Meet Julie & Matt: The Power Couple Changing Agribusiness for the Better

It Takes Two to Tango

And no one knows that better than Julie and Matt Roth, the dynamic dancing duo behind The Magnolia Company.

While they have been taking ballroom dance lessons for 4 years and find overwhelming joy dancing among the groves on their family farm in Central Florida, Julie and Matt are experts at running a successful sustainable agribusiness – it’s the tried & true dance they’ve been doing for nearly 20 years!

It all started when Julie was a kid. 

“I remember going out as a kid, jumping in the truck with my dad to go freeze protecting with him,” recounts Julie. 

Her dad would get a call, usually in wintery evenings, and they’d scramble to get to the farm to turn off the water pumps and prevent the ferns from freezing overnight.   Underhill Farms used to grow ferns, and that was the family business she grew up knowing and loving.  This was the family rite of passage.  The kids would beg to go with her dad to the farm, because they thought it meant they could stay up all night – you know, like the grown ups do!

Julie learned to drive this way, riding on her dad’s lap in that pickup truck.  Mr. Underhill was the kind of man who believed in the work that came from sweat and persistence, and he passed that understanding down to Julie and her siblings.

“I saw my dad work so hard.  It wasn’t easy.  You just keep your head down – it’s about not giving up.  His trust in the Lord and seeking Him daily for guidance and wisdom set the example for me.”

Julie also regards her father as a wonderful boss, who took the time to get to know and build relationships with his employees.  He was all about quality, always underpromising and overdelivering.

Like most teenagers, Julie wanted a change of scenery when she came of age.  So, brave and intrepid, she hit the road to South Carolina, where she attended Converse College.  Her first year was not what she expected, and Julie ended up missing her home in Florida.  She transferred schools, enrolling at Stetson University in DeLand, not far from home at all. 

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Julie Underhill Roth, you know she’s got sunshine and a treasure trove of love where most people have a heart.  “I knew early on I just wanted to help people. I was going to be a nurse, a physical therapist, or a teacher.”  Sure enough, she chose her path, and it suited her well: Elementary/Early Childhood Education.

And Then Along Came Matt…

Matt’s childhood walked straight out of Peter Pan.  He grew up right next to the beach, before big real estate developers got their hands on the gorgeous natural lands.  Every day was full of dirt, trees, and scraped knees as he and his friends – a regular band of Lost Boys – went to play in the woods where they hoped they’d never grow up. 

Young Matt’s world was diving into the shorebreak, fishing in rivers, building forts, and climbing every tree he could get his hands on. To this day, Matt credits his childhood with his lifelong love and adoration of nature.

Matt also enrolled at Stetson University for college, and he pursued a degree in accounting.  He’s good with numbers, and it made sense.  Unfortunately, the early days of his career and his time as an accounting student left Matt feeling empty and unfulfilled.  Sure, it was a good and respectable career choice, but there’s more to life than work. 

“It wasn’t a good fit for my personality, but I learned a lot of valuable skills for operating a business that benefitted me in the long run.”

College Sweethearts

Like a story straight out of a romcom, Julie and Matt met at a party in college, where even before their dance lessons, they’d always find themselves on the dance floor together.  Stetson is a relatively small school, so it’s no surprise their paths kept crossing. 

After a flirty little time of “will we, or won’t we” hopes and smiles, they finally went out on an ice cream date.  “It was the best decision I ever made,” says Matt with a grin.  

To this day, Julie still recalls the exact yellow shirt Matt wore on their very first date.

After College

Julie went on to start her teaching career at a middle school in DeLand, while she and Matt were still dating.  He, of course, went on to begin his career in accounting.

In June of 1993, our local lovebirds said “I do!”  They went on to have 4 children together, while they both continued working. 

Eventually, Matt transitioned to working in sales for Julie’s dad (remember him from earlier?).  In an effort to spend more time together and with their kids, Julie later made a career switch from teaching to also working in the family business.  

Working and Growing Together

“It was an easy transition,” says Julie.  Underhill Farms sprouted The Magnolia Company in 2001, and Julie & Matt have never looked back.  While plenty of folks love and adore their spouses, most people would not want to work with their spouse.  Julie and Matt, however, are the exception.

“One of the biggest challenges was remembering to stay in my lane.  We really do opposite things.  Matt’s the visionary – great big picture brain that can see above it all.  I’m into all the little details and execution.”

Today, they have a good laugh recounting the learning curve of their early workflow.  Julie chuckles as she admits she lovingly fired Matt from the operations department after 6 years of working together, and Matt laughs through a sigh of relief at the memory. “It’s freed me up to work on other important projects, and I love getting to be outdoors instead of in an office,” he says.

“The best part about working together is getting to celebrate the successes together.”

“We get to give each other a lot of grace and patience together, and that’s really beautiful.”

Julie and Matt welcomed their 4 amazing kids into the world together, and those kids are now grown, with careers and families of their own.  Balancing being present parents with the family business was no small feat.  “When you’re raising kids, the kids are everything.  I think that through having kids, we’re able to still have purpose together.  We invested in each other and our relationship, so we’re not strangers or just work colleagues now that we’re empty nesters,” says Julie.

As farmers and business owners, no one knows better than Julie and Matt the rewards of slowing down and being patient, and they made sure to savor every season with their kids.  The life lesson in all of this, according to Julie, is learning to be content with where you are.  She views it as a kind of counter-culture, especially in a world of instant gratification and overconsumerism.  She’s proud to have passed that lesson and mentality on to her kids.

It Takes a Village

Both Matt and Julie are “people person” personalities, and it shows.  During the interview for this piece, which is all about them, they insisted upon the importance of and the pride they have in their team.

“I think Matt really invested in the people here for sure.  Our team is incredible.  When you’re really intentional in investing in a great team, you can really do anything.  No project is too big,” says Julie, and you can hear the beaming smile in her voice.

Matt estimates that 30% of The Magnolia Company’s workforce has been with the company since day one, and over two-thirds of the company has been there for at least 15 years.  That’s a big deal – and incredibly rare – for a farming entity.

But most importantly, she adds, “we take care of our team together.”

Grown – and Growing – with Love

“I think us working together has actually grown us closer.”  Matt goes on.  “At this stage in life, we’re surrounded by beauty all of the time, and we serve people in a way that’s fulfilling to both Julie and I as people.  We have a common goal; it’s about sharing what we do with people, trying to bring them closer to nature.”

Julie and Matt have spent over 20 years building their dreams as a team, from their family to their company and everything in between.  As any small business owner or entrepreneur will tell you, one of the biggest learning curves in this kind of path is learning to set boundaries.  What’s work is work, and what’s play is play.  According to Julie, “It [working together] taught us to create intentionality in our relationship.”

The couple regularly travels together, both for work and for play.  They prioritize spending time with their family, which has new branches and roots – Julie and Matt are now proud grandparents to two young sprouts!

They’re the coolest grandparents you’ve ever met, too, with hobbies like camping, swimming, surfing, and yes, even dancing.  “I think dancing especially really emboldened us to appreciate every moment we have with each other.  You have to be able to devote your time to each other outside of work,” says Matt.

The Magnolia Company takes the saying “made with love” to a whole new level.  You see it in every plant that leaves the farm (nurtured by Matt and the team), every new wreath made by hand (with Julie and the team’s attention to detail).  It takes two to tango, both in business and in dance, and no one does it quite like our power couple: Julie & Matt Roth.