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- [00:01]
Weston Hendricks
Season two of Empower your is here and I'm your host Weston Hendricks.
- [00:04]
Augustus Sexton
This here's your co host Augustus Sexton.
- [00:07]
Weston Hendricks
And here on Season two, our priority is to empower you as an individual, a leader, an operator and a customer of the livestock industry to gain both knowledge and assurance while consuming it from the most influential people in our industry.
- [00:21]
Augustus Sexton
We are young men striving to gain knowledge and learn from our mentors while also expanding on new trends in the industry and what it has to offer. As always, have a blessed day and enjoy the episode.
- [00:39]
Weston Hendricks
Through showgoats.com and now showlams.com the livestock marketing Group offers customer centric online sale management backed by the most experienced team in the industry. Look them up@tlmg sales.com or contact Kevin Mock anytime at 254-459-2788.
- [00:54]
Augustus Sexton
GeneSource was created by Dave and Becky Allen with the vision of providing beef cattle semen on elite sires for multiple breeds for cattlemen throughout the U.S. the Genesource team is made up of people who live the cattle business just like you and know what it takes to succeed. Go to thegenesource.com or call the office at 979-743-1512 and get your semen ordered today.
- [01:21]
Braden House
Well, ladies and gents, this is going to be episode 8 of Empower you and it's one that I've been waiting for for quite a while. I'm not even gonna lie. Mr. Braden House is going to be our guest for this episode. And not only do I believe that Braden is one of the most premier char breeders in the industry, but his story creates the image of building everything from the ground up. I appreciate everything that Braden has done for this industry. I love his opinions, I love his conversations that we've always talked about. I love his view on things. It's someone that I think highly of and many others do that I look up to and that are in my life and I'm just super excited for what this episode holds. There's going to be a lot of conversations about a lot of different aspects and it just gets my blood pumping. So Braden, if you'd like to introduce yourself to the listeners so they can get to know you a little bit and probably give us a little background about yourself and your story.
- [02:19]
Unknown
You bet. I'm Braden House from Iowa, Texas, and my wife Nicole and I tend to own and operate big house show cattle. Primarily we focus on purebred Charlie show heifers. Kind of used to sell some steers but now we're leaning really hard into the purebred part of it and leaning even harder into the purebred show heifer part of things. And I guess as far as what led me into the industry, it's the same as a lot of people who do this stuff. I can remember being a kid and feeding cows with my great grandpa and my cousin on the back of a truck and listen to him yell to spread the cube, thin the trail thinner. Yeah, spread them out. We don't. Don't make piles. And he's been gone for a long time now. But every time I go feed cows, I remember little things like that. And I think that's kind of what hooks you in and why you do this. And remember, remember those things. Whenever I was really young, before my parents divorced and we moved around a whole bunch, I had a lot of. Not a lot. Had a few, three or four Dexter cows, which for a little kid, that was a lot. And I loved those cows. And it's safe to say that the miniature cows had a huge impact on me. And after that, we kind of moved around a lot. I sort of forgot what cows were, lost interest in it entirely, and became a city kid. And it kind of came back around in junior high whenever things began to slow down as far as life got stable and got it figured out there. I showed my first calf in eighth grade and showed through high school. And I can tell you without the shadow of a doubt, never won anything. We won the Americans at our county fair twice. And my heifer showing highlights include being last place in my class at Fort Worth my senior year. And I made it up to the middle of the class at Houston. I only showed one Charlie Heffer, and that's how she did. I was extremely involved, though, in ffa primarily as like a foundation ambassador. And I love the quiz contest, which you probably can't tell or read me as being a full blown nerd, but I am the nerdiest, hardest studying person you will ever meet. So that contest is kind of where I learned to compete. And then having a background very early in life with Cals kind of brought me full circle back to, I guess, how you could say I got started and passionate about it at a young age.
- [04:53]
Braden House
Absolutely. And so, you know, talking about your younger years, what brought you into the cattle business at such a young age? I mean, me and you have had multiple conversations about as a young age, you got your quote unquote loan from your dad and been able to buy your first cow. And how that was kind of an interesting way of buying your first one. I'd like to know, you know, how you got started and, and why Charlie Cattle at that.
