Side Note...

After growing up on cattle ranches in Wyoming and Colorado, Melissa Broughton spent much of her adult life in Santa Barbara, California, before eventually settling in the Texas Hill Country. Today she runs a lavender business that still takes her back to California each summer for harvest, while spending the rest of the year writing, creating, and collecting stories. This podcast is a place for those stories. From lavender farming and writing to family, dating, getting older, career changes, and the unexpected turns that shape a life, Melissa shares the experiences, questions, and lessons she's gathered along the way. Part storytelling, part conversation, and occasionally a bit like therapy, these episodes explore the people, places, and moments that shape us. Melissa has been known to begin a thought with "generally speaking," interrupt herself with a "side note," follow an interesting tangent, and somehow circle back to the original point. Along the way, listeners may find themselves laughing, reflecting, and seeing their own stories—and the possibilities ahead—a little differently. Melissa Broughton is an author, entrepreneur, lavender farmer, and screenwriter. She holds a Master's degree in Higher Education and Counseling from Azusa Pacific University and has worked in education, mental health, mediation, skincare, and small business ownership. Over the years, she has been a licensed esthetician, ESL teacher, mediator, counselor, college instructor, and business owner. Melissa splits her time between Texas and California, where she returns each summer to harvest the lavender used in her June Bloom Lavender products. Her work and storytelling draw from a lifetime of diverse experiences, career reinventions, and a deep curiosity about people and the paths they take through life. Brought to you by June Bloom Lavender:  A lavender speakeasy in the Texas Hill Country. June Bloom specializes in handcrafted lavender gifts and a premium skincare line made with lavender harvested each summer by owner Melissa Broughton in Santa Barbara County, California. The shop features English and French lavender bundles, sachets, candles, eye pillows, greeting cards, and skincare products developed by Melissa, who is also a licensed esthetician. June Bloom is home to the popular Lavender Bunny Fidget Sensory Sachet, Melissa's memoir Cowboy Dad, and Rico, the store's resident therapy cat and local celebrity, known for bringing comfort to visitors. More than a gift shop, June Bloom is built around the belief that self-care, storytelling, and mental health matter. Whether you come for the lavender, the stories, or a visit with Rico, June Bloom offers a place to pause, breathe deeply, and stay awhile.