How We Almost Lost Everything (And Found Our Farm's Purpose with Tallow)

Before there was Dragon Creek Ranch, there was years of grinding... eBay flipping, estate sales, a brutal home sale, and a closing that almost didn't happen twice. And even after we finally got here, a family setback nearly made us lose it all before we ever got started.

In the middle of all of that, I was also quietly losing a battle with my own skin. Years of rosacea and eczema, hundreds of dollars spent on prescriptions and creams, nothing working. Then somebody recommended tallow. My reaction? "Ew. Absolutely not." Thirty days later I caved. And three days after that, my skin started clearing up for the first time in years.

This is the full origin story of Dragon Creek Ranch. The grind, the setbacks, the skin transformation, and the wedding favor that accidentally launched a business. If you've ever wondered why I do this... this is your answer.

Grab your coffee. Pull up a chair. This one's personal. 

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Dirt & Drive Podcast: Real conversations about building a business, working the land, and creating something that lasts.

Before you head out to pasture, remember, this is just people sharing opinions not medical, legal, or business advice. The opinions expressed here don't necessarily reflect the views of the host, Dragon Creek Ranch, or the Dirt & Drive Podcast. Always remember to do your own research. It's ok to get your hands a little dirty, but keep your rap sheet clean. Thanks for listening!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Two years ago, I didn't even think we were going to be able to get into this property, much less keep it. So today I want to tell the story of how we got started, how Dragon Creek Ranch was born, and how soap is literally saving it. This is Dirt Drive, the podcast all about turning a small homestead into real business. So about five or six years ago, my husband and I decided that we wanted to get some land and start a homestead. And we knew this was going to take some money in order to do, especially in the county that we live in. So we had to kind of strategize and come up with a plan in order to have like the down payment and things that we were going to need for the property. And were we going to do this with family, not? So we had to come up with a plan. So we kind of tentatively planned we were going to do this with family. And I started flipping things online. So going to estate sales, yard sales, thrift stores, and flipping them on eBay. And this was what we were going to use to kind of help build our money to get into the property eventually. And we also flipped a property that needed to be renovated in order to sell that so that we could have the down payment. So it was like several years of just grind and grind and can we do this? Can we can we get the funds to get into this property? And so we found a property after looking all over in this county. It was very difficult to find stuff that was going to be within our price range and have the land that we wanted. And so we found it. And it was at a time period where the rates were not so great and sellers were asking like way over value. Like so this place actually came in under it, under appraised for what they were asking, um, because they were just asking for so much. So we it was it was a struggle just to get in its place. We had to sell our house, and somebody was buying our house and they were selling their house. It was like this cascade of things that needed to happen in order to get into the property. So we kept having a delay in closing, and it was honestly, we didn't think we were even going to get in it. And at that point, we were going to lose earnest money too, because um the sellers wanted us to have a non-refundable earnest money thing because it's just it was just a mess. So anyway, we did finally close after about two weeks of delays. We did finally close on the property and it was so surreal. It was just, it was wonderful, it was magical, and we were so grateful and so thankful. And then we got in the property and then reality set in because we knew the house was a fixer-upper and we had to fix some things. And we also had to renovate the basement so that our mom could move in. So, because moving into the property, we it had to become a family affair because financially we just could not do it on our own for the land and the price in in this area. So we got into the property. It was a lot of work to get here, and it was it was so wonderful. But you quickly realize if you're going to do a homestead, if you're going to have a property and have animals and things, it takes money. So uh it was a struggle for a while, and we were renovating. So the first whole year, we're like, we can't add anything as far as homestead animals because we are so focused on fixing the house, and that was the full first year. And then by the end of the year, unfortunately, a family member that we were also doing this with decided to leave and they didn't want to be a part of it anymore. So that financially devastated us, honestly, because that was we had to refinance, and that was a whole process in and of itself. So I was like, we are gonna lose this place. I literally thought we were going to lose it, we were going to have to sell, and we were just gonna have to give up on the dream of homesteading and having some property. So this would this all happen and went down like right around a month before my husband and I got married, and I had been making soap and tallow creams for myself because that is what helped my skin. So I'm gonna detour a little bit and talk about that just for a second, and then we'll get back