Alex is the CEO and Chairman of the Board of Lick Skillet Farm. Alex is a seventh generation farmer and the third George Alexander Miller to own the “Old Home Place” at the core of our farm. He has been recognized as an outstanding conservationist and is a former Tennessee Cattleman of the Year. His past passions have included mountaineering, white water, scuba, sailing, flying, and ultra-endurance bicycling. His current projects are centered around mastering charcuterie and mentoring the next generation of farmers on sustainable agriculture. If he’s not on the farm, he can usually be found at the University of Tennessee where he is a chaired professor in the Haslam College of Business. He holds degrees from Tennessee Tech, Dartmouth, and the University of Washington.
Shannon is wife of Alex and Muma to the youngest generation of Millers. A graduate of Carson Newman College and stay-at-home mom until the babies fledged, she worked some time with Mossy Creek Network on environmental issues, but now enjoys retirement by imagining pastures as great big pollinator nursery gardens and teaching granbabies basic soil health. She is most delighted when Alex takes extra trouble to skip around the milkweed when he’s bushhogging.
Bran, our oldest son, attended University of Tennessee and has been managing electronics and clothing retail stores for several years. Now he's returning home to join our team in a Marketing and Ecommerce function and help us make this business sustainable for future generations!
Wyn, daughter of Alex and Shannon, works full-time on the farm, doing whatever needs done at the time. Her interests lie in improving soil health to manage water quality, and developing more diverse and resilient land management strategies to incorporate increasingly rich ecosystem services into the existing farmland mosaic. For instance, she was ecstatic to discover that a few years after taking the entire cattle herd off pesticides, quail (or "bob-whites") returned to the farm, and she began to hear the bird songs she had missed from her youth. She is a licensed landscape architect and holds degrees from Warren Wilson College and the University of Tennessee. She frequently plays the part of an environmental educator with public and non-profit partners. She also enjoys animal husbandry, and is the only person that knows where to find wild ginseng growing on the farm.
Derek manages accounting for the farm, as well as commanding a host of other responsibilities. You'll find him at Farmers' Markets, and helping out wherever he's needed; he's great with the pigs and chickens. He especially likes getting to test out new products and experiment with charcuterie in our teaching kitchen.
Ian, son of Alex, is the youngest of the Miller siblings. Married to Kristen and fantastic father of four, he is pursuing his interest in farm operations and management by working towards a Professional MBA at the University of TN, where he also holds a degree in Sociology. He enjoys participating in our cattle and hog operations, and has been helping develop the farm's "DIY Kitchen" and refrigeration facilities. Most importantly, he also supports the farm through raising the next generation! He currently works in asset management at Nyrstar Tennessee.
Kristen – Ian's high school sweet-heart-turned-super-mom – has been spending time on the Miller's farm since her middle-school years! Like Alex and Eli, she is an educator, with a degree in Elementary and Middle School Education from Carson Newman. For the farm, she especially provides the invaluable resource of raising our next generation!
Eli Miller, son of Alex and Shannon, teaches 1st graders to love science at Evergreen Community Charter School, a school focused on environmental activism in Asheville, North Carolina. He serves as a consultant for the family advisory board as well as a meat-loving product tester. His interests lie in science-based public education and technology and how they can enrich our lives while both improving and protecting the world. He hopes to one day fulfill his dream of being a stay-at-home dad and bringing his kids back to the farm every summer to work on the land.