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How AFIC@MCO Empowers Northwest Arkansas Food Startups: Kristen Phillips' Success Story
Episode 336 • 17th November 2025 • I Am Northwest Arkansas® • Randy Wilburn
00:00:00 00:39:55

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About the Show:

"I swear every time I walk in and out of this building, I leave with more hope and more encouragement."

       – Kristen Phillips, Grazing Robin Road

In this episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas®, host Randy Wilburn sits down with Kristen Phillips, founder of Grazing Robin Road, and Daymara Baker, business development manager at the Arkansas Food Innovation Center at the Market Center of the Ozarks (AFIC@MCO), to explore what it really takes to launch a food business in Northwest Arkansas.

Kristen shares how she transformed an unexpected job loss into a thriving grazing box business, with crucial support from AFIC's commercial kitchen facility and Daymara's expert guidance. Daymara reveals how AFIC@MCO empowers entrepreneurs and local farmers with commercial kitchen space, technical training, and the connections needed to turn food dreams into reality.

Whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a foodie, or simply love stories about community and creativity colliding in Northwest Arkansas, this episode is for you!

Key Takeaways:

  • Local Support Is Everything: AFIC@MCO gives food entrepreneurs access to affordable kitchen space, technical guidance, and mentorship, no matter what stage they’re in.
  • Community and Collaboration: AFIC@MCO actively connects entrepreneurs with local producers, markets, events, and training resources—making success more accessible.
  • Fast-Track to Launch: With the right support, determined entrepreneurs like
  • Kristen Phillips can start a thriving business in just a few short months.
  • Education and Events: Both formal (like financial literacy and serve safe training) and informal (dinner series, pop-ups) programs empower business owners.
  • Overcoming Challenges: Mindset and self-doubt are big hurdles, but strong resources and encouragement from the AFIC@MCO community help entrepreneurs push through.
  • Giving Back: New entrepreneurs are eager to help others by sharing their lessons and tips for starting a business.

All this and more on this episode of the I Am Northwest Arkansas® podcast.

Important Links and Mentions on the Show*

Special Event Mentioned:

  • Savor the Ozarks Dinner Series at AFIC@MCO (Upcoming event celebrating local ingredients, food heritage, and entrepreneur support. Reach out to
  • Daymara Baker at daymarab@uada.edu for details and tickets.)

This episode is sponsored by*

Signature Bank of Arkansas "Community Banking at its Best!"

FindItNWA.com

Try ONBoardNWA.com Today!

*Note: some of the resources mentioned may be affiliate links. This means we get paid a commission (at no extra cost to you) if you use that link to make a purchase.

Connect more with I am Northwest Arkansas:

Thank you for listening to this I am Northwest Arkansas podcast episode. We showcase businesses, culture, entrepreneurship, and life in the Ozarks. 

Consider donating to our production team to keep this podcast running smoothly. Donate to I Am Northwest Arkansas

Mentioned in this episode:

FindItNWA.com

🎧 This episode is brought to you by FindItNWA.com – the hyper-local business directory made for Northwest Arkansas. From local eats to trusted pros, it’s the go-to spot for discovering what’s great nearby. 📣 Are you a business owner? Get listed today and connect with thousands of locals looking for what you offer. 👉 Visit FindItNWA.com to explore or join now.

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Transcripts

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Hey, folks, and welcome to another episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas,

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the podcast that explores the intersection of business,

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culture, entrepreneurship, and life here in the Ozarks. In

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today's episode, we're talking all things local food,

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innovation, and entrepreneurship, and we're joined by

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not one, but two incredible guests. First up

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is Kristen Phillips, the founder of Grazing Robin

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Road, a growing food business that got its start

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right here in Northwest Arkansas. Kristen's journey is one of

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creativity, persistence, and passion for building

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community through food. We're also joined by a dear friend

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of mine, Damara Baker. She is the business development

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manager at the Arkansas Food Innovation center

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at the Market center of the Ozarks, or better known

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as AFIC@MCO in Springdale,

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right across from the Jones Center. And Dymara plays a key

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role in helping entrepreneurs like Kristen navigate

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everything from shared use kitchens to product development and

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scaling operations. Together, they offer an

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inside look at how food businesses are being born

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and built right here in our region, with support,

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innovation, and heart at the center of it all.

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So whether you're an aspiring entrepreneur, a foodie, or just

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love hearing how community and creativity

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intersect in northwest Arkansas, you're going to love this

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conversation. Let's get into it.

