Bonnie Carroll's Life Bites

Mary Blackmon plans to help people have better well-being, self-care and health by launching Farm to Wellness Retreats™, putting the first-ever farm-fresh spin on the world of wellness travel. This is her latest entrepreneurial venture that coincides with her sister business Farm Star Living, currently in its tenth year, which has helped people find farms to visit across the USA as well as have healthy farm-fresh foods, recipes, farmer profiles and fresh food at their fingertips.

Blackmon believes that farm-fresh food is at the crux of all things healthy - mental, physical and spiritual; and without it, holistic health isn't possible. Thus her new ‘on the pulse' venture Farm to Wellness Retreats shines a spotlight on things ‘farm-fresh' by featuring a "very first" international list of spas, resorts and farms that offer mind, body spirit wellness - with each offering their own unique farm-fresh twist. To make the cut, each property must have either a farm, garden, vineyard on premises, offer farm-to-table cuisine sourced locally, or provide spa services featuring indigenous / organic or farm-sourced spa products.

Properties can be searched by offerings and features including Ayurveda, crystal bowl / drumming classes, farm-to-table cuisine, glamping, horseback riding, meditation, oceanfront, rainforest / jungle, vineyard, wellness classes, yoga, and more.

Recently Blackmon conducted a survey of the Farm Star Living community, with 5,000 people responding:

Blackmon, always the entrepreneur, listened to her community and has just launched Farm to Wellness Retreats to help others achieve their personal goals and dreams of a healthier way of life. Now self-care, holistic health and even inspiration is more accessible than ever. Stay tuned as Blackmon's next entrepreneurial journey - and personal next chapter - is just beginning.

A pioneer in digital marketing working at Wired in NYC who helped roll out the ‘ad banner' across the USA (1996), Mary later launched the former Spa Addicts in January, 2003, to help ‘the everywoman' find luxury spa services more affordably - prior to the spa boom or sites like GroupOn that followed many years later. She soon became a celebrated advocate for me-time and self-care, or in other words an influencer (before social media), promoting this passionate message for brands such as Cadillac, Blackberry, Johnson & Johnson and more. Blackmon penned columns for IVillage, Skin Inc. and contributed to others including Health, and was featured in national women's magazines from O Oprah Magazine to Cosmo to Women's Health, and a featured speaker across the USA and in Canada.

Then came a significant life decision, to step up to take over the family rice farm spanning thousands of acres or watch it disappear. So, in 2009, Blackmon traded in her spa robe for overalls, leaving Beverly Hills for the Arkansas Louisiana Delta, and learned how to farm. This confirmed how she had always felt - farmers are our unsung heroes who are rarely given their rightful due, so she started a new business Farm Star Living, celebrating farmers and farms and presenting them for the first time in a more accessible, hip and pop-culture spin. This was the first website to make ‘farm to table' a way of life and spotlight those who had been so often overlooked. Blackmon created one of America's first agritourism farm directories, featuring approximately 1,000 farms offering activities including apple picking, alligator farms, corn mazes, petting zoos, honeybee plantations and more.

Her name has become synonymous with farm-fresh food over the last ten years and has been a go-to agriculture expert for Fox & Friends, hailed as one of the most "important farm voices in the USA" (Country Woman Magazine), been featured in national and regional TV, magazines, podcasts, and iHeart Radio, sharing insights into food trends, tips and farming. She has taken site visitors behind the scenes in videos filmed at farms, food shows and created content on healthy eating and foods.

Yet, Blackmon's passion for self-care still has remained dear to her heart, as has overall wellness, and so in 2021, she became a certified Integrative Health & Wellness coach to uplevel her skills and ability to empower and educate others. The pandemic and the alarming increase in many neglecting self-care, mental health, and wellness issues reaffirmed her need for this, as did the Farm Star Living community.

Follow Farm to Wellness Retreats on Instagram and Facebook for reels, tips, insights and travel inspiration.

Blackmon is pioneering a new way of living, which she calls farm to wellness, integrating fresh food while partnering with wellness destinations, offering holistic, self-care, and mind-body-spirit health. Blackmon is evolving, stepping into a new venture fueled by passion, digital expertise, and mind, body, and spirit. She continues to inspire, motivate and educate audiences on how to be their most healthy versions of themselves.