to the wedding. I'm just like a woman rambling. So I had been making tallow soap and creams for my face because I had been suffering for years with rosacea, eczema, and skin problems. And tallow was one of the few things that helped me. And it's so funny because for years I had been trying so many things. My skin was so awful. And I I was at just a breaking point because I had literally dropped like $100 on a prescription, and we didn't really have the money for that. And I got it and it like burned my face, made my skin worse. And I remember literally just crying in front of the mirror because I was so embarrassed and I was like, I literally just spent a hundred dollars that we don't even have to try to fix my face, and it wasn't doing anything, it was just making it worse. So someone recommended that I try some tallow. And at the time I was like, I just spent this money, I'm not buying anything else right now. And ooh, gross. I really literally thought, ooh, tallow's gross. That's disgusting. I'm never doing that. And a month later, I just finally I was able to get some and I tried it, and within three days, three days, my skin started clearing up. And after dealing with for years, my skin just being having so many problems. It was like I'm I was just an instant like lover and believer in tallow because it was literally changing my skin right before my eyes within a couple days. So my skin improved over time the more I was using the tallow, and it's not perfect. I'm super sensitive to skin. I can literally like sweat the wrong way or eat the wrong thing, and I'll get like a breakout. It stinks. But fortunately, I can test all my products on myself that I make. So I know if I react to something, I'm not gonna sell it. But that's how I got started with tallow. And it's it's not a cure, but it's helped me manage my skin and it's obviously helped me improve the quality of my life, just you know, being more confident and being able to not be crying in the mirror anymore because my skin hurts and I'm embarrassed by it. So I'm just so grateful for it. So anyway, fast forward to our wedding, it was bootstrapped. We were like, we don't have the money, we've just, you know, we're gonna have to refinance this place already. And we like, we bootstrapped our wedding. I found chairs in an estate sale, the white wedding chairs for like three dollars a piece, which, if you know anything about white chairs for weddings, like that is cheap. Like, I was so grateful. We got a tent. And in the process, we were thinking, okay, is there a way we can raise money? Can we have some other weddings here? Can we turn this into a wedding red venue? But then, you know, when we really got into it, we're like, we're gonna have to do so much to this property to make it so that people could actually come here. But our friends were amazing, they came out and sport us, and I made soaps for favors for our wedding and used our initials to stamp. So it was an inexpensive way for me to make some favors. And it was everybody loved the soap and was excited about it. So a couple weeks later, while we're still trying to figure out, okay, are we even gonna be able to keep this property? Someone messaged me and was like, Your soap has literally changed my life. I'm like, what? They're like, my skin has never been better. I need more soap. Are you gonna are you gonna make more? And I was like, that's interesting. And then a night a couple days later, like somebody else messaged me and they wanted some. And I was like, Well, could I maybe this is it? I I didn't think I would be creating and selling a product. I thought maybe we would be, you know, having animals here and we would do the wedding venue thing. So I really dug into the business of building a soap business and tallow, and everyone was telling me it's oversaturated. I just heard saw it everywhere. And but I also knew that I could make something good and it could help people. And I was like, you know what, it's oversaturated. I'm gonna go for it anyway. And I just dug in and I learned everything I needed to know about starting a business, like forming the LLC, the insurance that I would need, and started formulating some of my recipes around, you know, what I knew worked for me and like so adding different scents and essential oils, and started selling it. So I was selling to friends and family, and I set up a website on Shopify, like with a few clicks, I did like the design myself. So it was definitely bootstrapping doing those things myself because we didn't have a lot of money and I needed to make this work. I honestly considered at the time, I was like, do I just need to go like uh work for the county or something? And because I was substitute teaching here and there, and they'd offered me to possibly become a pair pro. And I was like, Well, should is that what I should just do? But even then, I was like, I don't know if this is gonna be enough to help us. So I put up the website and I started posting on social media. Please don't go back and look at some of those videos because they're so awkward. But I was like, I know I've got to do this, and I started selling some online and I was like shocked. I'm like, people are buying from me and they don't even know me. Like, this is this is wild. So we scheduled our first event. Uh, we did Pumpkin Fest in Canton last fall. It was, I think it was in September. And the planning for that was so scary. Like, I mean, I figuring out the labeling, and I was spending so much to buy the tent and the tablecloths, and we had tables, fortunately, that we could use, so we didn't have to buy tables. Uh, getting some inexpensive shelves that I could use, getting some uh getting deals on anything