Episode 2.17 - Similarities between The Masters & Showing Livestock, as well as visits with Representative Mr. Dick Lowe & Ms. LaRay Cox

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Championdrive Podcast - Episode 2.17

Title: Similarities between The Masters & Showing Livestock, as well as visits with Representative Mr. Dick Lowe & Ms. LaRay Cox
Host: Championdrive.com
Release Date: April 14, 2025

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Introduction

In Episode 2.17 of The Championdrive Podcast, hosts Katelyn Sister Urban and Steva Robinson delve into the parallels between major sporting events and the livestock showing industry. This episode features insightful conversations with Representative Dick Lowe and young exhibitor LaRay Cox, offering listeners a comprehensive view of leadership, education, and dedication within the agricultural community.

Conversation with Representative Dick Lowe

Background and Passion for Livestock Representative Dick Lowe opens the discussion by sharing his deep roots in the livestock industry. He emphasizes the importance of the FFA (Future Farmers of America) and speech contests, highlighting how these platforms help cultivate essential skills in young individuals.

"If you want to get a job, you have to be able to communicate. Communication skills are lacking in today's world" (01:20).

Parallels Between The Masters and Livestock Shows Katelyn introduces a captivating comparison between The Masters Golf Tournament and livestock showing. She narrates the emotional journey of golfer Rory McIlroy's near victories and eventual win, drawing a parallel to the dedication and perseverance required in livestock competitions.

"We put in all this work. No one sees all the work at home that we do in the barn... Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't." (03:30).

Dick echoes this sentiment, relating it to the importance of stepping out of comfort zones and demonstrating respect within the industry.

"We just expect it to be handed to us is the way I see it. And I don't agree with that." (05:24).

Importance of Respect and Communication Skills The conversation underscores the necessity of basic etiquette in professional settings, such as using polite addresses like "yes, ma'am" or "no, sir." Dick argues that these simple gestures foster respect and open doors for future opportunities.

"If you can say these four sentences, yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, someone's gonna hire you" (05:24).

Championing Youth Development Katelyn shares her commitment to nurturing the next generation through livestock showing, emphasizing the broader impact on personal development and leadership skills.

"It's really about the kids... we just have to try to make them better, make that person a better person to serve our state." (05:24).

Representative Katelyn Sister Urban's Journey and Leadership

Career Path and Public Service Katelyn provides an in-depth look into her career, from managing a ranch at a young age to transitioning into education and eventually politics. She serves as the State Representative for House District 56 in Oklahoma, where she chairs the Education Committee.

"I started out working for the Cattle Association right out of college... I've mastered the way policies need to be built on relationships." (11:02).

Balancing Family and Responsibilities Balancing her role requires significant dedication, often limiting time spent with family. Katelyn shares strategies to maintain familial bonds while fulfilling her legislative duties.

"The hardest part of this job for me right now is I got to see my grandkids all three times a year." (52:56).

Educational Initiatives and Goals Katelyn discusses her legislative achievements, including introducing financial literacy into the public school curriculum and ensuring every school has a resource officer. Her ultimate goal is to enhance educational support and safety for Oklahoma's youth.

"My goal is that we help every kid in the state of Oklahoma start progressing education better than we are now." (54:54).

Advice for the Next Generation Emphasizing the importance of communication and public speaking, Katelyn advises young individuals to develop soft skills that are crucial for personal and professional success.

"Learn to communicate well... Those soft skills are missing in your generation." (65:26).

Interview with Young Exhibitor LaRay Cox

Early Involvement and Passion LaRay Cox, a 16-year-old exhibitor from Elgin, Oklahoma, shares her journey in livestock showing, inspired by her sister Kylie. Her dedication and passion have led her to achieve remarkable success at shows.

"If you have a dream, chase it because a dream won't chase you back." (88:28).

Support System and Teamwork LaRay credits her success to her supportive family and mentors, including her parents, AG teacher Mr. Bradshaw, and coach Tyler Rhodes, who have all played pivotal roles in her development.

"My parents... Tyler Rhodes... my brother Kaden, sister Kylie, my grandparents, and my AG teacher, Mr. Bradshaw." (86:46).

Philosophy and Inspiration LaRay emphasizes perseverance, giving her all, and maintaining a positive mindset as key factors in her achievements.

"Always give 100%, always do your best and never let yourself down." (86:21).

Sales and Livestock Updates

The hosts provide updates on various livestock sales and events, highlighting opportunities for breeders and exhibitors:

• Fisher Club Lambs: Partnering with Wixom Show Lambs, featuring Chill/Idaho and Jar Jar sired lambs. Sale date: April 14th.
• McLennans Sales: Combined online Ulam and weather sale with Elon Splitter and Blood Brother sired lambs. Delivery available for Oklahoma sales.
• Hobbs Show Lambs: February ET weather sale on April 15th in Newton, Kansas, featuring 25 lots from prominent sires like Trace and Don Juan.
• Alan Newcomb’s Open House: April 16-19 in Amber, Texas, showcasing Bucklanders and other premium lambs.

Conclusion

Episode 2.17 of The Championdrive Podcast offers a blend of inspirational stories, practical advice, and industry updates. From Representative Katelyn Sister Urban's dedication to education and youth development to LaRay Cox's impressive achievements in livestock showing, listeners gain valuable insights into the intersections of agriculture, leadership, and personal growth. The episode concludes with actionable updates on upcoming sales and events, ensuring that the agricultural community remains well-informed and connected.

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Notable Quotes:

• "If you want to get a job, you have to be able to communicate. Communication skills are lacking in today's world." – Dick Lowe (01:20)
• "We put in all this work. No one sees all the work at home that we do in the barn... Sometimes it pays off and sometimes it doesn't." – Dick Lowe (03:30)
• "If you can say these four sentences, yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, someone's gonna hire you." – Dick Lowe (05:24)
• "Learn to communicate well... Those soft skills are missing in your generation." – Katelyn Sister Urban (65:26)
• "Always give 100%, always do your best and never let yourself down." – LaRay Cox (86:21)
• "If you have a dream, chase it because a dream won't chase you back." – LaRay Cox (88:28)

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the key discussions, insights, and inspirational moments from Episode 2.17, providing listeners and newcomers alike with a clear understanding of the episode's content and its relevance to the show lamb industry and beyond.

Transcript

[Steva Robinson]

Now entering the ring, another episode of.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

The Champion Drive podcast, presented by Novel Designs, with your hosts, Katelyn Sister Urban and Steva Robinson.

[Dick Lowe]

Well, Steva, it is springtime in the south, and there's a big debate going on around here. I want to know how. What you call the FFA advisor of, like, your local chapter.

[Steva Robinson]

An ag teacher.

[Dick Lowe]

Wrong.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Egg.

[Steva Robinson]

What do you call it?

[Dick Lowe]

Ag. Ag teacher. I always laugh, and it's. Me and Colby have been kind of going back and forth on this about how you say it, and it's. It's spelled ag teacher. Like, that's not. That's it. Not E. G. Not. Nothing like that. Not egg. Not ag. That's it. So, yeah. So those of you that don't know, Steve learned something new about me this week. Steva, do you want to tell them what you learned about me? What I used to do when I was in high school?

[Steva Robinson]

Sister did the FFA speech contest, and she's been going around, and I'm gonna totally butcher this, but, like, you've been, like, one of the judges for him, right?

[Dick Lowe]

Correct. Yeah. Yeah. So speech contests, and, like, that's a big thing here in the South. I don't know how I guess familiar it is with the northern people. But right now, we're. Everybody's kind of gearing up for the state contest. They have their district and regionals, and then if you make it to state and you win, like, you have to retire your speech. And anyway, so, yes, I've been judging a few speech contests. It was kind of cool. Last week, I judged for my brother, which the. Those of you that don't know is Cash and Urban, and he's an ag teacher here in Oklahoma. And I actually judged a girl who's had a speech from last year that I heard it last year at that same contest. So I think it's pretty cool. And it's. It's really cool just to see the different variety of kids get in there and just do something new. And, you know, some of them are very, very well prepared. Some of them, you can tell it's completely out of their comfort zone, and I think that kind of ties into, you know, us showing. And you're going to talk about the masters a little bit, but, you know, there's a lot of work and a lot of time that goes into everything that we do. And I know that you kind of have a spill about this, but. Yeah. So you want to go into, like, your kind of master spill about kind of what all it takes to get.

