Our Family.
We are the Maggio family, and we own and established Starry Nights Farm in 2012. We lived in the city of Chicago, but moved to the country in June 2018. We love food, but are also health and environmentally conscious. Farmer Paul gets the dirty work done at the farm, while Marisa works on marketing, takes care of the girls, and works on other nitty gritty details of the biz. Cecilia (13) is in 8th grade and Corinna (6) is in 1st grade.
Paul.
Paul is an unusual breed of futures broker turned farmer. He worked at the same brokerage firm for over 25 years and in 2012 decided he wanted to buy land as an investment. While we intended to rent the land, Marisa's health and environmentally conscious input was to turn it into organic immediately. While reading, studying, and with the help of amazing farming mentors we were not only able to do it, but Paul was gaining a growing interest in farming. After 2 years, we bought our first cattle, mostly as a "hobby farm" and side business.
At the end of 2015, Paul came to a crossroad in his career. He was let go of his job and needed to decide what to do. The farm work was becoming more interesting (and time consuming), and his passion for finance less apparent, so at that time we decide to go full on farmers!
Paul grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin and knows the area well. After almost 30 years in Chicago, he is happy to be back "home". Paul does the farming work and LOVES networking with other farmers, ag and food industry people, our customers, and community members.
Marisa.
Marisa was born and raised in beautiful Puerto Rico and moved to Chicago at the age of 23. A former CPA turned yoga teacher turned health coach and now farmer, she was also a former "beachy" island girl, turned city girl, and now country. She never in her wildest dreams imagined her life like this, but loves every minute of it! Marisa studied nutrition therapy and health coaching and is interested and invested in high quality, healthy foods. With the farm, she has now gained better knowledge of food production and agriculture industry practices and is very interested in practicing only the best.
Marisa is involved in every aspect of the farm business and keeps Paul on his toes on record keeping, the details involved in the organic certification, and the cattle records. She is also in charge of the marketing and sales; website updates, newsletters, sales and delivery coordination. She also uses her "former life" accounting skills to keep the numbers up to date!
Paul.
Paul is an unusual breed of futures broker turned farmer. He worked at the same brokerage firm for over 25 years and in 2012 decided he wanted to buy land as an investment. While we intended to rent the land, Marisa's health and environmentally conscious input was to turn it into organic immediately. While reading, studying, and with the help of amazing farming mentors we were not only able to do it, but Paul was gaining a growing interest in farming. After 2 years, we bought our first cattle, mostly as a "hobby farm" and side business.
At the end of 2015, Paul came to a crossroad in his career. He was let go of his job and needed to decide what to do. The farm work was becoming more interesting (and time consuming), and his passion for finance less apparent, so at that time we decide to go full on farmers!
Paul grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin and knows the area well. After almost 30 years in Chicago, he is happy to be back "home". Paul does the farming work and LOVES networking with other farmers, ag and food industry people, our customers, and community members.
Marisa.
Marisa was born and raised in beautiful Puerto Rico and moved to Chicago at the age of 23. A former CPA turned yoga teacher turned health coach and now farmer, she was also a former "beachy" island girl, turned city girl, and now country. She never in her wildest dreams imagined her life like this, but loves every minute of it! Marisa studied nutrition therapy and health coaching and is interested and invested in high quality, healthy foods. With the farm, she has now gained better knowledge of food production and agriculture industry practices and is very interested in practicing only the best.
Marisa is involved in every aspect of the farm business and keeps Paul on his toes on record keeping, the details involved in the organic certification, and the cattle records. She is also in charge of the marketing and sales; website updates, newsletters, sales and delivery coordination. She also uses her "former life" accounting skills to keep the numbers up to date!
The girls.
We think it is worth mentioning the girls as part of our farm family of course, but also as "staff".
Cecilia is 13 and still a "city girl" at heart, but we see her smile and enjoy helping Paul move the cows, observe and record tag numbers for mommas, calves, and any unusual behavior, as well as feeding and "petting" the pigs. She also enjoys helping with getting the minerals to the fields and really, any work involving a ride (or a short drive) in the gator!
Corinna, while only 6 years old, is a farmer at heart. She loves the action of the tractors and machines around the farm when we make hay, and loves visiting the cows and donkeys in the field and the pigs in pasture. We are certain she will grow up to help with chores (and honestly, we look forward to it!)
Learn more about our mission... and our beef.
We think it is worth mentioning the girls as part of our farm family of course, but also as "staff".
Cecilia is 13 and still a "city girl" at heart, but we see her smile and enjoy helping Paul move the cows, observe and record tag numbers for mommas, calves, and any unusual behavior, as well as feeding and "petting" the pigs. She also enjoys helping with getting the minerals to the fields and really, any work involving a ride (or a short drive) in the gator!
Corinna, while only 6 years old, is a farmer at heart. She loves the action of the tractors and machines around the farm when we make hay, and loves visiting the cows and donkeys in the field and the pigs in pasture. We are certain she will grow up to help with chores (and honestly, we look forward to it!)
Learn more about our mission... and our beef.
