Brad and Julie Swenson are the owners of Soulshine Farm along with sons Dan and Gil. Purchased in January 2007 it was a dream come true for the family. Brad and Julie were both raised in Randolph, and married in 1985. They lived in Pennsylvania before moving back to Randolph New Jersey in 1993.Julie is certified as a Special Education Teacher and holds BA in Sociology and Education and a M.Ed. Master of Education. She is also a Certified Social Worker (CSW) and Certified Supervisor of Instruction. She worked for 16 years at a school for teens with emotional and behavioral challenges as a teacher and administrator, while also teaching college classes as an adjunct Sociology Professor at William Paterson University, and County College of Morris.
After leaving the school, she continued to work as a school district consultant, and has extensive background working with children with Tourette Syndrome, OCD, and those with neurobiological spectrum disorders. She worked for several years in the Early Intervention System with newborn – three year old children with developmental delays providing developmental intervention and social work services to children and families.
Julie is also a certified Hatha Yoga Instructor and Children’s Yoga Instructor, and additionally earned a certification as a “Yoga for Youth” instructor. She has studied in person with Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, Kathy Budig, Sadie Nardini, and more. All certifications are current, renewed as required through the NJ State Department of Education and the NJ Board of Social Work Examiners. She takes yearly continuing education courses in Yoga, Social Work and Education. Julie also completes certification in First Aid and CPR every two years. She enjoys every day on the farm with the children who visit and finds joy and peace just being here on the property. Family time, gardening and creative art projects and writing are passions of hers.
Brad still has his “day job”, helping software companies take care of their customers. He seems happier than ever on the farm though, early mornings, evenings, and weekends are his “farm time”…to the animals, take down old fencing, build new fencing, fix fencing, add more fencing…take out old posts, dig new post holes…Feed the alpacas, clean up after the alpacas…feed the chickens, collect the eggs…relaxing jobs that are grounding. Brad’s parents were both teachers when he was growing up, and he spent his summers at “sleep away camp” with his parents where they worked as camp directors. Living on the farm is kind of like living at sleep away camp…all the time! Brad always dreamed of being a teacher, so the time spent with kids on our farm is special to him too.
Sons, Dan and Gil, both attended Randolph Schools, graduated from college, and now live away from the farm. We cherish the days when they are home and we enjoy music, games, and family fun. Dan graduated from Clemson University as an Agricultural Economics major and now lives in South Carolina working as the owner of Rocking “S” Cattle, as a beef producer. He is also a Sales Representative for CPC Commodities. Gil graduated with a degree in Sports Management from Rutgers University. He works for Nex Level Arena as the Director of Sports and Business Development. He is also a high school lacrosse coach. Gil is continuing his studies through the Business School at Rutgers, in the MBA program.