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It's time for another episode of I Am Northwest

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Arkansas, the podcast covering the intersection of

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business, culture, entrepreneurship, and life in

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general here in the Ozarks. Whether you are considering a

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move to this area or trying to learn more about the place you call

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home, we've got something special for you. Here's

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our host, Randy Wilbur. Hey,

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folks. And welcome back to another episode of I Am Northwest Arkansas. I'm here

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with Kristen Phillips, the founder of Grazing Robin Road,

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and Damar Baker, business development manager at the

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Arkansas Food Innovation center at the Market center of the

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Ozarks, better known as afic@mco. Ladies, how

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are you guys doing today? Wonderful. Doing great. Thank you,

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Randy, for having me back. Good, good, good. All right, so I'm going to have

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to have you guys fight for time on the mic, but first and foremost,

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Kristen, I want to start with you because you are actually

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doing something really interesting here, and it's going to lead

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into us getting a better understanding of how

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AFIC, or the Arkansas Food Innovation center

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is operating here in Northwest Arkansas. And so I'd love

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for you just to kind of tell us a little bit about Grazing Robin Road

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and how did it all start? All right, I would love to. So Grazing

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Robin Road came from. Honestly,

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years ago, I saw somebody on TikTok

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in another state that was doing something that looked kind of

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similar to what my setup is. And I'll tell you what my setup is in

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just a second. So fast forward to this past summer,

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and I, very unexpectedly, was laid off.

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And as we all know, the job market is just kind of weird right now,

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and it takes forever. And I was like, well, I can't sit around here forever

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applying. And then three months later, hearing I didn't get something, it

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just. It's too depressing. So I was like, all right, I'm going to

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figure out something for myself. I'm going to do it for myself. So I started

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talking to my boyfriend, who is chatgpt, and

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I started just giving my ideas, and

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I landed on. I've always been in food. I love food. It's

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creative. It brings people together. It's social.

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I've opened and run many restaurants for other

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people, and I thought, well, I know what I'm doing. Let me do it for

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myself. So when I realized, though, when I started getting all the

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legal criteria of doing that, I knew I needed a commissary

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kitchen. And that kind of made my heart sink,

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because my first thought was, there's no way I can afford that right now without

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a job. Right? But I still asked ChatGPT

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give me commissary kitchens in the area. And

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AFIC@MCO was the first thing that popped up, which

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I think is very interesting because they had just

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opened, like, just a few months before. I had this conversation with

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AI, and I was like, here we go. I

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immediately contacted Damara. She saw

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me, like, I think the next day, and I walked into

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that place and had a full conversation and a

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tour with her and learned all about what they do. And I.

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I mean, I had tears in my eyes, like, not exaggerating.

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I left with so much hope that I can do this.

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Like, I can do this because this place exists, and

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that's how the ball got rolling. And I.

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Yeah, I applied for a scholarship. And that's where we are

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now is. I am officially a tenant there, and I

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am doing my thing. I'm actually at the Rogers

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Convention center right now. My booth is in there killing it for a

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vintage market that's happening. And it's. It truly started with

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me contacting Damara. Wow, man. That's like

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the ultimate testimony there. I hope you recorded all of that, Damara, because

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that. You can't get a better testimony than that. But, Kristen, I. I

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appreciate you sharing, you know, just kind of where you were and. And,

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I mean, just. I'm curious to know, did you even think a

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resource like AFIC existed in Northwest Arkansas?

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Oh, no, I had. And I've been, like I said, I've been in

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many businesses and many, you know, I, I know northwest Arkansas

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very well. I had no clue. Yeah,

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I mean, and that's kind of the beauty of it. And that's one of the

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things that we love unearthing here at the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast

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is just all of the many things that make Northwest Arkansas so

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special. What makes it so great. Damar, why don't you. I want to back up

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a little bit. Why don't you kind of give us an overarching view of,

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of what exactly is a fig and MCO at

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mco. And I've participated in a number of events.

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I have told people about it. It's a beautiful facility

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that's literally just off of Emma on the other side

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across from the Jones center, kind of adjacent to the

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Springdale Airport. But you guys have basically, you guys

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like the Phoenix. I've risen out of nothing and have come

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and fully become an involved part of our community

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here in Northwest Arkansas. So for the uninitiated, please

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just give us the Cliff Note response to who is

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AFIC at mco. Thank you, Randy. I have to say I

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wish people could see the big smile that I have on my face. Not only

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because listening to Christine and the story and how much she got

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impacted and supported and given the confidence that she can do

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this, but also you, you have been such a brand ambassador to

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help us share the knowledge because not many people know who we are.

