The Olive Branch Market celebrates one year in new location

OLIVE HILL, Ky. — One year after opening the doors to The Olive Branch Market’s current location, MaKaylen Genung considers this season of her life as one marked by growth—not only in her business, but in her family and in the vision she has for her community.

“It means so much to see what good can come from just a year’s time, and has us so hopeful for what’s still to come,” she said. 

The Olive Branch Market will celebrate the first anniversary of its current location on Tom T. Hall Boulevard this month, marking another milestone in the evolution of a business that began with catering and has grown into a gathering place for locally made products, weekly lunches, food trucks and more than 65 local vendors.

For Genung, however, the significance of the location extends beyond the growth of her own business.

When the doors opened a year ago, she remembers how excited the community was to see a previously vacant building brought back to life. 

The location’s position along Tom T. Hall Boulevard also offered increased visibility to those driving through town. 

“Having a location in the center of Tom T. Boulevard helped so many traveling through spot us, that otherwise wouldn’t have known we were planted here,” Genung said. “So many voiced how thankful they were to see the lot come alive again, and that means so much to us.”

That sense of community has continued to define The Olive Branch Market’s first year in its new home.

“Our small town shows up big,” Genung said. “There’s never a day that we have to doubt lunches will sell, vendors will drop off, or customers show up. Our people support us so good, and are worth investing time and labor in.”

The larger location has also allowed Genung to create opportunities for other local businesses. The market’s expanded parking area provides space for local vendors and food trucks, bringing additional visitors into Olive Hill from surrounding counties and helping circulate more dollars within the local economy.

At the heart of the market itself are the nearly 70 vendors who currently stock their products at the store each week, along with other Kentucky-made products purchased wholesale.

“When we first opened, we only had a handful of local vendors. To see how much it’s grown in such a short amount of time is the biggest blessing,” Genung said.

She says her favorite part of the market is the wall filled with locally made products, many of which are handcrafted or grown right in Olive Hill.

“I will always promote community over corporate, and it blesses my heart to know that the majority of our items here are handcrafted or grown right here in Olive Hill,” she said.

She added, “When we support local, we know it goes right back into the hands of our local families, teams, and community betterment. There is nothing more important than growing where you are planted.”

That philosophy is also reflected in the way Genung views the market’s role in Olive Hill.

One of the moments that has stayed with her from the past year came from a young customer who thanked Genung for opening the building because it gave her and her mother a place they could walk to together.

“I love these streets and these people, and want nothing more than to see our town growing for generations to come,” Genung said.

That desire to invest in her community is intertwined with the story of how The Olive Branch Market began.

As her family grew, Genung knew she wanted to create a career that allowed her to stay home and make her own schedule. 

Catering provided that opportunity, allowing her to work alongside her family and eventually leading to the creation of Olive Branch Platters in 2020.

After renovating the Tea Room at the Olive Hill Center for Arts and Heritage, and spending several years in event planning, Genung began envisioning a space where she could combine catering with products she believed could benefit her community.

“I wanted to have a place where trustable and wholesome products could thrive,” Genung said. “We slowly shifted from catering-only to a storefront that could be visited weekly.”

The business has since gone through several stages. From 2020 to 2024, Genung operated from the Tea Room while catering events off-site. The first Olive Branch Market storefront opened on Railroad Street in 2024, followed by the current Tom T. Hall Boulevard location in 2025.

She admits the journey has not always been easy.

Just four months after opening the first storefront, Genung learned the business would have to move. After investing heavily in kitchen renovations, building maintenance and commercial approval, she suddenly faced the prospect of doing much of it all over again.

That challenge was followed by a slow, icy winter when customer traffic declined while utility costs doubled.

“There were plenty of times!” Genung said when asked if she ever wondered whether the business would make it. 

Still, she refused to quit.

“I refused to give up, and knew if God called us to do this, He wouldn’t let us fail,” Genung said.

Support came from the community in unexpected ways. Customers continued showing up, holiday shopping arrived at just the right time, a local church helped ensure the market had access to a kitchen so its lunch program could continue, and employees sacrificed their time while the business worked to get back on its feet.

What began as what Genung jokingly envisioned as a small, two-day-a-week pop-up market operated primarily by herself quickly became something much larger.

“Being the horrible delegator I am, I thought this would be a two-day a week pop-up market, run by me only,” she said. “Thankfully, the demand was much more than I expected, and we needed more hands on deck. Our open days doubled, our staff tripled, and our vision multiplied.”

For all of that growth, Genung says her approach to the business remains grounded in the same place as her approach to her family: faith.

“I am not a business gal at all. Nor am I a planner. I am a very type-b brain, go with the flow person. It’s exactly how I mom, too,” she said. “Because of that, it takes a whole lot of trust in the Lord to get me to and fro.”

Genung said she believes strongly in following God’s will and trusting the plan He has for her family—and she applies that same philosophy to the market.

“If it stays on my heart, I do it. If there are stumbling blocks, I accept it’s not the time. Faith alone hasn’t failed us yet,” she said.

That faith and commitment to family have remained central even during one of the market’s busiest years. 

While enjoying the first year of the new location, Genung and her family also welcomed a new baby in June.

At first, she worried about how stepping away during the early postpartum period would affect the business.

“I am very big on not letting our business take away from my children and our home, so I was afraid of how my time away would affect the market,” Genung said. “Luckily, I have the best family and market crew, who stepped in and made sure all stayed right on track during my time away with my growing family.”

Ultimately, Genung hopes her children see the business not as something she built for recognition or financial success, but as an extension of her desire to provide for them and give back to others.

“We don’t live above our means, and a lot of times we give out more than we take in,” she said. “But, what better legacy can you leave with them than giving more than you take?”

As The Olive Branch Market enters its next year, Genung’s vision continues to grow, but her focus remains firmly rooted in the community that helped the business get where it is today.

Among her hopes for the future are expanding the market’s back space for events and eventually adding an on-site kitchen. Increasing the quantity of the market’s weekly lunch offerings while maintaining the quality of its local products is also high on her list.

For Genung, the next chapter isn’t simply about making The Olive Branch Market bigger. It’s about making it more useful to the people who have supported it from the beginning.