I could get because I wanted it to look professional. I didn't want it to look just thrown together because from what I understand of marketing and selling and my years of of estate sailing and you know, just learning all this stuff, I knew I needed to have good branding. And so it wasn't the best. I mean, you go back and look at it now, I'm like, oh yeah, I've made some improvements since then. But anyway, that was our first event, and it was scary because I remember the night before crying because I'm labeling tallow creams and just thinking, this I have put so much money and so much work into this, and I feel like so much is riding on this, but I had to remind myself, okay, don't plan to make anything. Everybody said you don't plan to make any money, your first one. You'll know you won't even make money on your first one. That's I kept hearing that everywhere in groups and everything. And I was like, okay, I'm learning, I'm not planning to make any money. This first one, this is just an experience. But I had put the like the venue, I had to pay $150 to be there. So that was scary on top of everything I had put into making stuff and buying things, and it was scary. So let me take a sip of my coffee because this next part's good. So we showed up in Canton and we set up and within minutes, like it was literally minutes. Like I wanted to film videos while I was there because I was like, I know social media is important. Couldn't even continue filming because we had a line at our tent. We had people clamoring to get our stuff, and the event was only four hours long, four or five hours long, and we sold over $900 in product that day. And I remember just sitting down at the end of the event as everyone's packing up, and I just started crying because I knew at that point I had something. And I in that moment, I believed in myself and I believed in this journey, and I believed I was gonna, we were gonna save our property for our for our family and for the things that we want to do for our community. And it was just such a big moment, and the vendors next to us were just like saying congratulations to us, and it was they couldn't believe it was our first event. And frankly, I can't believe it was the first event either to do so well. And it's just, I was so grateful, just so grateful. So, anyway, that's the story of how that started. And I think the main thing that that experience taught me was that driving and pushing and pushing past your barriers and things that scare you is what is going to make things happen. Because I was just grinding and grinding. I was so exhausted, I was so overtired. And but I was like, I have to keep going. I was like, we have to save this. And there was no question in my mind, I was either going to fall flat on my face from trying so hard, and then that would be our sign. Okay, let's move on and let's sell the place and just we have to give up on this at that point. But there it wasn't gonna be for a lack of pushing and trying and driving. So that's how we got started. Fast forward to now. We're we're over a lot of the financial, but we're still struggling. So the soap business is helping to pay the mortgage now, which is absolutely incredible. But it's kind of a month-to-month thing right now, so it's a little scary at times, but I just keep grinding and driving. I have us events books booked all fall, and that was a pretty penny to fork that out. If you know anything you gotta about events, you gotta pay in advance. But the future of this place, the plants that we do have, we would love to have animals, just financially at the point we're not there, but we're using this business to help us now build this property. We the business has helped us get out of the biggest struggle of our lives, and now we want to use it to help us grow something here that is not just for our kids and for us, but we do want to do something to help our community here and say preserve some land because a lot of our land in this county is disappearing, unfortunately, and we want to save some of it. And that whether that's through regenerative farming, we would love to have some sheep, we want to have livestock birds very soon. And as soon as we're financially able, that's the plan. But for now, soap is has saved us and is pushing us forward. So that's why we're here, and that's why Dragon Creek Ranch exists. So I would encourage anyone out there who is looking to either get into homesteading or is in homesteading and struggling, that you can push and you can keep going. So the farm is still standing, the soap is still changing people's skin and the tallow creams, and that's the story of Dragon Creek Ranch. And if you've ever had anything work after years of grinding and nothing, you know exactly why I couldn't keep this to myself and why why I wanted to share my story and why I think other people's stories need to be heard. Because I know I'm not alone in this struggle, and I know that there are so many homesteaders out there and farmers and people building and grinding things that have amazing stories to share. So I'm excited to share their stories on this podcast as well. Thank you for listening. I'll see you next time on Dirt and Drive. All right, y'all. Before you head back out to Pasture, remember this is just people sharing opinions, not medical, legal, or business advice. The opinions expressed here don't necessarily reflect my opinions or the opinions of Dragon Quick Ranch or the Dirt and Drive podcast. Remember to always do your own research. It's okay to get your hands a little dirty, but keep your wrap cheek. Thanks for listening. And if you enjoyed the podcast, please subscribe and leave us a review. It'll help us reach more hopes.