Goat farmer, cosmetology student creates lifestyle

“It’s all driven by my passions,” said Preston Hayes, an MHCC cosmetology student who has had many careers in his life — this time, it’s goat farming.

Coming from salon roots, becoming a barber seemed like a practical way to take care of his family.

“I have done quite a few careers… I went to culinary school, I got my real estate license, brokering mortgages, and everything kinda fell through in 2007. I was looking for a way to pay for school, got to start over in life and realized the Marine Corps was the way.”

Sticking to one career isn’t an option for Hayes.

“Our trough has so many different animals that can eat and drink from it,” he said, painting a broad comparison. “I don’t want to limit myself because often that leads to boredom. Your passions are out the door when you’re bored. I’m trying to keep the passion alive, and I’m keeping the motivation going.”

After completing four years in the Marine Corps, including three months of “intensive” training for its shooting team and making the President’s Hundred Tab (an award for top marksmanship) in 2010, he has returned to his beginnings and is now tackling hair.

“It was an honor shooting beside world Olympic shooters and the muscle memory I have from it plays part into the precision I put into every one of my hair services.”

He chose MHCC based on his father’s recommendations.

Outside of the salon, his responsibilities stretch far from cutting hair — 11 goats roam his property in Corbett.

After seeing a documentary about a goat farmer, he and his wife, Zethanie, decided to try their hand at farming.

“We’re hoping to dive into this “niché” market. Any way we can increase the profit per goat, that’s one of our goals,” he said.

Currently his goats are doing land management for private properties, as well as local water reservoirs.

“We hope that the goats can work and get paid to work, wWhile at the same time, helping to offset the cost to pay a man to do the same exact thing with a Weed Eater,” Hayes said. “It’s a new thing that’s going on, and that’s a new way to go ‘green.’

“We’re having to be very (inventive) at how we look at farming today. It’s sad, but true, that our generation is lacking the agricultural instinct. I feel with a passion that it’s my job to help that next generation sustain themselves with livestock and food, whatever it may be.”

Hayes firmly believes in mentorship. His cousin, 19, is also a member of the farm crew, Arcturus Farms, LLC, and is learning the ropes from him.

While being interviewed, with his two-year-old daughter, Taylor, close by, Hayes broke into conversation with a friend and client at the salon.

After each haircut, Kemper Woodfruff said, “I always come out with a renewed sense of friendship, but it’s a mutual thing. We see each other eye-to-eye on this level that I don’t see with a lot of other people.”

Hayes’ attitude toward goat farming and cosmetology is simple: “I wanna have a career that supports my family and a lifestyle that can support my cousin and other people in the company, but don’t expect to become rich. I want it to become an experience and a lifestyle.”