Producing Local Farmers and Crafts Markets and Community Events with Christy Campli

Intro: Get your 2025 off to a great start and join us for our upcoming networking event. Come out to the American Helicopter Museum in Westchester on Wednesday, January 22nd for a fun engaging happy hour. Connect and catch up with others in our start local community over good food, local beer, delicious wines, and non-alcoholic drinks. As always, attendance is free but registration is required. You can register on our website at [startlocal.co]. That’s [startlocal.co]. See you there. 

Liam Dempsey: Welcome to Start Local, where we talk with business owners, leaders of nonprofits, and other members of our community focused on doing business in and around Chester County, Pennsylvania. Each episode will provide insight into the local business scene and tell you about opportunities to connect with and support businesses and nonprofits in your local area.

Joe Casabona: The Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce promotes trade, commerce, industry, and sustainable economic development while supporting a diverse and growing marketplace. The chamber is proud to partner with the Start Local podcast to raise the profile of businesses and nonprofits throughout Chester County. Learn more about the chamber at scccc.com. That’s scccc.com.

Liam Dempsey: Hey. Hey. I’m Liam Dempsey, and I am delighted to be in the recording studio today with Joe Casabona. Joe, this is a rare treat for me and for our listeners. So happy you’re here today. How are you, Joe?

Joe Casabona: I am psyched to be here. Yeah. I’m usually not on the recording, so I’m really excited. I’m doing very well. We’re coming up on the first half of the of the school year, and so, looking forward to a little little time off with the family.

Liam Dempsey: That’s fantastic. Yeah. Yeah. You do a ton behind the scenes. Nobody gets nobody gets to see that or give you credit for it. Erik and I take all the glory. So, but, hey, folks…

Joe Casabona: That’s fine.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You’re kind, you’re kind, you’re kind, you’re kind to serve so well behind the scenes. We really do appreciate it.

Folks, as you might have heard already at the start of this show, we are hosting another Start Local Networking event. We’re gonna gather together on Wednesday, January 22nd in the new year. That’s 2025, folks. And we’ll gather as we have from 5 to 7. Joe, how cool is the venue?

Joe Casabona: It’s super cool. We’ll be at the American Helicopter Museum in Westchester. Such a unique place, with sorts of whirly birds across the entire history of rotary wing flight. I’m excited. My children are jealous, so I guess I’m gonna have to take them there before or after so that they get to experience it as well.

Liam Dempsey:  You may actually take photos on the day. Normally, I have to, like, kick you and beg you and Erik to take selfies, but you might do it this time.

Joe Casabona: Alright. Alright.

Liam Dempsey: I like that. I like that.

Joe Casabona: That’s true. You know, we’re so in the moment, Liam, that I always forget to pull my phone out.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. That’s what it is. That’s what it is. Folks, just like  previous event, it’s absolutely gonna be free, but you do have to register. So head over to our website at [startlocal.co], and click on the register button at the at the top of every page. You can’t miss it. 

Joe Casabona: We’re really excited about this. Our last few events have been amazing, and this is a new venue unique spin, no pun intended, maybe a little intended. So we’re looking forward to seeing you all there.

Liam Dempsey: Today, we’re gonna welcome Christy Campli. She’s the owner of Growing Roots, an events management company that runs local community events and farmers markets. Welcome, Christy.

Christy Campli: Hey, guys. Thanks for having me. 

Joe Casabona: Thanks for coming on the show. Welcome. Welcome. Real excited to talk to you today.

Christy Campli: Yeah. Mee too. I’m excited.

Liam Dempsey: Well, let’s get into it. Let’s get into it. As I started, as I opened, you’re the owner of Growing Roots. We know that you run a bunch of local events in farmers’ markets. Really a ton. I was really surprised at how many you’re able to pull off. But gonna take this in a little bit of turn to just try to keep ourselves organized. So we’re gonna start with the farmers markets. And just to give our listeners a bit of context and the like, can you tell us where and when folks can shop at a farmers market that you run?

Christy Campli: Yeah. We run 3 weekly year-round farmers’ markets in Chester County. So, we’re in a bit of a time change right now because we’re heading into the winter season. So, times right now are different than they will be during the regular season. This says a disclaimer. But, we’re in Eagle View Town Center, which is in Exton, every Thursday from 3 to 5 PM. Then we’re in Downingtown, in Kerr Park every Saturday from 9 AM to noon. And then we’re in Malvern in Burke Park every Saturday from 9 AM to noon. And that is through, kind of the 3rd week of December. So we don’t have any markets after Christmas, and then we kick back in January with a more abbreviated schedule. So we go down to twice a month, schedule for each market, and you can find all that information on our website and our newsletter.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Thank you. We are walking distance to the Downingtown one, so we love going there, every few Saturdays.