- [05:21]
Unknown
Yeah. So I guess the reason of why Charolais, when you don't grow up necessarily like bound to one particular breed and you can pick any breed that you want to, the, the idea of which one offers the most avenues for revenue is what comes to mind. And so when you're, you know, 16, 17 year old Braden, and you want to know what breach I get into, if you think of a cow and you can breed her one of two ways, you can breed a cow purebred or you can breed her crossbred, you're going to get one of two options there, either a bull or a heifer. So there's four options and a Charolais is the only breed that kind of fits all four of these boxes. Being that if you got a purebred bull, you can definitely sell him. Down here where we live, it's Charlay Brahman, Hereford, Angus bulls primarily, that's going to be 85% of the Bulls you see driving up and down the road. If you get a purebred Heer Chicken Suprema show. And there's only so many breeds that can say that. And I can tell you that because we supremed two of the Texas majors last year with the Charolais Heer. If you get a crossbred bull, you got a show steer that's going to win probably four Texas majors at least that's going to win every county fair within a hundred mile radius of us is going to be a Charolais influenced steer. And then if you got the crossbred heifer, you know, the fourth option on the outcome deal, she can supreme a show too. Charlie Composite, you know, yellow or gray heifer, is competitive and can work in that, that setting. So I could get mad at these cows today and turn a crisp black bull on them, race show steers and composites. Or I could turn an EPD bull out on him and raise herd bulls. So that was why Charlie. And then as far as, you know, the individual cow that got us started, she kind of ties in, I guess. Also answers the question of the most influential cow that I've, I've been a part of to this point. We called her Mamie 8 001. Mamie was her name. And I'd been getting my butt whooped showing that the Charlie heifer that I had in high school. And it was because, to make it painfully simple, her neck was short and I said, I'm gonna find me a cow that has a long neck. You know, that's just very young. Me trying to figure this out, and I'm digging in this catalog, and there's a lot number 226 in the sale buried in the catalog of M6. It was the bells and whistles sale. There was a very famous bull that sold in that sale as well, but the cow was the one that made the difference for me. She did have a long neck, and she was very good cow. And I was so excited. I had taken out a loan to buy this cow. And we get to the sale, and I pay a whopping $5,500 for her, and I forgot my checkbook at home. So my dad actually bought that cow, and then I ended up technically buying her from him. And she not. Not only is she the most influential cow because she was the first one, but those calves have been outstanding. I mean, this was over 10 years ago, and even this year, the reserve champion, Charlie Heffer at Austin is a direct daughter of that cow. So they propelled my brother's junior show career to extreme heights that I would have never dreamed of when I showed. I met my wife over a purchase of a daughter out of that cow. And she was here up until, I believe, last fall, we finally called it a career. And she. She moved on as a cow. But she was the first one. She was the most influential one. And I've been very lucky to be able to build an entire herd of cows centered around Mammy. So I hope that answers your question. You know, she was the first one, the most influential one to this point, and we are going to plan on keeping that going because there's an awful lot of daughters out of her that we've got in production now.
- [09:38]
Braden House
That's awesome. And, you know, just talking about how you're. You're building your base and you bought your first cow, I'd like to know, you know, you're not one that went to college, and a lot of people know this if they know you in conversations that we've had. But I'd like to know, after high school, you went and worked for one of your mentors and how important it was to have mentors like that or work for somebody at that young of an age, especially if that's something that you wanted to do as a livelihood.
- [10:12]
Unknown
Yeah, man. The mentor deal, it'll make or break your ability to be successful. I mean, if you come out of high school and you want to do this and you align yourself, for example, with some alcoholic or some crackhead steer jock coming out of the gate, that's, guess what you're going to become is that you, you've got to align yourself with mentors who do things right and work hard and want to show you the correct way because that's what you're going to become. And your business tactics will reflect those people. Your daily routine and your methods will reflect those people. And I was very lucky in that regard with both Colton Big Pin and Brian Rogers. And it's funny, so like the amount of young kids that we keep in our circle, you know, kids that are your age, for example, that work for us, they have no idea how many miles or how much time I've spent working for other people. Like just in couple months stretch there when I got out of high school, in back to back months, I went to the state fair with our mutual mentor and friend colton and with V8 making 75 bucks a day. And then I turn around the next month with Brian Rogers, I get a passport to go clean tie outs and wash calves at Canadian aggravation for lazy MC Angus. And the amount of hours as a young adult that I spent swinging a blower or a water hose or a set of clippers or my personal favorite tool, the ship fork. Those kids, they just think I woke up one day and we started winning shows. Everybody older than me knows that's not the case. But those younger guys don't know that. I've had a lot of staples in my head from breaking calves for people and a million miles chasing cows up and down the road for some of the best people in the industry.
- [12:07]
Braden House
And so could you elaborate on us, you know, what that experience was like and what you learned at that young of an age being able to work at the places that you did and the environment that you involved yourself in?
- [12:19]
Unknown
Yeah, I mean, so the biggest deal that you learn to appreciate when you're removed from a situation like that is it's not that. And these guys are all very accomplished, but they're not the biggest dogs on the planet. You'll learn that the people that are the, that you consider mentors that you can gravitate to the most are the ones that poured the time into you, that cared to see you be successful. And I mean, it takes an entire team of people to get somebody to that point. Like, you know, Brian, it's funny, I used to think he was an ass, but looking back, now that I'm older, they see just how much equipment I tore up and how much stuff I Messed up. And he pretty much just kind of let me do it, you know. And he was very patient and very, well, easier going probably than what I would be, you know, and then he would turn around and we would go, we'd get in the truck, we would go to Georgia, we would go to Billings or, you know, Canadian Western Agribution there in Saskatchewan. And like, he didn't have to do any of those things. Colton, he talked about in his episode with you working under pressure and you can't create that environment at your own house. And Colton put that Trust in a 19 year old kid to go stay in a hotel room with him for a week and take me under his wing. And he lit a fire in me that still burns because not as good as of any one particular thing that I might have learned, but because he invested that time and that faith in me. And there's, there's some other guys too. I don't know if you know Sunny Dickerson, but Sonny's a, he's an older guy, to say the least. We call him Grandpa and he still runs around with us everywhere. But when I was kind of, I don't know, 20, 21, I did not need to be clipping and I wanted to, but I wasn't very good at it. I never been really like broken down and showed how to do it. And I was clipping steers for the Sunday's best there in Robertson county and I'd messed enough of them up where the guys were like, hey, we're gonna bring in somebody to teach you how to do this right? We're basically gonna lock y'all in this hot barn together. And when you come out, you're either going to give up or you're going to be able to clip. And Sunny is who they brought in. He had been clipping at Mid Continent, so he, I mean, he's talented, he's made a living for a very long time flipping and fitting. But Sonny, he was patient with me. He showed me how he wanted it done, he helped me do it, he talked me through the frustrations of it. And like that's someone that still, I mean, he goes show to show with us to this day. But, you know, he's not on the pulse for being the clipper or fitter of the year. That's not what the mentor thing is about. It's that he didn't have to spend his time locked in that barn with me, teaching me those things and those are the people kind of that you remember when it comes to like thinking of, hey, who are your mentors? And there's a ton of them out there, you know, but as far as when I was at an impressionable age, getting started, getting my feet wet does kind of come to mind, you know, especially Colton and Brian.
