31:43

Oh, wow.

SPEAKER_03 31:44

So they do a lot of things. But so they'll be there. And then um shroom shots, which is a supplemental shot uh for immune, not for alcohol, but they might want to consider that. That would be great too. You know, a pairing. But anyway.

SPEAKER_00 32:01

Always thinking.

SPEAKER_03 32:02

Always thinking. So those are the four businesses that are coming to Expo West. So I would say some up and coming.

SPEAKER_00 32:08

When's the event?

SPEAKER_03 32:09

Um, it's in March.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Wow. Where do they do it? Vegas?

SPEAKER_03 32:12

No, uh, Anaheim.

SPEAKER_00 32:14

Oh, fun.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

Yeah. And it's where, like, you know, I can contribute, I could attribute about um probably like six million dollars in revenue to my company from going to this show. Like it's a significant show. Everyone is there. Whole Foods is there, Sprouts is there, Trader Joe's is there, Target is there, Walmart is there. Wow. And then Eureka Natural Foods is there, which is another big thing that we did this year. We did the Eureka Natural Foods brand story. Do you see the posters when you go in?

SPEAKER_00 32:45

I do, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:46

Yeah, they're all over the walls, and that's been really amazing. We're gonna try and duplicate that in all the grocery stores in the county.

SPEAKER_04 32:54

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 32:54

Because every Humboldtmade product has a story and it has an owner that lives here.

SPEAKER_04 32:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:59

And um, so Humboldtmade, you know, we've done lots of things. Um, and one of the things during COVID was we uh the county really heard a call to action that we needed to support our local community or local businesses. And because the chambers are very city focused, Fortuna, Eureka, da da, that didn't really make sense for them to run the countywide. So Humboldt Maid ran it. Um and it was called Choose Humboldt, and it was a partnership between the chambers, between the cities, between the county. So last year um there was another call to action from our local community, and um the Eureka Chamber put out in the city of Eureka put out a survey to the businesses, and the results were devastating. One in every four business was looking like they had to close their doors in the next 12 months if we didn't do something to support them. So we kind of the county, all the cities, all the chambers, all the community partners said, you know, humble made, let's start choose humbled again. So we have done that. Um we write weekly articles and the Time Standard. Um we do an app. Have you heard of this app?

SPEAKER_00 34:23

Which app? Choose Humble?

SPEAKER_03 34:25

Yeah, the Choose Humbled app. So we just finished our first um shop local series, and it's a gamified app, so it you get points from engaging.

SPEAKER_00 34:37

Oh, fun.

SPEAKER_03 34:37

And we had over 80,000 engagements. Um, the businesses really saw a lift in that. And we just launched the next app, which is din-in's day. So that's about dining um at our local restaurants and supporting them. And then it's also about our, you know, staying, so our hotels. Right. And this is a shoulder season, so it's the perfect time to have a staycation. We're also marketing too out of the area. And choose Humboldt really is about we choose to live here. And so we need to choose to spend here. Amen. Every time we support a local business here, we are supporting our community, we are supporting our friends, we are supporting our teachers, we are supporting everyone.

SPEAKER_00 35:27

Yeah, good, good work.

New Makers, Grants, And Expo West

SPEAKER_03 35:28

So that's our big message.

SPEAKER_00 35:30

So, so forget about Geico, man. Oh, oh, I had to get that in there. Hey, quiz time.

SPEAKER_03 35:36

Oh, gosh. Okay, we're already on to that. I didn't even get to the fire relief stuff, but we'll go to quiz. We'll see.

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Oh, let's do the fire relief. Yeah, and then you can do all the shout-outs. Um, so real quick, what do you like about living in Humboldt? Just that's not the quiz. That's oh that's a shoulder question.

SPEAKER_03 35:50

Okay, great.

SPEAKER_00 35:51

We're we're transitioning.

SPEAKER_03 35:52

Okay. Um, I love the community. I'm here for the community and the beach. The beach, the community of the Redwoods, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:59

What is community to you?