Now, we read on your website that you’re focused on supporting small-scale local food and craft businesses. Shop local is an ethos that appeals to us. So what about those small local businesses appeals to you?

Christy Campli: Yeah. I guess you could say I was kind of born into it. I’m the daughter of entrepreneurs. So my family has had a small business on King Street in Malvern, for over 30 years. My dad’s a photographer. So that’s all I really known is kind of like small business and self-employment.

And then in schooling and in college, I got really into, like, the food seed. Hospitality is my background, restaurant, and then started to be really interested in where my food was coming from, learning more about local food systems, kind of awakened me to the importance of local food farmers and farmers markets. So kinda dove in there, and then kinda became immersed in this world and understanding, you know, how important it is to support our local makers because it supports our local economy. You know, the economic impact is, you know, really reaching these people that are making and growing our food and our goods and our gifts and anything, that we’re purchasing. And I think that’s really important to, you know, support people that you can talk to them about the product that they’re making or growing, and get to know them and their product and feel, like, comfortable with kind of consuming something that, you know, where it comes from, that it’s made with integrity. And most importantly, like, making new friends and meeting you know, creating community with the people, that are kind of in your local economy, I think, is really important.

Yeah. And I think for me, it’s like such a, it’s like a knee jerk. It’s just like my life now. So it’s almost hard to explain why it’s important because, you know, I’m very privileged to have this. But I just, it’s not even an option for me in some cases to shop another way. So, I think it’s interesting to see that trajectory now, kind of 6 to 8 years in of, like, I can’t even conceptualize what my life would be like if not for, you know, being surrounded by kinda shopping with local farmers and producers. And that’s just kind of my life personally and professionally now.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. I respect that. I think through this through this show, I’ve come to be very interested in much more about local. And to your point, you know, not just buying locally, but talking to the producers and talking to the growers and finding out the backstory of why this over that, and asking them about their skills, skills that I don’t have.

But I wanna keep on the farmers markets a little bit because, jokingly, I’m a little disappointed at how much your farmer’s markets cost me because you are such so good at curating the vendors that I go out. I just need this one thing, and I come home with, like, a $150 more of other things that I didn’t know I need until I got there. So but it just made me think. How do you decide how to craft a market? How do you decide how many vegetable growers, how many meat producers, how many artisan people? All the different crafts that come in, how does that work? How do you do that? How do you that in a way that, will work for whatever community where that market sits?

Christy Campli: So how I curate the markets was kind of preexisting, before I came on board. Just as far as the structure when you asked, like, how many vegetable growers, etcetera, etcetera, like, how many of each category vendors? That was almost predetermined by the founder of Growing Roots I took over a few years ago.

So, we found typically that give or take, like, 3 vegetable growers, 1 to 2 meat farmers depending on their offerings, 1 to 2 dairy farmers. Usually, we have, like, a sheep, a goat, and or a cow. And then 1 or 2 kind of what we call anchor bakery. So bakery that does, like, sourdough bread as well as pastries, kind of the full gamut.

And then other kind of sweet treat bakers peppered in. We have some gluten free, vegan bakers. We have, some bakers that are focused more on, like, cookies and cakes and others that are focused on different. And then from there, we kind of, fill out the food bakers. So, obviously, we try not to have too many people all selling the same thing. So we try to limit, like, hot sauces is a popular vendor. Usually, like, 1, PA or honey honey maker. And it really the farmers markets are kind of an ongoing, you know, process of recruiting and onboarding new vendors.

But we try as best as we can to keep similar, producers. Maybe we put them on opposite weeks. It’s kind of hard to explain, I think, and it’s hard to learn as well. My, predecessor was kind of my mentor in the beginning. So she helped me to kinda understand the politics of farmers’ markets, if you will, and how it’s best to balance the market. And then you kind of just learn as you go. Like, learning how certain producers are supported by the market or maybe aren’t as good of a fit, and how many, you know, basically, the market can bear. So, like, how many different producers can be supported by the market because we really just learn our market. You learn the trends and the consumers at the market and then kind of start to understand that. So it’s definitely a learning process.

But I was lucky to have a mentor. And I do kind of surround myself or kind of, I guess, involve myself in the farmer’s market world. There’s resources out there both on local and regional levels, to connect with other market managers and folks who do, like, consulting and education in farmers markets. So, I have learned a lot there as well.