- [15:49]
Braden House
Absolutely. And it's good to have mentors like that that, you know, get to teach you, I guess, the basics if you don't know and giving you the right way and so you don't have to learn the hard way yourself and being able to put yourself in a bad position. And so, you know, fast forward. You worked for these individuals for a while and then you started building your CAL base pretty heavily. And what I'd like to know is how did you take your operation to the next level? The next level. After developing your base, what did you see then that was starting to make a trend, essentially? And how did you develop big house show cattle to what it is today?
- [16:33]
Unknown
Man, I think it goes a little bit back to the mentor thing, to where there's, there's a lot of people that are very talented at presenting cattle and mating up cattle. And the cattle side of it that that is, there's no shortage of talent in that field, but people are buying into these projects for their kids. And the way I would tie that back into the mentor thing is we treat it like our life depends on it, because it does. Cattle aside, when you're one of our customers or you're on our little quote unquote team, I care that your questions get answered. I care that you feel like you got a friend and that your kids have fun and they want to come back. Frankly, because I don't have another backup plan. I gotta make it work. It depends on you having a positive experience. So I don't know that you deliberately take things to another level, but I like being able to put cheese on my burger. So you learn to stand behind your product. Get a product that's worth standing behind, and people will invest in you and they'll, they'll want to have something to do with your program. And everywhere we go, we're campaigning for the charolais breed because I want it to be cool to show a charolaise, and I truly believe we're accomplishing that. If you look at how many kids we've recruited into the breed, especially in the last three years, and cattle wise, yeah, we got a type in kind. I mean, I like them stout, kind of borderline squatty, stout, big bellied, you know, I always think of like a Chris Black cow. That's what I want our purebred Charolais cattle to look like with, obviously, some of the purebred, you know, milk and production that comes along with that. But I like that outline of a cow. That ain't what these people are calling me to buy. They're buying an experience for their kids. And that is a difference between being a sharp cow guy and, like, you're asking what kind of takes it to the next level, to where you have a following. It's that you realize you're selling an experience to someone's kids and that they want to be a part of your program.
- [18:49]
Braden House
Absolutely. Being able to create an environment where everyone is appreciated and. And feels like that, you know, they have a team and they have someone that they can look up to is. Sure.
- [19:01]
Unknown
I mean, you. Your show career tied in with the guy that went out of his way to make a personal connection with you. I mean, you're. You're reading it, right?
- [19:12]
Braden House
Yeah. No. Shout out to Colton. I know he's gonna absolutely listen to this episode. So he knows exactly what me and Braden are talking about.
- [19:20]
Unknown
And that's where. I mean, I learned things like that is from. From guys like him. You know, there was people that poured those experiences into me, and now I wasn't even one of his customers, you know? Right. But he. He invested that time into me. And, I mean, we. We have so much fun when we go off to these shows with these kids, and it's. It's a great time whether we win or not. You know, it certainly matters. We got to win enough to kind of stay relevant. But your kids enjoy and have a good time. That's what decides if they're coming back or not.
- [19:52]
Augustus Sexton
Have you ever wanted to gain an edge when it comes to judging livestock? Well, there's a Solution. With over 1500 classes to practice from, LivestockJudging.com is your source to evaluate any species, anywhere, anytime. Once again, that is livestockjudging.com. go check them out and experience the impact.
- [20:15]
Braden House
And so, you know, let's talk about your herd right now. I mean, you have so many bulls on the market, several on the market right now, that you're advertising pretty heavily. And I'd like to know why you believe in them and what makes them unique. But a question that popped in my head as we were, you know, just discussing what's one of the most influential cows you have at the moment, and why is that, and what do you believe she's offering that makes the progeny unique?
