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Summit Speaker Series: Charlotte Smith, The Marketing & Mindset Coach for Farmers
1.4k Plays18 days ago
Charlotte is a 5th generation farmer and mindset coach and there's a reason she's one of our first speakers on Day 1 of The Profitable Dahlia Summit. Everything starts with mindset. You can learn every strategy in the world for selling dahlias, but if you don't believe you're worth charging for them, none of it matters.
Charlotte is going to get your head right so you can take full advantage of every single session that follows. She's tackling the "broke farmer trap," the pricing guilt, the scarcity thinking, all of it. And she's replacing it with the confidence you need to actually build a business that pays you.
If you've ever thought "I just feel bad charging people for flowers"... Charlotte has something to say about that.
Charlotte is speaking on Day 1 of the summit, March 3rd at 9:00 AM PST
Grab your summit ticket at the link in the show notes. Tickets start at $99.
https://thefloweringfarmhouse.mykajabi.com/profitabledahiliasummit
Connect with Charlotte Smith: https://www.instagram.com/charlotte.m.smith/
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Transcript
Introduction to Bonus Episode
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey there, welcome to a special bonus episode of the Backyard Bouquet podcast. I've been going live on Instagram with some of the speakers from the Profitable Dahlia Summit, and the conversations have been so good that I didn't want our podcast community to miss out.
Profitable Dahlia Summit Details
00:00:18
Speaker
These are short, casual chats that we had on Instagram where we get to know our speakers and hear a little bit about what they'll be teaching at the Profitable Dahlia Summit.
00:00:29
Speaker
I wanted to make sure you got to be part of these conversations too, even if you missed them live on Instagram. The Profitable Dahlia Summit is happening March 3rd through 4th with a bonus session on March 5th to help you pull everything together.
00:00:43
Speaker
If you want to learn from these amazing speakers and join hundreds of other Dahlia growers who are focused on making their Dahlias profitable, you can grab your ticket at the link in today's show notes.
Meet Charlotte Smith
00:00:54
Speaker
Tickets start at $99. right, here's the replay. all right here's the replay Hi, good morning. How are you? i'm great. How are you Good, good. Thank you.
00:01:06
Speaker
it's so great to see you. Yes, you too. I'm just checking all the messages here. um Okay, I'm all in. You're all in. We've got you here. And Charlotte is joining us today because she is one of our speakers at the first ever Profitable Dahlia Summit that is taking place on March 3rd through 4th, which is coming up in less than two weeks.
00:01:30
Speaker
Yes. Can't believe it. Time is flying by this year. And Charlotte, for those of our listeners who are joining us today that aren't familiar with you, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do?
From Farming to Mindset Coaching
00:01:44
Speaker
Sure, yes. I'm Charlotte Smith. I'm also in Oregon, St. Paul, Oregon, and I've been a lifelong farmer, fifth generation. My daughter is now sixth generation running her flower farm.
00:01:57
Speaker
I did had a different kind of farm, but what happened is other farmers started asking me, why was I able to sell all my products at a lot more than they were able to sell them for? And so I started teaching marketing over a decade ago.
00:02:13
Speaker
and added mindset coaching because I realized if your mindset, if if if you're not thinking in a useful way, you will sabotage any efforts to be successful as a farmer. So that's a little background on me. And um' as I aged, the next generation took over and I do mindset coaching and marketing training for farmers full time now and love it.
00:02:40
Speaker
Well, you are amazing
The Five Foundational Mindsets
00:02:41
Speaker
at what you do. You have worked with me on mindset coaching for my farm, which is why I invited you to speak at this summit, because you're going to help us help people change their mindset from whether they're just getting started and they're struggling to charge for their dahlias, or maybe they're not charging their worth. Can you tell us a little bit about what your session is going to cover?
00:03:02
Speaker
Yes, it's going to cover actually the five foundational mindsets that keep farmers stuck and broke. And it it'll cover lots of different things. You know, in our society, women are punished often for thinking highly of ourselves or speaking highly of ourselves or thinking that we should be able to charge enough money. um So a lot of my clients struggle with that. They want to make money, money but they just, they've you know, we've been sent this message our whole lives that there's something wrong with it. We should feel guilty. um We shouldn't take money out of other people's pocket pockets. So that's a big one, but there are there are five total.