Joe Casabona: Thanks for sharing that. I have a quick follow-up about that. Something that you mentioned about understanding kind of what the market will tolerate or the market can bear. How do you measure, kind of the maybe the popularity or the demand for specific vendors? You know, like, have you found that, one of our favorites is, like, the Lancaster, like, chocolate milk people? So, like, how do you determine how well a vendor does and if they’re gonna decide to come back or if you’re gonna decide to have them back?

Christy Campli: Yeah. So a little bit of it is, you know, I local, like, all fives, not actually going all fives. But, we try to have a close, like, connection with all of our vendors. So, it’s just casual conversation with them during the market or at the end of the market, as we’re doing kind of our closing up, we will gauge their interest in the market or how well they’re doing. This is kind of a learning process as far as, like, the question that you asked, how we’re really understanding how they’re doing. It’s something that we’ve slowly made strides to over the years. And then this is the 1st year that we’ve really encouraged, income reporting. So we encourage the vendors to report their income, which, can be a tricky, kinda touchy subject.

And we do ensure them that it is confidential. It really is for us to have an understanding of the market. Because something that’s really interesting about farmers markets and a little bit maddening even for me, is that you could have 2 vendors that have a completely different market at the same market. So it depends on who you ask, how the market went that day, which can just it can kind of drive you crazy because when you think you have a really great market and a lot of shoppers were out, it doesn’t necessarily translate to everyone.

And so it’s really important to see how different vendors are faring at the market, and we can see that best with income reporting. Another standard across farmers markets is to count shoppers with, like, an old fashioned clicker counter, which is also difficult if your market doesn’t have an entrance and an exit, which, of course, none of ours do. They’re very, like, flowed into the parks and the communities, which, like, I love, but isn’t, you know, from a metric standpoint, it’s not very functional.

So income recording, reporting, I would say, is the best way to do it. But, of course, then we’re at the liberty of the vendors choosing to report that income, which right now we’re I would say we’re about, like, 80 percent, which is, like, awesome. So we’ve really been doing a big push for that this year. We’ve explained to the vendors why it’s important for us to see that, data for ourselves, but also to be able to show the economic impact of farmers markets. I, you’ll always hear me talk about, like, other markets because I’ve been lucky enough to connect with other markets across the country at a national conference that I go to every year.

And some of these markets are very big and and have been in business for a long time and are larger nonprofits or organizations. So they have, like, a lot of resources. And they have that number of, like, how much money went through the market every year. Like, they you know, they have all that. They have, like, a lot more a a bigger team, a lot of infrastructure. So, like, when I hear those numbers, first, I’m jealous that they can even, like, come up with that number because we’ve never really been able to till now. But just to hear the economic impact of the farmer’s market in a community, I think, is really powerful for getting support from our municipalities, from potential sponsors and donors, and, other, you know, funding opportunities that can make the market grow. So that’s kind of how we’ve presented that to the vendors is it’s important for us to know how the markets are doing and how you’re doing.

Because, you know, sometimes you have a vendor at the end of the season say, hey, I’m not coming back. And they tell you their sales, and you had no idea that their sales were that low. And had you known that, you know, we as the market manager, while it’s their individual business, we could potentially step in and say, hey. I think I have an idea to help your display look better. Or, hey. I noticed that you’re sitting down on your phone during the market. I think, it would help if you were engaging with shoppers. Like, we can help with tips and tricks to make their, you know, give them a better shot at higher sales. And if we don’t know that, then it’s kind of too late.

Joe Casabona: Gotcha. Thank you for that. And on that same token, maybe real quick, you can give us a rundown on how you make money from these markets as to kinda close-up the farmer’s market segment of this episode.

Christy Campli: Yeah. So we, we get paid a vendor fee from each of the vendors, and that helps cover, all the coordination we do behind the scenes, which I can or cannot get into right now if you want. But, essentially, just to keep it simple, they pay us a fee, from the vendors, and we don’t we are just now starting to, fundraise sponsorships. So that’s a newer, income stream for us, which is a very small blip right now, but we’re hoping to grow that to offset some of the county so we can keep that cost low for the farmers and producers.

