Fashionista turned Farm Babe

Getting back to my farming “roots.”

Hi, I'm Michelle! I grew up involved in 4-H, horse riding, and doing chores on my friends’ grandparents' farms in Wisconsin, but when my high school aptitude tests told me to go into farming, I headed west for college and a career in fashion.

After working for Gucci On Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills and spending a number of years in downtown Chicago, I bought into organic, grass-fed, “Monsanto is the devil” food idealism.

After finishing my goal of traveling the world and visiting all seven continents by age 30, (68 countries) I became fascinated with culture and learning where our food comes from. I ended up living with and dating a commercial scale farmer in Iowa for nearly eight years and it was there where my social media advocacy platform "The Farm Babe" was born in 2014. After learning the real truths of modern agriculture firsthand, I began debunking the myths I once believed in as a former city girl.

Farmers, ranchers, and the story of our food origins have an amazing, uplifting story to tell and my mission is to give them a bigger voice in the food space. Consumers today are bombarded with misinformation, misleading marketing tactics, food labels, and activist agendas. So I work to bring real, unbiased education and facts from real farmers and leading industry experts.

Today, I reside on 17 acres of farmland near Gainesville, Florida where I'm connected to leading agricultural professionals and continue to advocate for science and farming all around the world. I'm also the host of "HERD it here: a Florida agriculture podcast with the Farm Babe" where I work to raise awareness and improve policy for Florida farmers and ranchers. I'm happier than l've ever been to get back to my "roots" of being involved with animals and farming and have gone from being skeptical about food to sharing my passion of modern agriculture! I've Literally gone from Rodeo to the Rodeo, and wouldn't have it any other way.