- [20:45]
Unknown
Oh, I mean, as far as a proven cow it would still be the OG that, you know, Mammy. But I will kind of not dodge your question, but I'll remix it just a little bit and tell you that I'm very transactional. I don't do a lot of the same thing for a very long time. I like to pivot and constantly try to be ahead of the curve. And we, we had really good luck with the variety of donor cows a couple years ago. I mean, supreming state fairs and selling for a lot of money. And I basically was like, hey, I want to try something different. And I said, I'm gonna sell all these cows. And so I had kind of a dispersal rehearsal and sold these cows to save up money to buy a new one. And the cow, I would tell you I don't have a calf out of her yet. But we spent what to us was a lot of money and a lot of time finding a cow at Jet Wagey's there in Weatherford. And I was, you know, sitting, reading through my regular old notes and catalogs and watching videos. And I watch this video, this cows, okay, that looks like the best cow I have ever seen in my life. And I look for a picture. There's no picture. I watched the video about 500 more times. I said, well, I'm absolutely not buying her unless I see her because she's Law 44 and she's never had a registered calf. And I don't know what we're getting into here, but I want to see her. So we go to the sale and see her. And she was better than I even imagined she was going to be. And everybody else at the sale thought that too, because she was the high seller by probably triple what anything else brought in the sale.
- [22:36]
Braden House
That's crazy.
- [22:37]
Unknown
I'm kind of patiently but impatiently waiting on her first ET calves because I would confidently tell you that if I know anything about how to make Charolais cows, if we had this conversation in a year, that is the cow that I would tell you about that is on the fast track to making a massive difference around here. We call her Indra off of the TV show the 100. Yes. She's just a neat ground. Sal, Charlie, Cal. She's the type we want to raise and multiply and to circle back to the bulls. We do have some bulls that we promote. There's three of them. And I guess before I go into any detail, I'll tell you about those bulls. Anytime it gets brought up about promoting bulls, I gotta say this because I know there's a lot of young kids and young adults too that listen to your podcast. It is very cool to promote a bull and a cow. I love doing it. If you think of how many Charlotte cattle I have seen, we promote three bulls and seen thousands of them. And I want the young kids here to realize that it is cool. Everyone wants to promote a bull. And you gotta remember, just because a bull has a set of nuts does not mean he's a promotion bull and does not mean that he's a semen seller.
- [24:05]
Braden House
I agree.
- [24:06]
Unknown
Because a cow has a set of ovaries does not mean she's a donor. If you're a young person wanting to get into that promotion side of stuff, you get one chance to do it right. And if you pull the trigger on the wrong bull to promote, you will never get that credibility back. You will always be the boy who cried wolf and put lipstick on a pig to try to promote a bull. And so I feel like you can't talk about those individual bulls without reiterating like just how hard that they were to come by. And there's three of them. We, they're all three different types of bulls and we promote them in different ways. And just for an idea on quality, all three of them have sired a supreme champion within the last week. So they, they all work. Big game hunter. The only way to get semen on that bull is by purchasing heifer from us. We don't sell it in the open market. His trademark is that he kind of stretches them out, makes him really flexible and pedigree wise, he offers a neat breath of fresh air. Being completely outcrossed on the bottom side of his pedigree. Super Puncher is another boulevard. He's the current national champion bowl from Louisville and he never got beat in his entire life as a show bull. He was raised in Gainesville by David Skeens out of one of David's dollar cows. That's a game changer. And then Super Puncher sire by Brightside, we got that bull. His promotion deal is more of a partnership syndicate with a really good set of partners. And his first calf, supreme, the big super point show Reserve supreme in Brenham last weekend out of quite a few heifers. And he, he lives up to his name. He makes them punchy, they're bold, featured. And we haven't had one yet that structurally we thought we needed to tweak on or try to change. And then the bull had. He pays our bills, changed our life and put us on the map as Brightside. His mother right there with that New donor of ours, I would say, are in the category of some of the better Charolais cows that have ever walked the planet. All of our bulls are PA free, including Brightside. He's cavities. He changes their bone density and their hip shape for the better. That allows them to win more than just their breed. He makes them as hairy as any Charolais bull will make them. He's five years old. He got his first case of foot rot this last week. So we pulled him off of cows and he's not going to retire, but he's, he's going to slow down and get baby just a little bit more. Because as time goes on, we realize how special that bull is. And his success has changed our lives. I mean, he sired obviously Super Puncher that the National Champion Bowl 2 Supremes at Texas majors, Supreme, California State Fair twice. And I mean just literally countless breed winners. That's a once in a lifetime bull. If you're in the Charolais business and you're not using Brightside, you are punishing yourself in your program. Because if he can do the things he's done for us, I think that bull can change everybody's program for the better. Not to say I have a favorite bull, I let you figure that out. But bright side is he's my boy, without a doubt, and the disposition only makes you love him even more.
- [27:42]
Braden House
And just talking about how these bulls are putting out these champions upon champions and Supremes, I'd like to know, where do you see the trends right now in the present and then where do you see them heading in the future? What does it look like in your mind?
- [28:03]
Unknown
So I'll answer that. Like everything else, I guess you get the long winded version of me. Actually, the steer one interests me the most as an outsider looking into it, I used to sell probably 25 steers a year and I will not get near them now. I love the idea of raising them, studying their pedigrees and chasing that stuff. I learned it, it's just not for me. I love about the steers that it's a sprint, although it is turning into a more of a marathon because they got to be so old to show. But it has a deadline on it, you know, And I, I think that brings out the most competitive part of people and I love that about it. I don't like where it's headed from a cattle production and health side of things, you know, not in five years, but in 15 years. I worry that the steer thing will be in the same boat. As like French bulldogs breeding wise where we have bred all the cow and all, all the function out of them in exchange for like an incredibly slow growing. I mean, I hate to say this, but kind of a mongrel and it makes me not want to be involved with it. I, I would love to see good, fresh looking, clean jointed, consistent steers showing kind of phase off the extreme. However, and you will like to hear the sound of this. I do think we're in the ultimate golden age where you can find the quality in this American steers is something you would have never imagined 20 years ago.
