Written by Sammy Mckenzie

In Wildwood, Georgia, 20 minutes from downtown Chattanooga, sits Rosie Mae’s Alpacas Farm, boutique, and coffee shop all wrapped up into one. 

The unique business is owned and operated solely by the Lewis family who embarked on this journey one year ago as of November 4th. The entire property was built by hand by Max Lewis with support from his wife Meagan and daughter Rosie Mae.  

“He started on the shop in January of 2021. He did it all himself, so it took a little while to get it done. So we actually didn’t open until November of 2022. Plus, processes were outrageous because of COVID,”  Meagan Lewis said.

While it was a slow start to open, as soon as the Lewis family welcomed the public on their property, the business took off and hasn’t slowed down since.

“So we opened the store on November 4th of 2022 and then our daughter Sparrow was born November 29th. So that has been crazy. Then we went viral in April of 2023 and then from there on out we have been just absolutely slammed,” said Lewis. 

A significant amount of the farm’s busyness can be attributed to a TikTok posted by @Hope.Maum on April 20th, 2023. The short video highlighting the family farm was shared on the platform Experience Chattanooga which launched Rosie Mae’s Alpaca Farm to viral status as it reached over 1.6 million views.  

Meagan Lewis shared how grateful she was for Maum’s kindness in promoting her business and also her thoughts on the internet’s part in it all, “It’s been really cool. The internet is a scary wonderful place because it shows you how fast stuff can travel.”

While the Lewis’s are very grateful for the success of Rosie Mae’s Alpaca Farm after only a year of being an official business, Meagan Lewis reflects on how much of a challenge it has been for her and her husband Max. 

“Max still works a full-time job, so he’s going Monday through Thursday working, and then when he gets home there’s always something to do on the farm,” said Lewis. You have to scoop poop, you have to put out the hay, you have to feed, you have to do all that stuff and more.” 

Even with the added stress of running a family business with so many moving parts such as Rosie Mae’s Alpaca Farm, Meagan Lewis feels that the farm has brought her family closer. 

“As far as the family dynamic goes, I feel like it has brought us together,” she said. “We try to be together as much as possible. If anybody knows me and Max, they know that if there’s a possibility for us to be together, we’re together.”

At the end of the day, both Max and Meagan Lewis agreed that the greatest reward they get from running their business would be watching their daughter, Rosie Mae, get to have her dream of owning animals as well as the new friends and experiences that come along with it. 

“We are glad that our kids are getting to grow up and do this and they’re learning, like how Rosie is able to make that coffee. She can completely make a coffee using the machine and never think twice about it. She’s seven years old. She has wonderful social skills and stuff like that because she gets to meet new people every single weekend,” Said Meagan Lewis.

The parking lot at Rosie Mae’s Alpaca Farm has continued to stay packed each weekend they are open Friday through Sunday. 

The Lewis’s enjoy getting to see recurring friendly faces each week, as well as new ones that travel from all across the state to enjoy some shopping, coffee, and fun with some alpacas. 

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