Lindsay Olson

Opening and operating Amazing Acres, LLC has been such a joy! The planning, creating, building, planting, harvesting, serving and educating has been so well received by the public and tremendously satisfying to us. We know what a gift it is to live on a farm and ranch, and were so delighted to share our space and knowledge with the public!

We had live animals that people could interact with, along with educational signs about each species. We had corn, pumpkins,wildflowers and sunflowers planted that people could walk through and enjoy. There were educational signs in each of those areas as well.

I spent a lot of time on the haywagon tractor showing guests our cattle and part of our farming operation. They were very intrigued by the registered cattle operation and what it takes to produce beef for them to consume.

We also have a building with a concession stand/commercial kitchen, seating area and bathrooms. I did the ordering, shopping for supplies and all that it takes to run a concession stand with hot food.

I also took care of the hiring, payroll, advertising, and sourcing supplies.

Growing up on Parsley Farms in Warroad, MN, I learned such valuable skills and work ethic! My dad was very much an advocate of girls learning to do the same things as the boys. My sister and I were driving tractors and trucks, lawnmowers and combines, at an early age. We were given tasks like changing the oil, filling the drill press, greasing zerks, changing shovels on the cultivator, spreading out large clumps of ryegrass, along with delivering meals, picking up parts and bringing grain to the elevator. My experiences and work ethic from Parsley Farms have proven to be quite valuable to me throughout life.

I started helping here and there at Olson Hereford Ranch before I married my husband. As our children grew older I could help more. Some of the tasks I have done are run grain cart, combine, move haybales, haul cattle, herd cattle, put up temporary fence, fieldwork, make the food for our annual bull sale, and help with countless other little things that all contribute to a successful and smooth farming and ranching operation.

Owning Li'l Whipper Snippers was such a great experience. I was able to fulfill a dream of owning my own business, while doing what I loved, cutting childrens hair. I did every task involved in owning a business with employees, except payroll. That task was hired out to our accountant. Hiring, firing, performance reviews, training, cleaning, cutting hair, administrative work, checking in, checking out, ordering product, advertising, and networking were all a part of my daily workload. I thouroughly enjoyed developing relationships with my employees and customers. I still have great relationships with a lot of them to this day! We built a great business that provided many happy memories for many local families.

I sold the business in 2009 so I could stay home with my children and help my husband and his family operate Olson Hereford Ranch.

I really enjoyed my duties at Marvin Windows and Doors. I started out in Wood Processing. I learned a wide amount of jobs there, including sorting wood, operating a moulding machine, running a forklift, and organizing wood into sizes for future distribution to other departments. I ended my time there operating an optimizer machine in Rip and Cut, also part of wood processing. I was responsible for callibrating the machine, entering in size requirements for the wood that was to be cut, monitoring the employees marking the wood into said sizes and defects, and making sure the whole optimizer line ran smoothly.

My job duties at Dairy Queen included taking customers orders,making the ice cream treats, fulfilling drink and food orders, and serving the customers their orders. I also ran the drive thru, cleaned the dining room, filled in in the kitchen, and performed opening and closing duties. My boss left me as the "employee in charge" when she was not there. I gained wonderful customer service and job ethic skills while working at the local Dairy Queen! I thouroghly enjoyed my time working at the Warroad Dairy Queen.

While working at Kids Hair, I gained a lot of experience cutting childrens hair. It can be quite a challenge! There were many instances where I got to use my love for children to provide a pleasant experience in a situation that was scary for them. I very much developed a relationship with the little people who were our customers, eventually winning over most of them!

I went through advanced training at Rocco Altobelli as a haircutting specialist. I trained under world renowned hair cutting experts. I shadowed them as part of our training. Included in the shadowing experience, we would wash and blowout their fresh haircuts. It was a very valuable learning experience going through Rocco Altobelli's advanced training program.

My job as a boat launch fee collector on Lake of the Woods was pretty simple and enjoyable. I arrived at 6 am, wrote down license plate numbers and names, and collected $3 per boat. I also chatted with the fishermen and women coming off of the lake and gave reports to future fishermen and women. This was a seasonal job, running May through August.