- [29:45]
Braden House
I completely agree.
- [29:47]
Unknown
These American steers is so much better than the top end of the exotics that it is not even funny. And the guys that you're around daily, like Brent and Colton, I mean they are savants when it comes to finding American cows that still have some cow in them and seeing how well those work on the exotic bulls, I think it's undoubtedly a positive. And I think you'll see Americans regularly winning in the future more so than they now already are. And that's exciting. You know, especially being a resident Texan here. I'm always rooting for the Americans. I just think the added function, the fact that there's still some cow to those steers, if that makes sense, is is got us in a golden era of American steers. And I hope those guys that are the progressive American breeders can keep that going. As far as the heifers go, they. They need to get stouter in a bad way. We try to have charolais heifers that can play at the supreme level while still maintaining some breed character. We need to be really careful not to take all the beef animal out of them in exchange for a narrow cat ass belly dragger that looks like the bumper stickers on people's car. And as wide as that bumper sticker is too that because that's a problem. Structure is key in the heifers, you know. And I think the top end of the purebred breeders have the structure down and they've got it figured out. But they realize that the shortcut to structure is to take the shape and the muscle out of them. It's a lot easier to be athletic when you have no muscle. And we have absolutely got to get the muscle back in the right direction and sacrifice that stupid sweeping belly that that is just waste. It's fat. We need a whiskey barrel belly and that is something I think everyone agrees on. But when guys grab the microphone, they get amnesia and they just default Back to it. I am glad that we gotten out of the tight jaw, freak fronted thing. You don't hear judges say the word freak front anymore, which is heavenly, because when I hear someone say that, it discredits you instantly. I think nothing makes a judge look stupider than talking about a tight jaw being a quality trait and freak front being an indicator of quality. That is, that tells me you've never been around a cow before. Here's me, you know, getting into the controversial stuff because that's, that's.
- [32:29]
Braden House
I love it. Keep going. This is awesome.
- [32:32]
Unknown
But we got to figure out on the heifers how to get some muscle back into them, and the talented breeders are going to learn how to do that while still maintaining the structural integrity that we've got put into them. I think we just kind of restarted the gene pull. We got them down where they're very sound, but they need some shape. And now we can layer some muscle onto them gradually and, you know, touch and go to make sure we can put some shape back into the heifers.
- [33:01]
Braden House
That's awesome. I love the answer. I love the honesty and being able to confidently say what you have said. And I think it's something that you. It needs to be talked about. And, you know, just you bringing up the, the. The word controversial. Let's hop on the topic of controversy. You did not judge in college. You did not even go to college.
- [33:24]
Unknown
Correct.
- [33:25]
Braden House
Yet you're judging in major rings and county rings, state rings, whatever, and doing it throughout the year and doing it at a high level. I would like to know your thoughts on the phrase you have to judge in college to judge in a ring and how you went from not even judging to doing what you're doing.
- [33:51]
Unknown
Man, I, I think that quote of you have to judge and college to judge a show. It's right up there with that. With the freak fronted term of being the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. Um, here's what I care about. Have you, you know, has an evaluator ever actually paid off a bank note with the ass in of a set of cows? I do not care how many trophies you've hoisted or how many scantrons you have marked. Can you pay your bills at a real bank with real money based on your ability to profit with cattle? That is all I care about. Now, with that said, I do believe judging in high school or college sets you up absolutely with the skills and the knowledge and the ability to be able to pay off that bank note. So, I mean, make it crystal clear I fully believe in the competitive judging programs, and I fully support that and what those things are trying to do. And obviously, a lot of the judges that I admire the absolute most have an academic background blended into their cattle sense and their ability to judge. But if someone looked me in the face and said I was unqualified to judge a show because I didn't bubble in a Scantron and I was in the trenches at shows, instead, I would tell them, look, my bills are paid every month on time, and I take big swings on cows. I mean, some of them bills get bigger, but they're paid every month on time. And trophies and fake accents and staged reasons are not what pays bills. In the real world, you can do both. But just because someone judged collegiately, it doesn't give them a free pass to judge mine. I'll stay my ass at home. You got to convince me that you're savvy enough to use the skills you learned from the judging program to where I would have faith that you could actually pay off a banknote with a set of cows, if that makes sense.
- [35:59]
Braden House
And, you know, just talking about this specific controversial question, and it's something that we have discussed and something I've heard you say on another podcast of Colton's, by the way, y'all talked about three topics that nobody really likes to talk, to, talk about, and that's. It's politics, religion, and money, which are three. Well, two of the three things that you brought up with. That said, I'd like to know where you stand on that in today's environment. And this is in the stock show industry. It can be in the actual economy right now, even. But where do you stand on it and what is your projection in terms of the stock show industry on those topics?
