Choosing The Stories We Tell Ourselves with Caroline Nelson

Quick Note: A technical glitch in new recording software meant that my audio was recorded not on my microphone. My deepest apologies for the decline in audio quality! It’s still great, just a little tinny, won't happen again!

Caroline is a rancher, cow girl, an entrepreneur, and a newly minted podcast host of Chews Wisely. In this marathon episode, we cover a lot of ground, but central to the conversation is an exploration of the stories we’re telling ourselves as individuals, as farmers and ranchers, and as a society and what it would mean to change them. Caroline shares about the stories she heard growing up and how she chose to tell herself a new story - a story that would lead her through a career in music, to masonry, to ranching in Montana. We meander through what it means to build a regenerative business, looking at your return on investment on time, and building the scaffolding for a new business led with femininity. We explore what it means to cultivate aggressive joy and how we can use choice as a lever in that process. We also talk about the way food is marketed, greenwashing, and how waste management might actually be the climate solution we’re looking for (jk, there are no panaceas, but it might help!). 

We Also Talk About: 

• Building grit + tenacity 
• Trusting ourselves
• Finding steadiness
• Imposter syndrome 

Find Caroline:

Instagram: @bigskycaroline

Meat: Little Creek Montana

Podcast: @chewswisely      

Cowgirl Camp  

Timestamps:

00:06:47: Special announcement for Stella Maria Baer’s Earth Oil Pigment Workshop

00:14:04: Caroline enters the chat and we complain about our husbands

00:18:24: Accountability to your future self

00:30:58: No quick fixes, big or small

00:39:49: Caroline’s backstory

01:01:52: Building a Business and the Trust Muscle

01:26:39: Including our Labor; ROI on Work

01:44:30: Cultivating aggressive joy

01:54:36: A new story for ranching

02:16:24: Embracing the feminine in business and beyond

02:37:14: Our relationship with food

02:44:58: Chews Wisely

In the Intro:

Stella Maria Baer’s Oil Pigment Paints Workshop 

Resources Mentioned:

The Heroine’s Journey by Maureen Murdoch 

Current Discounts for MBS listeners:

• 15% off Farm True ghee and body care products using code: KATEKAV15
• 20% off Home of Wool using code KATEKAVANAUGH for 10% off
• 15% off Bon Charge blue light blocking gear using code: MINDBODYSOIL15

Join the Ground Work Collective:

Find a Farm: nearhome.groundworkcollective.com

Find Kate: