Our Story
How Lil Goat Town Got Started
We are most definitely city people from Aliso Viejo, California. We moved to Arizona in 2000 where we then eventually moved to a home with no HOA’S! At this point we had five children and it was all about sports. Soccer, martial arts, and gymnastics was our way of life. As time went on our first granddaughter was born and has lived with us ever since. Then came the crazy life with two elite gymnasts and the competitions and travel. The homeschooling was very flexible with the chaotic schedules and the travel was always an adventure.
In 2014, my mother was first diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. She still lived in California at the time which made things pretty difficult to work with. The three youngest children were all going through a traumatic experience. However, each one was going through a different experience in life that was very devasting. As a parent, all you want to do is just fix it for them but sometimes you can’t always do that. There wasn’t anything more that I could do than I had already done. My heart was breaking for them so I asked, “What would make you feel better?” My daughter looked at me and asked, “Can I have a goat?”. “A what?” I asked. Where did that ever come from? That was when the other two chimed in that they wanted a goat as well. I was so desperate to help my kids I would have done almost anything. Goats are so adorable that I couldn’t say no. But I didn’t know anything about goats. I was allergic to everything so how was I going to do this? I thought that I have absolutely lost my marbles, but google soon became my best friend.
My daughter was recovering from surgery so my son and I went to pick out a goat. Instead I bought two! I then went home to tell my husband we needed a pen by the end of the week, which didn’t exactly go over very well. I got him by assuring him that the goats would eat the weeds. So, as we waited for the pen and shelter to be built my daughter felt a little better and she went with my granddaughter and I to pick out their goats. We came home this time with three more goats. By this time, we had five goats to start our little herd but that was until I saw the cutest little doe for sale that I just had to get. Yes, what on earth was I thinking?
So, this is essentially how all of this began to unfold. I fell in love with goats so much I had to share them with everyone else! The therapy that accumulated from of all of those baby goats had eventually helped everyone through all of their obstacles; Mission accomplished! However, not only was this helping out my family get through some of life’s struggles, but it was changing my way of thinking in many ways. It was actually taking our whole lifestyle and rectifying it in ways I didn’t know it possibly could. We then brought chickens home and eventually ducks, who give us the best organic eggs ever! We had a couple of dogs that we had for years and decided to bring home two more to help with the guarding of all of the animals. We also had to get a couple of bucks so I could breed and milk my does. My husband built all separate houses for each of the animals, and it was the building of this whole legacy that gave Lil Goat Town its name. We then decided to build an outdoor yoga studio which was the beginning of our Beach Goat Yoga classes. I had already been making soaps so it felt like the perfect time to begin selling my soaps, lotions, and secret potions.
In 2017 my mother came to live with us at home since she was in her last stages of dementia. It was definitely a lot of work, and her disease was just a highlighted daily reminder of what chemicals are actually in our food and products and what they are doing to us. It brought us very aware of everything around us. Then, to make matters worse, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy but could not do chemo because of the dementia. Her surgery went well but the anesthesia definitely took its toll on her. Overall having four generations living under one roof was a tremendous challenge, but it has also been the best experience that we will always be grateful for and truly cherish. Our family keeps growing with more and more grandkids. My hope is that these kids will learn to live an organic life rather than the life I was raised in. I can’t change the past but I can count on changing the future for the better.