Candace is a Botetourt County native born and raised. She is a graduate of Virginia Western Community College with an Applied Science degree in Communication Design, Candace has continued to embrace new opportunities that align her career and passions into one. In 2007, following the birth of her first child, she decided to venture out on her own and launch her business, Candace Monaghan Design. This opportunity allowed her to work from home with her daughter while still contributing to their family income. She landed clients locally and from surrounding areas through designing promotional pieces, logos, magazines, and working on fine art pieces like the Virginia Tech Hokie bird statues. Not to mention, hosting paint night parties throughout the community, she is blessed to still be working for herself with wonderful clientele.
Candace grew up on and still lives on her families farm that dates back to 1900. Growing up she worked on the dairy farm milking cows twice a day and bottle feeding the baby calves. In 2016, her father decided to plant 20 acres of sunflowers on the farm and Candace thought the farm could capitalize on the sunflowers and their unique beauty by having a festival. She manages all aspects of the event from coordinating the planting dates, contacting craft and food vendors to scheduling weekday events like sunset dinners and goat yoga. The event has grown to tens of thousands of visitors over its two weekend period.