- [36:53]
Unknown
Oh, I mean, I'm. I probably live with my head in the sand just a little bit. As far as I don't watch a whole lot of the news. I try to stay away because I think it's just negative pandering and trying to incite the worst in people. Like I kind of said in Colton's Deal, I mean, you walk outside and have a conversation with people, the world ain't nearly as bad as people make it out to be. And here's the. The deal. The controversial side of it, it's both sides, okay? Like, I mean, politically, I guess, you open this can of worms, I'm going to give it to you because everybody knows I don't care. It will make it really clear. I am voting for Donald Trump. I don't want this to get twisted up. I can't stand either candidate that we got. It's disgusting. We cannot come up with a better candidate to lead our country than what we got at the top on both sides right now. I think we got one that's incredibly divisive. He cannot tell a straight story to save his life. I believe his message is pandering as hard as a Luke Bryan country song. He's just talking to a specific group of people and lubing them up and. But here's the deal. I like having my AR under my bed. I like fossil fuels and I like law enforcement. And that's why I'm going to vote the way that I do. Harris. I mean, she is the exact same story, but she panders to a different group. She might have less of an idea of what she's talking about. But I can't run my cows on a solar farm, okay? I can't shoot the guys building the solar farm if I don't have access to my gun. And I can't call the police on them for building the solar farm on my place if there is no police. And so more so than that. And I'll circle back and answer your question upon this. The deal with politics more so than my stance, like who's. Who is. People are willing to dissolve friendships over this stuff. They get the sharing garbage on Facebook, both sides. And they're willing to just lose a friend or a family member over it. And this is two people that have no idea who you are. They're never going to know who you are. They don't care who you are. But the people that you're fighting with and calling names on social media, that could be your kid's teacher, that could be your childhood best friend. It's someone that you're gonna spend the rest of your life with and you're gonna cut them off over a vote. That is my biggest problem with actual real politics. I mean, religion. I follow the religion of just trying to be a decent person. I don't care what you believe in. You shouldn't care what I believe in. This whole Olympics thing with a certain religious group of people is completely nuts. It's like, show me on this model where the Olympics hurt you and make a post about it. Why would I care about something that is so stupid? Get a grip. Be a better person and worry less about the Olympics hurting your feelings. That's my take on religion. So that will upset. If I didn't get half of them upset with the first part. That'll get the rest of them. And then money. My bills get paid. I'm not a financial advisor and I'm not rich enough to advise anyone on money. My advice, if you want a cow, you should buy her. If you want to go out to eat, you should go out to eat. Because you cannot take that money with you when you're dead. And people get really tied up in chasing a lot of money when all you need is enough. I mean, if you got enough money, just live your life. I am not a financial advisor. Get too hung up in that because I got enough money to tell you how you should spend yours. Show ring politics. It is what it is. I mean, there's a rotation of about 40 people. I mean, I'll say I'm not on this list of people that judge the biggest shows. They all know each other. They're all going to know each other. The other alternative you got is pick somebody that doesn't know anyone and then you got a bigger mess on your hands. You know, the guy that's going to win, it's probably one of their buddies and it's probably because he has elite animals. You know, this, this. Can it be political? Sure. Your politics are going to be worse at your county fair than they are at the big shows or a jackpot show or what have you. But people get really hung up on, oh, that's political. That's political and it's a conspiracy theory and it goes out the window in a hurry. Look at the damn calf. Like, was it the best one there or not? And if it wasn't the best one, could it have been that person's favorite? That's all that matters, is that it was their favorite one. If you're upset, either don't go or go to a different show. The next weekend is my take on show ring politics. It does happen. It happens in every pageant. Because showing cattle ain't a sport, it's a pageant. It's sorted by judges. There's no official like rubric of how you judge these. It's purely opinion that makes it a pageant. Go to the different pageant next weekend and you'll get a different result.
- [42:37]
Weston Hendricks
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- [42:48]
Augustus Sexton
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- [43:06]
Weston Hendricks
For any questions that you may have, contact the office at 325-235-2855 or check out their website, expresslivestockgenomics.com so you answered.
- [43:17]
Braden House
My, my question that I had in my head perfectly. But just thinking about it, I mean, it's up to the judge. It's up to the judge's opinion. It's up to him to decide who wins and who doesn't. If you're second, you're second. If you're third, you're third. And if you don't like that, I say improve or learn how to better next year. Find a way to improve within your boundaries.
- [43:47]
Unknown
Absolutely. I mean, there, there's no, nothing that's going to come out of taking it to social media or acting like a clown in front of your kids. You know, the other things that people do to try to remedy that situation or. I mean, I, not, not to go into detail about being the judge that people get upset with, but like some of the way these parents treat judges at certain shows is not what you want to be teaching your kids and is worse than whatever went on in the ring that you think you're so mad about. Your kids are watching you act like an ass, you know.
- [44:25]
Braden House
Yes, sir. You know, talking about the ring and such. What advice would you give to the kids that are in high school or potentially the young men and women that are headed to college or possibly in college that are watching these events and going to these events and going through life and figuring out the good morals and the good actions?
