343 | The First 10 Years Back on the Family Farm: Growth, Grit and Gratitude with Zoey Brooks Nelson
In this episode of the Uplevel Dairy Podcast, Peggy Coffeen is on-site at Brooks Farms with Zoey Brooks, nearly 10 years after Zoey returned to the family dairy, to discuss growing from 200 to about 700 cows and from four employees to a 15-person team.
Zoey shares hard-won lessons about stepping into management, overcoming challenges, building a strong team culture and leading from within, while balancing roles as a young mother raising her children on the farm. She shares how her guiding motto - “Do it scared" - drives her to dig deep and dive in to make her dreams reality.
She also highlights a business segment and creative outlet with Black & White Aged Cheddar, the premium aged cheese brand she and her sister Syndney launched during COVID by partnering with Union Star Creamery, made exclusively from Brooks Farms' milk.
This Episode is brought to you by Adisseo
This episode is sponsored by Uplevel Dairy Podcast Founding Partner Adisseo, a global leader in nutritional solutions and premier provider of rumen-protected methionine for dairy producers who want to optimize milk production, capture more value from components, and maintain the health of their high-performing herds. Learn more at https://www.adisseo.com/en/
01:38 Back Home at Brooks Farms
03:30 Scaling Up Fast
04:09 Failure Is Normal
05:06 Milk Drop Mystery
07:24 Hunting Stray Voltage
09:36 Managing Through Chaos
11:53 Building Team Culture
13:47 From Cow Work to People
15:21 Three Hats on Farm
16:08 Dairy Mom Office Life
17:36 Raising Kids on Farm
18:56 Leading by Example
19:27 Balancing Farm and Family
19:52 Tech That Makes It Work
22:04 Remote Sorting in Winter
22:47 Launching a Farm Cheese Brand
27:52 Black and White Story
28:34 Cheddar Focus and First Taste
30:05 Advice for New Brands
32:37 Growing Distribution Beyond Wisconsin
34:45 Next Decade on the Farm
36:18 Do It Scared