SPEAKER_03 36:00

So for me, community is um we had a devastating start to this year. Um that fire in Arcata was terrifying.

SPEAKER_04 36:11

Right.

SPEAKER_03 36:11

It was so um uh grossly impactful to the community.

SPEAKER_00 36:20

So on my birthday.

SPEAKER_03 36:21

Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_00 36:23

We were in Ashland watching it. It seemed so weird.

SPEAKER_03 36:25

And the first responders saved that city. I mean, it could have been so much worse. But seven businesses lost their business.

SPEAKER_00 36:33

Talk about heroes.

SPEAKER_03 36:34

Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Um and so within 48 hours of the fire, we had a meeting with over 50 community leaders pulling together, saying, What are you doing? What are your specialty? How can you do this? And the Arcata Chamber really led that drive. You know, Meredith is now Arcata Chamber executive director, which they could not have made a better choice. And she was like, We need to not duplicate, we need to work together, we need to divide and conquer. And we did. And within one hour, we had a plan of how we were gonna approach this and how we were gonna support our businesses, the residents, the city, and the community. And for me, that's what Humboldt is about.

SPEAKER_00 37:26

An hour.

SPEAKER_03 37:27

One hour. It was amazing. That's crazy. What we can get down in one hour is incredible.

SPEAKER_00 37:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 37:32

Um, so a few things about that. Um after that meeting, you know, Humboldt made, we're really good at doing press. I'm I love writing press releases, though. Hank had some things to say about my most recent press release, but we won't get into that.

SPEAKER_00 37:48

Hank, shout out to Hank Sand. Hank. You didn't like it.

SPEAKER_03 37:54

Well, no comment, Hank. No comment. No comment.

SPEAKER_00 37:59

Hank's a great guy.

SPEAKER_03 38:00

Anyway so um, you know, I thought I would just be kind of like a back-end supporter. And then the local PGE um team approached Humboldtmade and said, Hey, we really want to support our local business community. We want to donate$50,000 to them. So we have had other pledges, Redwood Capital Bank, Coast Central, and Cal Poly. And um so over the next four months, HumboldtMade will be accepting funds for the um businesses impacted by the Arcata fire. We have a committee that is being formed of community leaders that will um oversee the funds and help quantify kind of the losses and how to distribute them. The Arcada Chamber is doing a survey to really understand the needs of everyone. And um, so you know, it's just incredible. It's an incredible thing. And then we'll disperse some money in April.

SPEAKER_00 39:08

Hey, I forgot to do this. Oh. If you're just joining us, my new best friend Rosa Dixon.

SPEAKER_03 39:13

Hello, he remembered my name this time. I feel so honored.

SPEAKER_00 39:16

I remembered it last time. So by the way, we're talking about Arcata. So those that don't know anything about the Arcata fire, January 2nd, the day I turned 66.

SPEAKER_03 39:25

You look very good for 66. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

I do what I can. The um a half a block in downtown Arcada burnt to the ground in high winds, could have been far worse. Could have been way worse. And uh everybody rallied. Ferndale, Riadell, Willow Creek. I mean, people came from all over, right?

SPEAKER_05 39:46

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 39:46

And rescued and just made contain this thing that could have burnt uh historical arcata downtown. And it didn't.

SPEAKER_03 39:53

And it did not. I mean it it it's devastating what happened, but it could have been so much worse than that.

SPEAKER_00 39:59

Oh my gosh. My wife was really losing her mind over Northtown books because we bought kids grandkid books there for decades now. So yeah, just really tough to see. You know what's really weird is going by the fire now and hearing the smoke detector beep.

SPEAKER_03 40:14

I know. So here's the thing, and this is my other preach to the story is you know, the businesses that lost their business, it's terrible. But also people are not going to the businesses around that. So we really need everyone to go to APD to go to the businesses. I mean, we need you to support Arcata right now.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

Minor theater to still show in movies, right?

SPEAKER_03 40:38

Absolutely. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 40:40

Don't still have donuts?