[Steva Robinson]

To where you are Yeah, I will in a second. I do want to go back to the speech thing. I think that's one thing that all the kids in Denver that make the sale have to do a speech. And I think that's something that's pretty interesting. Like, that's not something that kids in their class usually have to go do. You know, there's a lot of us and not just Braden, but, like, I know other parents get, you know, some heat from the school for being gone, and I wish that's something that some, you know, schools would realize. Like, you know, like, little Laney Allen giving a speech who's shy and very not outgoing. You know, that's a big deal for her. Like, it scares her, and it scares Braden, or it scares a lot of those other kids. But they learn that they have to do it and get in front of people and talk and, you know, like, all these kids through judging programs or just having to go and, like, shake the hand of your breeder or whatnot, or, you know, shake the hand of the judge at the end of the show or say, thank you. Thanks for coming and evaluating our show, or telling thanks to whoever you help. Like, that all helps those kids down the road. So I think it's really neat, and I wish more people not in the industry would notice that.

[Dick Lowe]

Yeah. And kind of going off that. We'll talk a little bit more about Dicklo, who is one of our guests on the podcast today. But, you know, we. Me and him talked about. We talked about college kids right out of college getting a job. And he said. He said this line, and I was like, man, like, you know, I've never really, I guess, thought, like, how many kids don't really say these things anymore? But he said, if you want to get a job, he said, you have to be able to do two things. He said, you have to be able to communicate, which is what me and him were doing on the podcast. He said communication skills are lacking in. In today's world. And I agree with that. You know, and I think a lot of it has to do with we're glued to our phones all the time. It's a lot easier just to text or do something like that. So I do think that going back to the speech thing, I think that getting kids out of their comfort zone, pushing them, making them put away their phones for a little bit and doing stuff like that is good. And he also said that kids have to be able to say four lines. Yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, and yes, sir, no, sir. And I Think that's something that, you know, he says, like, as an older generation, that that's something that, you know, they were taught and that's something he instilled in his kids. And I think that's something that kind of ties back into work, maybe shying away from a little bit. But like you said, you know, whether you really like or agree 100 with a judge that day, it's still respectful to just show up and tell them thank you because they took time out of their day to come do, to come judge for you guys. So that's just the respect thing. And I think that respect is something that I, I guess maybe it's kind of we're shying away from being appreciative of all that people do for us and are kind of going more towards. We just expect it to be handed to us is the way I see it. And I don't, I don't agree with that. But. But it's sad. And so I don't know, that's something that, you know, even when even the kids like I work with, I try to instill in them just little bitty, like, tad bits and tips of just things that they can do to be.

[Steva Robinson]

Better people, for sure. So, yeah, And I think that all comes from the livestock industry. Like you said, it requires them to go talk to a judge or to tell someone thank you, even if it doesn't go your way. So, yeah. Okay, on to my master's spiel. I'm a big sports person. I like watching sports. And the main reason I do is because I think there's a big parallel between what we do in the livestock industry and what we teach our kids in the barn and what sports do. And it's no secret, I like to golf. And the Masters were this weekend. I know a lot of people aren't big Masters. People are big golf people. So I'll kind of explain it for those of you who didn't watch. But. So Rory McElroy is a golfer that has been trying to win to complete his Grand Slam for, like, the last 10 years, I believe. Don't fact check me on this. It's just, it's pretty close, though. But he's been really close. And he's had a lot of tournaments where he's maybe missed a putt at the end, you know, right in the hunt, but never really, you know, got the big win. And to win the Masters would be to win a Grand Slam. So yesterday was the final round of it. I didn't get a chance to Watch all of it. But I did watch the ending. And I guess leading up to it is just really good. Like lots of back and forth golf. And he was way up and then kind of got down again and then came back up and he got to 18, which is the last hole, for those of you that don't know. And all he had to do was sink like a three foot putt, which a year ago he missed a kind of a gimme putt like that against this Bryson DeChambeau to lose, I believe, the US Open, maybe. And so watching it was really nerve wracking. It's kind of like watching a kid that's always been the class winner, but never, you know, won the blacks or always been a division winner and never got over that hump type deal. And he missed the putt. So it ends up he drops the score by one stroke. So it ends up he has to go into a playoff with this guy who's golfed awesome and been kind of on a heater all day. So all of a sudden they have to go back and re Golf Hole 18. And the first guy that, the rose guy, he comes up and he hits a really good putt or really good shot. He gets not far from the pin. And after a couple shots, same with Rory. And then Rory puts on one even closer. And all he had to do so. So the rose guy's putting. He misses his putts. That kind of leaves the door open for Rory where he can make two putts. If you two putts, he. It's another playoff. If he makes it, he wins. And he ends up winning in that playoff on his first putt. And the amount of emotion that he showed afterwards I thought was really interesting. And I kind of used it as it made me think of, you know, we put in all this work. No one sees all the work at home that we do in the barn, doing legs working, showmanship in the yard. And sometimes it pays off and sometimes it didn't. But afterwards he said, like, that was 10 years of emotion that came out in me right there. And it's kind of interesting because everyone sees how when someone wins a big show or meets their goal, they just see that they don't see all the hard work and the ups and downs that it took to get to that point. And with Rory, we were able to see a lot of that on a very public stage over the last three to four years or 10 years, just because he did have some big, you know, like where he was right there and just missed the final putt. Or right in the hunt and, you know, just couldn't quite close the deal. So to watch him be able to succeed at that was a really good reminder of trusting the process. Do what you can do do. Focus on your goals, and the rest will kind of take care of itself. But. So that's my little master's rant. And like I said, the reason I watch sports so much in is because I think a lot of the same theories and philosophies apply to what we do in the barn. So there's your little reminder from pro golf. Trust the process. Keep working hard. It'll work out. Are you inspired? You look inspired.

[Dick Lowe]

I am very inspired. And yeah, I like to golf, kind of, but I like to talk. And people don't really like people. People that talk when they golf. So facts. But it's fine. It's fine. I get. I get the golf thing. I drive the car, or I can, like, you know, golf some.

[Steva Robinson]

We've golfed at Sedalia before. We did good.

[Dick Lowe]

Yeah, we're not bad.

[Steva Robinson]

Not bad.

[Dick Lowe]

Well, yeah, we did that. That's not hard though, right?

[Steva Robinson]

Yeah, we beat Cooper.

[Dick Lowe]

Yeah.

[Steva Robinson]

So, yeah, that was a fun golf outing. So. But yeah, so that's the little inspiration from the world of sports that can translate into the livestock industry. Let's move into. I know our guest for today, we have Dick Lowe. And you have another one on today. Right.

[Dick Lowe]

And I also caught up with Lorae Cox, who, those of you that don't know, she exhibited the grand champion commercial U at OIE this past year. And she is. She's always been very sweet. It's kind of like, I guess, a little bit surreal, like, you know, seeing these kids grow up because they were just like little bitty kids when I showed it seems like. And now watching them, like, achieve their goals and dreams and stuff, it's. It's kind of a full circle moment. But she. She was a really good guest and it was kind of interesting and, I guess ironic. And I. I told her this in the podcast, but I asked her, like, a quote that she lived by, and she quoted the song till you can't, which is also the same song that Dwayne Hurliman quoted in his grand drive speech at Louisville, if I remember right. And I thought that was pretty interesting because Dwayne Herlaman was the judge of her land that she won with. So it was kind of like a full circle moment there too. So that was pretty interesting. But she was really good. And we'll catch up or we'll hear from her here pretty quick. Perfect.

[Steva Robinson]

Let's get started with Dick Lowe.

[Dick Lowe]

Well, it's a very busy time of the year for you. Do you mind telling me a little bit about your background in the livestock industry and kind of where your passion started?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well, I guess it. You say it almost started at birth. My dad was an agriculture education instructor. We raised some livestock. So I actually showed my first heifer when I was 4 years old. And after that my next animal to get to show was a Dorset ewe lamb. So I've been showing basically I showed all my old during the time had three sisters. They were also very involved in the livestock industry and showing. So we showed cattle, I showed sheep and I showed hogs. So we've. I kind of went the whole gambit when I was, when I was there, probably specialized at that time in Hereford cattle. And we raised her for cattle and I was very successful head champion Hereford Kansas City. So that was kind of a highlight of my career back then. And so that I guess it's never really got out of my blood. I've been in the livestock injury some type ever, ever since.

[Dick Lowe]

Yeah. And I'm glad that you didn't go away from the sheep after starting with the Dorset.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well, our family raised some south down, a lot of south down lambs years back when I was a kid, a few shrubs back then. But we got away from the sheep deal for a while when our kids were growing up and we showed a tremendous amount of number of show pigs. And that was our background for a big part of it then is Denton, our youngest came along and started showing that the other two were in college and actually I guess we could go back to your family. Kind of what got us back over to the sheep deal because your brother Cash and my oldest son were on the meats team at Oklahoma State together. And they came in and said, hey, Denton needs to show sheep. Well, at that time we haven't had had a sheep on the place probably in maybe eight or 10 years. And I just told him, I said all well and good, but you've got to help us because it's a different world than when we were there. And that's kind of where we got started in. Your dad got us a couple, got him a couple of lambs to get started. And that was, that was Denton's first shot. And it from there on it just got extremely busy, extremely fast. And the numbers have definitely grown since.