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And so let me tell you a little what is EFIG and mco. This

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center was really designed to support food

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entrepreneurs at every stage. So that means

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someone who may be testing out a recipe or maybe

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someone who is ready to scale up shelf. We

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here provide 35 commercial kitchen contract

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processing space as well as technical guidance

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so that we can help all of those Arkansas MA products reach market

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and a larger note ethic. And NCO is really part of the University

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of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. Also

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we used to call it because you know we love long names so let's call

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it uada. So the UADA serves the entire state

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of Arkansas and that's really where you can we bring together

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all the resource dedication and the community so that we can

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really make it stronger our community and the agricultural system.

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So we are getting support here from our researchers and educators

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to really bring practical impact through it could be

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advancing sustainable farming. Ensuring that is so

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important as safe and nutritious Food safety and

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at the end is also helping businesses and communities

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to grow. So I've been part of the competitive extension

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service. That means that we also have access to that kind of support and

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knowledge that we can also bring forward to entrepreneurs

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like Kristen. So when people come here, they would

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say, okay, this is such a large space, what do you do? We can

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say that farmers are the way that we are

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supporting anyone who has a food business idea

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and supporting farmers by the means that sometimes you think

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that they need to have the technical support to be able to grow

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their produce and be able to bring it to market. But the role that we

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play at Ethic and MCO is to really that value added

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production. Sometimes a farmer, they're thinking about

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beyond fresh produce. So that means that we support

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them in value added food production. It could be

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either by bottling or labeling lines so that they

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can have ready retail ready products and

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that way they can diversify the revenue. And

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that's another way to move also from something that

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may to bring a more consistent production. And

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then also they can scale up and that's only on the pharma side. But then

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if we add someone like a Kristen that they can come here

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to use our commercial kitchen, that one of the key

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highlights is that we are open 24 7. That means

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that someone who may have an idea who is still holding a

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full time job, they can test their concept

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while they're still working. They're trying to, you know,

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generate revenue and having the support that they need to do.

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This is so much different when you can come over the weekend knowing, oh,

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there is a space for me that I'm going to be welcome and get this,

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the knowledge and all everything that I need in one place. So I would say

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that that's one of the key roles that we use. And of course, you know

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me, right, I'm passionate about your entrepreneurship at

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large. So I love to mentor and I love to bring resources. I love to

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make connections. So that also means if I know someone

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that could help one of our entrepreneurs, I will open the door

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for that. So it could be additional technical knowledge or it could

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be also maybe someone who just said, hey, I have been thinking doing

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this one in my business, oh, you need tea or you need

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chocolate or you need, you know, salsa or whatever. I love to make those

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connects because at the end everybody needs the market to grow.

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Yeah, well, I mean, and Demar, you're, you're no stranger to retail

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food outlets with, you know, you had Rock and Baker for a number

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of years. And and had a full time neurodivergent

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workforce working with you and you were putting out some of the best bread in

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Northwest Arkansas. We'll put a link in the show notes to that particular

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episode because I want to encourage people to go back and listen that even

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though Rockin Baker isn't open, the story of De Mara

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Baker and more importantly the story of the team of amazing

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individuals that worked with her is simply something

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that you should be encouraged by. And so I'm glad that

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you found a place in AFIC@MCO to

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continue doing the great work that you've been doing in our community

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as a connector, like you said. And I think that's important.

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And people like Kristen and so many other entrepreneurs

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have the benefit of your knowledge and background and

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resources. So I just want to say personally, thank you

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for the amazing work that you do in our community because every time I look

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up at any event that I am, I see you there. And that's, that's a

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testament to who you are as, as an individual. But you're always

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out there, you know, making connections and making things happen. And

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you've actually put a lot of people in my orbit that I'm thankful

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for as well. So, yeah, just, I mean, my encouragement.