SPEAKER_03 40:42

Totally.

SPEAKER_00 40:42

Hensil still has hardware.

SPEAKER_03 40:43

Yes, it does. They reopened the next day.

SPEAKER_00 40:47

I like that when you do that. That's even more pronounced. Yeah. They're great. I I was in there and they were just like so mellow and gracious.

Choose Humboldt: Apps, Articles, Engagement

SPEAKER_03 40:57

It's amazing. And so that was part of what came out of that uh, you know, power hour, as I'll call it, is we were like, okay, we need to do a fundraiser. So uh January 30th, 31st, and February 1st, there is an arcata um kind of porch party where everyone is having fundraisers. There's over 40 businesses participating. And it was really kicked off by Humbrews, who has over 25 bands that are playing through the weekend.

SPEAKER_00 41:33

You know Shelly?

SPEAKER_03 41:33

I don't know her. I met her on Zoom with this meeting.

SPEAKER_00 41:36

She's Shelly, she's cool.

SPEAKER_03 41:37

During the Power Hour.

SPEAKER_00 41:38

Good Salmoye.

SPEAKER_03 41:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

Hey Shelly, shut up. And they have uh Frank Zappa band coming, like a the uh I think before this, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

She's got some bands coming in uh like 25.

SPEAKER_03 41:49

25.

SPEAKER_00 41:50

Are they local? Um Are they Humboldt made?

SPEAKER_03 41:52

Uh most of them are. So yeah, Brett McFarlane's kicking it off. I mean, doesn't get more Humboldt than him. Um on the show. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 42:02

Did a song, did the Humboldt song just kick off.

SPEAKER_03 42:05

I'm sure he did.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

My daughter, who's a podcaster, she goes, we just can't find it anywhere online, but the acoustic version is on your podcast.

SPEAKER_03 42:12

Oh, so that's what he's playing. He's doing all uh acoustics.

SPEAKER_00 42:16

Great.

SPEAKER_03 42:17

And um so anyway, so that's gonna be a whole weekend. And so come out to Arcata, support Arcata.

SPEAKER_05 42:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:25

Um, it's gonna be really fun. I'm gonna be there. I'm gonna be there at every event. I'm gonna try. Every single one.

SPEAKER_00 42:32

Every band, too?

SPEAKER_03 42:33

Oh, I'm gonna try.

SPEAKER_00 42:34

A lot of bands. Hey, quiz time.

SPEAKER_03 42:36

Okay, oh gosh. Okay, we're back to that. I thought I really thought that I was gonna get away with not doing this. Nice try, though.

SPEAKER_00 42:41

You you made the quick attempt. Uh-huh. Um, but hey, I raised nine kids, man. I know what I'm doing here.

SPEAKER_03 42:46

Nine?

SPEAKER_00 42:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 42:48

You have nine children.

SPEAKER_00 42:50

Eleven grandkids.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

I mean, nine children is insane.

SPEAKER_00 42:56

With Joni, not just with like combined. I mean, just organic, on the farm, cult-like homestead.

SPEAKER_03 43:04

Okay, what are the age range? Let's go.

SPEAKER_00 43:06

42 to 21.

SPEAKER_03 43:07

Oh, okay. Five guys and you did like every two years?

SPEAKER_00 43:12

Pretty much. Nursing does that.

SPEAKER_03 43:13

Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 43:14

Nursing birth as birth control.

SPEAKER_03 43:16

Oh my goodness. That's cult. That's so commune.

SPEAKER_00 43:20

Oh, we'd ground our own wheat and had Levi's and homeschooled and got weird. That's amazing. And now we're better.

SPEAKER_03 43:26

That's amazing. I love that you have nine children.

SPEAKER_00 43:30

We do.

SPEAKER_03 43:31

I love that.

SPEAKER_00 43:31

Yeah. I love them. They're all pretty good citizens.

SPEAKER_03 43:34

Should we do the quiz on you?