00:03:48
Speaker
And mindset shifts, the beauty of it is it can happen instantly. Like they will walk away from this session with what I hope is like a little mind explosion going, Oh, that's why i haven't been able to raise my prices. It's not that I live in the wrong area or that I don't have a fancy website or that my dahlias actually aren't good enough. It's not that at all. It's because I've been telling myself this story. So there are so many things that they will end the hour after my talk and just go, oh my goodness, I have no idea this is what was holding me back.
00:04:26
Speaker
It's amazing. You just said the word holding me back. I think our, like you just said, our biggest holdup is what's in our mind.
Mindset's Impact on Marketing
00:04:33
Speaker
yeah um i mean, for the longest time for me, it was that little voice in my head that was keeping me stuck from going bigger because I was like, well, who am I?
00:04:43
Speaker
to want to do this. um Yeah, and the the worst thing, that the hardest thing about that, which is why you need an external coach, is we can't see it for ourselves. I was coaching a client just a couple days ago, and she said she's wondering why her emails weren't making sales. She wants to make sales. She wants her farm her flower farm to be profitable, but nobody's buying. and when we looked at her mindset, her mindset was, well, people don't really need flowers. It's not a necessity. And so I showed her that if that is what you believe, your marketing repels, your marketing will make people think that subconsciously, like you don't, you aren't even aware that your mindset is showing up in your marketing because we can't see it for ourselves. So it's
00:05:33
Speaker
It's been so helpful for people to realize, oh, that's why there's no money left at the end of the year. It's not a problem with my product. My product's great. My website is great. I live around people who actually do want to buy my flowers. I've just been not aware that I didn't believe i could do it or that people do want our flowers or they are willing to pay for them. So yeah, it's it's huge.
00:06:00
Speaker
Absolutely.
Overcoming Pricing Doubts
00:06:01
Speaker
I just joined Lindsay and Shannon on the Dirt on Flowers podcast, and I shared with them one of my first farmers market experiences, which you had coached me through going to the farmers market. And I shared with them how i noticed that tomatoes and I was buying these tomatoes myself, these organic, beautiful heirloom tomatoes, because last year with our new farm, we didn't grow a vegetable garden. So I was supporting our local farmers.
00:06:25
Speaker
And I spent $6 for a tomato, and I didn't think twice about that tomato that I enjoyed for, what, maybe 10 minutes while we ate a caprese salad or sandwich or something with that tomato on it. But yet we question if we can sell a Dahlia for $3.
00:06:43
Speaker
Right. And we, we encourage other people. Like we think, oh, other people can do it. Jennifer can do it. Charlotte can do it, but I can't do it. So what you just said, we're doing this every day in our lives. We are buying things that we value without question. But as soon as we're the one needing to price something and sell it, it's a skill you have to learn. We aren't born knowing this. So it's a skill that you can develop with practice, how to chart, how to move from,
00:07:13
Speaker
like my talk, hobbyist to actually making money, starts with we have to believe that we have the right to do that, that other people want to our stuff and are happy to do it, and won't even question
Immediate Mindset Shifts
00:07:29
Speaker
the price. Like you said, it didn't even, you, it,
00:07:32
Speaker
Well, I'm in a question. You wanted that juicy tomato and that you valued it and your family loved it. And people think the same thing about our flowers. and so It's just us. We're the ones that don't believe people want our dahlias in that same way.
00:07:47
Speaker
Exactly. um i know you already said it, but can you reiterate what is the thing that you hope people walk away from your session feeling?
00:07:58
Speaker
So I want them to walk away feeling um more than hopeful, like hopeful is the first word that came up, but it's even more than hopeful. It's confident. I want them to walk away feeling transformed, like, oh, but like light bulbs going off of, oh, that's why i'm not making money. This is why. So I want them to go away blown away and like all kinds of those feelings that, and possible. I want them to go away feeling possibility, like, oh, I can do this. And that's a beautiful thing. Like, you don't have to wait a whole season to get results from my talk. The the results in your mindset with your mindset shifts can be instant. So I want them to walk away
00:08:49
Speaker
Feeling all those things inspired as well. So a lot of things. Well, that is
Importance of Mindset in Summit
00:08:55
Speaker
perfect. And I purposely scheduled you at the beginning on the first day, because if people can change their mindset or get in that mindset as they ah enter the other sessions, like yesterday, i went live with Heather Kane from Petal pink flowers and we talked about selling to florists. If they can develop the mindset needed to feel confident to sell to those florists, they're going to get so much more out of these other sessions. So what you're going to be teaching is going to be invaluable and it's a session that I know I'm looking forward to because I i don't think we can hear it enough. We constantly need these reminders.