- [44:44]
Unknown
Man, you've got to. It kind of hit on it before. So I hate to sound like deja vu, but you gotta look at your friends. And I cannot stress enough. You're going to become the people that you hang out with. If you hang out with people who, you know, for example, having a drinking problem, you better budget some money for a DUI because you're going to get one. If the kids you roll with at the jackpot shows are the type of people that'll steal a set of clippers, you are going to steal a set of clippers. You just hold on and wait and see. You're gonna do it. And if those friends are good people that are going places, that have a drive to do better, you're going to find yourself at the top of the totem pole, too. They're going to accidentally drag you with them because they're. They're doing things right, and if they're doing them wrong, it that's going to become you, especially the age you're talking about, you know, when you get older and can you really develop kind of immunity to peer pressure? It's not quite so bad. But if you're 19 years old and your friends are punks, it's going to happen to you. You got to find the right group and hang on to them. And the second piece of advice, kind of related to what you're asking there is like, go to school or get a trade. I mean, I'm not the guy who says that skipping college to go wipe a calf's rear end is fun or profitable or worth it. It worked out for me, but it's not a good idea for everyone. And so I don't ever want to get off of a podcast or a platform and someone feel like I advocated otherwise. You know, I would tell those kids, get a backup plan, get a trade, whether that be a technical deal or stay in school. But just because you have heard stories of people go straight from high school to doing the show cattle thing and working for other people and being able to make it work doesn't mean that everybody's life situation is going to permit that for you to be able to make a full living. Because it's asking a lot of a set of cows. I mean, for one, just to pay for their self, but for two, to pay for you and a family and your living expenses, you know, staying in school and associate yourself with people that are going places and don't be afraid to cut, cut them off if they're not. Get new friends. There's plenty of them.
- [47:24]
Braden House
Absolutely. And I agree, surround yourself with people who are going to improve you and not drag you down. Because, I mean, I faced it, I went through that. You get caught up in the wrong group, it's going to happen. Luckily, I got with the right people quicker and quicker. But, you know, as we kind of wrap this thing up, which I kind of don't want it to, but we're at that point, I'd like to know what's your favorite quote or potential Bible verses that gets your blood pumping, that keeps you going, keeps your mindset positive.
- [48:01]
Unknown
That. That is the easiest question that you've asked me. And it is tattooed on my wife's arm and it is the motto for her photography business. The quote is see the good. And I think in the times that we live in, there's so much negativity. And if you will just walk outside, be in the moment. With people that you're sharing the world with right now, and try to see the good in them, you'll change your whole perspective. My wife is so good about that, and it applies to cattle, too. Try to see the good not only in the traits of the animal, but the people showing them. In the industry that we're in, there is so much good out there. My wife lives it much better than me. She is the most positive person that you will ever meet. And if you want to know a story about someone who's had it rough and come out on top and is the toughest person you'll ever meet, you're interviewing the wrong guy. You should meet my wife and hear her story. We work together 24 7, working for the same dreams and goals, and it's effortless, and it's fun. And if I never get a single cow thing right in my life, I can tell you without the shadow of a doubt that I got the wife department right. And she lives by the three words of see the good. And that is definitely my favorite quote.
- [49:30]
Braden House
That is awesome. And you're right about the. About the negativity part. We live in a world where negativity has become such a predominant aspect on life, and not being able to realize that we're lucky to be breathing the next day and being able to do what we love, being able to go work, being able to pay the bills, being able to be with our families and do what we love. And I think that's something that we all need to dial in on and focus on.
- [50:03]
Unknown
Got to see the good.
- [50:04]
Braden House
Absolutely. It's one of those deals like I've been working for Brent for this summer. We got to see my family a few times, and it made me realize, you know, how much I do love my family and how much I do appreciate them and all in between. And so you've heard this question before. It's one that we use in every episode. I cannot wait to hear your perspective on it, because we've talked a lot.
- [50:31]
Unknown
Yes.
- [50:32]
Braden House
Braden, what empowers you as a person, caretaker, operator, customer, to be better than who you were before?
- [50:39]
Unknown
Oh, that is another easy one. Just because I feel like I've had by listening to literally every episode you. You guys. You and Augustus have put out. I've heard it repeatedly and tried to figure out how I would answer it, and I'll hit around just, like, a couple different topics to get a final answer. But my very first customer, who believed in me enough to spend real money with me and kind of cut me loose to go with his kids and his wife and his family. And he took me in as his own family. His name was Chris Jansen, and he passed away last year. But the faith that he had in me from start to finish reminds me where I started, and it shows me where I'm at today. Tucker Parkinson. I. I did not know Tucker personally extremely well. I follow his family closely, of course, and think the world of them as cattle people and breeders and just a family in general. When I met you at Abilene last year, yeah, he had just wondered showmanship and look, I don't know if that was the last time he ever showed a calf, but I know I was real close to it. And thinking of that privilege and the honor to get to share a ring with someone like that and him winning that deal before his accident, that's something that just sticks with you forever and empowers you going forward. We had a local kid, a young man named Harley. He spent basically every day of his senior year of high school, after school at our house, working with calves that, I mean, more times than not, didn't even belong to him. He had one, and we would have 15 of them in the bar. The hardest working kid you could imagine. And we shared a lot of miles, a lot of good times, and he was killed last summer on a motorcycle. And my favorite thing about Harley, not a single person had to lie when they got up to speak at his funeral about how good of a person he was. And that made me want to be better, hoping that no one has to lie whenever they go and speak at mine. Our showmanship award at the county fair is dedicated to him. And the way that he handled his business and the way he handled our friendship for me is nothing short of empowering. And then lastly, the little kid in Iola who would go outside and pet his Dexters. I can tell you, we will never be the richest, we will never be the biggest dogs at any given show. But that kid with his Dexters, or, you know, that kid who walked out of Fort Worth at the bottom of his class, would be thrilled to call me their friend and someone they could look up to. And that empowers me more than anything else in the world. So hopefully that answers your question there.