SPEAKER_00 43:35

You could, but we're not going to. We're going to do it on you. This is this is your show. I get to do this all the time. Okay. Plus, Dick's going to interview me one day.

SPEAKER_03 43:43

Does do but do all your listeners know that you have nine children? Or is that a good one?

SPEAKER_00 43:48

Apparently they do now.

SPEAKER_03 43:49

And did they know that you don't use birth control except for breastfeeding?

SPEAKER_00 43:53

No, that's out. It's all out, man. You outed me, man. There you go.

SPEAKER_03 43:59

Now you know why Julie loves me.

SPEAKER_00 44:01

Cheers. Cheers from that. Here we go. Okay, question number one.

SPEAKER_03 44:05

Should I tell a Julie story? Okay. Question number one.

SPEAKER_00 44:07

You can.

SPEAKER_03 44:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

But you got to quiz first.

SPEAKER_03 44:09

Okay, let's quiz it.

SPEAKER_00 44:11

Oh my gosh. Okay. Question number one. What is fulfilling to you? What's most fulfilling and what's most soul crushing in your life that you like to do and you don't like?

SPEAKER_03 44:25

Okay. Wow, that's a great question.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

Thank you. I thought of it myself.

Arcata Fire: Rapid Community Response

SPEAKER_03 44:29

Okay, so um in 2021, I was very obese and I was very unhealthy. And I was having a lot of like physical challenges in my life. And um I come from a line of obesity. And so um that was something genetically that I struggled with. Um and I just made the decisions that that cannot be my life, that cannot be who I am. I cannot experience that. So I joined a gym and I lost 70 pounds. Wow, good shit. And I'm um very passionate about physical and mental health. And so I try and go to the gym every day.

SPEAKER_00 45:24

Where do you go?

SPEAKER_03 45:24

Uh I go to the club in McKinleville.

SPEAKER_00 45:27

Nice, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 45:28

I like it there. I like it there a lot. There's 'cause there's two clubs and they have all the things I like.

SPEAKER_00 45:33

Um they have a nice pool.

SPEAKER_03 45:35

Yeah, I don't swim. I don't want to get in a bathing suit.

SPEAKER_00 45:38

I'm a I'm a swimmer. Oh, you are? I have a speedo.

SPEAKER_03 45:40

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 45:41

I have nine kids.

SPEAKER_03 45:42

I would love to see this. That should be your podcast cover.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

There he is. They're Mark Spitz. It's a Mark Spitz.

SPEAKER_03 45:49

It's not a It would be you and a Speedo like this. It would be like this.

SPEAKER_00 45:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 45:53

With nine kids next to you.

SPEAKER_00 45:54

Could you imagine?

SPEAKER_03 45:55

I can I've already imagined. I've already designed it. I'm in marketing.

SPEAKER_00 46:00

Yeah. I'll never hear the end of that one next. That's good. So anyway, so to your story.

SPEAKER_03 46:08

Yeah. So that that is something. What what was the question?

SPEAKER_00 46:11

What's life-giving, what's soul crushing?

SPEAKER_03 46:13

Oh yeah. So that's life-giving to me. To be workout is cute. I work out. I I feel amazing. I'm in great health. I turned it around. I literally, like, I I think I I think I um reverse the clock 10 years.

SPEAKER_00 46:29

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 46:30

I mean, I have no, I have no reason to think that.

SPEAKER_00 46:32

Except you do resistance training to like weights or yeah, I do lifting.

SPEAKER_03 46:35

I lift. So I well, I lift and I run. Um, but mostly I lift. I love lifting. I injured my back, but before that, I could lift twice my own body weight at this weight.

SPEAKER_00 46:47

Um, which is my son's a bodybuilder, a 21-year-old, our baby. Oh my gosh. He could put up 465 at health sports.

SPEAKER_03 46:54

That's amazing.

SPEAKER_00 46:54

Shit, he owns the record. That's amazing. At 18, he had the record.

SPEAKER_03 46:58

You know, I would love to do bodybuilding at one point, but right now I don't have time to like weigh my food and do the thing. Does it only cut 30 pounds? It's it's a whole thing. It's a whole thing.

