Cherished Moments and New Horizons: Embracing Presence and Purpose in 2024

As the sunsets painted the skies during my sea kayaking adventure in the Florida Keys, I found myself embracing the tranquility of the present moment, a sentiment echoed throughout our latest podcast episode. My return from a podcasting hiatus is marked by tales of a birthday trip that was as much about turtle rescues as it was about rediscovering the joy in the simple things, like the infectious excitement in my son Brett's eyes during the holidays. From a Santa encounter that was as clever as it was heartwarming to the serene disconnect that comes from quality family time, this episode is an audio scrapbook of cherished memories and the importance of stepping back to recharge.

Turning the page to 2024, I'm sharing the intentions that will guide this new year: abundance, growth, alignment, and presence. Each word a cornerstone for the exciting changes ahead, from strategic brand differentiation between Sweet Freedom Farm and Farm to Heart to the introduction of thought-provoking guests who'll join me on the show, enriching our conversations. As I reveal plans for a mini-course that bridges business with purpose, I invite you to join this community's journey on Instagram, where our shared narratives continue to weave together personal reflections with professional aspirations.

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Farm to Heart Podcast, a podcast for heart-centered entrepreneurs and dreamers alike seeking to plant their seeds and grow a life of alignment, purpose and their own version of joy-filled success. I'm Sarah Rutter, a former award-winning bakery owner, turned mama, animal rescuer and multi-passionate entrepreneur with a desire to help others ignite their dreams and create a life they love without the burnout. So whether you're seeking guidance on personal growth, launching or growing your current business, or simply looking for inspiration to ignite your entrepreneurial spirit, this podcast will be your loyal companion. So join me as we plant the seeds of your dreams, nurture their growth and cultivate a life of purpose, abundance and fulfillment. So saddle up and let's go. Oh, my goodness, I am so excited to be back. I am just so excited to catch up with you and tell you what has been happening in both personal life and business. So I just can't wait to get this thing going and I'm excited to be back here.

Speaker 1: 1:12

So it has been over a month, I think, since I recorded my last episode and that started out. That break started out very unintentional and then turned into being very intentional, and that happened because the way so I have not found time to create a good system and a good process to record episodes far enough ahead of time or batch record episodes, and that came back to bite me and I learned lessons from that. But it was also just perfect timing in the fact that we traveled to Florida in December to celebrate my sister's 40th birthday and my birthday. Our birthdays are one day apart, and so it was just the timing that was perfect into where we were traveling on both days a week apart, that I would normally be recording my episodes, and so when I realized that, I kind of just decided to embrace it and I didn't want to be stressed about it and so I decided to just take the entire month of December off from emails, from podcasting, from social media for a few weeks, from pretty much anything that has to do with electronics and techie stuff, and it was really, really great. I did hop on social media a few times, but not during our trip. I was completely logged off of everything while we were on our vacation and that was really, really rewarding and just felt great to be just totally present with Brett and Calvin and my whole family, because my brother and his kids were there, and so it was just really, really great to be with our entire family during that time and our whole family went to the Florida Keys.

Speaker 1: 3:23

We stayed in Marathon Key and it was amazing and I highly highly recommend it. It was just a really, really great trip. We rented one house for all of us I think there was 12 of us or 13 of us and it had a pool and a hot tub and it was right on this little Inlet of the ocean and we got to see Manatees a couple nights in a row and we did some sea kayaking and we went to the turtle hospital to see them rehabbing a bunch of sea turtles, which is really great, and it was just. It just was really Relaxing and rejuvenating time that I needed and I just it was really great. It was the trip that I needed and I wanted and I love spending time with my family and just being able to be present with everybody. So that was early December and then we got back and really just kind of dove into the holidays and Holidays were busy, but it was super, super fun.

Speaker 1: 4:28

This year was just extra magical with Brett. Brett is two and a half and he just soaked it up for every twinkling light and Christmas cookie and Gift wrapping and sparkle and joy and all of it. He, he was in for it all this year and it was super, super fun. We even had an event here at the farm when Santa and Mrs Mrs Claus came and we did a little bake sale and then people could Hang out with Santa and take pictures with him, and it was a super successful event. It was actually one of our most successful events We've had here to date.

Speaker 1: 5:08

But the funny part was is that Santa and Mrs Claus are my parents. They, they have been doing that for several years. They used to do it at that actually they still do do it at the cupcake shop, and then this year they came and did it up at the farm. So they, they're really great at being Santa and Mrs Claus.