00:09:34
Speaker
We do. i don't, but you know, what I learned and what farmers are always surprised to hear is our brains are wired to go negative. So if we're wondering why we're sabotaging our efforts to make money, it's biological, it's normal. Of course we're going negative. Of course we think it won't work. People don't want it, all those things. And so it's not a once and done. You can't hear a mindset talk once and then you are having useful, confident thoughts the rest of your life. It is something that we need to engage with ourselves personally daily. Like start out the day, what's my, what are my useful thoughts for today? And you're brilliant to have this talk at the beginning because
00:10:20
Speaker
none of the other talks will land for people if they aren't if they don't believe in themselves, their product, and their customer. And my talk will help them shift that belief. So then all the other talks, they will just absorb more.
00:10:38
Speaker
Well, we are so grateful
Charlotte's Dahlia Passion
00:10:39
Speaker
for you. And I know it's gonna be such a great session happening on March 3rd at 9 a.m. Pacific Standard Time. The link is in your bio so people can grab a ticket.
00:10:49
Speaker
But before we say goodbye today, I know you started out as a dairy farmer, but your daughter's a flower farmer, so you have dahlias growing on your property. Oh, I've always had dahlias. So the women in our family, again, I'm fifth generation here in Oregon, and the women and some of the men are like master gardeners too. You know, my uncle and aunt, when they passed on, they donated their garden to the Rhododendron Society. And I grew up...
00:11:20
Speaker
playing in their garden. My mom has garden tours to her garden. So it's interesting that we have always been master gardeners that show off with show gardens, but we've done other types of farming to make a living until my daughter, she's the sixth generation and she's doing flowers. So I've always had dahlias. And I'm older than you, so when I started doubt planting dahlias, they were not um popular like they are now. They were like a throw it, like, oh, you've got dahlias. And it's so, I always loved them, and I didn't understand, like,
00:11:57
Speaker
why are people poo-pooing dahlias? And now 40 years later, they're really trendy and and hot and hip. So we got to jump on it But I think it's really interesting. Like the the flowers people used to throw away that I always loved are now the trendy thing. So jump on it. I mean, it's perfect timing for your summit too of this is the dahlias season. And I don't mean like the months of the year, but dahlia season, dahlia decade, maybe, you know, 20, 30 years of dahlia popularity before it's just something else, because let's face it, the the farming world is fickle is that that way.
00:12:36
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, I think because local flowers are having their time in the spotlight, I think dahlias will stick around for quite a while because there's something that doesn't ship well. So there's always going to be that local demand for them, whereas roses,
00:12:52
Speaker
It's harder for us to grow those perfect long stem roses that are grown in controlled environments. But you can't ship a dahlia from Ecuador to Oregon and have it look the same or even half as pretty as the dahlia that's going to come from the farmer down the street. So I think that these topics are timely and valuable. And it's also...
00:13:14
Speaker
heading into spring where everyone needs a plan going into the year. a plan is what's going to set people up to be successful this year. And I know that the summit is going to do that. And I'm grateful that you are joining us. Before we say goodbye today, i have been asking all of our speakers a lightning round of fun questions.
00:13:33
Speaker
So if it's okay, I'd like to ask you a few lightning questions here. Let's go. so the first one is, what is your favorite Dahlia variety? that you have grown. Oh, oh.
00:13:45
Speaker
I love the single petals. And then I read an article some years ago. was like, oh, the single petals, we don't like those. And I thought, why why am I the one that always likes the thing nobody else likes? So the single petal varieties. And I'm lucky enough to live 20 minutes from Swan Island dahlias. So I'm always buying new ones. they um If I could only have one dahlia in my whole life, it would probably be Hootenanny. It's this deep purple crimson magenta. But yeah, anything with a single petal or single petal with a collar and a couple colors like apple blossom is creamy yellow with a little peach.