SPEAKER_00 47:08

He's totally like a fanatic. So what's soul crushing?

SPEAKER_03 47:11

Soul crushing for me. Um so honestly, my biggest soul crushing situation is I'm a very positive person. I'm a very um community-driven person. And it's very hard for me when there are people that don't that that want to compete and don't want to collaborate. And it feels very challenging and it feels very soul crushing because I feel like we just are gonna turn our own wheels over and over and over again. Like you're just riding a bike, a stationary bike, trying to get here, and we're never gonna get there.

SPEAKER_00 47:51

Right.

SPEAKER_03 47:51

And so And they're out there. And oh yeah, they're out there.

SPEAKER_00 47:54

Constructionist mofos.

SPEAKER_03 47:55

Yeah, and they're everywhere. I'm like, we could all get along. We could all be so good together.

SPEAKER_00 48:01

We could compromise and meet in the middle, and I think there's so that's my pet, peeve here. Comes the whole dad in me. Okay, let's hear it. Now it's just now there's people like that that they're they're heard, and then it's you've been heard. Yeah. Sit yourself down, Captain. You've been heard, we voted. It's over for you, bro. Yeah. And it's like people can't hear, oh well, with just stop. Because you you were heard and we did our do. And that's democracy and that's our process. And sometimes people can't handle that. And that it makes me a little bit soul crushed, too. Question number two. You have the whole day to do whatever you want to do in Humboldt, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Money's not an object. No. What do you, Rosa Dixon, do with your day?

SPEAKER_03 48:41

Oh my goodness. Well, is it summer or is it winter? Give me, give me some, give me some like is it raining or is it?

SPEAKER_00 48:49

It's a beautiful fall. It's the best season.

SPEAKER_03 48:50

Oh, it's October and we have fun. Okay, perfect. Okay. So I'm gonna get up on a Saturday when I don't have to work. Is that the question? Sure. Okay. I'm gonna let myself sleep in to 6 a.m. Because normally I get up at four. So I'm gonna sleep till six. I'm gonna be lazy as heck. 6 a.m. 6 a.m.

SPEAKER_00 49:11

Yeah, you really like.

SPEAKER_03 49:12

I'm gonna bring my coffee to bed because I love doing that. That's like my thing. I love getting in bed with a cup of coffee. Sure. Um, and then I'm gonna go to the gym and then I wanna go on a long hike because I just I love I love hiking. I love being outside.

SPEAKER_00 49:30

Where do you hike?

SPEAKER_03 49:31

Um pretty much everywhere.

SPEAKER_00 49:32

I like where would you like to hike on this day?

SPEAKER_03 49:34

Well, I'm gonna probably do if it's beautiful, I'm gonna do sumag because I want to see the ocean, I want to hear the whales, I want to see the sea lions, I want to do the whole thing. Um I meant that opposite. I want to see the whales, hear the sea lions.

SPEAKER_00 49:49

Hear the sea lions. Yeah. What about um Prairie Creek?

SPEAKER_03 49:53

Yeah, I love that too. But that's long.

SPEAKER_00 49:55

And and you know, but you have the whole day.

Fundraising Weekend And How To Help

SPEAKER_03 49:57

Oh, you have the whole day, but I don't want to do the whole day doing that. You because I want to do I want to do like a two-hour hike, not a four-hour hike. So I've done 13 miles in Prairie Creek, and I love it. But I think I think I like nine miles, and I think I want to be done at nine miles.

SPEAKER_00 50:16

Gotcha. What's next?

SPEAKER_03 50:17

Okay, so then I'm gonna go eat somewhere.

SPEAKER_00 50:21

And where do you eat when you eat it?

SPEAKER_03 50:23

So I love Cafe Phoenix for brunch, if I were to pick a brunch.

SPEAKER_00 50:28

Um not necessarily.

SPEAKER_03 50:30

No, but I'm not vegetarian.