Speaker 1: 5:30

But it was funny because this year Brett was starting to get into Santa and just kind of the whole magic of Santa and Christmas, and so we knew that if he heard my dad talk when he was dressed as Santa, that he would know that that was Papa. And so we set up this whole grand, elaborate plan of the day that my dad was playing Santa at gold mine cupcakes. He recorded a little video To Brett and he as as Santa. And he said hey, brett, this is Santa and I just wanted to let you know that your papa is gonna help me Tomorrow because I'm super, super busy, and so Papa's gonna dress like me, like Santa, and come play, pretend up at the farm. And so my dad sent that to Brett as a little video from Santa and Brett was just like all for it and he was like, yeah, papa's gonna pretend to be Santa, and so so he actually knew that that Santa that day was, was Papa, and so that was kind of funny because he just kept talking to him like normal and hanging out with them as if it was normal Papa and all these kids are looking at him like that's not Papa, that's Santa. But it all worked out great and he wasn't scared of Santa and, yeah, he knew, he knew it was Papa and so it was just it kind of it was fun because he he was really playing along with the whole thing and understood that Papa was helping out Santa by by filling in for him that day.

Speaker 1: 7:10

So so that was part of December and then we just had Some other fun activities planned. We went to the zoo and saw the zoo lights and we went and did the fancy tea Like the Christmas tea at the Brown Palace Hotel in downtown Denver, which was really fun. I did that with my mom and my sister and it was just a really magical month and I am Really grateful that I chose to just kind of take a step back and and allow myself to really soak in all the little memories and moments of the month and not be consumed by Like, oh my gosh, the year is almost over. I Need to make a huge plan for January and for 2024 and all those thoughts so. But now that we are in January, my brain is in a high gear and I'm really just Prepping for the year and I'm super, super excited for everything that is coming. And so now that we are here, we are in 2024. Happy New Year everybody.

Speaker 1: 8:19

I am excited to Really just dive into the words of intention that I chose for the year. I'm not a New Year's resolution person. I learned fairly early on, I think, that resolutions kind of just make me anxious and very quickly I start to Feel like I'm failing if I don't do it every single day, and I love that society is kind of doing away with the idea of resolutions and shifting more towards, like a word, to kind of Revolve your life more around, like peace or joy or something like that, or just more intentions of Of living more slowly or living with more gratitude or anything like that, like something stuff that can be learned over time or grow over time and doesn't have to just be like a strict every day. If you don't do it every day, you've already failed, type of thing. So I have some intentional words for the year and I will share them with you.

Speaker 1: 9:35

One of my words is abundance, and I chose abundance for a few reasons, but one of those being in that I want to remind myself to be abundantly grateful for everything that we have currently, because I think that it is okay to want growth and want more in certain areas of your life, but also be fully content in other areas of your life, and I do feel like there are several areas of my life that are fully abundant and just fill my cup and bring me so much joy. And there are also areas that I would love to add some abundance and some growth, which growth is another one of my words as well. I would love to grow certain areas of my business and just continue to build on the Farm to Heart brand and the community aspect of it and continue to grow Sweet Freedom Farm and hopefully be able to rescue some more farm animals this year. But with rescuing more animals means that we need to be bringing in more income, and so, therefore, abundance and growth they kind of go together both for Sweet Freedom Farm and for the Farm to Heart brand as well.

Speaker 1: 11:10

And then another one of my words, which is kind of the word of my life currently, is alignment. I'm just always now, being a second time business owner, I am always seeking and going through this checklist of alignment with decisions in my business and my life to make sure that they fit into a good place in my life and that they're not gonna bring stress and they're not gonna bring anxiety. And I'm not just saying yes to say yes, there are a few things in 2023 that I said yes to that did end up just kind of stressing me out and bringing me, making me more busy than I needed to be and not really adding to my life In a positive way. And so I am going to cut back on some of those things in 2024 and really just focus on the things that really bring value to my me and my family and the dreams and goals that we have for our lives. And then the last word that I have, I'm totally blanking on, let's see.