[Dick Lowe]

That point for sure. It's kind of crazy, you know, just talking about like my brother, my dad helping as many people as they did. And, and I. I mean, I remember when me and you were catching up at after OIE this year, and you were laughing, we were laughing about the way I was coaching this little boy. I coached. His name's Wade. And because you told me, I kept making him go up and down, up and down. Well, later on I was telling his dad about that, and he was like, yeah, well, what you don't know is they're the ones that help me get started and kind of help me take that next step in the livestock industry. And I think it's crazy because you just never know the impact that people have on. On others that you know.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

So that's absolutely true. It is a web in the agriculture industry in the way I serve now. It's amazing how many people I run into almost a daily basis. That goes back to the livestock industry and FFA and 4H. That how we had. That's how we got to meet. That's how we got to know each other. We may know each other in a different realm now, but that. That was the nucleus of how we became together. Oh, I've always said, and I think it's not just me, I've heard this. So, you know, always copy the best is what you try to do. But the livestock, yes, we care about them. We try to do the best, raise the best we can, show the best. But it is a medium that we use for kids and growing kids in this industry. And absolutely, there's nothing out there better than doing it this way, far as I'm concerned. But it really is about the kids.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes, absolutely. So, you know, you've already mentioned a few of your sons, so do you mind telling me a little bit about your family? Kind of, what do they do now? Where are they all at?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Okay. And I'm gonna start with the nucleus of Ms. Judy. She is the nucleus our family. And you know that you've been with us at our home many times. And Ms. Judy just retired from the. From her job and now she has a very new position. It's an unpaid position with low livestock. And so that's. That's her new position. We raised three sons. The oldest one is. Is Brendan and he is in Hondo, Texas. He's the president of a regional feed company down in Hondo, Texas, and has two. So there. So we have two grandsons. Our middle son, Colin is in Bennett, Colorado, just east of Denver. Lives out in the farming community there. He's involved in some sales of a startup company there and it's not our. What I consider what I am used to being necessarily true agriculture, but it is because he sells lawn service equipment on a commercial basis, golf courses and things like that. And then our youngest son is Denton, which is our partner in livestock. I guess we're partnered because of him. We did this just to get him help get started in the producing of sheep. He is in Decatur, Texas. He's a sales manager, feed sales manager for nras National Roping Supply, Roper Supply there in Decatur. And he's the partner on this. So all three boys have been successful. We joke around that we're not very good parents. All three of them live out of state from us, but we're very close family still to this day. I go back to our involvement in FFA livestock showing, just speech, judging and things like that that are all part of our life, that brought us all together and keeps us together this day.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes. And your kids are all far off, but they're all very successful. So I know that your kids, you know, you already mentioned that didn't show cheap. Your other two showed pigs. So they showed across the country. What is it like, what was it like being a show parent to now being on the announcer stand at most shows?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Definitely a different world. Definitely a different world. I. I get. I go, go, go from being nervous about kids doing well. And it wasn't doing well, winning, just doing well, representing our family. And. And they did a fabulous job of that. But you always worry, hey, are they showing the best? Are they. You know how they do is nice to go to a show and not have to take a block and stand any kind of box, any kind of equipment, nothing you don't have to break down. So you still get to see the people that we become so close friends with. But probably the last eight to 10 years now, I've spent a lot of time behind the announcer Mike and announced at the State Fair of Oklahoma. It was when I started about four years ago announcing the sheep show, Hawaii. That was the pinnacle for me. The. That's the biggest stage and being able to sit there and watch it. I probably get to watch shows and see the livestock and watch kids way better than I did as a parent. And I truly enjoy that. As I said, I was giving you a hard time after Oie. Because I get to watch y'all that are helping the kids from the sideline and sometimes I get to laugh to myself and I have to stop and start paying attention to what I'm doing, but I do, I see myself. It's like looking into a mirror for years back, seeing myself doing that for our kids, for other kids, trying to help them out. And I thought, well, I bet you someone really got a laugh watching me back in those days. But it's a different world. But someone keep asking me, why do you do that? Because it has to take time out of my schedule to go do that. And it's quite easy in my mind. I'm just giving back kids. Someone did that when our kids showed someone was on that market or someone was in the back lining up lamps, whatever. So it's a way for me to give back to the next generation because someone give for our kids their time.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes. And that's. I agree with that. And that's kind of like why I like coaching so much. I really enjoy coaching. I watch more of the show. I feel just as you while I'm coaching versus when I showed sheep. And I know like that's a little bit different role from a show parent, but just getting to be there and be there for the kids and be somebody that they can depend on is something that I don't take lightly and I really enjoy that. So talking about Oie Low livestock raised the reserve grand champion market lamb this year. So tell me a little bit about the background of that lamb. If I remember right, he went back to like a 10 10U I think is what I saw in his pedigree. So do you mind telling me a little bit about that?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Yeah. That lamb, he was the flush lamb. Our late flush. We flushed twice a year and he was of a late flush. He was a young, thin lamb. I remember when he sold, he was, he was. We saw the promise in him, but he was so thin and, you know, he just didn't. He hadn't bloomed yet. We sold him probably a bit too early in my mind. And so we're kind of re evaluating exactly what we'll do this year. We hadn't let those lambs really start blooming yet, but that was a tremendous set of lambs. And a flush mate to that lamb also stood third in class behind the grand at Houston. Also, several ewe lambs have won county shows across Texas and Oklahoma that were out of that same flush. But that lamb goes back. His mother is a matador on a zoo creature. 1010 daughter and so her granddaughter. So everything in our herd, someone was here actually 1:00 this morning looking at lambs and we start talking about lambs and they said they all, they all had that same look. And then. And they said Something about how do you do that I go I said there's not a female on this on this place that does not go back to zoo creature 1010 everything based out of that one you and you know we take a lot of pride that we've been able to we have several generations we've raised the mut the mother, the grandmother and and so be able to keep that generational move together out of one great you and I think most breeders I've talked to breeders and they said you know very seldom that you can back traced back to one or two years that did everything for you and so that that you excuse me that weather came from came out of that that mating and was a 2.0 Lamb we flushed the first time that year to 2.0 on several several head and he did us a tremendous job. He really matched I I felt like he was a ram that was going to match or they use in the unicorn line a few a few years ago but didn't and I we have to have conversations sometimes and he has to tell dad what he does what I don't know and that's okay. I mean I am so proud of the the ability he's put together in the judging he does the kit and the genetics he tries to put together. But it was techo after we looked at some lambs about a week ago he goes man we should have done this two years ago. And I go seem like I heard that before and he didn't like that comment but you know we but he's the one that's the mindset behind what we're breed to in design. But we've always we never went out and bought Edus other than what we started out that one u and so that we look at the consistency of our lamb crop over last year and what we're seeing this year and it all goes back just like that lamb was bred at Hawaii. I mean that was a once in a lifetime for an operation. It's been in such a short time and so small you count that we have.

[Dick Lowe]

Yeah and you can tell Den that you were right. Right.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well I I could tell him that that most of people that might listen to this and know didn't they go well that'd be something that he'd be one ear and out the other. So you know we we have good conversations but that's just a dead parent deal.

[Dick Lowe]

So kind of going back that you brought up several good points in that and what you were just talking about. I think it's interesting that you guys have taken different genetics and still putting them back through that, through that U line that you guys have. And it's worked for you guys. Not only that, but you also mentioned that you know, you don't have that many numbers. So getting to getting a win on that pedestal I would say is huge in itself. So do you mind telling me a little bit kind of about how many use you run, kind of about your flock. I know you've hit on it a little bit already.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Yeah, we actually have probably five or six donor use that we that are most of them are flush mates and that they may not look exactly alike but they produce quite a bit alike. That's when we first started flushing. We had four flush mates, daughters. Out of that first flush we ever did, we kept those daughters and that became our donor mates in there. And with that, now what we're doing is we only have at maximum anytime about 20 to 25 use period. And that includes the ewe lambs we're trying to breed for the first time to figure out if they have the donor qualities to be where we think they may be able to do it. So we're very, very small. We probably have, like I said, we probably have about 10 to 15 yearlings or Ewe lambs here and then our donor base, it's a challenge. And I would tell anybody that they say, well we take 10 head and build a great one. Well they better be 10 header genetically alike because well, number one, we have never owned a ram ever. And we don't. That's not nearly in our, in our tensions that we ever will on a ram because we use outside genetics. Our problem is we'd like to do is use some young genetics and we do use some young genetics. But we with that base that we have and the limited numbers we have to use something at least we've seen one lamb crop out of before we'll ever breed to it and know that that kind of what to expect there where if we were bigger we would probably breed some of them young rams that we see across the country and take a chance on it. But with a limited number we don't have that opportunity. So we're, I always say we're almost a year behind but we have a little better idea where that will or will not work for us when we do that.