SPEAKER_00 50:31

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 50:32

I was raised vegetarian, but I'm not vegetarian.

SPEAKER_00 50:34

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_03 50:35

And so um they have great food. So I was I was just there today, funny enough. Um, and then I well to have a mimosa, probably. Should I whisper that? I'll have a mimosa. No, I can say that.

SPEAKER_00 50:49

Legal in California. Yes, you could do that.

SPEAKER_03 50:53

And then we're probably at like 1 p.m., right? Um, so then I want to go to Moonstone.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

Uh.

SPEAKER_03 50:59

And I just want to lay on the beach and I just want to soak up the sun. I want to, when I get warm, I want to go dip in the ocean.

SPEAKER_00 51:06

Today would have been a day for that. Weird. In January. It's so worse.

SPEAKER_03 51:09

It was so weird.

SPEAKER_00 51:09

Yeah, it was so nice.

SPEAKER_03 51:11

Yeah, yeah. And then I want to go have dinner with friends.

SPEAKER_00 51:14

Where? And where do you go for that?

SPEAKER_03 51:17

Well, um I I like lots of places. So I if I were to go to Eureka, probably 5'11 or brick and fire. Um, those are my favorites.

SPEAKER_00 51:28

Arcado.

SPEAKER_03 51:28

Arcado would be salt or campground.

SPEAKER_00 51:31

And how about north of Trinidad, way up on Patrick's Well, of course.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

I love Larapen. Here it comes. Yeah. I love Larapen. And I also, I also love um, you know, I love Moonstone Grill too. The view is so beautiful and the food is good. And so I kind of I kind of love it all.

SPEAKER_00 51:50

I like it.

SPEAKER_03 51:51

And then uh what time is it that I have to end?

SPEAKER_00 51:54

Nine. Nine p.m.

SPEAKER_03 51:55

Oh dang. I wanted to go out dancing, but I guess I'll have to do that another night.

SPEAKER_00 51:59

Yeah. Where do you dance?

SPEAKER_03 52:01

Well, the basement has some fun, some fun dancing stuff. I did. You know what I did? I mean, I my I'm almost an empty nester, almost. And I went to the Eagle House for Halloween. That is a wild party.

SPEAKER_00 52:17

We're going Saturday to see Dirty Cello.

SPEAKER_03 52:19

Oh, amazing.

SPEAKER_00 52:20

She's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 52:21

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 52:22

She plays Purple Haze on a cello.

SPEAKER_03 52:24

Oh, awesome.

SPEAKER_00 52:25

She uh led Zeppelin the whole nine. She's quite talented band.

SPEAKER_03 52:29

Well, this is a little different. I danced in a cage. Oh.

SPEAKER_00 52:34

On Halloween. Pray tell. Tell us more.

SPEAKER_03 52:40

We'll just leave it there. I'm just saying it's a little it's a wild party.

SPEAKER_00 52:43

It's a cage dance. Okay, got it. Okay. All right. Well, thanks for coming. And we're done. I'm yeah. No, I'm kidding. You're doing great. Um, so the last quiz question I'm gonna bring to you. Um, any regrets in your life? Wait, number three. Top three regret regrets go.

SPEAKER_03 53:04

Oh my goodness. I don't know.

SPEAKER_00 53:05

We have a prize for you here.

SPEAKER_03 53:08

Oh um, not going to college right after high school. That's a regret I have. Um I'm gonna just you said one at first. Oh, that's the end of the show, people. I've been saved by the bat. That's the bell.

SPEAKER_00 53:30

That's the bill for me getting gas on the way home.

SPEAKER_03 53:33

Oh, that's his gas bill?

SPEAKER_00 53:34

That's my gas bell. Like a gas bill, which is gonna be way louder and higher.

SPEAKER_03 53:40

That's my southern accent coming in. Gas bell.

SPEAKER_00 53:42

Gas bell?

SPEAKER_03 53:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 53:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 53:44

I think I think I answered that question.

SPEAKER_00 53:46

Hey, no, I yeah, totally. College?

