Salvation in the soil, a widowed mother builds a farm-based business in rural Georgia with her daughters and mother | Margo Candelario of Young Female Farmers

I’m excited to invite you to my conversation with Margo Candelario. Margo is an author, a visual artist, and the owner and operator of a female run multi-generational family farm in Oconee County, Georgia. Margo runs Young Female Farmers with her mother, and her three daughters. They offer fresh produce, baked goods, and wildcrafted tinctures. Margo started her career on Wall Street but after the birth of her daughter, her and her husband decided to move to rural Georgia. Although she loved the blue sky and fresh air, she felt like a fish out of water and had a difficult time adjusting and finding work. Coming from a successful career in finance, the only jobs she could find in Georgia were low paying service positions. Her husband Phil, seeing Margo’s struggle to find gainful employment, offered to be the sole-financial provider for their family so that Margo stay home with their daughters.Leaving the workforce was a welcomed refocus until tragedy struck. While pregnant with their third daughter, Phil suffered a massive heart attack and passed away at age 34. Margo became a single mother overnight and had to find a way to take care of her family. Weighing her limited options, she decided that the only feasible option as a pregnant, single mother was to start her own business.She began making sweet potato pies and selling them at farmers markets and then expanded into fresh produce - making a point to visit food deserts in their area to provide fresh vegetables to people in her community that wouldn’t otherwise have access. Farming and entrepreneurship allowed Margo to bloom and build a new beautiful chapter for herself and her girls.In our conversation today we speak about Margo’s journey from Wall Street to rural Georgia, healing through the soil, and the wisdom she has gathered through following her heart’s path all these years.This is a story about family, love, overcoming extreme tragedy, and celebrating life. I hope you enjoy it.To find additional interview responses, images from Margo's farm and links to her work and social accounts, visit the Urban Exodus Blog. Support the showSign up for Apple Podcasts premium or our Patreon Membership for ad-free listening, rapid-fire guest interviews & our new mini-pod Ditch the City. urbanexodus.com | @theurbanexodus | buy the book