[Dick Lowe]

And you know, you kind of mentioned it already that a struggle is not being able to use a first year ram. So kind of what has been the hardest thing for you to do as a small breeder?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Keep it enough that you can do that that you could try different genetics out there on that. And that's the one thing we always have to talk about. We'll typically use three to four between three or four rams in our flush over the over the years. We usually use two dominant rams when we flush the first time and sometimes we'll typically just turn around and change a complete set of rams. Usually they're genetically bred the like this year. I think everything where you. Well, I do know that everything we're using goes back to the unicorn ram. We've we found that that's a niche that fits the use base that we have. But we've used I believe this time we've used Unicorn himself. We've used King Kong. We use Contagious trying to think another chief ram where we used him he worked off of well for us. And so we're looking at a lot of different rams. But in that base, you know, I think what's maybe in our back of our mind what is our next generation? What is it once we get these how do we find something that works on those daughters? And so we're already in the. In the in the watching stage of other genetics is out there that we could utilize. And really that that's Denton's. That's his forte is seeing them. He judges a lot of shows across the United States. He sees a lot of lambs and see what is working out there maybe. And so he is, he really is the brains behind the genetic matching that we do here. And we may talk about it but when it comes down to it we leave that in his hands because that's what he's up doing and it's a passion of his. And so it's worked well on that that aspect but that that's a very limiting factor when you can't use you know, seven or eight different rams on some young ones. Because you you're trying to figure out I don't want to breed something just to try it out on those ewe lambs. Because we're deciding trying to decide if that's going to be a donor quality or not. So if you just try anything it may not give you a full shot of what that ULAM has potential to do for us.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes, for sure. And I mean this may be. This is kind of off off our question Ron, but what is it like when you guys are going through through your U lambs, you know, like what's the most UAMs you've had in a year? Kind of what does it look like when you're deciding what you're going to call or keep or what does that process look like for you guys?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

We try not to keep over about six a year. I mean just again back due to our space here. What we could do, we try to find five or six is in some of those that use or you lambs are going out and being shown. We we've had a few those 2.0 U lamps show back up here this year that were out people showed. But about 6 is what we can what we feel like we can hold if we keep six a year. I mean we get a donor in a program, she's going to be there three, four, five years. So you know, we're trying to make that turnover. If we bring five or six, maybe we could identify two of those that become in our donor pen and then the others that we will sell. It's really hard to sell some of those ewe lambs even though they're really good and they may produce fairly well. We've got a set right now that we're getting ready to sell and use that or coming in there. I guess they're €3. They some of them produced lambs that sold for 2, 500. And people said why in the world would you sell lamb? We just don't feel like it was of the quality that we want to replicate that time and time again. She may not be this is exactly what we're trying to build but she'll really work for somebody else. And but I did have someone after I said it just doesn't make any sense for some of you. We got one. You end up being. I know last year had triplets, raised all three of them and she sold about $5,000 worth of lambs off of her and she's in the cell pin they go that's crazy. And I said, well if we had the room. She has a home. We don't have a room. She needs to work for somebody that does have some room and make her work.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes. Do you see like in the future ever, I don't know having more barn space or. Or like if Denton, I don't know where if he had room at his house or something like that kind of where you were able to keep more use or do you think you guys always want to kind of stay at where you're at?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Oh, I, I think he has the dream to get bigger and we're all for it. Like I said, we started this. It was my. Ms. Judy and I are not in necessarily in the Realm, we want to always raise sheep. We're getting. I mean, she retired. I will eventually retire my second job here pretty soon. And so, you know, that's not. We want some time. We've got grandkids both in Colorado and Texas. We want to spend more time doing that. And it seemed like the lamb deal kind of keeps pinned down, didn't. We would love for him to take these, take this herd as we developed it now, and go out on his own in Texas where he's, where he lives. And I think that's eventually what's going to have to happen. We just know that, you know, we don't have the time to do anymore. We, we started out this about. Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. About six years ago, we were having. Five years ago we were having 30 lambs a year. 35 up to 40. This year we'll. We'll have 95 lambs born here. That's a big change in how much time it takes, how much time to feed and so on in with our limited resources here. But as we looked at those, the, the future, I think this will be, I'm hoping, low livestock becomes dental livestock. That's what, that's our dream. I mean, I think as a parent, you always want help your kids if you can, no matter what age. But eventually we've got. I think my wife and I will be out of this and it'll be his program and we'll. We'll be on the travel deal with the grand grandkids and. And we were. I think our oldest grandson is going to be starting to show some lambs this year for the first time, and we're excited about that. We want to be able to go down there and spend time with him and try to get him started like our kids got started. But with having 95 lambs born in this place, it's hard to have that time available. So we're working towards that and just trying to get. Didn't continue to look for somewhere that he can raise them there in his location. And I think it's apparent again, I think it's our dream is to help him get started. That's his dream and his love, and we'll get that done.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes. And I think that's very, very nice of you guys. So kind of going forward a little bit, what has been the best thing that you've learned as a small breeder?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

That's probably one of the hardest questions you asked me because I think we've learned you don't have time to Make a mistake, you better make some good decisions genetically because you can't. The way we have to do this is utilizing a pretty tight nucleus of genetics that if it blows up on you have a blow up year and you probably won't survive for much longer out of that. And you know we've had so many repeat customers in they know what to expect to get here. If you had a blow up year, you probably lose that repeat customer. And I would say probably every breed out there, we live off our good repeat customers that have good success with our genetics. So that, that's very challenging that you don't make wild mistakes. You've got to stay stay with what you believe and what you want livestock to look at look like. But don't try to get off on a wild tangent because it will probably bite you when you come down to it.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes, absolutely. And I know I was talking to Ms. Judy the other day and she was the one she told me that she lambs out most the ewes. So kind of what roles does everyone play in low livestock?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well everybody pitches in for everything somewhat as we give Denton a hard time if it requires any labor, he's not involved. But that's not true. But that's what we tell him. Being such a small operation as far as facility wise we don't have it. We wish we had it set up different but we don't have the room, we don't have it set up different. So a lot of it is hand work. We would love to be able to feed around bales. We cannot the way we're set up. So it's all square bales other than when they're out the pastures and so on. So it takes a lot of work in there. I will you know, if we did anything but give Judy all the credit for lambing this year. I mean she has just done a fabulous job. She, she pays more attention to details than, than Denton and I do. And that's, that's great that we have somewhat. She picks up on something's getting not acting right way before I may see it and because I'm not here as much as her and so on. But she does pay that. But she does our lamin. We like three of our donors to be a done on their, their lambing. As of today she is ready for that to be over where she can sleep all night. We, we were fortunate the way where we live and everything we have fiber optics run directly or fiber runs directly to our barn for Internet and we have cameras throughout that and so at night she can look at her phone or an iPad or something and watch those used see if there's any problems at once. She doesn't have to get up and go outside in the cold and everything. And so that has worked good. It really works good when someone's not here that any dent in their eye or any of us can work on our phones and look at those, those images and see where we're at. So but that's her big role is she does a day to day to day feeding now and I come in in the evenings and try to help her. I'm really not. My schedule has. Doesn't allow me to be here as much as I want to. But when I get home at night it doesn't matter if it's at 7:30 or 9:30 or 10:30 from whatever event I'm at. She usually has me a list to go to the barn and check things out and make sure everything. She doesn't trust her judgment. She does a great job but she's always second guessing herself. But it's been a lifesaver for us in this situation especially as we increase numbers. Denton does the genetics combinations and deciding on that and the sales that is, that is his key deal. His life is. His job is sales. He loves sales. And so he has met so many people through his, through his career and his time. Of course he judged at Redlands but. And we figured he would typically follow the rest of our family and go to Oklahoma State. He decided to go to Texas A and M and I we always kind of. Not that we don't love that university great, but it was. Why would you go? And he says I know the people in Oklahoma. I want to get to know the people in Texas too. And it's been a big, big boost for basically livestock because he has met so many people in Texas and that's kind of grown out of that. I keep saying my job here is just whatever it's. It's making sure that everything in the barn's right, making sure we have feed, making sure all these things, vaccine, whatever it is. I make sure that we're ready to. What we do. If anything has to be built or welded, that's my job to fix it up and we've got it where it works pretty efficient for us. It takes some time and as we've gone through the, through the last few years and learned some things but we're set up where we can lay them inside heated area. We can put nine ewes at a time in there. Gets Kind of busy during embryo groups because if you got 25 embryos, you, receipts ready to lamb. And so we have a pretty much of a rule if you get up, you get licked off and you're nursing, you're outside, you're, you're out under the shed, you can't be in here any longer. And it's a pretty much rotation to get that done. But that, that I have a. My biggest deal is I'll make sure all the things are there where everybody can do their job and I shear the ewes off and stuff like that, what time I can find and so on. But everybody has a role that crosses over. Ms. Judas is the hardest. She was a lamb and everybody said oh that's just lamb. And oh, that's the hardest because she cares. This year, like I said, we'll have 95 lambs. We had two stillborn lambs that we, we had two lambs born dead. Every other lamb that was born is still alive on this place. And that's pretty good average for anybody to get that done. But every hour she's checking those as a lamb. So you know, we go back to her, she, we probably have 75 that didn't. And I was trying to get here at this point. I do know the facts so. But it's good that everybody kicks in and does their part. Sometimes you're tired but you just keep on going.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes, for sure. And, and you know, you mentioned that it's good that everybody kicks in and do their, and does their part because at the end of the day it takes a lot of people to make a lot of operations work. And so you guys, it sounds like you've kind of got a well oiled machine over there.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Yeah, we would love to have somebody that could lamb or do some of that during the day, but you know, a small operation, we really can't hire anybody. And that's just, you know, the part of where we're at. And I, as I go into that, that will probably gonna have to hire somebody if he can get all these in Texas. But I, I think we'll have the genetics there, I think we'll have the site, the numbers there for him at that time when he expands that he could probably get afford to do that.