SPEAKER_03 53:48

Yeah, college.

SPEAKER_00 53:49

You still do college?

The Quiz: Fulfillment, Fitness, And Values

SPEAKER_03 53:51

Oh, no, not at this point in my life. Um schools. I don't need to do it. I I've I've learned all the things I need to learn at this point. I I will I will continue on the path I'm continuing. At one point, I did think, you know, as I started my business, like, why didn't I just go to business school? I wish I had done that. And I talked to one of the advisors at Cal Poly. I was like, should I go back to business school? And they were like, well, at this point you could kind of teach the business school. So I learned um, you know, all the things I needed to learn. I mean, I'm amazing at Excel and QuickBooks and all that stuff. And then the rest of it is just being an entrepreneur. It's about heart.

SPEAKER_00 54:28

I thought it'd be fun to go to the Midwest and just live for two years and go to some little Midwest sleepy liberal arts school and just study something cool.

SPEAKER_02 54:37

Like what in the Miss Midwest? Like we're talking Minnesota? Where are we talking?

SPEAKER_00 54:41

Who knows? Wisconsin. I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 54:42

Some Wisconsin.

SPEAKER_00 54:43

Some cool Midwest school.

SPEAKER_03 54:45

Have you ever been to Wisconsin?

SPEAKER_00 54:46

I'm from Sioux City, Iowa.

SPEAKER_03 54:48

Oh my goodness.

SPEAKER_00 54:49

And the answer is no.

SPEAKER_03 54:52

So you don't know about the cheese states.

SPEAKER_00 54:54

I really don't. I know there's cheese. I like the Packers. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 54:57

Oh, that's a sports team, right?

SPEAKER_00 54:59

Correct. That's football. Okay, good. Good, good. I'm I'm the miners are playing this Saturday.

SPEAKER_03 55:04

That's also a sports team, right?

SPEAKER_00 55:06

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 55:06

Great. I'm winning.

SPEAKER_00 55:08

Speaking of winning, Alyssa, we're can we hear a bell?

SPEAKER_03 55:11

I didn't hear a bell. Winning.

SPEAKER_00 55:13

Winning. Uh no, no, no. Oh, this bell.

SPEAKER_03 55:15

Go ahead. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:16

You won. Hey, first of all, in the prize bag, you win an authentic Scott Hammond State Farm Emery board.

SPEAKER_03 55:23

For my nails? Because you could tell how ranched they are.

SPEAKER_00 55:27

No, they look fine.

SPEAKER_03 55:28

Okay. And this is an odd thing for them to brand.

SPEAKER_00 55:31

Not necessarily local, but local feeling. Jill is very cool. Big sponsor. A Dutch Bros gift card.

SPEAKER_03 55:38

Oh my gosh. My 16-year-old daughter is obsessed with Dutch Bros. And I am going to be the coolest mom ever. Thank you so much for this.

SPEAKER_00 55:48

I love it. I love it. It's funny because there's one in Santa Rosa and it's bigger than Chick-fil-A. Oh yeah. Chick-fil-A is like the hottest or traders or something. And Dutch Bros. And on in Medford, where we go, where our kids and grandkids are, Rogue Valley. There's one in every corner. There's like 75 Dutch Bros.

SPEAKER_03 56:05

It's like, yeah, cool. It's such a big thing that when we were in Tennessee on the farm this winter, my daughter was like, Where's the Dutch Bros? She found one.

SPEAKER_00 56:14

Did she find really? Yeah. Oh, they're that far back now.

SPEAKER_03 56:17

Yeah. Yeah. Oh yeah. One. There was only one, but yes.

SPEAKER_00 56:20

But she found one. Yeah. In and out burger starting that way too. They're in Texas already.

SPEAKER_03 56:25

I don't want to really admit this on air, but I kind of like In N Out Burger. I love the lettuce wrap. It's so good.

SPEAKER_00 56:31

You can admit that. It's okay. No judgment, man. No judgment. So and um No, thank you. Thank you. You did good. So last question.

