Our Team.
Starry Nights Farm was established in 2012 by Paul and Marisa Maggio. The Maggios lived in the city of Chicago and moved to the country in June 2018 to make their organic farming dream a reality. After 8 years of having a literal "mom and pop" farm, we brought in Sam Camut as a partner. Sam and Paul work on chores and formwork, while Marisa does the marketing, accounting, and customer services.
Read more about each of us below....
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. His intentions was to rent the land to a farmer, but 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, in 2014, 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 next. 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 and health coach, 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 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 and Sam on their 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!
Read more about each of us below....
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. His intentions was to rent the land to a farmer, but 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, in 2014, 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 next. 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 and health coach, 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 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 and Sam on their 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!
Sam.
Sam grew up in North Carolina, but first came to Wisconsin when he attended Marquette University. During his time at Marquette, he met his wife, Claire, who is a Lake Geneva native. Following graduation, Sam served as a pilot in the United States Marine Corps for 8+ years.
After learning more about the industrial food system and its effect on the health of communities, Sam became interested in regenerative farming. It was through the writings of Wendell Berry and Dorothy Day that he was convinced of becoming a farmer.
Initially, his wife Claire was skeptical of the idea but agreed to give it a try on the condition that the family move back to her hometown of Lake Geneva. Through the mentorship and generosity of Paul and Marisa, Sam has been able to make his dream a
reality.
Sam's favorite thing about farming is the community. He believes real food and relationships build strong communities. He also enjoys animal husbandry and his favorite time on the farm is calving season.
Learn more about our mission... and our beef.
Sam grew up in North Carolina, but first came to Wisconsin when he attended Marquette University. During his time at Marquette, he met his wife, Claire, who is a Lake Geneva native. Following graduation, Sam served as a pilot in the United States Marine Corps for 8+ years.
After learning more about the industrial food system and its effect on the health of communities, Sam became interested in regenerative farming. It was through the writings of Wendell Berry and Dorothy Day that he was convinced of becoming a farmer.
Initially, his wife Claire was skeptical of the idea but agreed to give it a try on the condition that the family move back to her hometown of Lake Geneva. Through the mentorship and generosity of Paul and Marisa, Sam has been able to make his dream a
reality.
Sam's favorite thing about farming is the community. He believes real food and relationships build strong communities. He also enjoys animal husbandry and his favorite time on the farm is calving season.
Learn more about our mission... and our beef.