Liam Dempsey: Let’s switch to events, and let’s start with your biggest event, Good Food Fest. I attended that for the first time this year, and that’s up in, up in Kimbroughton at the fairgrounds up there. And I was just blown away how big an event it is. And beyond that, it was how friendly the vendors were, how happy people seemed to be there, and frankly, how well run it was. It was clean. It was organized. It was very wide aisles to go through, but not so wide that it felt like it was in a oversized convention hall or something like that. So congrats on running such a fantastic event. I was, I had a blast. Again, you cost me a lot of money, but I wasn’t happy to spend it. How did Good Food Fest come about, and what’s its history?

Christy Campli: Yeah. So first of all, thank you for your kind words and coming out to support.

Good Food Fest came about, a little bit before my time. So before I took over the business in 2021, actually, Good Food Fest was founded in 2019. And I don’t like to compare it, but it came a little bit out of, an event that was previously held in Philly that was a similar concept, but more of like a convention hall type, festival to connect, Philly to food and farmers. And that kind of went under and, the founder of Growing Roots, Lisa O’Neil and the, owner of Cambridge and Whole Foods, Terry Brett, kind of came together and said, let’s make this local event celebrating local food right here in Chester County. And, of course, it made sense with Cambridge and Whole Foods as our premier sponsor to house it in Kimberton. We’ve also found out that that’s probably the best and only venue in Chester County that really fits the event. So it’s obviously after that it’s near their headquarters.

So it was founded and started in 2019 was the inaugural event. So that was before my time. And it was, similar to what you see now, a little bit smaller. 1 one vendor tent instead of 2 local changes like that. And then COVID hit. So it was actually on hiatus for 2020 and 2021. And then by the time the second, annual, if you could call it, event happened in 2022, I had taken over the business. So that was my first run of Good Food Fest. That’s the little history.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. Just a just a little shout out to Terry Bryant and Kimberton Whole Foods. The Brett family and the the grocery store, the the Whole Foods do a ton of good work in our community, and they support a lot of different farm to table regenerative farming, programs and initiatives. So, we’re big fans of them on this show, and it was great to see their logo everywhere on everything because they were clearly, absolutely putting their money where their mouth is. And that’s just so great to see.

Christy Campli: Yeah. I wanna echo that really quickly. You kinda took the words out of my mouth, but we at Growing Roots are just, like, so grateful for Kimberton now as, you know, as a partner, but also as a friend. They’ve become, kinda part of our small county. And if I could encourage anyone to support a local business, you know, Kimbroughton Whole Foods is is definitely putting their money where their mouth is and walking the walk. So….

Joe Casabona: Yeah. Love to hear that. And I’m it’s no small feat. Right? You shared, in an earlier conversation, that, like, 45100 people attend Good Food Fest. And given the history you just shared, that that’s that sounds surprising. Are you surprised by the size of the event, and, what are your plans for next year?

Christy Campli: Yeah. So, I would say not surprised just because that was you know, that’s a goal. I have very you know, I guess high goals. But, it’s been a slow build from that. So I think around, like, 3,000 the 1st year and then up to, like, 35100, 37100 been slowly building towards, like, 5,000 has been my goal. And so, my mom jokes, there’s no way you can fit 5,000 people in there, but I think we could. So, yeah, not surprised. At 45100, definitely aiming for that number or higher. And then goals for the future are to continue to, improve the infrastructure of the event so we can accommodate more people safely and comfortably.

So, yeah, goals are to really hit that 5,000 dot or 5,000 person mark and then, to start pulling, attracting people from further and further out. So from Philly, from Lancaster, from Redding, which we do a little bit of, but to expand our reach, I guess you could say.

Liam Dempsey: One of the things I noticed while I was at the Good Food Fest is was the breadth of local vendors. Not everybody was in Kimberton or from Kimberton, but they were all from the region and somewhere a little further away, but it was a county or 2 away at and so they were kinda from all over, and they brought a lot of different types of foods and crafts and things. It was a real range. It really did feel like a market and not not limited. And that just makes me wonder. You know, if you’re able to put on a vet that has 4 and a half 1000 people and is fun and enjoyable, you must have vendors wanting to come to you that you can’t accommodate because there’s not enough space, to what your mother said. There’s no way you’re getting 5,000 people in there or whatever. And I’m not saying mom’s right, but, you know, generally, we have to defer to our mothers. Right?

So, anyway, the question, Christy, is how do you how do you decide who gets to come? How do you vet that? How do you organize that? And you’ve touched on a little bit with farmers market, but this is well beyond the scope of a farmers market. How do you manage all of that? What does that look like?