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Sometimes we get out there and we're doing the hard work on a daily basis

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like you do, and sometimes we don't get thanked enough. And I just want to

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publicly on my podcast, thank you for the hard work that you

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do. And it's because of what you do as people like

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Kristen are able to fulfill their dreams and goals and objectives. And

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so thank you for that. I appreciate it. Thank you. Now you're going to be,

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I'm going to be now the one crying. Oh, yeah, no, no, no. Cry,

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cry. Crying isn't necessary. But on that

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note, Kristen, I want to come back to you and kind of talk

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about how did Aphic kind of bring things together or

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maybe crystallize the ideas that you had in

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terms of getting your business off the ground that really kind of helped you

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formalize some things that have gotten you to the point in short order,

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I might add, because at the time of recording this, this is November of

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2025. You had this idea sometime in

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the summer and you got introduced to AFIC early in the fall

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and it's just been a couple of months later and now you, like you said,

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you're at an event today where your stuff is flying off

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the table. What was it about AFIC that really helps

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you kind of hone in on what you need to be focused on

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and get it done at such a high level in such a short period of

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time. So first of all, I want to say, Tamara,

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I knew there was a reason that I just love you. Like, I'm

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neurodivergent. My son is neurodivergent. And I had. I did not know

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that piece of your story. And that's just beautiful. Yeah.

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Anyway, okay, so everybody has to have a business plan, right? I'm a very

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thorough and organized person. I had my business

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plan. I remember Damara looking at it and like checking off, like,

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I remember her like, don't worry about this. This will take two minutes. This will

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take a little bit longer. Get on this now. Like, just kind of guiding me

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through the business plan I already had. And then the

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connection, like, I mean, that has made

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a world of a difference. I would get emails, you know, hey,

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we have this event here. You should come, you should do this, or, hey, I

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want you to meet this person. That person. The connections and the availability

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to showcase my business before I was even

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officially up and running. So I couldn't like, cook all the food or anything,

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but I could be at these places and let people know who I was and

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what I'm doing. And that has been really

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groundbreaking. Just the connections and the networking and

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letting me know, hey, there's this. There's this training. I've been to

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so many training, like financial training, like, I've been

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to a lot of trainings through, you know, she connected me with Startup

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Junkie and some of their training. We've had trainings at afic,

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we've had. She even connected me on where to

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get my management serve. Right. And

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so I was able to get that at the library. And that was a

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beautiful class. And I mean, I've had that before in the past, but

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I'm telling you, Amen did a great job in those two days

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there. And so all of those types of things. And then

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we get to where I need to meet with the health inspector and I've

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got to come to ASIC and the health inspector has to sign off on me.

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And everything just went really fast because

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of the connections that she has. And it went really

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smoothly. Right. And truly, it's been under two months since I

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met with Damara. And like I said, I'm at the

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Rogers Convention center, full blown, doing very well today.

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I love that. And I like how you mentioned all of those different community

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partners like Startup Junkie and of course, obviously a fake, which

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is the topic of today's show. And then, of course, the Fayetteville Public

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Library shout out to Amen and the amazing team there. The

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Fayetteville Public Library does a serve safe program that's out

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of this world and there's a lot of opportunities that

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exist there. And certainly I am a fanboy

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of the library, have always been. And I guess actually at the time

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of recording this particular episode, I actually work at the

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library. I recently became the director of

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communications and marketing at the library. And so I've

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had a chance to really see from the inside how

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amazing of an institution the Fayetteville Public Library is, where you

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can do more than just take out a book or

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utilize the center for Innovation or, you know, the list goes on and on and

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on. And I don't want to about them, but yeah, that. That

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is, I think, the bigger picture point to make on

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in everything that you just shared is that for anybody on the outside

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looking in, if you're thinking about coming to northwest Arkansas or if you already

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live here, but you're just like, I don't know where to start. This

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story should be a testament for you that it doesn't take much and that there

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are so many different people from a variety of

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organizations, daimars included, that are here to

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help. And just basically the story that Kristen is sharing

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with me right now, we have heard before on other episodes

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of this podcast. But, you know, Kristen, I want you to

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maybe just kind of share with us a little bit about what you're actually

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making. What are you putting out there? Through grazing Robin Road.

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Yeah. So a lot of people first associate

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it with charcuterie, right? That's just kind of what

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people lean towards. They see my setup. I have the cute little, like,

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box that has all the, you know, six, that holds a

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bunch of six pans, and I can have the spread out. And people love

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that. That's what I have set up in here today. But I am

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a full caterer, and because I am a part of afic,

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I have the capability of doing school catering.

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It can be anything. My setup can be a

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potato bar, it can be a soup bar, it can be

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dessert. I mean, the imagination. I love using my

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imagination. I love it when ladies call me to ask me to do

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their book clubs. And my first question is, what book are you reading?

