Dual graduate joining youth movement to help out her community

By Robert Williams

Editor

Organizer Lexi Ulschmid is not your average 18-year-old preparing to graduate this month. That makes her an unusual but perfect candidate to run the local Farmers Market, which will be held for the first time this year Thursday, May 14 from 3-8 p.m., downtown at 305 Main Ave West.

Ulschmid chose to home-school after COVID and in the same week she is graduating she will also be earning an Associates degree at M-State.

“I think home-schooling gave me such an opportunity to do all of this,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to start my own business; I’ve had ideas on top of ideas and then I got a laser engraver and that’s when everything really took off.”

Ulschmid created her own business “Burn ‘n Design,” accepted invitations to a few vendor shows and she also sells her products at The Monarch where she also works.

“It’s just kind of taken off,” Ulschmid said.

Learning from Monarch owner Heather Perrine has also been beneficial in Ulschmid’s growth.

“She let me run the social media posts so I got to dip my toes in the water with that and she’s allowed me to sell some of my stuff here,” Ulschmid said. “Having a great boss is something that can really make or break a person.”

Ulschmid has organized and sought vendors for the market all the while planning to don a cap and gown at M-State, receiving her degree in Digital Marketing before she gets her high school diploma.

“They really broke down how to become a digital marketer,” Ulschmid said. “I got to partner with a non-profit in Frazee, LongView Carbon Farms, and become their digital marketer. That was a really cool experience.”

Pursuing that specialty at M-State helped her in marketing the Farmers Market.

“The biggest thing is forming relationships with the people you’re meeting and letting them know what you’re doing and how you want to help them,” Ulschmid said. “Selling a product is about sales, but it’s so much more building that connection and relationship with people. That’s what I love so much about it, getting to meet new people and hear their stories.”

With her own business, Ulschmid does mostly custom laser engraving.

“People give me their ideas and I just put it into motion and that’s what I love most,” said Ulschmid. “We work through every step of it; do you like this font? What colors and what else do you want added?”

Ulschmid is a free spirit and was never looking for a set schedule or 40 hours at one job. 

“Let’s start my own business and I’ll work all the time instead,” she laughed. “I love every part of it.”

The Frazee Farmers Market got started in 2025 by Taylor Crabtree, but there were no definitive plans to continue one this year. Ulschmid was approached by three different people about starting one back up.

“I was like, why are you asking me?” she said. “And then I was thinking…maybe I could do that. Maybe that’s what I’m supposed to do.”

She contacted the City of Frazee and got approval from Tom Watson to use his property downtown.

“Since then I’ve been posting about it and we’ve got 13 vendors for our first one,” Ulschmid said. “We have enough room for about 19 if people want to come.”

Open vendor spots can be had for a fee of $30.

“A good percentage of that is going to some of the non-profits in our community,” Ulschmid said.

Vendor applicants have the option of where their portion of the fee goes by selecting from local options like CornerStone or writing in their own non-profit.

“Most people have chosen the option to give back,” said Ulschmid.

Ulschmid credits the concern for charity and the community to her personal faith.

“I’m giving this glory to God because I can’t do that myself,” Ulschmid said. “He gave me this creativity. Obviously, I’m the person doing it, but it’s not just for me. It’s for the people but it’s also for Him. I’m a very avid churchgoer. I love Jesus and I want to make that known to the people too. That’s why I like the idea of a Farmers Market – to bring people to a place where they can be themselves but also feel loved in their community.”

The overarching goal is to continue hosting a Farmers Market in Frazee 2-3 times per month over the summer.

“I would love to do it year round but unfortunately that’s not feasible in the winter,” she said. “We need more winter things for people. That’s what I’d love to do – have a building to let people come in all year round.”

A majority of the vendors signed up for this show are food-related, but Ulschmid is on the search for a bigger and more eclectic group of sellers for future markets.

“I call it a Farmers Market because that’s what people are used to, but I want all kinds of vendors there,” she said. “I want a variety of people there.”

The goal for the first show is to get the market going and support the small businesses involved.

“For Christmas or small gifts, I want to go to a small business before I go to Amazon or something like that,” said Ulschmid. “Just to see those people move up in the world – that’s the coolest thing ever to me.”

Ulschmid has utilized Facebook primarily for marketing, but also spread the word at “The Gathering” in Perham, the largest fish decoy show in the world. Despite being highly outnumbered on a gender basis, Ulschmid was a vendor at that show and made her way around discussing products and the businesses of all the other vendors at the show.

“I went around talking to all the vendors,” she said. “People were definitely a little surprised at this 18-year-old girl walking around. It was fun to talk to a few of the old guys. For quite a few of the vendors it’s a business, but most of them are retired.”

Ulschmid likes being a contributing part of the market, not just the organizer.

“I like the shows because it gets you out there more—it’s advertising between talking with people and getting your name out there,” she said. 

Ulschmid noted this is the only market planned for May to avoid conflicts with graduation party schedules. A set schedule will be released for June and the coming summer months.

“I want Frazee to have something that they can come to and hang out and see people,” she said. “I want to give back to the community too.”

For more information and to see the current vendors highlighted visit Frazee Farmers Markets! on Facebook. Ulschmid can be contacted through the page for those interested in signing up for any of the remaining vendor openings. Ulschmid’s business page, Burn ‘n Design, can also be found on Facebook.

What: Frazee Farmers Market

When: Thursday, May 14 from 3-8 p.m.

Where: Downtown at 305 Main Ave West.