Christy Campli: Yeah. So we use it, a classic kind of juried application process, which you’ll see for, many events like this, craft shows, art shows. So we use a juried application process for Good Food Fest, as well as most of our other large scale events, like Craft and Mercantile and our fall festivals. And so what that means is that there’s a period where the applications are open. People apply. There’s a deadline for them to close. The jury of, you know, qualified, jurors comes together, and, we sit for a day or 2. And we go through the applications, and we choose, you know, who will be accepted and who will not. And then we send out those decisions, and, vendors have to, you know, then engage, by signing contracts and paying fees and stuff like that.

So, the jury process specifically for this event, we highly prioritize local farmers and agricultural producers. So farmers, of all kinds get, you know, kind of that’s the highest priority, and then it goes down from there. If you’re making hot sauce with local ingredients, I’ll shout out a local vendor like Sundry Mornings, Chester Kitchen. They make, value added products, and they use almost exclusively local farm ingredients. They’re kind of the next, you know, next priority after that, and then it kinda goes there. So we actually asked them on their application to give us a percentage from 0 to a 100 of how many or how much local ingredients are used in their products. So it’s, like, 0 to 25, 25 to 50, so on and so forth.

And that’s really what we use to determine, who will be accepted to the event. So farmers and agricultural producers are kind of the, top priority. And then, you know, crafters and non-food products are there at the bottom. While we do think those things, kitchen and garden type, nonfood items are important for this event to make it a really well rounded event, you’ll see there’s less of them and more of, kind of the farmers and food producers. Hopefully, that answered the question. 

Joe Casabona: Yeah. Definitely. And so this is, I mean, Liam and I have, both have experience running large scale conferences, which is not the same as a thrice weekly farmers market or an event as big as yours. So what did you do before growing roots? Like and maybe you could tell us a little bit about how that experience informed how you approach Growing Roots as well.

Christy Campli: Yeah. So my background was very conveniently in food and beverage and hospitality. So I went to college for business administration and hospitality and tourism management, and a double major. And I was, at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. Anyone that knows Charleston knows it’s a huge food county, so I really fell in love with food. And when I was there, local food was having a huge moment in in Charleston. I think it was really at the forefront of the food and beverage industry, and that’s really what awakened me to it. So I kind of have this love and passion for food just growing up in an Italian family already.

I, my brother and I had this, like, pipe dream as young kids to have our own restaurant. And then as I got older and kinda found my interest in the hospitality industry, it became, like, realer and realer. So I actually went to college and kind of followed a path to one day open my own restaurant. And I said, I’m gonna I’m gonna manage restaurants. I’m gonna work in restaurants. I’m gonna see, like, if this is for me before I decide to do it. And I did love it, but anyone that works in the restaurant industry knows that it’s it’s tough. It definitely can, kinda like chew you up and spit you out for lack of better term.

And it was really COVID that made, kinda forced a shift for me. I was, lucky enough to manage two farmer-owned restaurants. Onr right here in Chester County at Brook Farm. So then fell even more kind of in love with local food and became more immersed. And that was really my first experience managing a restaurant, and that was a it still is a, 300 plus acres sustainable farm raising, local beef and pork, whole animal butchery, and then there was a restaurant on-site.

And then I kind of continued on with my restaurant manager career. And when COVID hit, ended up moving. I had been in Charleston at the time moving back home here, when this opportunity to take over Growing Roots, emerged. The founder was getting ready to retire and move to Charleston of all places, so we were doing a little bit of a swap. This is very serendipitous moment. I’ve told this story so many times that I just always feel cringe when I’m telling it because I feel like so many people have heard it, but, this is some comic relief there. Anyway, she came to me. She knew my history in food. She had known me has known my family for a very long time from Malvern, and she wanted to hand off her business, kind of her baby, to someone that was equally as passionate about it and who she felt could kind of handle the job. There’s only a few people as crazy as Lisa and myself, I think, to do this job.

So sorry. Long-winded answer. Basically, my background and career very much informed, my, you know, my ability to run the business today. I had been managing restaurants, 4 different restaurants, and therefore, managing other people’s businesses for a very long time. So the business side of things was relatively easy for me to take on. I was already really emerged in local food and food in general, so that part came pretty naturally. So it did feel like kind of this serendipitous, faithful opportunity for me. I was already really personally passionate about local food, and this kind of gave me a platform to, you know, get that message out to more people on a wider scale and also to support the people, you know, making and growing that food, which was really important and exciting for me. So. it was I think as seamless as a process could be of of starting your own business, basically, which can be very difficult, but I feel like I definitely had a few legs up already, which is nice.

Joe Casabona: Awesome.

