Alumni Spotlight - Caroline Lewallen

Caroline Lewallen, marketing coordinator at Jaemor Farm and UGA ALEC Alumna
Caroline Lewallen uses her bachelor's degree in Agricultural Education to reach beyond a four-walled classroom and teach consumers about agriculture in marketing ventures and through social media.

 

Patience and passion are the driving forces behind this ALEC alumna’s mission to educate the public through agritourism and beyond.

A fierce passion for agricultural education and a knack for busting food myths give Caroline Lewallen (B.S.A. Agricultural Education ’11) an edge as the marketing coordinator for Jaemor Farms and future president of the CAES Alumni Association.

A Strong Start

Raised on a northeast Georgia beef cattle farm, Caroline filled the days of her youth showing livestock and participating in 4-H and FFA events. This lifestyle revealed early on that she wanted a career in agriculture and prompted the beginning of her educational journey at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College before transferring to the University of Georgia to pursue her degree in Agricultural Education. It’s during this time that Caroline realized her desire for a career outside of a traditional four-walled classroom.

After graduation in May of 2011, Caroline ventured to D.C. as a Congressional Agriculture Fellow to work under Congressman Jack Kingston. “I fell in love with ag policy and even using my Ag Ed degree to educate the Congressman about agriculture,” Caroline said.

Following that summer, Caroline again reached beyond Georgia borders by starting her master’s degree at Texas A&M University in Agriculture Communication and Journalism.

“While I was in Texas, my research areas were adult education, experiential learning, and food safety communication – specifically with social media.”

These combined experiences and the drawing power of home led Caroline back to northeast Georgia where she became marketing coordinator of Jaemor Farms in summer 2013.

Caroline reflected that, while not everyone ends up using their formal education in their everyday job, all of her experiences are being used in her current role.

Education Through Interaction

Caroline manages the school fieldtrip program and conducting all of the marketing efforts for Jaemor Farms locations in Lula and Commerce locations. Her efforts involve interacting with people from diverse backgrounds and managing customer opinions based on information found on the internet.

“With the inner ag teacher, if you will, I feel the most important part of my position is working with consumers and dismantling food myths within the marketplace today,” Caroline said.

Caroline’s formal master’s thesis research centered around what consumers believe and who they trust on the internet, based on personal background and education level. Since entering the industry, her informal observations have shown that experience and emotion drive opinions and trust. But Caroline works to build trust with consumers on a daily basis. This requires patience. A lot of patience.

“Consumers can be blunt and ugly, but they don’t want to hear what you say. Be patient and willing to hear someone’s emotion before you share your own emotions,” Caroline advised.

As the marketing director of one of the largest agritourism destinations in the state, she is uniquely positioned to interact with customers, primarily online.

“We’ve tried to become very transparent in answering questions customers have about their foods … but even the bold truth can be confusing to consumers.”

The ability to hide behind a screen makes for confident, passionate, sometimes misinformed consumers. However, Caroline navigates the wilds of the social media comment stream by answering directly and providing additional research or articles to back up a claim and building a database of information on the Jaemor Farms website.

Passing on the Knowledge

Caroline not only gracefully navigates the line between educating consumers and creating happy customers, but she shares her years of expertise with a communications intern each summer.

“I think it’s important for any student to have tangible experience during which you can truly go apply what you’ve learned in the classroom.”

The students who work with Caroline not only learn how to defend a brand and advocate for agriculture but apply the specific skills they’ve learned in the classroom. By determining at the beginning of each summer the student’s strengths and weaknesses, Caroline will play to an intern’s talents in most assignments and simultaneously challenge them to improve in their weaker fields.

“My goal is for Jaemor’s intern to have a solid portfolio. Whether they add to an existing portfolio or create a completely new one, they’ll leave with a useful tool.”

Jaemor Farms will host its fifth communication intern in the summer of 2020, and three out of the past four interns have been ALEC Department students.

Madame President (Elect)

However, hosting interns isn’t the only way Caroline contributes to future generations of agriculture. She will begin her term as president of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Alumni Association in July 2020.

“It’s certainly an honor to serve on the Alumni board the past two years and an honor that they asked me to continue on as an officer. It’s a continuation of giving back.”

Caroline and her fellow board members want to share their experience with the College by promoting current and future students, but they also want to emphasize why it’s important to give back financially and by sponsoring student experiences.

“I love providing student internships because of the benefit to the student, but they teach me so much!”

Beyond promoting students, Caroline’s goal for the upcoming year is to engage with alumni who haven’t been engaged with the association, to encourage networking and to support agricultural employers.

On the Home Front

When she’s not marketing Jaemor or volunteering her time to the CAES Alumni Association, you’ll find Caroline exercising yet another ag passion – raising beef cattle. In 2017, she and her husband, Kyle, purchased land in Habersham County to begin a direct-to-consumer beef operation. After purchasing weaned calves from her dad and a couple of other local beef farmers, they fed out the cattle and began processing them for direct-to-consumer sales after a year.

teXga Farms is reaching consumers through the very portals that can be full of questions and emotion – Facebook and Instagram. However, they’re facilitating consumer conversations about how animals are raised and quality of meat.

“I admit that I had to go back and relearn the beef industry after being in the produce industry for years. It’s been fun.”

Caroline also gets to put her marketing knowledge to use in this operation by managing the website and branding, but the goal is to combine this with her husband’s background from owning and operating a BBQ food truck in Texas.

“I grew up in the beef industry, and he grew up in the beef-eating industry,” she laughed.

Be on the lookout for expertise from farmers who grow beef and know how to cook it.

And be on the lookout for Caroline as she continues to follow her passion for educating about agriculture far beyond four walls.

By Allison Fortner


Black Family Photo
The Black family, with strong ties to UGA's College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, stand outside historic Conner Hall. (Left to right) Ward Black, Agriculture Commissioner of Georgia Gary Black, Lydia Black, Caroline Lewallen and Kyle Lewallen are pictured. Photo by Dennis McDaniel
Caroline Lewallen leading a farm tour
Caroline Lewallen leads a farm tour at Jaemor Farm in Alto, Georgia.
Caroline Lewallen explains a fruit tree to children.
As agritourism coordinator, Caroline leads field trips at Jaemor Farm to expand agricultural knowledge at a young age.