Heather Leak’s talent for multi-tasking and management dovetailed into a new career path for her in 2019 when she and her husband, a fifth-generation farmer, decided to start their direct-to-consumer meat business, Midwest Prime Farms. Prior to that, Heather worked at the local newspaper as their graphic designer, ran a preschool and raised her three sons. Today, she’s at the helm of a steadily growing business, selling cuts of Angus beef and pork that’s raised on their farm in Warren County, Indiana, while also slowly revitalizing her hometown with the opening of The Market on the Oxford Town Square, inspiring other small businesses to follow suit. The new role is one she enjoys, using her graphic design skills to craft their custom logo, drafting recipes and content for their blog and learning the ins and outs of social media and SEO to help their business thrive.

We recently spoke with Heather about transitioning to on-the-farm employment, helping put her small town on the map for tourists and the possibilities of turning their town square into a women-owned business hotspot.

Geswein Farm & Land (GFL): You transitioned from some very off-the-farm jobs into one that not only has you working side-by-side with your husband, but also managing an online direct-to-consumer meat business and a tangible storefront. Was it an easy switch?

Heather Leak (HL): I had no idea that I would love being part of the farm as much as I do. But [in my new role] I had a lot to learn: how to build a website, SEO and Google rankings. I didn’t know anything about that stuff prior to this and I learned that I actually love doing all of it.

GFL: Let’s talk about your tangible storefront: The Market by Midwest Prime Farms. How are you and your business/family helping to revitalize the town?

HL: There isn’t a grocery store in all of Benton County at this point, and there hasn’t been for a couple of years now. It’s at least a 15- to 20-minute drive into a bigger town to get groceries. While we opened The Market first, a flower shop opened soon after. We also have a wood shop that does charcuterie boards and table tops and stuff like that. We were the first, but others are coming and there’s a lot of historical buildings on the Square that are now being purchased and refurbished. So, we’re hoping that it’s only the start and it’s going to draw some more businesses into town.

GFL: Why did you expand to a tangible storefront? What was the reason behind that?

HL: That was not in the plan by any means. We were very comfortable raising beef, pork and poultry. Shipping everything or hand delivering it, and selling through our website, but I had wanted to branch out into doing freezer meals like soups and stews and casseroles that we could also ship with our meats. We needed a commercial kitchen to do that so we looked into building one on our property, and it got to be very, very expensive. We kind of tabled it because we weren’t sure if it would be worth it. In 2023, they had a barbecue cook-off here in town at the Town Square. We’d donated some briskets for the participants to use in their cook-offs. We came and bought tickets and had a nice meal. As we were sitting there, I looked around at all the buildings, and I said to my husband, “Why not rent a building and try it out for a year or two and just see?”

It was very out-of-the-blue and not planned by any means, but it all felt really right. We actually just bought a building after leasing one for a year and a half. It’s just a couple of steps away from where we are now, but we decided we loved it and wanted to stay so we bought a building and we’re going to start work on that soon.

GFL: What would you say is one of the bigger challenges you’ve run into in since switching careers?

HL: I’m a very private person and I’m pretty shy, so having to use social media is a challenge for me. Another challenge is really just getting people to us. We’re just so off the beaten path. And, right now, there isn’t anything else to come to town for. So, getting eyes on us and getting people who want to come is a challenge. Getting other businesses to want to come is the biggest challenge right now and probably the most important because the more we can get here; it’ll just benefit the whole town.

GFL: Let’s talk about social media. Do you have any advice for sharing content?

HL: A post that includes myself in it or our family or our animals, that always does better and gets more engagement. I think people want to know who we are and I think people want to know where their food comes from, too, to be able to show them right where it’s born, where it was raised to where you can buy it.

GFL: As someone who’s learning as they go – not only with website development, but also content writing, recipe development, social media and business marketing, what advice do you have for someone who may be in a similar position?

HL: I have a farm/ag business mentor who I learn from and can ask questions. That’s been very helpful for me because it is all new. I never had a blog, never built a website – you know, all of the things I’ve done, I’ve learned in the last five years or so. If you can find a mentor, that’s very important.

GFL: How did you find yours?

HL: When we started the direct-to-consumer side of the business, which was Midwest Prime, I started with one I found on Instagram. I did her course on how to ship beef, how to ship frozen meat, which was very helpful because that’s a learning curve on its own – and we ship all of our meats nationwide. I completed some training under Kendall Ballantine. I joined her business group and have attended her retreats. I’ve been learning from her for several years now.

GFL: Would you say that your business is continually growing? Is it a success to you?

HL: Yes, I think so. I’m not the most active on social media, so we don’t have the largest following by any means, but our website does rank really well. We get a lot of eyes on us from our website traffic, from Google searches, and that’s the space that I am comfortable working in. I do think we’re growing. We have people travel from pretty far to come and check out the market, and they’ve heard of it through friends or social media. It definitely sparks interest for people.

GFL: What are your plans for the future of the business?

HL: My hope is that, like our farm, we’re trying to set it up to where if our kids want to transition into it, they can. And if they don’t, that’s okay, too. I have three sons and one who’s going to be getting married soon and maybe one of their wives would want to take it over. I think it’d be a great business for a mom to be able to run with little kids. Right now, I also employ two women who have young kids and that’s important to me. I want the business to be mom friendly and be something where a mom can make money while still having some independence and using their creativity.

I’ve been throwing the idea around with some other women here on the Square of putting together something where women can come and, if they’ve been considering a business of their own, that they could come and ask questions or brainstorm or learn from some of us who have already done it to see if it’s even doable or to help give them confidence to get started. I would love to see this square fill up with women-owned businesses, especially ag-related.

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