Written by: Elana Cohen, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
The health & wellness industry is booming. Many people are looking to improve their physical and mental well-being and looking for direction, which is putting wellness experts/brands in high demand.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Mary Blackmon, Founder, CEO, and Wellness expert of Farm Star Living & Farm to Wellness Retreats. She is pioneering a new wellness travel philosophy, which she calls Farm to Wellness Retreats with a farm-fresh twist. Her requirements are not only wellness aspects, but either having farms/gardens/vineyards on the property or offering farm-to-table cuisine, spa services, or products that use local ingredients offering holistic, self-care, and mind-body-spirit health. Blackmon, a serial entrepreneur, and certified integrative health and wellness coach, continues to inspire, motivate and educate audiences. She teaches people how to be the most healthy versions of themselves, while also living grounded.
Farm Star Living was the first website to create a ‘farm to table’ lifestyle that both spotlighted the farmer to the public and farms to the consumer public by making this often misunderstood world more personable, relatable, accessible, and entertaining via its creative, ahead-of-the-curve approach. She shared her insights and stories from her experiences in the health & wellness industry:
1. Tell us about you and your journey towards holistic living.
I have had 3 businesses that all dealt with aspects of wellness and reflected my journey … in a nutshell, my businesses reflect what I most need at the time - self-care was the first major wellness initiative I realized I needed after my Mother passed, took a job after being pink-slipped for a big pay cut (the basis of starting my first internet company Spa-Addicts the first offering deals at spas nationwide), healthier eating and learning more about farms and farmers was my second - also coinciding with my taking over a family rice farm (Farm Star Living, first lifestyle site presenting farmers and farms in a more pop culture, accessible way), and now Farm to Wellness Retreats, it’s holistic mind•body•spirit wellness that also incorporates farm-fresh pillars that I deem most important for our wellness and promotes living in a more grounded way. Today, I work on my overall well-being and my career reflects my wellness values and goals.
2. How would you describe your approach to wellness? What modalities do you work with?
I eat well and a lot of farm-fresh foods and lean protein - don’t eat a lot of carbs in the evening other than veggies, don’t eat late, minimize sugar except for a holiday, and then I enjoy myself, drink alcohol on special occasions, work out with weights and a trainer several times a week, meditate daily, visualize and work on defining my future goals, and make time for my fiancé, few friends and family … and my dream dog.
I have my mornings to reflect and assess my life and priorities, as well as meditate and visualize. That reminds me of how I need to keep things balanced. I do my best to reflect on what that might look like every single day.
3, How do you handle negativity or competition in your work/personal life? In what ways do you support women to rise above this pattern and uplift each other?
Negativity … I try to not absorb it when it comes from other people. I recently ran into someone I knew from 20 years ago who said he felt like I was just someone who sprinkled pixie dust … always cheerful. That was the best compliment I could have. I have other moods, of course, because I’m human. But I do try to stay positive and not get too far down the rabbit hole of any negative emotions. I strive to always grow, so looking at uncomfortable emotions is something I’m willing to do, however. But if it’s negativity for negativity's sake - from anyone, I try not to succumb to it nor let it affect me.
The only time I’ve had issues with women is when I’ve felt hurt because of how I’ve been misjudged like a ‘book by its cover’ based on outward appearances. For example, when I was a rice farmer (as I left Beverly Hills to take over my family’s rice farm), I wholeheartedly worked in farming and found farming to be an amazing, exhilarating yet ultra-challenging career. It even inspired me to start a business to showcase farms and farmers to make this world more accessible and relatable, appreciated by the public better, while showcasing farms, foods, and farmers’ stories. As I built my business, some folks might judge me based on the fact that I didn’t “look like a farmer.” I worked hard to debunk those ideas that all farmers looked the same or should be labeled as a ’type.'
Today, I try to encourage not only women but others to practice self-care and unplug from life to connect with nature and your inner self to achieve your best, most healthy life, and mind-body-spirit. That’s why I started Farm to Wellness Retreats, to encourage others to define their own ‘wellness wishes’ and match them to properties around the world that offer what people are craving or need most to reignite their inner spirit and achieve greater wellness.
I intend to inspire others to take these trips to immerse themselves in something new, and different and expand their own lives in ways that will make them feel more alive and healthy.
4. Tell us about a dream project or collaboration you’re manifesting. What do you desire to (co-)create? What’s on the horizon for you?
My new company is the dream that I am manifesting. When I left my business and career to take over a farm, I never thought that I’d be able to work again in the spa and wellness industry. Now, my life has come full circle, as has my career. I’m combining my passions into one new business, creating a new niche that ties everything together from my last 20 years in business and life. My path and this journey is my dream come true.
5. Your parting wisdom + the most transformational piece of advice you’ve received?
Best advice? “You know what to do, kid. You know what to do … “ So, I say, always follow your inner voice.
Checkout Live Grounded and more on Mary below:
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Elana Cohen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Elana Cohen is a freelance writer based in Chicago. She covers cannabis topics from product reviews, thought leaders in the industry, brands, features on cannabis players in the market and her own experience with cannabis and mental health. Elana is on a mission to end the negative stigmas on cannabis, mental health & tattoos. All topics considered to be fighting the taboos and negative stigmas they have. Elana also covers entertainment, specifically electronic dance music concerts and festivals. I also cover FOOD and the hospitality industry. Send restaurant news and upcoming launches this way!
