About
OUR MISSION
Our desire is to help as many people as possible live healthy, simple, sustainable lives.
We share stories, wisdom, and practical advice from seasoned homesteaders with years of hardened experience. Through their stories, we hope to inspire a new generation of modern homesteaders.
And through preserving traditions and re-establishing lost skills, we’ve built a supportive network of people who are empowered to lead lives of abundance.
Everyone has more control over their food, health, and lives than they realize.
How We Started
Homestead Living was born from the vision of two people — Melissa K. Norris and Darrell Vesterfelt.
Melissa is a 5th-generation homesteader who needed business advice. Darrell — whose family farmed for generations — had become an expert in helping companies grow their business.
After years of dreaming, they launched Homestead Living to inspire as many people as possible to take greater control of their life, food, health, and land.
At Homestead Living, our foundation rests on a set of simple values.
We work hard. We believe in the power of story. We’re humble stewards.
We bootstrapped this company and have hustled to keep it growing. We’re down to earth and we do our best to be genuine and generous.
We’re committed to this beautiful movement. And so very excited that you’re here.
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Who’s Behind Homestead Living
Co-Founder
Melissa K. Norris
Melissa K. Norris is a 5th generation homesteader, who lives with her husband and two children in the Pacific Northwest of Washington state.
Co-Founder
Darrell Vesterfelt
Darrell grew up on 100+ acres of Michigan farm before moving away for college. As a young man, Darrell found that he had a knack for business and he loved helping people.
CEO
Troy Klongerbo
Troy guides day-to-day operations of Homestead Living, ensuring that the company’s impactful work is reached by the people who value it.
Director of Books
Jeremy Stevens
Jeremy takes lead on all editorial for Homestead Living books — to ensure that every story is well told.
Director of Publishing/Sales Advisor
Marlin Miller
Marlin is an admitted print junkie, loving all things books and magazines. He pinches himself every once in a while, so grateful for the meaningful work and the team he gets to do it with every day.
Senior Solutions Analyst
Melissa Thorpe (MT)
MT is our expert with our technology stack; ensuring everything functions properly for our subscribers, customers and team. When she’s not nerding out over the data, MT is home on her 23-acre property with her husband, two daughters, two cats, border collie, and 20+ chickens in Central Wisconsin.
Editor-in-Chief
Anna Sakawsky
Anna Sakawsky is a former city girl turned modern homesteader who lives with her family (human, furry, and feathered) on their quarter-acre property where they produce and preserve hundreds of pounds of their own food each year. Anna is also the creator of the blog The House & Homestead, and is passionate about teaching and inspiring others to live a more self-reliant life no matter how much (or how little) land they have.
Marketing Lead
Amanda Kroening
As Marketing Lead for Homestead Living, Amanda leads the development and execution of our multi-platform content strategy, and visual and written brand identity, across our family of brands. When she’s not being a human swiss-army knife in the marketing world, Amanda raises three daughters, three cats, six chickens, and a big garden on a quarter-acre in the city.
Senior Copywriter
Robert Bruce
Homestead Living’s Senior Copywriter also spends his time as an (incredibly) amateur farmer, crime fiction aficionado, cafe flâneur, proficient cleaner of shotguns, and avoider of cameras.
PM, Administration & Support
Felicity Fields
The friendly face is behind our customer support emails and contributor communication. Felicity’s energy and organization for working with people matches the passion she has for her backyard homesteading efforts in upstate New York.
Sales Advisor
Matt Yoder
As our advertising sales manager, Matt gets to work with many of our cool brand partners you’ll see stamped throughout the work we do.
Layout Designer
Seth Yoder
All visuals in Homestead Living and Plain Values magazines have passed through Seth’s hands. Photoshop is practically an extension of his physical body. He loves family, friends, singing, and serving Jesus.
Copy Editor/CSR
Sabrina Schlabach
Sabrina loves all things words. When she’s not answering phones, proofreading, or writing, she enjoys spending time with her husband and family, reading (yes, more words), and creating delicious baked goods.
Sales Advisor
Jon Stratford
When he’s not working on an Integrated Media Package for one of our advertisers, Jon enjoys spending every minute with his wife, taking care of their six acres in east central Iowa or visiting the kids and grandkids in Wisconsin.
Operations Assistant
Shelly Miller
Shelly handles accounts payable and receivable with ease, keeping finances in check and operations smooth with her knack for numbers and love for organization.
What does Homestead Living do?
What started as a digital, quarterly magazine published online rapidly grew to the point of offering an annual printed collector’s edition, a monthly subscription (with both print and digital offerings), and other educational resources geared toward inspiring the modern homesteading movement.
Explore our monthly subscription here.
Explore our annual prints here.
Shop our books here.
Our north star is to create a platform to tell the stories of folks with dirt under their fingernails and calloused hands.
Our work is for homesteaders, by homesteaders.