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Because I love curating something that, you know, based

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on that. Or it's fun to be creative and it's

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a great outlet to be artistic, which I do consider

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myself an artistic person. I might not be a great

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painter, but, man, it is fun to come up with a

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menu that goes along with whatever event it is you are

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needing a caterer for. So I love that and

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I love that I have this full, innovative,

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amazing kitchen where I can just create cool things

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and try cool things. And so that's really.

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I'm a caterer. I do parties, events, you know,

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meetings, corporate meetings, private parties, all the things. I've done a lot of

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pop ups lately for like businesses that are opening up and they're

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wanting some kind of food situation. That's really what I do.

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And I. Unless somebody says I want

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specifically this, this and this, then I'm going to get creative

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with it and try something new. Oh man. So tell me, are

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you finding it easy to source locally in terms of like

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local farmers and suppliers? How important is that to your

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overall all mission there at Grazing Robin Road? I

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love that being a part of ASIC

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means that I'm a part of the local farmers too. And

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I mean, I was sitting talking to Chef

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Ronnie the other day at ASIC about, you know, just

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ideas on these different jams and different things that

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I can use that people at AFIC are

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doing. Right? And so that whole collaboration, that cross collaboration

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is really just right there at my fingertips and I love it so

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much. I had somebody from, you know, somebody that

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I actually had grown up with in Texas who

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called me and was like, hey, I want to support you. I want

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you to make me some boxes that I can mail to

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people for Christmas. And immediately I went in and was talking to

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Ronnie like, all right, who do we got here? Like, who do we got here?

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What do they make? And that is fun. Being able to use local people,

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that's a lot of fun. Yeah, well, it sounds like. And you may

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end up stumbling upon something else that's hugely valuable to the

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OR that the market wants. Right? And I think that's the beauty of it. We

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actually had a couple of months ago, we had Mallory files on from Ozark

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Charcuterie and she kind of stumbled into making her

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charcuterie plates and it has really blown up for her. She's about to open

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up another location in Rogers. And the thing that I love about

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Mallory and she's been on the podcast, but the thing that I really love is

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just her level of transparency and the struggles that exist. Right. Because

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I never want to paint a picture for anybody that wants to start a business

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or has a business that it's going to be easy. Listen, doing this

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podcast is a lot of work, right? I mean, so tell me about

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that the challenges that you have to deal with and that you have to

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overcome. But having somebody like Daimara in your

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corner, I would imagine makes some of those challenges a lot

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easier. It really does. So the challenges

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are absolutely there and absolutely real. I

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think that the majority of my challenges are in

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my mind. Right. You know, I

353

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don't have a job. And so, you know, the funds I have can last

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me to a very specific date that I know the date.

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So, you know, should I do this? Should I put little money

356

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I do have into this? Can I do this? And then the outside

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support, you know, some people are very supportive. Some people are

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very, what are you doing? Like, how are you going to make money doing that?

359

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And so it's the biggest challenge, is a mental challenge.

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And what I've learned is that the resources are here

361

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and the support is here, and that's

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what I keep going back to. And I think last time I was at

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NCO for an event, I think I. Or no, maybe it was

364

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a. I wrote something where I said, I swear every

365

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time I walk in and out of this building, I leave with more hope

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and more encouragement. And it's true. Like, if

367

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I need to reset and if I'm feeling down and like, all right, I just

368

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need to throw the towel in because this didn't happen fast enough. I've just gotta

369

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go there. Like, yeah, true. They. The connections

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and the encouragement and the excitement and the. You can

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do this. That is very. It's a very real thing, and it's a

372

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genuine thing. It's not just, you know, Damar is not saying that to anybody because

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it's her job, too. Like, you feel it. Right? I mean,

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and that makes perfect sense. And that was kind of in line. I was going

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to ask you about what would you tell aspiring food entrepreneurs in the region?

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But you kind of laid it out there. You got. First of all, you got

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to keep going and that you certainly do need somebody in your corner

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that's going to championing you at every turn and also

379

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tell you when you're off course as well. Right. So that. Yeah,

380

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absolutely back. Because that's important as well. Too often we

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sit in a vacuum, if you will, of information,

382

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and we don't have enough external factors giving

383

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us data points and information that are valuable to our

384

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entrepreneurial journey. So it's important to have people in your

385

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corner, like Damara, like the folks at AFIC that can help

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you through that process, especially if you're doing, you know, food

387

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entrepreneurship, which seems to be a big category

388

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here in Northwest Arkansas. And I know so many. I

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mean, that's why if you look at me, that's why, you know, losing weight is

390

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not easy because I have so many chefs that I'm friends with and so many

391

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amazing people that make amazing things. It's hard for me to, although

392

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I know I'm joking about that, actually been losing a lot of weight lately. But

393

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that's not because of all of the amazing chefs that I know and people

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that are able to really do wonderful things with food

395

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in such a profound way. So, I mean, I just think that there's all kinds

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of opportunities here in Northwest Arkansas. As you consider

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this is you're still early in your journey, like really early. You're like

398

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still a baby in this entrepreneurship process.