[Dick Lowe]

Not only that, I think even moving them to Texas will even open up, you know, operate or opportunities for them to show at Texas majors as Texas bread and stuff like that. Which I'm sure is something that he's already looked into. So that'll be interesting to see. Kind of where low lifestyle goes that way as well.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Yeah. And that's. I think it's a day we're looking. Hope it comes sooner than later because I think, you know, he's got himself positioned in a great place now, so it's time to go do it.

[Dick Lowe]

Yes, absolutely. And it sounds like it all started from him taking the step of saying like he knows everybody in Oklahoma and he's ready to go meet some more people, which I think it adds very, very smart. So going forward, let's talk a little bit about your career before we start. Do you mind sharing what you do now? What does a day to day look like for you and what all does your job consist of for those who aren't familiar?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well, you know, I don't ever think I'm important because I'm not. I'm just another guy here trying to do the right thing for our people. I serve as a state representative for House District 56 here at the state legislature in Oklahoma. I mean my fifth year doing that. I retired from our career tech system here in Oklahoma. I really never had politics in my mind. That was not what I was thinking about, I guess, but the opportunity arose. I'd had many people in our communities and area here said you need to run, you just, you have common sense and we need common sense. And I said, well, I don't have the other kind. So. But anyway, we made the decision in 2019 to run for state representative. Was elected in 2020 right during the middle of COVID That was a unique situation to work through and I've served ever since. I have not been opposed since I ran the first time, which is a blessing. And I appreciate my community and my district having that kind of faith in me. And I don't know how long I'll do it. I mean I'll stay as long as I felt like. That is what I'm called to do. I would tell everybody that being in politics is. It's a calling and I'm going to go back to. I was an ag teacher at one time and it's a calling to be a teacher and to serve as a state representative to me is a calling to serve our people in this area. I'm quite blessed with a good group of people in my district. They're conservative somewhat, not crazy. They're just common sense, good people and I enjoy it. You come into the legislature not know exactly, you know what your service is going to be. I thought agriculture. I mean it's quite obvious. Been around the ag my whole life. We ranched and so on. And I did serve on the ag committee for four years. But my background through the career tech, there's an ag teacher, they kept saying, and I do have a superintendent's principal's license also. So I never was serving in that way, but I did get the background for that. So now I serve as the chairman of education for the state of Oklahoma in the house, which is the job I said no one should ever ask for. And I didn't. Not necessarily what I wanted to do, but by doing that, I get to serve kids again. And sister, you know this as well as anybody. Kids are very, very important to me. That is the key. Number one, yes, we love livestock, but we love kids. And very seldom you see a time that there weren't lots of people in our house. And it was trying to work with kids. So I get to try to affect every kid in the state of Oklahoma in a positive way. And I mean, that's quite an honor to me to get served those kind of numbers. You know, we have 770,000 kids in public schools. And I get to try to make positive moves towards those, for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

And not only, not only like, like livestock kids, like you said, but school kids, kids of all nature. And I think that's very, very important. And I don't think that we could have anybody better than you. So I know they're very, very thankful for you. So kind. You've already mentioned a little bit. You know, you were an ag teacher, you worked at the Career Tech, and you mentioned that you have your superintendents and principals a license as well. So what career path kind of led you to where you are now? Kind of go through kind of where you were career wise?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Oh, well, I started out working for Cattle association and Beefmaster Cattle association right out of college. And then after about two years, I took over as a ranch manager. I was 23 years old and took over as a ranch manager in northern Oklahoma. 6,000 acres, 600 mama cows at 23 years old. And it was absentee ownership. So it was a unique learning position to. It's kind of by trial by fire a little bit. We were at that operation nearly 18 years. The family decided to sell that operation out. Came back, sold the insurance for a little bit, but it's kind of on the side there and end up as a getting my license, alternative certificate to teach ag ed. My dad had been an ag teacher, so I thought I might have had about 18 years of student teaching. I kind of understood it. And so I came in, we Were very successful in a small school in two years. Then I went to the career tech work at farm and ranch and end up people said, it's weird how you ended up in that. And I came back to Chickasha is what we call an industrial coordinator working with manufacturing companies. I have absolutely zero background in manufacturing and yet we had a very successful run doing that. If people said, kept asking how. How did you have success when you don't know anything about that? And I said, you know, these businesses know their business. They just need somebody to listen to them, tell them how to, you know, they know what they need this, don't know where to get it. And so my job was listening to them find out what they need to provide training for. You know, not that I trained, but I put got together trainers they could help them. And it was very successful. Got the opportunity to be the state president for Oklahoma Career Tech and serve on the national border career tech also. So it was a nice run. I got to the ajack retired and I said, it's time for me to retire. You know that I think anybody out there in the work world, when you feel it's time to retire, it. It's time to retire. And I got to that age where I could and I did. And that's when this politics game came along. And I thought, well, okay, I guess this is. The Lord sometimes has a sense of humor and he proved it here with me. That put me over in an area that I maybe wasn't used to or know anything about, but been successful at it. I hope that we can continue on. I've got two granddaughters in Colorado and two grandsons in Texas. I would love to be back in Oklahoma. And I would hope that I can help make Oklahoma a place they want to come back to and their families want to come back to. And if you don't have that dream about that, I think it's time to be doing something else. As we talk to a lot of the legislators, they're all, so many of them think about their next position. I already know my next position. I know what my next career move is, and that's be full time grandpa. And I want that time to be able to spend my grandkids, hopefully pass on some things that I've learned over the years that they can see. And when their parents may not have time, maybe their grandma. Grandma, Grandpa can be there and we can help them move forward and learn some things also, for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

And I don't think, I mean, just from all the different jobs you've had. I'm sure you're gonna pick up something else whenever you're retired officially, because I don't think that you could probably sit still for very long.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

So probably you're right. I. I don't know what it is, but, you know, my deal is, I would say over the last 15 years of my life, I've learned that my job is to serve others. And I think most of our jobs are. And just watching you coach those kids at oie, you're there to serve others, and I think it's where I get my most enjoyment. And the happiest part of my life is when I get somebody else to do well, as you and I would talk prior to we get on this, your brother Cashing called me this morning, and they were headed to speech contest with his AG students. I've had the pleasure to work with a lot of his students, helping him with speeches over the last six, eight years. And they had a question they just couldn't find the right answer to. And we talked about it. I was on the road and called them back. I said, I think I got the answer. And they go, that's the answer we've been hunting for. And, you know, if I can help that kid improve that my day's made today. I help one kid be better. And I think if we can continue to have those ideas, not. Not worrying about if we won or lost, but how did we make that student better, make that person a better person to serve our state? My generation is getting old, and we're looking at you and the ones belonging to you, that you're our next leaders. And I have got to instill all the things that can hit that I know that you don't have to go through to make you a better leader than I was. And then, Then we. Then we've done the right thing. And people say, well, but you raise sheep. And I go, yeah, but always remember why we raised sheep. I want good kids to have good, good animals. Our kids is we look at their background and look at them now. And they said, we. Some of these lambs, some of these bear, some of these steers were heifers. We show. We don't remember that well, but we know all the kids we met, and that's the important part of what we're doing out there. And I go, yep, we did it somewhat right. Ms. Judy did somewhat right. She just drug me along sometimes, for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