Speaker 1: 12:28

Oh, presence, yeah, that's funny that I forgot that one. But presence I just really wanna focus on when I am with friends and with family and with Brett, my two and a half year old. I am 100% present in all of those situations because I don't want to be hanging out with somebody and thinking about what I should be doing for work, or emails that need to be answered or stuff like that. I just want to really be somebody that people can know and trust that when they are spending time with me, that I am listening and I am engaged, and I just want them to feel loved and feel appreciated and just know that I am loving every second that I'm spending with them. So just really focusing on being present in the moment with the people that I am surrounded by.

Speaker 1: 13:30

And then something that came to a head in December when I was talking to one of my business mentors, hailey Thomas. She runs the Passion Pursuit, so if you don't know her, you should go follow her. She's amazing. But I kind of had this aha moment that, like I am craving and desiring more of a schedule and more structure when it comes to the work side of my life, because, on the flip side, like having a toddler is it's like structured chaos where, like he kind of has a schedule but it's can change every day and the in between times are just a little wild and all over the place. So I'm just craving more like systems and structures for my business so that I have certain days where I know I can count on time to record podcasts, or time to write outlines for future podcasts, or days to write blog posts or work on a content calendar or something like that. And so that's something I've really been working on early now that we're in January is really just trying to work ahead and create more of a schedule for myself so that I'm not always working Like the night before a podcast is supposed to be out, which is exactly what I'm doing right now. So clearly I am still a work in progress, but I have been working all day on planning for future episodes and just really getting a good content strategy, because social media is something that I struggle with quite a bit, and so I think having that planned out for like two weeks at a time will really help me out in other areas of the business as well. And then just getting some systems nailed down as far as emails go or blogging or anything like that. So I'm excited to get more systems and more of a kind of a schedule for the work side of things laid out and see what kind of benefits that brings for me.

Speaker 1: 15:50

And then another thing that I am choosing to do in 2024 is just really embrace the long, slow game of my business. I know that there are a lot of businesses right now, especially on Instagram, holy cow that you see like just do this and you'll make $1,000 in the next 48 hours and just do that, and everything's just trying to be like an overnight success, and that type of stuff really gives me anxiety, if I'm gonna be completely honest, and it also just doesn't feel aligned with the type of business that I wanna build. And so I was actually just listening to the Buzzcast, the Buzzsprout podcast, today and they were talking about like the long game of podcasting and how podcasting is something that will grow slowly over time, but just like blogging or anything like that, like it's gross slowly because people are getting to know you and you're building those relationships with your audience and you're really gaining the ideal customers and the people that are gonna be sticking with you for a long time. And I love that idea. Like I love just being thinking about really building relationships with people that are interested in learning about random farm animals and also business and just hearing about mom life and finding alignment in creating your business and stuff like that.

Speaker 1: 17:30

Like my brand is a little is very niche or unique I guess, as far as kind of being all over the place with nature and horses and passion and joy and what you do and also just business, and so I think it'll be a really fun journey to just let people into that part of my life and all those areas of my life so that they get to know me and I can get to know them. And so I'm just really embracing the long form content through podcasting and blogging and email newsletters and just I'm excited to get to know people that want to get to know me and want to get to know my business and I want to get to know their businesses and their dreams and their hopes and their passions and all of it. So I'm just really embracing that in 2024 and I'm not like. I obviously want to make money and I have many plans of things to hope to build the business and make an income, but it's not stuff that I'm expecting to make any sort of overnight success or the stuff that you see on Instagram right now. That is just like I don't know. It stresses me out. So that is not my jam and I'm going. I'm going to stick with the relationships that can be grown stronger and deeper through the long form and the slower content building and really just focusing on creating a brand farm to heart that feels like a community and like a safe place for people to share their dreams, ask questions and just get to know each other and so.

Speaker 1: 19:24

On that same note, I another realization that I have had in the last month or so is that I really am going to separate the two brands Right now. So right now I live on a farm. If you're new to this podcast, I live in Blackhawk, colorado, and our farm is called Sweet Freedom Farm and we are a horse rescue and we also have some rescued chickens and rescued dogs and we also hold small weddings here and some picnics in the pasture and we do like team building picnics for companies, and I do one-on-one equine inspiration coaching with our horses as well. So there's a lot of things that go on just here at the farm, including just raising our toddler and learning about nature, and we're gonna get into gardening this summer, like I said. So that is kind of a whole brand on its own is Sweet Freedom Farm, and then when I started this podcast and named it Farm to Heart, it kind of just clicked that the Farm to Heart side of it, with the podcast and the blog which is coming soon, and then more of the business coaching side of it, is its own brand, and so that's kind of where I'm going with those is I'm gonna kind of separate them, even though they're both me and they're both part of the similar business, but they also have very large differences that would attract different audiences, and so I think it will be easier for me if I divide them up, which is pretty. I think it'll be pretty easy to do, because they each have their own Instagram page right now, and Sweet Freedom Farm really has nothing to do with the podcast other than that I record it here in our office and you'll hear some farm updates every once in a while, but otherwise they're very different.