399

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What are your future plans? Where do you see

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Grazing Robin Road heading in the next two to three

401

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years with the kind of support that you're getting from an organization

402

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like AFIC at mco? You know what, I actually was

403

::

thinking about this here in the last few days. I love what I'm

404

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doing. I love doing it. I love creating. I also love

405

::

teaching people. Like, I'm good at it. In previous jobs,

406

::

I've just really excelled at that. And so there's little bits

407

::

that I've learned along the way. And I want to teach other people these

408

::

things. Like, I don't know, a tiny example is

409

::

a notebook and exactly what you need to have in it when you do

410

::

things where you're serving to the public so that you're

411

::

100% prepared if the health inspector walks in.

412

::

But I'm very organized. So I have started thinking

413

::

like, I wanted people these little secrets, right?

414

::

I was going to talk to Damara actually, so here you go. Daimara. I want

415

::

to give them like lesson to brand

416

::

newbies and even if they're just not sure

417

::

how to write the business plan or if they're not sure in what order comes

418

::

what. I have done these things for very large

419

::

companies and past jobs. And it is different

420

::

when it's just yourself. But I do feel like I

421

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have already have a log of little tips and tricks and I do

422

::

like sharing that with people. And so at some point, like,

423

::

I would love to obviously keep doing what I'm doing,

424

::

doing private events, doing parties, doing catering, doing pop ups

425

::

and markets. But I would love to venture into. All

426

::

right, we've got Jane Doe over here who has this

427

::

idea like, what should she do? I do like helping

428

::

people. I am a therapist by schooling.

429

::

Oh, well, there you go. Well, I mean, obviously that comes Naturally

430

::

for you, which certainly I am encouraging

431

::

you to continue to grow your entrepreneurship

432

::

muscle. Because, you know, we live in a society where people see

433

::

success, they listen to success. And so as the more

434

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success you have, the larger your platform will be for

435

::

people that want advice and guidance. And so my encouragement

436

::

is to keep doing what you're doing and get that word out with as many

437

::

people that will listen. And certainly you're on the right path with

438

::

everything that you're doing at a fig and how you're growing

439

::

the business right now. So we wish you nothing but

440

::

continued success. Demar, one of the reasons why you

441

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originally asked me to have Kristen on the podcast was because

442

::

you actually have an event coming up. And while we try to do,

443

::

we try to create evergreen episodes that will stand the test of time,

444

::

we did want to talk about this event because this particular

445

::

podcast episode will come out before the event

446

::

itself. And it sounds like this is not the only time that you're going to

447

::

do this event. But do you want to talk a little bit about that? Oh,

448

::

I would love to do that. And by the way, I just love the

449

::

conversation because you can see by listening to

450

::

Kristen now my head is think of what else we can do

451

::

together. So it's not limited to kind of mentoring her,

452

::

but now I'm going to pick her back. It's okay. Now you can help me

453

::

support all entrepreneurs in a better way than what I'm doing today.

454

::

So thank you Randy for opening the opportunity there. Yes.

455

::

Let's talk about the event that we have and as you said, you want to

456

::

have a podcast that are long live and that's what we're trying to

457

::

do with what we call the Saber the Ozarks dinner series.

458

::

So here at Epic and NCO we host

459

::

this dinner series is culinary.

460

::

It's a year long culinary experience to celebrate the

461

::

regions ingredients, all the seasons and all the

462

::

diverse food cultures that we have in our area. And

463

::

each dinner we pair kind of

464

::

recognize chef with food entrepreneurs to also

465

::

give them opportunities to learn from the best. As

466

::

Christine was mentioning, we had an event here with Startup Junkie

467

::

that we created the platform for them to show their

468

::

product, practice their elevator pitch when trying to sell what

469

::

they're producing or the services. And this dinner is really

470

::

to elevate that experience so that these food

471

::

entrepreneurs can have the opportunity to gain the knowledge

472

::

that typically they cannot afford to. So here is

473

::

really an educational experience experience when you see all the way around

474

::

so you have the food entrepreneurs learning for the best. In this case it could

475

::

be the chef or it could be their hospitality

476

::

team leading the training. But also for those people attending

477

::

the event, because we are going to be featuring the

478

::

food for the season, what is the region's most

479

::

delicate produce of the time. And also

480

::

the main goal of the series is to. To really

481

::

funds for our scholarship program. As you heard,

482

::

Christa was our first recipient. And by putting together

483

::

or hosting these kind of events, we're hoping that we can increase that

484

::

funding, that we continue supporting more people like her.