- [53:37]
Braden House
Just being able to reminisce over the moments and, you know, you talking about the two kids that were in accidents and not being able to go through with their life. We send the best regards to their families and all the people that are close to them. I didn't know Tucker all the I didn't know Tucker all that well. I think I talked to him a few times at shows, but to the people that I've talked to about him, he worked very, very, very hard, and he loved what he did. Him and his family were incredible people. Harley, I don't know. I didn't know. Didn't know him. But just hearing you talk about him, it's. It's impactful. And none of us are promised a.
- [54:22]
Unknown
Lot more to life than showing cows.
- [54:25]
Braden House
Yeah, we're not promised tomorrow. Make the most of today. Make the most of every hour that you can. It's. It's. It's. It's truly empowering to know that we can do the best that we can in one day. And if we can do that, that means that you've served our purpose. Not only it being people who live for the good Lord or live for the families that we support, it means that we have served our purpose, and that's all you can do. So, yes, sir. With all of that said, we do a scripture for every episode. And, yes, I accidentally skipped the one on episode seven with Chance. That was a long day, and I'm sorry, guys. I forgot. But I'm not forgetting this episode.
- [55:21]
Unknown
You gotta knock it out of the park here.
- [55:22]
Braden House
Yeah. Oh, I got you. It comes from James 1:12, and it says, blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of the life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. And I honestly think that goes along with your answer exactly on that last question.
- [55:43]
Unknown
It doesn't get much more empowering than that.
- [55:45]
Braden House
Absolutely.
- [55:47]
Unknown
Well, Braden, or before you hang this up, I just want to tell you, I mean, I followed you. I've met you there at the West Texas deal, but I followed you and heard the greatest things about you. And I appreciate you, you know, taking the time to inquire to get to know me and share your platform with me. I hope your podcast takes off where you never have to work a day in your life at a real job. Nothing would make me happier because you're working your tail off for a great cause of spreading that platform among a great industry. And, you know, going forward, if there's ever anything that I can do to help you out down the road, don't be afraid to ask. You got a great thing going, and it means an awful lot to me to have the opportunity to get on.
- [56:37]
Braden House
Here with you, man, that means so much to me. And, you know, my whole goal for this podcast to Build connections, to build a name for empower you. And to know that everybody in the livestock industry has a podcast that they can go to and know that there are the best names, the best people, and the most respected individuals in this industry. I want. I. I've always dreamed of being able to know someone in each species that's the best at what they do, and to be able to just reach out to them and say, hey, I'd like to know this, or what do you do on this situation? You know, whatever it is, I feel like that that's something that maybe we lacked in this industry when I thought of starting a podcast. And so with the last two seasons, we have done our best to bring the very best that we could, but what I will say is, with season three, it's going to be insane. We've been able and fortunate enough to just take it to the next level. And my whole goal, and it's not my only goal, but one of my goals is to win Best of the Barns. That's something that's important to me. The most important thing to me, I think, is to just be able to reach out and have a platform that can reach out to everybody and anybody and they can all listen. It's something that's family friendly, and there's so many. There's so many things that go into it that I think that we bring to the table, and I feel like that's something that this industry needed, and that's why I started it. And if it's not for the people like our sponsors, the. My mentors, my friends, my. My team helping me, my. Especially my parents, I would not be where this is today. It's exceeded so far past my expectations. It's not even funny. And so just having people that take time out of their day to just come on here and talk with me, that means more to me than anything.
- [58:50]
Unknown
Well, you're doing a hell of a job with it. I mean, you. None of that stuff happened to you on accident, so you just keep doing what you're doing. There's a lot of people rooting for you, and hopefully I can drag my following over and combine them with yours, and we can. We can keep this thing going big and strong.
- [59:10]
Braden House
Absolutely. Yes, sir. Of course. Yes, sir. Well, Braden, we do appreciate you coming on and sharing your thoughts and being confident in your answers and really diving into topics that aren't really talked about. It's something that I think that we needed to look. That needed to be said and just getting into the aspects of things on a full on a full fledged spectrum, if you know what I mean. And so what I'd like to say is this is empowering you with Braden House. Thank you for tuning in. We'll see you on the next one.
- [59:43]
Weston Hendricks
How eager are you to reach your bull's full potential? Well, there's a proven operation that serves the industry at the highest degree. Bullnaza Stud Services is located in Steelwater, Oklahoma and Sweetwater, Texas. They offer industry leading services inside collections, marketing and storage. Its owners are Colton Thigpen and Jason Holder. If you have any bull related questions, Bulldanza is your answer. Catch them on social media or bonanza.com.
- [60:05]
Augustus Sexton
Make sure that you follow Empower your on Facebook and Instagram so that you can stay up to date on new episodes that are coming out. Merch drops and Merch Giveaways. Thank you for tuning in. We appreciate all the support.