Liam Dempsey: We started with Farmers Markets. Let’s jump into community events that you run. And you run a lot. I’m gonna list them briefly, but folks listening, we will put links to all of this in detail over on the show notes on [startlocal.co]. But for those following along at home, Christy runs Craft and Mercantile. She runs Malvern Spring on King, the Downingtown Fall Fest, Malvern’s Christmas on King, Radnor Fall Fest in Delaware County, and I expect probably there’s more that I left off the list. And, of course, you run Good Food Fest. So that is a lot of event production.

And as Joe shared, you know, we’ve done a little bit of event production professionally over the years, but not that and not at that volume. How do you manage all that? What does your systems look like? What tools do you work? How do you how do you do all that?

Christy Campli: It’s definitely a learning process. Tools, we don’t have any crazy software or anything like that, which I probably should. A lot of spreadsheets. We just recently started using Slack, which has been really helpful as the team is growing. I have a really great family and a really great support system, which helps a lot. And I also have a really great team of people who I’ve been lucky enough to just kind of discover. Like, they’ve come to me and said, I’m really passionate and interested in what you do. Like, how can I be a part of this? Which I think I’ll never get over how cool and just, like, amazing that is because you’re, you know, connecting and working with people who, like, choose to kind of be involved, which brings a lot of passion to the game.

And we’ve kind of created this amazing team of, women that, help run all different kind of asset facets of the event, whether it be in a super part time capacity, because most of them have their own amazing crazy lives, or in a more full time capacity, and that is growing. So, I think it’s a little bit of craziness, a little bit of passion, and definitely a lot of a great team that kind of all come together to make this happen. And, you know, I think just maybe being born into like, small business self-employment, seeing kind of what that takes to run. I had a model from my parents of it’s definitely hard work. It’s definitely very little time away from work. Not a great work life balance, but, it is really rewarding. And my, you know, my goal is to just continue to grow it and to make it a little bit more sustainable for my life and you know, have it continue to succeed.

Joe Casabona: Yeah. That’s and so, I mean, I can tell you, we went to Downingtown Fall Fest for the first time this year, and it is it’s huge. And, sorry. My New York accent just came out there a little bit.

Liam Dempsey:  I was just thinking that myself. Huge.

Joe Casabona: huge. But, running so many farmers markets, community events like this, coordinating with a ton of people, I imagine there’s a lot of weekend work and last minute fix this and get over there. You mentioned work life balance a little bit, but, how does that maybe how does that affect the way you work, and and how does that have an impact on your life in general?

Christy Campli: Yeah. Luckily, as far as weekend work goes, since I was working in the I’ve worked in the restaurant business for so long. And, again, I know this is I keep referencing, like, my family and my parents, but my dad was a wedding photographer my whole life. So working on weekends, like, I feel like I was a little desensitized to that, from the beginning. So, thankfully, I did the weekend work for a very long time. I did the night work. So this is actually a little bit better because it’s like, less weekend work than I’m used to. It’s not every single Saturday night. It’s, you know, Saturday mornings, which is the next time to be out. And then the occasional events, obviously, you’re kind of losing a whole weekend on the weekend of a large event.

I would say, like, work life balance is a really one of my biggest struggles in my work and in my life, hilariously. And so it does it does definitely affect, you know, life, and it makes it very, you know, you do feel a little bit cornered to, like, on these certain weekends throughout the year, like, nothing else can happen. And that’s not a great feeling that I that I don’t wanna feel forever. So, you know, I would say that it is, I do struggle with it. I try to be very open about, like, I talk a lot about mental health. I talk a lot about how I’ve I’ve definitely trying to undo this narrative of, like, work. You know, your value is in your work and your productivity. That’s something that I felt from a young age in my twenties that, like, working really hard was, like, you know, you had to make your whole personality about working really hard. And now as I’m in my thirties, I’m realizing that’s not really the life that I wanna live. So trying to shift out of that mindset or narrative that you create for yourself is hard.