485

::

So that means that every time that we have

486

::

attendee coming to us to join this experience,

487

::

they're going to be exposed to this beautiful

488

::

community that we're building here. Because now they're going to

489

::

meet some of these participants who have been going through

490

::

training program, who have been renting this space, who potentially

491

::

or are also working with us producing their items. It's a

492

::

really. Well, you were there in one of those, Randy, so you can talk more

493

::

about that night. So it's kind of very magical that we

494

::

were surprised by the energy that was created, the

495

::

camadri between those attendees, the

496

::

connections, all the questions. And at the end, not only

497

::

they're helping people like Kristen to bring their

498

::

dream to life, but also they get opportunity

499

::

to see fabulous facility that we have. And

500

::

my goal is at the end, they become our brand ambassador so that they can

501

::

tell other people about the services that we offer. Because as

502

::

you know, we just opened at the end of May 2025 and

503

::

we have a huge, huge opportunity for more people to learn

504

::

what we do and what the future can look like when you come to

505

::

us. So the more that we get people talking, the more people that we can

506

::

help. Yeah, 100%. I want to tell everybody listening to

507

::

this, the Savor the Ozark Dinner series is legit. I

508

::

went and here's the takeaway. It was great food.

509

::

It was in a beautiful facility, like Demara said.

510

::

And it was great company. I was there with some amazing folks from

511

::

Walmart, that little store right up the street. And I mean,

512

::

we just had so much fun and we just had a great time collaborating

513

::

and talking and sharing. And the chef that was

514

::

there, that made. I mean, the dinner was great. And

515

::

the cool thing was that even with certain dietary

516

::

restrictions, they met everybody's need that was there eating that night.

517

::

And so, you know, it's just a perfect example. To me it

518

::

embodies what Northwest Arkansas is all about, the

519

::

collaborative sharing spirit that exists. I experienced

520

::

that through a multi course meal at

521

::

AFIC at mco. And I would encourage Anyone, if you get

522

::

invited, you need to go and participate. There is certainly a small investment

523

::

to do that. But let me tell you, the money is going to a good

524

::

cause, as Demar said. And anybody that's listening to this

525

::

that says, hey, I want to get. I'm not into food beyond just eating it.

526

::

I don't want to start a restaurant, but I would love to support

527

::

what they, Mara and a fake are doing or figure out ways that I can

528

::

get involved. Damara, what's the easiest way for people to get involved with

529

::

what you guys are doing, especially from a support standpoint.

530

::

Yeah. But let me take it back, because now that you talk about the dinner,

531

::

I want to entice people to know why

532

::

we're doing the knowledge of the why, but also what is coming up. So our

533

::

next one, as you said, November 21, that we're calling that one

534

::

a Native table. So that here, that's a

535

::

very unique offering that we are putting together.

536

::

So we are collaborating with Chef Rhonda Ray,

537

::

Chef Ashley Stafor, and Chef Michael

538

::

Bouillon. The Decopa Nation. So this is going to be

539

::

really a celebration of, my God, the deep

540

::

connection between the land, the heritage, the

541

::

autumn harvest. I mean, what a perfect parent we're

542

::

talking there. Right? So if really, how do we honor

543

::

that the food ways of Native community through

544

::

a delicious five horse menu. So that

545

::

one is coming up. You can reach out to directly

546

::

to Apico on our website or

547

::

you can reach out directly to me. It is Daimara

548

::

D A Y M A R A b@UIDA

549

::

edu. So there are different ways to get connected with us and we

550

::

really hope to see many people coming to enjoy that experience

551

::

because it's going to be another unforgettable one. Yeah. And

552

::

we'll put the in show notes, folks. We'll put links to

553

::

Damara. I'll put her LinkedIn profile in there. I'll put a

554

::

link in there for Kristen as well, just so that everybody can connect

555

::

what these wonderful ladies are doing right here in our community. And then we'll

556

::

put a link even to this particular event, which is

557

::

happening, a Native table. Because, you know, the thing about it is the Native American

558

::

population, obviously in this area is huge, both here

559

::

in northwestern Arkansas as well as in eastern

560

::

Oklahoma. And the influence of the

561

::

Native Americans in food and culinary should not

562

::

be missed. And I think this event will be a good way for you to

563

::

kind of experience that and get a better feel for what is available.

