The Creative Connection

Do you dream about escaping the urban cubicle scene for your own farmstead and country lifestyle? Come for an inspiring jump-start to bring your vision into reality with strategies and ideas for farm-based businesses, from running a bed & breakfast to growing your own food to living off-grid. Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, co-authors of Rural Renaissance and ECOpreneuring, share an insider’s rural reality check, covering a diversity of approaches to sustainable living in the countryside. Launch the farmstead life of your dreams with a boost from seasoned insiders, the husband-and-wife team of Lisa Kivirist and John Ivanko, who left successful corporate careers over a decade ago to launch their farm and B&B in Wisconsin, Inn Serendipity. Learn from their experience as well as case studies of other successful farm start-up stories and leave with a toolkit of business ideas and sustainable living strategies. From B&Bs to selling at farmers’ markets to running your farm on renewable energy, Lisa and John share ideas rooted in the reality that rural living is not all romantic bliss; it’s a lifestyle based on passion, hard work, strong community ties and a good sense of humor when turkeys run away and zucchinis don’t sprout. Lisa and John also share tips for integrating family and children into farm businesses and connecting with community, including homeschooling and hosting lots of potlucks!