And, you know, just to state the elephant in the room, I’m very sick right now this week, and I’m really lucky that most of my events, almost all of my events were over. And then the next morning, I woke up sick. So, there’s not a lot of flexibility when you’re sick or when there’s a family emergency, or something like that to be able to get away. And so that’s that’s the scary part, I would say, of self-employment. It’s just like if you don’t work or you take vacation or you’re just not feeling good that day, it’s really just making your life a little bit harder for future you, which I don’t love that part of it. That’s one part of it that I definitely really struggle with. So try not to get too negative here. But, I would say, like, on a to spin that, like, that is what I’m working towards right now. Like, my goal is to create more freedom for my life. I probably shouldn’t say this on a podcast, but I’m not hugely motivated by money. I need enough money to live, but I am more motivated by, like, freedom to live my life. So I would rather pay a little bit more money to have, you know, to staff, or to a team so that I can have more freedom for my life. So it’s kind of those are my personal goals, I guess, in that work life balance realm.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. I think you should say that on a podcast. You know, if you’re if you’re committed to that to that ethos, then standing by it. Absolutely. And and Joe talks a lot about this on on some of his other podcasts about helping parents, helping families find that work like balance as solo entrepreneurs. So it’s tricky. It’s tricky. Right? You don’t work. Nobody calls you up and tells you to come in, but nobody sends you a paycheck for the day either. So it’s it’s yeah. I get it. I get it. I get it.

I’m gonna I’m gonna keep you on a on a tricky question here, although maybe less tricky than, what we were just talking about. Who are some of your favorite farmers and producers right now? Whose food are you really loving right now?

Christy Campli: In my own best interest, I cannot name favorites, but I will highlight, I like to highlight new producers that I’m excited about that have come on the scene, and, if she’s ever listening to this. I have told a lot of people, like, one of my favorite and kind of new exciting producers right now is Soul Bates Korean Kitchen. She’s out of Chester, actually, and she’s been a newer producer to, all of our markets as well as Good Food Fest. She makes, kimchi, Korean donuts, and then she’s kind of branching out into a couple other Korean specialties. She’s just been a great producer to work with. She’s been really well received at the markets, which is cool and fun to watch. We love that, obviously. And her food is really great. And to top it all off, she sources her ingredients as most as best as possible from her neighbors at the farmer’s market. So making kimchi with her local, maca cabbage when she can get it. And then she makes, like, a kimchi fried rice sometimes, which is kind of like a grab and go type situation. Which is great to have it home when you don’t feel like cooking. And so she tries to get all the veggies for that as, locally as possible too. So I just think it’s a really cool and unique concept, very authentic, and been very well received by shoppers, which is awesome.

Liam Dempsey: When I was at the, the Thanksgiving market in Eagle View, I saw I saw Soulmates there, and their table was very busy. And by the time I got to that corner, I said, I’m already carrying more bags than I want. I am deliberately not going over there because they look like they’re doing some really amazing stuff. So I’m definitely gonna have to go back and and check them out. Thanks for flagging them up.

Christy Campli: Yeah. Of course.

Joe Casabona: So you help many local folks, like our listeners, find fresh locally grown and raised food and produce. Do you like to farm or grow vegetables? Do you have your own garden?

Christy Campli: I love this question. I was, like, so happy when I saw it because, the answer is no. And I always say my famous line is I leave that to the experts. So, no. I do not have a green thumb. I have no kinda I know this sounds terrible, but no interest in farming. The the work that these people do is so hard and backbreaking. And, I think it’s best luck to the experts because they’re growing and raising such incredible food.

While I do love to cook, I’d I’ve never had a garden. When I lived with my parents, my mom does have a garden. And, mostly, it just was like, okay. We have all these tomatoes. Now how are we gonna buy tomatoes from our friends at the farmer’s market? So that makes me kinda sad. So I don’t wanna grow my own food because I wanna be able to buy it from my friends. So the answer is no.

Joe Casabona: You know, as an Italian myself, I know that you can never have too many tomatoes. You know? You gotta make your own sauce and all that.

Christy Campli: That’s true. That’s true.

Liam Dempsey: Christy, you support our local community in a lot of different ways. You’re supporting the local farmers and growers and producers. You’re the local craftspeople by giving them venues to sell their wares. You’re supporting the local economy by enabling folks like me and Joe to come on out and bring our families and and enjoy things that we would otherwise not have. So you’re doing a lot for our local community. We’ve talked a lot about Good Food Fest and what an amazing, experience that is for almost 5,000, soon to be 5,000 people. How can the local community support growing roots?

Christy Campli: Yeah. That’s a really great question. I appreciate you asking. Number one answer is to come out to our markets. Of course, the events. I will say, like, the events definitely because they’re once a year or whatever. They’re larger. We don’t really have a hard time getting people out to those events.

They’re plenty packed, but don’t forget that they’re we’re there every week. Our farmers and producers show up every week. Wind, rain, shine, sometimes even snow, especially as we head into the winter. I’ll say my famous line that, you know, winter vegetables still grow here in Pennsylvania. And so we are out there year round. So come out to the farmers markets. The more shoppers we get to the farmers markets, the more we can grow them. We can bring in more vendors. You can see more variety.

