Morgan never thought she’d run a business. Certainly not at 19. And she definitely never thought she would be a goat mom.
Since childhood, Morgan dreamed of becoming a veterinarian to take care of cats and dogs. At Felix Varela High School, she took a veterinarian training class where she spent 500 hours in a clinic setting and earned a professional certification. It should have been a dream come true. Instead, those 500 hours taught her she did not want to work in a vet office.
She soon found another — unexpected — interest. One afternoon, a student in her vet assistant class asked Morgan if she wanted to help take care of the goats in the school barn. She agreed and was assigned a female. The goat was actually registered as “Alana” but would only answer to Aiyana. This outspoken goat with a lot of personality won Morgan’s heart and ignited her entrepreneurial spirit.
“Aiyana is older and a lot of the goats in the school barn were her daughters. So, it was like she had a little empire,” Morgan said. “So, I named the business Aiyana’s Empire Dairy Goats. It started as a joke, but just sort of stuck.”
That little empire is still going strong. And so is Morgan’s business. In fact, her veterinarian experience has even proven to come in handy. She’s regularly contracted by other goat farms across South Florida to help give vaccinations and trim hooves.
She’s also giving back. Morgan loans her goats to her alma mater Felix Varela so the students don’t have the financial burden of buying and taking care of a goat, but still get the chance to work with the animals every day and see what sustainable agriculture actually looks like.
Whether it’s lending out her goats or hosting a yoga session, Morgan’s message is always the same: If people want to make a difference and have more sustainably sourced options available, they have to buy sustainably.
“Farmers are stuck between a rock and a hard place,” Morgan said. “They can’t give consumers what they want if they don’t have the financial backing or support. But, consumers have the power to perpetuate the industry and drive demand. They can help move the rock.”
To get updates on what the kids are up to and for upcoming Go-Ga sessions, you can follow Aiyana’s Empire on Facebook.
The next goat yoga session will be Sunday, Feb. 16 from 9:30 — 11 a.m. To RSVP, please click here.
Namaste.
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