BUTTER CHAT: USHA BEAUDOIN OF MATINICUS SALT FARM
Ploughgate founder Marisa Mauro met Usha Beaudoin while traveling in Maine. Usha shared her business, Matinicus Salt Farm, and Marisa was immediately enthralled—by both Usha and her incredible salt.
We're so thrilled to share more about Usha. Below is her conversation with Marisa about her process, her inspiration, and building a business on the remote island off the coast of Maine.
Marisa Mauro, Ploughgate: You're building a business on Matinicus Island, a place where generations of your family have lived. Can you share more about your relationship with the island?
Usha Beaudoin, Matinicus Salt Farm: Matanicus has always been home to me in a much deeper way than just like the place you live. My mom's family has been here for generations. So the island is tied into so much of who I am. And having been adopted, it was kind of finding a new sense of connection. My childhood, my memories. So much of it is tied to Matinicus. My connection to the ocean is really special. It's kind of how I see the world, through my experience on the island. But having spent months living there you start to pay attention so much to the nature around you. And then with my work, weather and seasons, community. There's a quiet rhythm that happens—to the work, to the place. I think this shaped me tremendously. So building a business here on the island feels incredibly meaningful because it has allowed me to stay connected to the history of the island, to the community of the island, and to do something that I love with the ocean. And you know, making something that's my own was really important to me, especially at the time when I first started. I feel really grateful that it's a place that I get to raise my daughter and she gets to experience the community and the wild lifestyle of it. She runs around barefoot and she just has a really special childhood. And it's really fun to have memories of my childhood through watching her's.
Marisa: What inspired you to create a salt company? What has been your journey to building your business on Matinicus?
Usha: I would say that the journey really started because of my love for the ocean. I wanted to create something that felt deeply connected to Matinicus. And at the time I really wanted something that was my own. I wanted to explore something that I had never explored before. I love creating things and I love making things. And so the idea of making salt came upon just because we needed salt. It was during the pandemic and just a crazy time in general. I had kind of this really incredible moment of just sitting there and watching the water boiling on my old camp stove and realizing there was nothing else that I really needed to do than just to sit there and watch it turn to salt. And I remember thinking, this is gonna take a really long time. And I kind of laugh now because of my process then. I think that on top of a camp stove it took maybe 3 hours and my process now takes like 3 to 4 weeks. There was something about learning to just stay present. Which was really hard to do. And I think, making salt has made me slow down and realize that things don't have to be made quickly. They just have to be made well. And you have to just be proud of what you're doing. And I think that is something that I had lost a connection to. I was just doing something that I was really proud of and something that let me be creative in my own way. I was able to slow down and feel kind of wonder. Seeing a table full of ocean water and then going in and checking on it. And checking on it days after days. Slowly you start to see the salt crystals start to form. And it truly is, like magical, even though I've seen it many times now. It makes me almost feel like a kid being like, "oh, it's happening! It's working and it's beautiful!" In the end I also wanted to create something that let people experience a little piece of the island. Feel the energy of Maine and Matinicus through food which is just such an incredible, powerful way to remember things.
Marisa: We love learning about your process making the highest quality sea salt. Can you elaborate on your practices and how the natural environment of the island influences you?
Usha: So I'd say everything about the salt is influenced by the island. The ocean here is incredibly cold. We're 23 miles out to sea. It's incredibly clean, and it just feels really good. I think that really shows through in the final product. The salt is very clean and it's very salty. It just lingers on your palate. And I wanted a salt that kind of felt like you were swimming in the ocean, like you just jumped into the cold waters of Maine. I wanted that kind of flavor. That's what I think it tastes like. And it's it's so delicious and beautiful. I take on a very hands-on approach to the process. From collecting the seawater to slowly evaporating and finishing in very small batches. My process is 100% solar evaporated, so I am at the mercy of Mother Nature. Nothing is exact. I tend to be somebody who likes to know when things are going to happen and how they're going to happen. And, this process has really made me shift that. Because if there's rough seas the day before collecting water, I can't collect water. There have been times that I've gone out with headlamps on because that's the best time to collect ocean water. I'm truly at the mercy of the weather—a lot of fog, longer sunny days, shorter gray days.
One of the reasons why I chose to be solar evaporated was solar evaporated was because, as a child, I remember running around on the rocks on the island, and in the tide pools, after a really sunny afternoon, there would always be a little salt left over. And I would eat it. My passion is that I wanted the salt to taste like my childhood. I wanted to remember that experience of climbing on these rocks, barefoot, and finding little tide pools of sea salt that was made naturally. Solar evaporation was the only process that I found to be as closely resembling the flavor that I remembered. So yea, the environment shapes everything—the air, the weather, the seasons, the feelings I have, what I'm going through in my life—it all goes back into the salt. It's a really special process, and I hope that when people have the salt, they can feel the true, like, love and passion and deep respect I have. When people buy my salt and eat it, or they gift it, or have their children eat it, I feel the most incredible gratitude that people would take something that I made and nurture their bodies and nurture their children's bodies and their friends and their families. I feel very blessed and thankful that people allow me to do that.
Marisa: You're mom to a young kid while building a business. How do you feel your role as a mom influences your work or your approach?
Usha: I think being a mom has almost changed the way I approach basically everything, including my business. It's definitely made me more intentional with time. It's made me more grounded in what actually matters to me. I really wanted my daughter to grow up seeing that it is possible to build something meaningful. and something creative and connected to your values. We have the saying in our house where we say, "it's not about how fast you can do something, it's about how well you can do it." And I really wanted her to see that in a world that moves so fast and is constantly finding ways to make it even quicker, how can we do it better and how can we just push, push, push, push. I wanted her to experience what I was doing with the salt and the lifestyle that comes with it. I wanted her to experience what can happen when you slow down. And what happens is that you can create something really beautiful. And I really hope that she, as she gets older, can understand that.
Motherhood is constantly reminding me to slow down and appreciate really small moments. Which is kind of how I try to work as well. That slow down and appreciate mentality. And understanding that everything doesn't go the way you think it should go. And that things will get done, but usually on their own time. The way that it's supposed to happen. Being a mom has made business feel more personal and definitely more purposeful. I think my daughter, Ruby, watching me work is really important. But there's definitely a push and a pull. I would not say it's easy by any means, but I think life is so much about balance and trying to balance work with motherhood. Sometimes that balance can become cohesive together and I think that's where I find the most peace is when I can kind of intrinsically embroider everything together.
