Photo Shoots, Ranching, and Mom Life

Growing up all I ever wanted was to live on a farm. I would dream of having a million animals and was envious of all my 4H friends. We lived in the country on an acre lot and aside from a dog and a cat we really didn't live the farm life. In fact, aside from stray cats I fed and mysterious puppies I brought home over the years I knew NOTHING about farm animals. Well there was this one time my Mom brought home 3 feed store chicks and she didn’t know they were meat birds until it was too late. It didn’t end well. Or the rabbit named Naughty who lived with our German Shepherd until she ran off with her wild bunny lover. I hear there are still some odd looking rabbits around those woods...sorry ecosystem. We learned our lesson. 

So 5 years ago when my husband decided to move back to his hometown I became obsessed with learning everything I could and today our 60 acre ranch is home to everything from chickens and rabbits to bigger critters like Texas Longhorns. Most of them have names and they pop up in our photos and videos quote often. We have even brought baby goats on our live videos and had horses interrupt our shoots. 

When I left teaching to pursue the boutique full time, I knew that I wanted to operate our warehouse close to home where I could also be nearby. It's a normal day when I'm running out of the office to shoo chickens out of the flowers or for me to run out because there is something amise on the farm. We do all of our shoots out on the ranch too which is one of my favorite things because a piece of home is in every one of our photos. You may not see it, but when I look at our journey over the past 4 years I feel as if I’m leaving a legacy for my children in every image we take out here. 

Being a Mom to 3 girls and now in my 30's, I didn't know how I felt about modeling for Southern Mess. Honestly, I didn't know what others would think. Would they judge me? Talk bad about me? Did I look ok enough? And if you've followed us over the past 4 years my photos alone have shown the ups and downs of my own weight struggles. But that's okay because I knew when I started this company that I wanted to be different and stand for something. I wanted to grow a business where I could balance my family, farm, and bring a community together. I know as Mom's we are often busy and getting out to shop, who has time for that right? So I wanted to be sure we were showing our customers that not only did we offer high quality items made for Real Women like you but what they look like on Actual Women! Not professional models or college girls who can pound down 6 beers, a cheeseburger, and then throw a bikini on like it's nothing- and Mom's if you can still do this- you go Girl! I need a nap just thinking about that! We want you to relate to us, ask questions, watch our lives, see the different fits and most importantly be a part of our community where we can support each other. Because ya'll life is hard and I chose happy. 

Xoxo, 

Barb