00:14:25
Speaker
All those are my absolute favorites because i I find them, I love the design work, the bouquet design. And I find the single petals are just so fun to design.
00:14:36
Speaker
They really are. I was just, I'm dropping a little hint here. I was just talking to Sarah Raven the other day for an upcoming podcast episode, and she shares some of the single petals that she's been hybridizing. and this so you're going to love some of those that she's got coming down the pipeline.
00:14:52
Speaker
Good.
Funny 'You-Pick' Story
00:14:53
Speaker
I'm always looking for new colors. They're so exciting. Okay. The next question, are you a coffee or a tea gal? Coffee, well, but I would say coffee first thing in the morning and then tea later in the day. But I, if I, I can live without tea, but I can't live without coffee.
00:15:11
Speaker
I'm the same way. um Okay. I know that you're, you were never a Dahlia farmer, but you were a gardener with Dahlias and your daughter's a Dahlia farmer now. Do you have a chaotic Dahlia moment either from your daughter's garden or a farm or your garden?
00:15:29
Speaker
Oh, um well, hers, um I'm interviewing her on the podcast as well. And so one funny story from hers is that she did a you pick and she didn't realize she had bridal, let's see, a bachelorette party sign up to come for her. You pick, and that was pretty funny.
00:15:51
Speaker
I looked out the back window and this big bus shows up and they'd been drinking and all that. So she managed it really well, but she learned, we we learned from all these, we learned lots of lessons from our failures. So she learned she needs to change it up and, you know, have them come alone or something.
00:16:09
Speaker
And for me, the chaos in my Dahlia bed is always digging them up and washing them and storing them. Like, fall is chaos. I don't like, I i don't know why. i've It's a total mindset, but I have never learned to, like,
00:16:29
Speaker
digging and storing my tumors, which I could get some mindset coaching and shift that. But yeah, that's my chaos is i get I get frustrated like, oh no, now I didn't keep the varieties straight and I don't know what's going to bloom when. So that's that.
Dahlias and Market Opportunities
00:16:44
Speaker
It is stressful. I always look at it as, okay, it's like digging up. it's For me, it's this when the seedlings bloom and when you dig up the tubers, those feel like Christmas to me because it's like, okay, how many more do I get to grow next year or how many more do I get to send out into the world? And so I've tried to say, okay, I i really don't enjoy this task, but what is the season given me and what's the reward that I'm digging up? And I try and look at it that way. That is, it is like Christmas. And then, gosh, I'm just, I'm blown away. Even though I've grown dahlias my whole life, I'm blown away that you can plant one. And if I forget to dig that one up, I will have 200 in two years. You know, it's just wild, the the tuber, how they expand, especially here where I live in Oregon. It's the perfect growing conditions.
00:17:33
Speaker
Absolutely. Well, for me, what I love about the way they multiply is it reminds us that nature is abundant and it's not scarce. And so many times we get in this scarcity mindset as flower farmers, worrying that there's someone else in my town already doing this. There's not room for me.
00:17:51
Speaker
But I think dahlias remind us that there's room for all of us because there's always more. There's more people that want to buy your dahlias. There's more people coming into the market. 80% of our flowers are still imported, so we have a long ways to go to keep flooding the market with flowers, and I think dahlias are the perfect reminder. Oh, they are. They're so beautiful.
Closing Excitement for Summit
00:18:10
Speaker
So, well, Charlotte, it has been so fun to chatting with you. i know you are a busy lady and we can't wait to have you join us on March 3rd for the Profitable Dahlia Summit. So if anyone has been enjoying this conversation and needs that mindset shift that Charlotte is going to be teaching, we would love to have you join us at the Profitable Dahlia Summit.
00:18:31
Speaker
You can visit the link in Charlotte's bio and grab your ticket and we would love to have you join us. Thank you so much for having me. The Dahlia Summit is going to be huge and I'm very excited for it. And thanks for having me here today, spending your Friday with me. sper It's been a delight. Thank you, Charlotte. We'll see you soon. All right. Take care. bye Thanks. Bye, everyone.