But, you know, don’t forget in this world of kind of convenience and DoorDash that we still have that opportunity to connect with your community and to find local and awesome food and goods every every week here in Chester County in 3 locations. So that’s number 1 always.

And number 2, just a little bit of a plug is, we are, you know, heavily recruiting corporate sponsorship this year in order to help, our markets, grow and to help our staff earn a livable wage, and to make this, organization run a little bit more smoothly. So if you, you know, if your people like local food, if they like community, if they like, you know, supporting sustainability, you know, our people and your people might be the same people, or if you wanna align your company with, you know, local community sustainability. Most people are really happy to hear or go to a farmer’s market. I’m very lucky in my line of work that there’s usually not much negativity that comes along with the word farmer’s market.

So it’s a really positive, happy place to be and to align your business with, and it will help support our markets to have a bigger marketing budget, our staff to have better wages, and, ultimately, you know, to be able to create, down the line some nutrition programs, some food access programs, and maybe even, like, a mini-grant program for our farmers.

So that’s where that money will go, and we’re always happy to kinda go into more detail about that. So, yeah, that would be number 2.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Well, as as a former heavy DoorDasher who recently deleted his DoorDash account, I’d much rather the extra money I’m paying and look at your fees, my friends. I’d rather that money go to local businesses and farmers and the farmers market. So, plus 1 on that.

So, as we kinda begin to wrap up here, I do wanna ask, are you hiring? Are you actively seeking volunteers? Are are there other ways people can get involved?

Christy Campli: Yeah. So always reach out. When somebody reach out to me and ask if I’m hiring, the answer is never no. It’s always local, let’s see how we can find a place for you to fit in. So, we’re kind of always hiring because we always need hands for events. And then when people come in in that very part time event help capacity, many of them have grown with the company and taken on a more, a larger role, and, I think that’s a really great way to see if it’s a good fit for both of us. So we’re always hiring event help that obviously is more kind of in the May to November range. But please reach out to us if you’re interested in getting involved, and we’ll figure out a way to see how, you know, we can work together.

Liam Dempsey: Christy, you’ve talked a lot about the different places where you’re organizing events, and the farmers markets are kind of in various locations around the county. You must know a lot of local businesses and nonprofits, and you’re doing a lot of work to erase a profile of various growers and businesses and the like. Can you name one business or one local nonprofit that more folks should know about?

Christy Campli: Yeah. We already gave a shout out to Kimmerton Whole Foods, so that would be one. But I would say the Chester County Food Bank. Although, I think many people know that as a household name, I’m a huge proponent of this organization. I don’t know if many people know that they actually grow and raise a lot of the food that they’re distributing as well as purchase from local farmers and producers. And that’s why we’re so aligned and have such an incredible partnership. I’m very grateful and proud to call them not only a partner of Growing Roots, but a very good friend. And if there’s one place I would say to either get involved by volunteering or to give this holiday season, it’s to the Chester County Food Bank. It’s incredible organization, and we’re very, very lucky to have, them here in Chester County, not only supporting our neighbors in need, but also our local farmers.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Thank you so much for mentioning that. I wanna give a quick shout out to Andy County, she was on the show, and she’s been super supportive of us, and it’s always great to hear a shout out for the food bank. So thank you for that.

Christy Campli: Yeah. Of course.

Joe Casabona: Alright. Well, Christy Campely, owner of Growing Roots, where can listeners connect with you and learn more about all the events you’re organizing?

Christy Campli: Yeah. Our website is [www.growingrootspartners.com]. And then we have a bunch of social media. But if you wanna start at, our Instagram, Growing Roots Farmers Markets, it’s quite a mouthful, but, there’s kind of a link to Craft and Mercantile and Good Food Fest there, and you can kinda connect with us, at Growing Roots kind of at the start there.

Joe Casabona: Awesome. Thanks so much. Well, Christy, thanks so much for coming on the show and sharing about everything that you’re doing.

Christy Campli: Yeah. Thanks so much for having me.

Liam Dempsey: Christy, thanks so much for your time today, especially in light of the fact you’re not feeling great. Really enjoyed our time together. Learned a ton from you. Thanks so much for being here.

Christy Campli: Yeah. Thanks so much for having me. I had a really great time.

Joe Casabona: And, of course, thank you for listening. Thanks so much, for supporting local businesses in this show. You can find everything we talked about over at local. Of course, don’t forget to register for our event on January 22nd, and thanks so much for listening.