A Fun Little Interview
The only experience I had with being on the news was from when I was 2–4 years old, on my dad's shoulders, watching the Blue Angels fly over Lake Washington one summer while living in Seattle. I don’t remember a thing about it—just remember watching the tape back and seeing myself, bright-eyed, watching jets fly by while my dad talked to the reporter. He was telling the cameraman that he strives to raise his kids to follow their dreams, no matter how big they are. He told them that his goal was to foster a belief in us kids that no matter how far-fetched our goal seemed to be, with the right determination, we could make it a reality. My dream ended up not being a pilot in one of those jets, but being a cattle rancher creating the best beef we can produce, not cutting any corners—and as of a few weeks ago, Dad and I were back on live TV on a national news network.
This time around, I was not on Dad’s shoulders—I’m a bit big for that these days. Instead, we set up my dad's laptop in the living room of our old ranch house and had a quick five-minute Zoom interview with a live national news network based out of Nashville, Tennessee, called RFD-TV. This was such a fun experience, and a long time in the making. For the last year or so, I have been messaging and collaborating with this news network's social media guy named James. What a nice guy—we have messaged back and forth regularly, and he asked if we would be open to doing a short interview about calving on TV. At first, this seemed like a daunting idea, but after the fantastic experience we had with the Seattle Times article, we were game and have so much fun with the news now—haha. So last time he brought it up, I told him we were super interested and would circle back on this once we got into the heat of calving, so we would have more to report back on. Then we nailed down a date, had a quick phone call beforehand to get half an idea of what to expect, and before we knew it, we were on live TV talking with a super cool reporter.
It was so fun, super simple—just a five-or-so-minute chat about calving, moving to the ranch, and how unique it is that Dad and I are full force raising cattle with no prior experience. The more people I talk to, the more out of the ordinary I realize it is to dive into a new profession without any experience. But just like my dad told that first reporter at Lake Washington, no matter how far-fetched your dream seems to be, it is possible to make it happen—and we're making it happen here on the ranch.