And I think being all about the kids and having that kind of mindset is something that, like you said, is very influential. Not only my generation, but the generations to come. So I think that's our calling and I think that's what we're here to do as well. So going forward a little bit, I know every day is pretty crazy for you. Like you mentioned when we were texting back and forth about the podcast, you never know what you'll catch you up to. So I know that. You know, right now it's kind of a busy time at the Capitol. So what does a day to day look like for you?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well, it's better I will tell you since Ms. Chores in the morning, it's way better for me. Usually a typical day prior to her retiring as I get up at 5 and go to the barn every morning to get chores done, she was working, I was working. I would go out and get chores done. She had probably checked cameras during the night so she needed any sleep. She and did try to get everything done, get back in the house, get cleaned up by 6:30 and be on the road to the Capitol. Now I get to sleep till 6 and get ready and get to the Capitol on the road by 6:30. So that's a typical start for the day. When I hit the Capitol I'm usually one of the first ones in the capital. People don't understand why I drive early in the morning to get there. Number one, I hate Oklahoma City traffic. That's me the worst part of serving, especially if you have to drive Russia air traffic in Oklahoma City and people say oh yeah, I'll be in Houston. You'll be so so I understand about I'm a country boy. We have two stop signs in the little town of Amber. I don't have too much traffic jams here. So you know, it's really nice to to get there before the traffic is in. It also gives me a little time to sit down and prepare for the day. If I'm you need to look at another bill or need to have a question asked for another member or whatever. We'll then we'll, we'll start session. It may be in meetings, it may be on the floor. I had two pages this last couple weeks up there and they said golly, you never slow down. And I get done with a typical day. I may have 15 or 20 meetings in my office with groups that come and buy in education because it is such a hot topic in there. Then I have then I'll have committee meetings and so on. Usually an event at night. I try not to go to near as many receptions as maybe I did my first couple years I pretty much know the folks up there now and know who has the expertise and areas I need, who I can trust, not trust and so on. But typically at night I hope to get home by 8:30 at night. That's, that would be a good night. If I'm home by 8:30 and that's four days a week, that's Monday through Thursday. Friday we don't go in session, but that's the time I spend in district with my people. And so yesterday was Friday for me. I started, I had four events finished up in a chamber of commerce bank where actually auctioned off the live auction items formed there and raised funds. So you get, you become a jack of all trades. And you know that's when your communities feel that way about you. You know you've got good support and I really enjoy doing it. But that's a typical. Saturdays usually have an event or two. This is a unique Saturday. We need to haul some, some call receipts off and so on. So I've got to do that and. But typically I only have Sundays available. Usually I'm having, I'm scheduled tight six days a week, usually from about any time on the weekends from 8:30 to 9, 10:00 at night before I get in. And so people say, well it's a part time job. And I told them we meet in session four months a year. And they said it's a part time job. And I said we just work four months but we do it three times a year, don't have much time off. We have tried to get away from here. Judy and I do go see the grandkids in the summertime or have them here with us. The hardest part of this job for me right now is I got to see my grandkids all three times a year. Last year that's not enough for me. I want to be a better grandpa than that. And so it's. But I can't turn my people down when they need something or want me to do something. So that's a very typical pattern for me here. And it. You drive lots of miles, you. I have it. My district's much smaller. You used to be, used to be 1800 miles square miles. Now I'm down to 700 square miles with redistricting. But still that keeps me plenty busy for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

And you know, you mentioned that not getting to see your grandkids is a very challenging task. So my next question I have for you is what has been the most challenging with your job that you have? I'm Assuming it probably has something to do with kind of your family not being able to see them as much, but absolutely.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

That's the most challenging to me that I don't get to spend the time that I want to with, with the grandkids, with our kids and their wives. But you know what I found that is, even though I can't be there, I try to put Judy on the airplane and fly her to those, to the different locations and spend as much time as she can. When she's not lamb, she can't go during landman season. I won't let her do that, but she can go. And so we try to get her as much as we can out. And then I'm glad that we can. And so I, we, you know, thank goodness for FaceTime. Now we get to see our kids through fake grandkids, through FaceTime and our kids. But that's, that is probably the challenging, most challenging aspect. I have a lot of members. I don't know why you work so hard at it. Well, I take whatever role I have. My whole life, I've been told, take it serious and do it your absolute best. I can remember when you were young and in Camden and we came over when Denton was first starting to show y'all didn't have any time. You worked. You worked at the Barns. Whether you or if you was in sports, you worked at that and you worked all the time. That, that was the enjoyment. You got to see that success. And so I don't have a right to complain about anything. I've just carried that on through my whole life. And I think it. Think it serves us well. Sometimes you look at the bad things and they're the very positive things too, that makes your life so fulfilling and that you feel like you've actually helped make a difference somewhere.

[Dick Lowe]

Absolutely. What career goal do you hope to accomplish before you're done with this role you have now?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Oh, you know, I don't know if I would call it a career goal. It's a goal of mine that we help every kid in the state, state of Oklahoma start progressing education better than we are now. I don't think any of us that deal in this realm are happy with where we're at. We all know we need to improve. I've got a few ideas that in one of them I keep, I tell people, this is my one goal. If I can get this accomplished, I'd leave. But I want our kids to have some real time assessment. If you're having problems in the area, I want those teachers to know those areas right then where we can get you help in those. If you're having trouble reading, let's get you caught up. Or if you're having trouble with math or whatever. I want every kid in Oklahoma to have that opportunity to continue to grow faster. And the minute that we get that done, I'm probably done. And I've had a great opportunity to run some good legislation over the few years. Oklahoma, every school in Oklahoma has a school resource officer in their midst now with the students. I ran the bill that provided the opportunity to. With every school in Oklahoma to have a school resource officer. I always said our parents want two things. Our kids, they want them to progress in their education, and they want them to be safe, and that's one piece of it there. So I said, you know, I could leave today and say I had success in there also, I think. And you were taught this at an early age and learned it all the way through, and your family did, and so did our kids. Is financial literacy understanding how you have to handle finances to move forward? Because that's such a big situation, I actually ran a bill and got it passed and signed by the governor to teach financial literacy in our public schools. So all of our kids are getting some kind of training of financial literacy before they get out of public school. So, you know, those two areas makes my time worthwhile. I look back, said, okay, you. You did something that was worthwhile. They won't remember my name when I leave there, and that's fine. That's not what. They should never worry about the name. They will remember the policies, the way we help somebody down the road. And as long as that happens, the Lord's blessed me very, very heavily, for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

And, you know, I mean, I didn't graduate college or high school that long ago, but, you know, this is my first year out in the real world after college. And I get so frustrated, frustrated at times because it's like, well, I went to school for how many years and they never taught me this stuff. Like, how are you just supposed to know, you know? So I think that's very, very good that you're doing that for the kids in Oklahoma. So my next question I had for you is. This is one from Steva. She wanted to know what has been the most surprising or interesting thing you've seen in the government political role?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Most surprising? Well, you know, I want things. I think all of us want things to happen fast, and they don't. And so that is surprise to me. I mean, people that, well, boom, it Happens. It takes a long time for it happen. I've been surprised how many good men and women I've been honored to serve with that I truly respect, will be great friends for the rest of my life. They're people that are my accountability partners there. But I guess that's my blessing there. The surprise is, is you learn in government this is how a bill becomes law. And I tell everybody that's a really good diagram, but that's not the way it works. It takes a lot. It doesn't move down a line of succession. It runs sideways, zigzag, back over itself several times. And to actually get something into law to make it work. And it's built off relationships. Everything up there is built off relationships. And I would tell Stevie, just as she is in her business, the relationship she has built, has built her company, and the relationships I have built up there have helped me move legislation forward. And I don't think it changes. So I think that's the one thing. Everything's built off relationships. It runs off relationships up there. Not crony relationships, but true understanding that you're there to do the right things and you're honest and square and handle things. Things. But that was surprising me. That how it works.