Speaker 1: 21:37

The farm is a place, and Farm to Heart is more of a community and just kind of a way of thinking, like growing your business organically and building deep roots, growing deep roots with where you wanna be and stuff like that. So it's like a mindset, I guess. And so, anyways, I'm excited to really focus on building each of the brands separately and not trying to make them work as a one-hole, because it just it isn't working. And so I'm excited to see what I can build with the Farm to Heart brand and see how we can keep this growing and turn it into more of a community aspect as well, because I'll never actually I won't forget the first time I said Farm to Heart.

Speaker 1: 22:30

I said it at an event that we had here at the Farm last January so pretty much a year ago from today, actually and it was a vision-boarding and dream-building workshop and I was talking about kind of the Farm to Table concept and how you grow your own food and then you I mean you spend all the time like growing the vegetables and tending to them and pruning things that need to be pruned, and then you, and then you pick them or you cut them and then you cook with them and then you eat a delicious meal, and how that can pertain to our businesses and and our lives, and kind of the same concept of just how we treat the businesses that we're building and the lives that we want to be living in, and kind of a Farm to Table type of way. And so I said it. I said the term Farm to Heart and I was like, oh, I like that. And then when I decided to finally start the podcast, it was pretty easy, like that, that was what I wanted to call it, and now it's kind of just become my one-on-one coaching with my clients, with the horses is Farm to Heart coaching. And so it just became a brand kind of naturally, and I wanted to become a community and a place where I can continue to hopefully inspire people to go after their dreams and where people can inspire each other with their stories of big pivots that they made in their businesses in order to pursue more of their calling or getting through bad burnouts or really just aligning their passions and their purpose and creating the life that they want. And so I just can't wait for everybody to share those stories together and for for me to share the little nuggets of wisdom that I have learned along the way and for guests to share their nuggets of wisdom, and it's just going to be really great.

Speaker 1: 24:44

So if you would like to follow Sweet Freedom Farm and you want to keep up with the horses and the animals and more of the farm related in-person events here at the farm and the nature and that type of stuff, you can follow us at Sweet Freedom Farm co-co on Instagram or you can yeah, you can follow us there and you can also sign up for our newsletter as well and get updates on everything happening here at the farm. And then, if you want to follow the podcast and the Farm to Heart community and brand, you can follow me there on Instagram as well, at farm to heart, sarah S-A-R-A. So I'm really excited for just well. I'm also excited to announce that we will have some guests on the podcast starting very soon. Those are being recorded right now and I can't wait to share those with you guys, and I'm also working on a little mini course about building a business that is aligned with your why and how important it is to create a business aligned with the why, like why you started that business, or why you want to start that business, and then how it can affect every aspect of your business and your growth and then the life that you want to be living. So that course will be launching. I will be launching a beta group for that in the next couple weeks and then we will.

Speaker 1: 26:22

We're just really diving into 2024, so I can't wait to just keep sharing with you guys what is coming and things happening, both here at the farm and with Farm to Heart coaching and podcast and all the good stuff. So shoot me a message on Instagram. I really do want to hear what your goals are for the year. I want to hear stuff that you're building. I want I just want to hear all of it. So I can't wait to talk to you guys next week and have a great first week of the year.

Speaker 1: 26:55

Happy new year everyone. Thank you so much for listening today. If you enjoyed the show, please like and subscribe to the podcast on your favorite listening platform. You can also leave a review anytime or send me a DM on Instagram at farm to heart. Sarah, I would love to hear from you and hear more about your story. You can also help the podcast even more by financially supporting the tech and time costs of each episode, starting at just three dollars per month. Click the support the show link in show notes to learn more. Today's show plus more farm fun can be found on the blog at sweet freedom farm cocom. I can't wait to talk to you again next week. Havea beautiful day everyone.