564

::

So I really want to encourage everybody to take advantage of it. And then if

565

::

you have questions about Afico, you can visit the website,

566

::

which is afic, aficmco,

567

::

uada Edu.

568

::

That's the easiest way to get to the AFIC website. Again, we'll

569

::

put links to all of this on the show notes because you might be driving

570

::

while you're listening to this and I don't want you to have an accident. Trust

571

::

me, the information will be there and we'll make sure that you have all that

572

::

you need to connect, both with Damara as well as

573

::

with Kristen. So I really appreciate you ladies taking

574

::

time out of your Friday afternoon to sit down and chat

575

::

with me, and we look forward to sharing this

576

::

episode both near and far. Maybe there's a

577

::

burgeoning food entrepreneur that's thinking about relocating to Northwest

578

::

Arkansas. Well, if you guys didn't make a case for that through this

579

::

episode, I don't know what will. So But Kristen, thank you so

580

::

much for joining us today. Can you just share your website with

581

::

everybody and what's the best way for people to contact and connect with

582

::

you? Yeah, the best way for people to contact is

583

::

my email is Grazing Robin

584

::

road@gmail.com. my phone number is

585

::

479-310-0421

586

::

and texts are fine. I know everybody prefers texting.

587

::

And then go on socials on Instagram and Facebook.

588

::

That is where I put any of my

589

::

pictures and what I'm doing and where I'm going to be. And those are

590

::

both Grazing Robin Road. So instas at GrazingRobin Road and

591

::

then Facebook is the same go, follow and share. That is one thing

592

::

I'm of the where we didn't have Internet and then we did have

593

::

Internet. And I'm definitely learning that those

594

::

likes and follows are super meaningful. Apparently if you're

595

::

trying to start a. Business, well, they're called impressions and they do

596

::

matter and they sometimes can translate into real, real world

597

::

dollars. So you're absolutely right about that. And we'll be sure

598

::

to link all of your social media contacts and we'll get a form

599

::

to you to fill out, but we'll make sure that everybody gets that and that

600

::

they're fully aware of how they can get in contact with you. And if you

601

::

decide to reach out to Kristen and Grazing Robin Road, please

602

::

let her know that you heard about her first here on the I Am

603

::

Northwest Arkansas podcast. And the same for Dan Mara. If you reach out to

604

::

Daimara and afic@mco, please tell them that you heard

605

::

about it first here on the I Am Northwest Arkansas podcast. We really appreciate

606

::

that kind of support and it makes all the difference in the world for us.

607

::

So Kristen Phillips of Grazing Robin Road and

608

::

Damara Baker of A FIG at mco, I want to thank you

609

::

both for joining me on this special episode of the I Am Northwest

610

::

Arkansas Podcast. We appreciate both of you guys so very much.

611

::

Thank you. Randy. Thank you so much for having us. Absolutely,

612

::

absolutely. Well folks, there you have it. A big thank you again to

613

::

Kristen Phillips of Grazing Robin Road for sharing her story and to

614

::

Daymara Baker, Business Development Manager at

615

::

AFIC at mco, for giving us a behind the

616

::

scenes look at the incredible support system helping

617

::

local food entrepreneurs thrive right here in Northwest

618

::

Arkansas. If you found value in today's episode, be sure to

619

::

subscribe and leave us a review. It helps us keep telling the

620

::

stories that matter across the Ozarks. Want to learn more about

621

::

AFICO or how you can support or start a

622

::

food business in Northwest Arkansas? Visit

623

::

aficmco

624

::

uada Edu. We've also

625

::

included all of the links mentioned on this episode in the show

626

::

Notes. As always, thanks for spending time with us. Until

627

::

next time, keep connecting with the people and stories

628

::

like this one that make Northwest Arkansas such a special place.

629

::

One episode at a time. You guys have a great day. We'll

630

::

see you next week. Peace.

631

::

We hope you enjoyed this episode of I Am Northwest

632

::

Arkansas. Check us out each and every week, available

633

::

anywhere that great podcasts can be found. For show

634

::

notes or more information on becoming a guest, visit

635

::

IM Northwest Arkansas. Com. We'll

636

::

see you next week on IM Northwest

637

::

Arkansas.

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