Today we’d like to introduce you to Carri Sola.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up in Southern Lancaster County in and around what is considered the Amish/farming community. I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit and started several businesses throughout the years in between working for others companies, including property management, real estate, wedding rentals and wedding planning. As a wedding planner during a time when Barn weddings were becoming huge, I aspired to purchase a farm and renovate the Barn to create a wedding venue. I searched for a farm for a number of years before finding one that I was interested in purchasing. By the time I found this farm I was no longer involved in wedding planning but I loved the farm and it was the right timing and so we just jumped in.
I soon began adding animals to the farm and quickly realized that so many pets cost a lot of money to keep. So I decided to start a mobile petting zoo in order to offset some of the costs of keeping so many pet farm animals. It started off very small but over the last few years the mobile petting zoo has really taken off, and we have expanded to larger community events and fairs and festivals, which has really been exciting.
We now have pretty much every type of animal on our farm, including cows, pigs, goats, sheep, alpacas, a mini horse, a donkey, all different types of poultry and cats and dogs. Every day and it is an adventure. It’s a lot to keep up with With, but it’s very rewarding work and I wouldn’t change a thing!
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There have been a few bumps along the way. Being a farm involved in Agra tourism meant that we needed to deal with making sure we went through the proper channels with our Township to be allowed to host a few public events per year. That whole process was a bit rocky, but we got through it. Of course there’s also the livestock learning curve. Having so many different types of animals involves a lot of learning on how to properly care for each of them. I work with several different Farm vets, and I’m thankful for their knowledge as well as the knowledge of my peers that I can go to when questions arise.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a farmer. It’s still makes me laugh a little bit when I say that, but that’s my occupation now. I’m a livestock farmer.
What I do may be a bit unconventional in the sense of agricultural livestock farming but I am so proud of my Farm and what I’ve created here. I raise some beef cattle and some hogs for pork and raise turkeys for Thanksgiving meals and occasionally raised batches of meat chickens, but majority of my livestock are pets who are involved in events here at the farm, the mobile petting zoo, festivals, and fairs. The mobile petting zoo is really what Ironstone Creek farm is known for..
i’m the owner of the farm and I’m also the operator. I spend my days feeding and watering animals, moving animals around on pasture, cleaning barns, loading Hay, there’s a lot of moving parts and it’s a big job. I work hard and I love it.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Some people call me a workaholic. I think it’s good work ethic. I am a very hard worker and I’m also kind of a perfectionist. I want everything to be done well, and if it’s not right, I do it again.
I think my strong work ethic is very important to the success of my business. It requires hard work and long hours and I’m willing to do what needs to be done.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://ironstonecreekfarm.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ironstonecreekfarm?igsh=NThscXZhc2FhOHgz
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1LRiZ7zyQp/?mibextid=wwXIfr
