Today we’d like to introduce you to Tina & Dave Ellsworth.
Hi Tina & Dave, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Our journey from careers in healthcare to owning an alpaca farm has been in the making for quite a while, even though we may not have always realized it along the way. We’ve spent the last 25 years assisting patients and clients with unmet or underserved needs, but always within the confines of a corporation or at the mercy of an insurance company. Our goals were to continue serving those around us, but doing so while being able to set our own parameters and determine each day where our journey would take us.
The pandemic gave us more time to reflect on our path, decide what we truly wanted to create for ourselves and our community and how we could connect with and affect others in a positive and beneficial manner. We’ve always kept a running wish list of what our ideal future would look like and had many late-night conversations of what steps we needed to take to turn our list into a reality. We realized that our path would eventually look a little different than the typical scenario of working until we were 65, then retiring and spending our days doing whatever we felt like doing. Our path would be guided by a defined purpose and would allow us to do what we love every day without counting down the days until the so-called proverbial finish line of retirement.
Our wish list included buying a farm, raising and breeding alpacas, growing our own crops and wildflowers and providing a safe space where all people would feel welcome to come and re-energize, recharge and unplug for a while. The sanctuary that we’ve created among the natural setting at Lost Mountain Alpaca Ranch has allowed people to reconnect, laugh, smile, heal and slow down for a bit through our private tours, wellness classes, photo shoots and gatherings for special events.
The farm sits on 8 acres of lush pastures and meadows and provides a respite from the stresses of deadlines, zoom calls, traffic jams and the time commitments of daily life. Our 6 Huacaya Alpacas help to create a relaxing and therapeutic setting. They are gentle and inquisitive by nature and are often heard humming in the pastures as they are quite content in their surroundings and love getting hand-fed treats and attention from our guests visiting the farm. Our alpacas love engaging with people and playing with the other farm animals and they remind us that we can connect at a deep level and grow each day, even without labels, titles or a shared language to communicate with. That we can just be content by sharing and enjoying the tranquil sounds and beautiful landscape with these curious and empathetic animals.
We’ve listened to the needs of our guests and have expanded our Wellness Curriculum to include Yoga with Alpacas, Barre with Alpacas, Meditation & Breathwork sessions, Trauma workshops and a rotating list of painting and craft classes. For the future, our goal is to continue expanding our herd of Alpacas. We are always on baby watch around the farm as we will have 2-3 new baby alpacas born here each year which always creates a lot of new energy and excitement for us and our visitors.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Like any new venture, we’ve encountered some minor setbacks and challenges but we’ve looked at it as a necessary part of growth when starting a new concept and getting out of our comfort zones. Our biggest hurdle was the dramatic change of moving from a small piece of land in a neighborhood to a much larger farm which requires a different skill set, bigger machinery and more moving parts to keep everything in balance. The next hurdle was the fact that we had zero experience raising any type of livestock or farm animals. We quickly found mentors, read every book and article we could find and took online classes to teach us about subjects such as animal husbandry, breeding protocols and fiber processing. We soon realized that there was a vast network of kind and knowledgeable people along the way that were willing to share their years of expertise with us to help us move down the path to being successful alpaca farmers. We’ve already started to pay it forward as we now share our knowledge and experience with those who are interested in starting a farm or even raising alpacas one day.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Lost Mountain Alpaca Ranch?
Our farm is and always will be our passion project. It is an extension of who we truly are and is open to people from all walks of life. We hope to provide a safe and nurturing sanctuary to everyone looking to hit the pause button for a while to immerse themselves in a unique animal experience. Our backgrounds in patient care and individualized therapy allow us to interact and engage with different audiences with an open mind and heart. We want to provide a personalized experience where guests feel welcome to interact with us as their hosts in a relaxing setting with some of the most amazing animals around. We feel most proud of our ability to provide a gateway for people to meet and fall in love with our animals and to connect with the powerful healing energy of nature.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
For our farm, the animals and the land are the true stars! In order to provide our guests with a memorable, immersive experience, we must act as a conduit to connect the dots to all of the moving parts of farm life. Our success is wholly dependent on how quickly and genuinely we can connect with and build trust with our guests. Our aim is to give each guest much more than what they were expecting when they chose to support our small business by booking a tour, class or private event. Our ability to listen to our customers and to truly engage with them during their visit is one of our main strengths. We’ve become storytellers, counselors, entertainers, adventure guides, therapists & bad joke tellers along the way. At the end of a tour, we want all of our guests to have the feeling that they truly don’t want to leave. That they’d rather stick around and take another selfie with a baby alpaca, hear another farm story or just sit on the patio and enjoy the sounds of nature and enjoy the beautiful views.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://lostmountainalpacaranch.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lostmountainalpacaranch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lostmountainalpacaranch
