For Kylie Epperson, authenticity is everything. The social media maven and mother of three doesn’t sugarcoat farm life. Instead, she showcases the ups and downs (and all-arounds) of what it means to live and work on a farm in Missouri.
While she didn’t grow up farming, she did marry a fourth-generation pork farmer, joining an industry that she admits isn’t always “pretty.” The plan was for her to work off-farm as a high school history teacher for five years before transitioning back to the farm to work in the office. However, only a year into that plan, they had the opportunity to build a state-of-the-art 5,600-head turnaround farrowing crate and open pig gestation, and Kylie began highlighting the importance of the pork industry, farm life and the role of farm wives on social media, growing her brand organically through agriculture partnerships, while creating a community where many could relate to the similar highs and lows of farming.
In 2018, the Epperson’s farming operation experienced a tragic accident when their multi-million-dollar sow farm facility burned to the ground in less than two hours. The incident tilted the farm’s focus toward other ways to diversify and, since then, Kylie’s pivoted her brand to beyond basic agricultural influencing to helping other farm wives – and female rural entrepreneurs – thrive through two annual retreats.
She sat down with Geswein Farm & Land to talk about fostering community, elevating core values, and staying authentic.
Geswein Farm & Land: Did you ever think you’d become an ag influencer?
Kylie Epperson (KE): It happened very organically on Instagram back in that 2017-ish time frame. Things were different on socials. It was very, ‘I’ll follow you and you follow me.’ And that’s where I found the farm wife community. Then I did a podcast with an acquaintance back at that time and it was very farm wife focused. So, the authenticity of my brand has grown just naturally by doing it more and more and more.
After a couple years of growth, a couple years of continuing farming, I went to a retreat with my friend because I had already expanded my social media business. I was doing partnerships on top of all of this other stuff and when I got back from that retreat, it was about the same time that I said, ‘I really do think I need to step back from the office.’ And that was really sobering because I had to ask myself, ‘What do I do now?’ And had I built that business, my social media business. I hate calling it that because it’s more than that; it’s really blossomed into a public speaking motivational community building type business.
Geswein Farm & Land: Are there any topics or parts of your farm life that you consider off limits that you don’t share?
KE: That’s a great question. I’ve really thrown around how much do I share of my kids? They still are on and I consult with them. Like we if there’s something where they’re in it, I let them watch it first and we really talk about if they want to be on socials. Sometimes they want to dance and they want to have fun. And a lot of other times it’s less that. There are definitely things I go through, especially when I’m struggling, that I like to go through before I talk about it, especially big things like postpartum anxiety and depression.
Geswein Farm & Land: Let’s talk about your annual retreat geared toward females on the farm, the Farm Wives Club.
KE: I had a really hard postpartum time with both boys and my daughter. So, when I started Farm Wives Club, I did it because it felt like there was just this big piece missing from the farming community. And I thought if I had the courage to ask for help from my doctor and then to go to therapy, what about all the women who don’t have that? The supportive spouse or the financial means?
In the fall of 2023, I’d coached at a couple of retreats with some friends and I knew how valuable getting together was. We were still coming off 2020, where yeah, being online was fine, but there was just something missing. And I had attended a couple of other conferences that I thought were just beautiful. And I thought, ‘Okay, we need something like this that’s local so we can meet. There’s got to be hundreds of women out there who would want to come to a day or two-day event.’ And so that’s where the Farm Wives Club was really born. It started out as an online community and then it grew. In 2026, we’ll hold our third annual event.
Both years we’ve about 200 women attend, which is capacity. Each year, we have all new speakers. I like to call it our pre-harvest party.
Geswein Farm & Land: Were you surprised how appealing the Farm Wives Club was to other women in your community?
KE: It was very humbling for sure. We had great sponsorships the first year. It was just really cool to see sponsorships and women turn out. I don’t remember how many states there were the first year, but, in 2025, we had 19 states and one woman came all the way from Mexico. It’s very humbling because I thought when I originally planned the retreat that it would be anybody who lived within that six-hour drivable-in-the-Midwest time frame.
Geswein Farm & Land: What else do you have on-deck?
KE: I’m also hosting the Rural Rising Retreat, which is a three-day event for rural female entrepreneurs who already have an established business, but they’re ready to expand, and a lot of that comes from inner work. A lot of that comes from like our potential – and our potential is endless.
Geswein Farm & Land: What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow a nontraditional path like you?
KE: You have to really figure out what makes you tick. What is that passion project? Because, speaking for myself, there’s a lot of things that I could do. There’s a lot of things that I tell myself I should do. There’s a lot of things that I have full faith would be successful or would work if I chose to do them. I think entrepreneurship, whether that be in running a social media business or your farm or your coaching consulting business, whatever that may be, if we’re not doing it where it energetically lights us up, we will hit burnout. It has to align with your core values.
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