After decades spent telling agriculture's stories through broadcasting, leadership and public service, Colleen Callahan, founder and owner of Colleen Callahan Consultancy, has found a new way to connect with agriculture.
About a year ago, Callahan launched The Little White Dogs Flower Farm on her family's Illinois farm, combining a lifelong love of gardening with a desire to serve others.
"I've always appreciated the flora and the fauna," Callahan said. "I decided that because I've been fortunate to be healthy and can continue to help people, I could do that through flower production."
The flower farm is the latest chapter in a career that has spanned more than 30 years in agricultural broadcasting, leadership roles in state and federal government, and communications consulting. Callahan also made history as NAFB's first female president and first female Hall of Fame inductee.
The farm's name comes from two West Highland white terriers, Bally and Miles, who patrol the property each day. What began as a Father's Day gift quickly turned into two energetic farm dogs that inspired the business's identity.
"It just made sense that as we started planting flowers and they started running through the rows of flowers, this should be The Little White Dogs Flower Farm," Callahan said.
Working alongside longtime friends Jeff Yanke and Annette Noland, Callahan grows a wide variety of flowers, including sunflowers, gladiolas, zinnias and dahlias. The farm supplies local florists with fresh-cut stems, creates custom arrangements for businesses and events, participates in farmers markets and hosts pop-up sales.
Rather than competing with traditional florists, the team focuses on complementing their work by providing locally grown flowers and unique arrangements.
One feature that sets the farm apart is its use of natural materials found around the family's working farm. Callahan refers to many of the arrangements as "prairiescapes," incorporating native grasses and greenery gathered from the surrounding landscape.
"I think because we live on a farm, we have a different sense of what Mother Nature provides," she said. "When we can use what we've grown here and share that with others in a different way, it gives us an opportunity to do something unique."
Although flower farming is labor intensive, from starting seeds in the greenhouse to planting, weeding, harvesting and watering, Callahan describes it as a labor of love.
As the business continues to bloom, she hopes it serves as a reminder that new opportunities can grow at any stage of life.
"For anyone, as they advance in their career and have the time and the health, continue to do what you enjoy and continue to contribute," Callahan said.
