Mary Blackmon/Farm Star Living
Mary is a 3rd generation farmer from Arkansas, who left her hometown to pursue college and a career in advertising sales and marketing in Los Angeles, Atlanta and New York City. She worked for publishing houses and internet companies (Wired, Walt Disney Internet Group, Vivendi-Universal Internet Group). In NYC in 2002, she founded Spa-Addicts.com, the first national discount site for the spa & wellness industry. She grew it into a multi-million dollar business and a leader in the industry, and attracted hundreds of thousands of women as well as sponsors including Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, General Motors, Kimberly Clark, Allergan, American Express, et al.
In 2008, however, she learned most of her family farm bordering Ark / LA would be sold. Not wanting to lose the family heritage and farmland her family before her had so cherished, Mary, along with the support of her brother Douglas, was adamant to preserve and keep the remaining farmland. She then began making changes in her life so that she could move from Los Angeles back South in order to keep, operate and run the farm. She bought back her grandparents house and renovated it, and discovered that ‘saving the family farm’ had changed her life forever – and for the better. Today she admits that she is happier than ever – inspired, loving the farming business and now launching Farm Star Living, which she felt compelled to create for the good of farming and the people she has met along her new path. She hopes that Farm Star Living will provide farmers the respect, acknowledgment and support they so deserve and attract new farmers as well as support the current ones.
Angie Reese/Accurate Protection
Accurate Protection is an independent insurance agency specializing in business insurance. Safeguarding your company from potential losses requires more than just the purchase of an insurance policy. We invest ourselves and our time to understand your business and assist you with developing strategies that lower your overall business risk as well as your cost of insurance over an extended period of time. From your first meeting with us throughout your interactions you will see that we strive to consistently go beyond the expected standard routine and deliver results that exceed your expectations.
Workers’ compensation is a fixed commodity and a controllable expense. Our job is to ensure that you do not pay a dime more than you have to for coverage. Accurate Protection will provide you with money-saving strategies that reduce your bottom line. We understand how the system really works. Let us teach you how to control your workers’ compensation program, instead of allowing it to control you.
Raven Sampson/The Smart Data
Raven Sampson is the Founder and CEO of The Smart Data. The Smart Box is a fun-filled way to encourage children to successfully master spelling, reading, vocabulary, math, history, general knowledge and specific topics of interest – all while engaging in their normal video games.