[Dick Lowe]

Yeah, absolutely. And I know that, you know, I work told that all the time. Like the people you meet or the people you surround yourself with is who you become. So I'm sure that that was. That's kind of goes back to that as well. So to wrap this up, I have a few fun questions for you, and some of these I think are kind of funny, but you're from a huge ag community, and I know that's part of your district. So you have a lot of young leaders that have come from your area. I think it has something to do with the people that they're surrounded by. So what piece of advice do you give to young individuals in today's world?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Yeah, and I do. We live in a community, has produced a lot of. A lot of leaders out there. Most of the people will know Tyler Norvell that runs Hawaii, actually, I'm sitting in the house that he was raised in. We bought it from his parents. That's where I live at. So that's. That's the kind of people that we expect to come out of this area. We were blessed with an ag teacher here for many, many years. And Mr. Billy Scott, that helped really a lot of our kids. He helped design their life for, help them understand their. What I would tell you is what this small community different Maybe in some others. I don't understand. I can't. I have only lived in so many communities, but in this community of a kid, if a young person is not acting right, somebody in the community is going to say something to them. And they may not be any kin to them or anything else, but we will tell you. What we expect out of you to raise and you do is if I give one piece of advice to young people, I know we're old folks, you might listen to us a little bit. We've already made the wrecks that you don't need to make. And truly we're not trying to be harsh on you. We're trying to always develop you to be better. Like I said earlier, I had a couple pages that were paid. They basically shadowed me for a week at the Capitol and then I had the opportunity last Tuesday or Wednesday night to sit with them at a banquet. And they said, you invested so much your time this week into us. And I said, well, that's what I'm supposed to do. They said, but the rest of our pages, they, they didn't have that. And they said all they ever call you is a rock star. And I'm not a rock star. I'm just someone that cares about you. But. And they said, but you have given us so many little tidbits during that week that we're going to take with us. And so young people, please listen. The ones that try to help you, they're not trying to be hard nose and mean and so on. They're, they're. You are their heart. And I believe you get in the livestock industry, especially in the show with livestock, they truly are the people that care about you and in our kids will go back to people now that made a difference in their lives. And it was some of the older people back then. So take advantage of everything is there. But listen, those that have been up down the road, they're not trying to lord over you, they're trying to be a blessing to you and then hoping they can in some, some little way.

[Dick Lowe]

Absolutely. And I think that you've done a very good job of being that person. You know, like they mentioned a rock star to many young individuals. I also think it's interesting that we had Tyler Norvell actually on the podcast two episodes ago. So I did not know that you, that you live in the same house you grew up in. But that's a very small world.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

So it is. And you know, and I look at my community here that, that we've been raised in. I Was raised a little town in kids went to school at Chickasha. And here we're at Amber. It's all, all next to each other. And our secretary of agriculture in Oklahoma is Blaine Arthur, raised at Chickasha. And I can just go and name others and others. We have a young man that was raised here in Amber that is the. One of the head liaisons for the state chamber here in Oklahoma. And he was raised in our FFA program here. And you wouldn't think the state chamber, NFFA and ag, but that's who we are. That's how we develop leaders. So, yeah, we've been blessed to raise our kids in areas that are very, very strong with ag, but very, very strong in leadership. And they go hand in hand. And so I'm really, really honored to get to have done that. We moved here. I mean, give a little bit, probably you didn't ask for, but I'll give it to you because it's always free. But we moved to Amber for Denton to get three things. He was a pretty good athlete, pretty good baseball player. He was good in academics, and he really wanted to do more nag than we were getting an opportunity to do. And so it was the perfect deal. He got to play in three different state tournaments in baseball. He was the valedictorian of his class, did well in school, did well in College. And Mr. Scott in the AG program propelled him. He had never marked a judging card when we moved here. He didn't have anybody to ever judge with. He had never marked a judging card. And then to see him be able to go through that program and learn and so on, to get to judge junior college and senior college both and be an all American and junior college, that was a move that we knew that we did, the right move. But, you know, when you're around people, you only get better when you're around good people. And so as you said earlier, so you surround yourself with. And so we've been blessed with that. So as we look at going back to raising sheep, we've surrounded ourselves with good people, how we got started and who's helped us over the years. And so I think it's. It's another testament of who you surround yourself with, getting the right advice and listening to it.

[Dick Lowe]

You know, you mentioned not only surrounding yourself with good people, but listening to them because that sometimes I think we're a little bit all stubborn and maybe we don't always want to listen all the time. But what is something that you have wished that you knew earlier in Life.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

How important public speaking was going to be to me, being a dad or son of an ag teacher. You know, his kids spoke and so on. And I start speaking in and. And probably I wished I had gotten better at that point. I get tinkled. I need to. At the white announcing. People I've seen the last two weeks says, oh, we saw you, Hawaii. I said, well, no, we didn't. We heard you. We knew your voice and we heard you. And I go, I don't see I have a distinctive voice, but everybody tells me I do. I don't even think I have a deep voice, but. But I wish I'd known that people, our kids have been very, very successful public speaking and not just winning, but making it in life. And that's the one thing that I think every, every kid needs to learn how to do is communicate and communicate well. I speak to a lot of college kids to this day, and I tell them, you know, you need to learn skills, you need to learn things in college. And then it comes down to what you and I are doing right now. We've got to be able to communicate. And I said, if you want to be able to communicate and treat people correct, I give. I give them four sentences that will get them hired. And I said, if you will list these four sentences, you will get a job. And they all looked at me like you're crazy, which sometimes I probably am. But I said, if you learn to say these four sentences, yes, sir, no, sir, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am, Someone's gonna hire you because those soft skills are missing in your generation. And if you can say that and mean that and look them in the eye, someone's gonna hire you and they're gonna give you opportunities that they wouldn't get. Other people may have great skills, so get back where you communicate. And I wish I'd learned that earlier to communicate that well, because when I've learned that and we passed it on, we instilled it in our sons. And it's amazing their success and their pathways they've gone to do going on.

[Dick Lowe]

I couldn't agree more with that. I think that was some very, very good advice. So going forward, I know you travel a lot as a district representative. How many miles do you put on a truck a year?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well, I really hate to say that I think Ms. Judy's sitting here listening to us. Probably a typical year is about 50,000 miles just in district, doing things in district. And what most people don't understand, and I think it's probably true of Most every states, they don't pay us for our mileage. In district, we only get paid. Get reimbursement for our mileage to and from the capital when we're in session. So all that comes out of my pocket and. But, you know, with it, I would trade it a minute. I can tell you yesterday I've made my way across the whole district at some time during, during the day. And. But, you know, people said we appreciate you taking the effort to come. And so I think that's, that's important. I do. But yeah, I put, I probably put 50,000 compared to y'all that run up and down. Look at the sheep and goats and, and hogs and steers all over the nation. Yeah, you can put thousands of miles on. But this, this in my district is about 50,000 a year at least. Just in the district, serving the district. And so it doesn't take me long to get a, get a vehicle. Kind of wore out.

[Dick Lowe]

You know, you, you hit on it. I didn't realize that you didn't get paid for the miles in your district. But part of that is just going back to being a good person. You know, I know it's, it's great to have money and money is good in certain ways, but at the end of the day, like, money isn't everything. The people you meet, the memories you make, all those things are what make you who you are. And I think at times I feel like my generation has gotten kind of caught up in chasing money, you know, wanting to have the best or. And everything. And I don't necessarily think that. I think it's perfectly fine to just be a good person.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

You're so right. You know, we have to survive. We want to make money where we can survive and live comfortably. And Lord's blessed our family in that area. But, you know, we're definitely not rich. Anybody knows us. We, we do the right, try to do the right thing and not worry about it. But you know, when I go down to it, no one will go is going to look at my bank account. They're going to look and say, you went out there and worked for kids. You cared about young people. You cared about moving people forward. That should be my legacy, if I have any kind of legacy of all. I don't. As I tell everybody, I am not famous. I'll never be famous. I'm not special. I'm just like everybody else. Yes, I serve in my job is what I do, but it's my job. It's no different than every parent out There has a job. And it takes all those jobs to make our world work. So don't. Don't treat me special. I'm not. But I do want to be special, that I really try to help somebody be a better person and better for our state and our nation. We're so blessed in our state. We're so blessed in this nation we live in. We have got to continue to build leaders and build young people of character. And if I can do that just a little bit, then I feel. Feel like it's been worthwhile. I think back to one Thanksgiving when we're. You and I sitting here talking, and it was a tough Thanksgiving for you. I know it was. You lost both your parents a year before, and you and Cam didn't cash and came to our home for Thanksgiving. We. We felt honored that y'all came, but that's what I was supposed to do. That's the way Ms. Judy and I believe and feel. And I will never forget that Thanksgiving. Never. We've got that picture still. It's still in my. It's still in my phone. I still see it every once in a while. And I look at that. I said, I don't know if I made a difference in your life, but it made a difference in mine, that I was trying to do the right thing that our family always did. And we still consider you part of our family to this day.

