We are fiercely proud of our employees, so I want to do an introduction of one of them. You've probably either talked to her at the shop or on the phone.
Mare came to us a little over a year ago. She was a friend already, so I was a little concerned about the risk of combining friendship with an employee/employer relationship. Lucky for me, she is very skilled at getting along with people, is a very hard worker, has had years of putting up with life in the military, and I'm the kind of employer who likes to give people plenty of room to grow and make their own. decisions. Now, Mare is in charge of getting out orders, keeping our data entered, and then doing just about anything else that needs doing here at the farm.
Mare (Mary Gifford Chapman) was born and raised in Florida, not too far from the Gulf coast beaches which she still loves. Graduating from high school without having a career passion she thought she'd enlist in the military because it seemed like fun, travel, and a chance to learn a lot. Her aunt had had a career in the Air Force and told Mare that if she wanted to follow in her footsteps the first thing she needed to do is get a college degree. After getting her degree from Florida State University she enlisted in the Navy.
At her first posting, she got to the duty station and met future husband within the first hour. She was in a communications station, Ron came walking in the door and she jumped to attention, he said "you must be the new ensign." Apparently, they ran a more casual post and jumping to attention was fairly rare. They eventually married and enjoyed a bond that was rare in that they had lots of fun together, supported each other in many ways, and simply loved each other deeply until his untimely death 15 years ago.
Mare decided to get her Master's Degree in Marketing when she was leaving the Navy. It seemed a logical thing to do with business growing in the U.S. and realizing she needed a stable career after being done with the Navy. After getting her degree, she worked at an advertising agency for about 6 years, until she realized that kind of pressure wasn't for her.
The couple moved to Whidbey Island, bought a house with some acreage and started raising sheep. After Ron's sudden death about 16 years ago Mare started working at Tartan Thistle, a Scots oriented business on Whidbey Island. Of Scots descent, she plays the bagpipes and has been to Scotland four times. Her favorite place is Orkney and Argyle which she says are off the beaten path She'll be going to Iona in 2010. Future travel to that region include going to the Borders - an area where the border between Scotland and England that has moved about over the centuries so the people there don't consider themselves part of either country. Sort of like Greenbank, here on Whidbey Island.
Mare lives with two dogs and a cat. Silky, part manx, part geriatric cat, keeps the family in line. Ceilidh (gaelic for "a gathering") is a friendly, affectionate yellow lab, and Laird of Kilcreggan is a feisty terrier. Mare is beloved among her friends and adds a stability and common sense to their lives, along with entertaining them by spinning tales.
around interviewing other farmers to see what they think of the efforts so far. I met with one of the farms assigned to me so far, and the owners there are happy to see the details of this program. As always, there's controversy - but I think we have done a good job trying to be inclusive and have some standards that mean something to our customers. You'll hear more about this later, I'm sure.