SPEAKER_03 56:41

I would like to say that he has a Dick Taylor bag, but I got these two things. So I'm kind of wondering what's left in the bag.

SPEAKER_00 56:48

Well, you know, I gotta talk to Dustin and Adam.

SPEAKER_03 56:52

Oh, that's the gas bell.

SPEAKER_00 56:54

Is that me again? That is so embarrassing. That's never happened.

SPEAKER_03 56:56

I put my phone on Do Not Disturb. I just would like to say that.

SPEAKER_00 57:00

I thought, you know, I thought I would be getting gas by Have we gone over on time? No, we're fine. We're almost done though. So here we go. Ready?

SPEAKER_03 57:08

Well, do you want to hear the Julie story?

SPEAKER_00 57:10

Really fast.

SPEAKER_03 57:11

Oh well, I can't do it fast. But it's such a good story.

SPEAKER_00 57:15

I know. Okay, go.

SPEAKER_03 57:17

Okay. So they did the women's uh conference in Eureka where um, not that I'm saying anything bad, but that the keynote speaker was a man.

SPEAKER_05 57:29

Right.

SPEAKER_03 57:29

Um, so that so that happened. And so uh I was on a panel with these amazing women, and Julie was one of them, and there were lots of questions that were asked, and it was, it was just it was so empowering. It was like Mary Keen, founder of Cypress Grove, Meredith from Six Rivers, now Arcada Chamber. Um, Alex Stillman was facilitating it, which I uh on that panel I did ask Alex if she would adopt me, and she said yes. So now I'm part of Alex's family. Um, and so it was and it was just this amazing group of women that just would inspire anyone all the time. And so we took questions at the end, and at the very end, this woman asked a question about how do you balance work life with having kids? Because I'm about to have a child and I want to know how I could do the same thing. And Julie said, Well, so there's only two of us that had children, me and Mary. And so we gave our thing. And then at the very end, when um they were like, Okay, and time's up, it's kind of like this. Time's up, you gotta wrap it up. Julie said, Can I just add one other option? And they said, sure. And she said, You could be a lesbian and do it all. And I just we just everyone just laughed and it was just it was amazing.

SPEAKER_00 58:53

And it was just she would say it with a smile on her face.

SPEAKER_03 58:55

And it was just so awesome. Like, yeah, you could be with a woman and just do it all.

SPEAKER_00 58:59

Julie, I did. Nine kids.

SPEAKER_03 59:00

Oh, there you go.

SPEAKER_00 59:01

Look at look at the scope.

SPEAKER_03 59:02

I mean, I'm still looking for a wife.

SPEAKER_00 59:04

So good luck. So last question, really fast.

SPEAKER_03 59:10

Okay, oh, I'm gonna go.

SPEAKER_00 59:11

What are we gonna say at your funeral? And what does it say in your gravestone? What's your legacy?

SPEAKER_03 59:16

Oh my goodness. Residential legacy. These are really intense questions. And I already have two gifts, and I don't think there's any more, so I don't feel a lot of pressure. But I do think people would say that Rosa woke up every single day trying her best, trying to help, trying to support, trying to love. And that's what I hope it would say.

SPEAKER_00 59:35

Amen. I love that. That's good. Thanks for being here.

SPEAKER_03 59:38

Thank you. This was so fun. This is so fun.

SPEAKER_00 59:40

This is the quickest hour of my week. Hey, uh at Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt Podcast.

SPEAKER_03 59:44

He says that to everyone.

Perfect Humboldt Day And Local Eats

SPEAKER_00 59:45

I do, but I mean it. It's genuine. See us at all the uh platforms, all the plot all the podcast platforms on YouTube, on Access Humboldt TV, and in in a store near you. And thank you for coming again. Appreciate you.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:00

Thank you so much. This was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed it.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:04

Me too.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:05

I love I love podcasts, and I'm a little nervous that there was video. I forgot.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:09

It'll be fine.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:10

All right. Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:11

Okay. Thank you.