[Dick Lowe]

Well, that's funny that you bring that up, because that picture also goes across my phone a lot. And I think back to my time spending with you, not only at your house, but you guys have always been very welcoming to not only me, but to both of my brothers. And that's something that I will be forever grateful for.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Yeah. You know, we still call Cam or Cash his number five son. We raised three. We have two that we kind of call sons. And. And actually, when he got hired, his principal called me, had me as a reference, and I just told her, I said, well, you need to understand something. We call him number five. He was a number five son. He has to answer me if he screws up before he answers to you before when he screws up. And she goes, that's all I need to hear. He's hired. And, you know, we take great pride in that. He calls me Padre, and I call him Number Five. And, you know, that's. That's the way we wanted to live our life. And that's what, you know, I don't know how many more years Lord has me on this earth, but I think he's put me on the right path to try to help some people get better. I'm probably too old to get very good, but if I can help that just one or two young people in their life to be a better person, that they will do the same thing for others. That's the legacy for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

And I have just a few more questions left. I know that you've already kind of told us your schedule. You know, you wake up early, you go to bed late, so I'm assuming you have to have some sort of caffeine to keep up with all you do. And I think it's coffee, but I want to know what is your drink of choice?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

I have one cup of coffee in the morning when I get the office. That's my, that's my caffeine for coffee. I'm a sweet tea drinker and I love sweet tea. And I love it really sweet. As I said, I love Southern tea. I want, I want sugar with a little bit tea in it. So sweet tea is what I. But unfortunately, as I'm getting older, about after 3:00, I better not do that or I'm not gonna sleep at night and it is gonna be a long day the next. So, you know, but if my caffeine boost is definitely sweet tea.

[Dick Lowe]

And I know many of our listeners are well aware of the Ken Steakhouse in Amber, and I know that they'll probably be there during Chickasha and these upcoming sales. So what is your favorite thing to get at the steakhouse?

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Oh, it's, it's hard to say. You know, it's such a unique position. And I know you've been there several times. People don't know about it. One of the unique things is when you sit down at your appetizers, they bring every person, the table, a rib in a basket there. And that's kind of unique in there. My favorite thing, probably what I eat more often is the sirloin. I really do like their prime rib. It is really special. Have prime rib, it's smoked over mesquite wood. But a prime rib, baked potato, a little bit of horseradish on the side, and without a question, going to have your fried okra.

[Dick Lowe]

It blows my mind how many people do not know what fried okra is.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well, actually, there's one of the people that started helping didn't want to show when they came here. They had never had fried okra until we went to Kansas all of a sudden, they love fried okra. So that's, that's our Southern treat down here.

[Dick Lowe]

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for joining me today Dick, and be sure to reach out to you or Denton for when you're on your travels through Oklahoma to stop by Low Livestock to see what you guys have to offer and I really appreciate all the wisdom that you gave us today.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Well, thank you so much. It was my pleasure. Again, I get to see your smiley face here as we're talking on this and it reminds me that, hey, I hope I've had just a little bit, little bit of a direction in your life and if I do, my life been very good.

[Dick Lowe]

Well you definitely have a very good life then. Well I hope you guys learned a lot from Mr. Dicklow and I hope you guys really enjoyed that podcast because I really did. Moving forward though, let's talk about our sales that we have on Champion Drive this week. Fisher Club Lambs out of Idaho. They have a guest consigner joining them, Wixom Show Lambs. They added a few lots in their sale of their coat of Mini Color sales and it's just that there's something for everyone with all different breeds in there. They are sired by Chill slash Idaho and Jar Jar. They're selling today, Monday, April 14th. As a reminder, all Fisher lots are eligible for the show so be sure to check them out and as Duane always says, eat more onions.

[Steva Robinson]

McLennans have an online weather new lamb sale at McLennan Sales that is today April 14th and normally they do one weather sale, one Ulam sale and back to back days. This time it is on the same day it's combined. They're sired by Elon Splitter and Blood Brother. They're also selling first and second pick of their January ULAM group and Logan is offering delivery available to the Oklahoma sales this weekend so be sure to be sure to check their sale [e-mail] you can find that on Champion Drive as well or reach out to Logan with any questions. Hobbs Show Lambs is having their February ET weather sale April 15th on SC. These lots are sired by Trace, Amigos, Don Juan, Chief, Navajo, Blue Duck, Tough Guy, Happy Days or End Happy days. They're selling 25 lots so be sure to contact any of the Hobbs Show Lambs crew or stop by and check them out. If you're in the Newton, Kansas area, always a really good stop there.

[Dick Lowe]

Alan Newcomb is having their open house this weekend April 16th through the 19th. We're selling the February born, Bucklands and Ulams on SC Saturday, April 19th and extending bidding starts at 2pm we're selling two Buck Lambs at 2.0. Absolutely. Which is the mom of Grace Moore's granded Austin in 2022. And there's also a compass buck lamb on one of the sundown donors. And he definitely comes with a story, so be sure to stop by and check them out and ask Colby what the story is behind it because it's kind of funny. But we also have.

[Steva Robinson]

Can we get a spoiler alert? I want to know the story. You have my interest.

[Dick Lowe]

Well, sometimes we let Colby bag check the donors and the ewes on like the day before the coldest day of the year and maybe she lammed outside on the coldest day of the year. So I think he needs to come with the name Survivor, but to be determined, I guess, by the new owner. Anyways, going forward, we also have groups of January Born U lamps for sale. They can be sold in groups or priced individually. And then breeding season's almost here, so you're welcome to check out all the stud brand battery that we have here. And I mean, we're kind of getting into the heat of show season kicking back up. And so there's also treadmills available off the farm. There's something for everyone for sure. And rumor has it there's gonna be a little fun had this weekend in Elk City, so don't miss out.

[Steva Robinson]

Speaking of getting out and about, not only is there the preview going on in Elk City, but there's also some live sales coming up. Dynamic Divas is this weekend. That's Saturday, April 19th in Kingfisher, Oklahoma at 7:00pm on Saturday evening. Once again, this will have elite ULAM consignments from numerous breeders from across the country. And consignments are coming in daily and are updated on their website on championdrive.com you can check that out. I believe it's listed under Dynamic Divas. And that is Saturday night, April 19th.

[Dick Lowe]

Also, some other upcoming live sales. For future reference, Next Gen Online or Next Gen Sales has the 806 live sale with Newsom Livestock May 10th in Lubbock, Texas. Looks like 4pm is the start time and they're selling 40 head of their March Flush babies.

[Steva Robinson]

Yeah, I think they're having that. That's like a separate venue. They're having that at too, I think like the Cotton Court Hotel maybe. So I'm kind of interested to see what, what that all involves. I think that's a new sale, so that should be interesting. The Blue Bloods is back again. It's May 17th in Miles, Texas, and that is a sale hosted by Next Gen. A really good spot for like those southern type babies. I think this is the third year for it now, so you can find more information on both the 806 live and the blue bloods on NextGenSales.com what do we have up for Stud Ram showcases? I feel like there have been a ton of these coming in. Everyone's kind of getting their buck lambs put together, their Fallborns. What's new on the Sudram Showcase?

[Dick Lowe]

Yes, Diva. There are several new Sudram showcases up on Champion Drive. First up, we have Fat Shot. He's bred by Dale Family Club Lambs and owned with Esther Show Limbs and Kennedy Livestock. He is ff. He's a walk this Way Top Gun, so be sure to check him out. I think their slogan they have on there, it says, do you have some moderate FDUs that need to get a little bit cooler? So be sure to use him if that's what you're looking for. And then there's also one up called Muffin Man. He is rrff. He's bred and owned by Freeman Livestock. He's a company man, Unicorn bartender.

[Steva Robinson]

Yeah, and like I said, it's been really busy with different ads coming in. There's been a bunch of new bucks come up, so make sure to visit championdrive.com and you can not only see the new bucks on the Stud Ram Showcase, but you can also go through the entire Sudram showcase to kind of see all the bucks that are out there as well. And it's kind of neat to go through. I use that a lot when we're trying to come up with names to see what other names have been used or whatnot. And it's neat to scroll through there. You can kind of go down a rabbit hole and kind of keep scrolling through them and see all the different options out there. So because fall breeding season isn't far away and you know, like AI and for Decembers is going to be coming pretty quick too. So let's get into our final guest for this episode, Ms. Larae Cox.

[Dick Lowe]

Well, today I am sitting down with the Champion U exhibitor from oie. Do you mind telling me a little bit about who you are and where you're from and how old you are?

[D]

Lorraine so I am Lorae Cox. I am from Elgin, Oklahoma, and I am 16 years old.

[Dick Lowe]

And I know that you've shown a lot. I remember that you showed when I used to show. I remember you and your sister. So kind of what's your background growing up in the industry?

[D]

So Growing up, my whole family raised club calves, and my dad actually got the opportunity to partner with Tyler Rhodes on a U production about, like, I'd say, 10 years ago. So that's pretty cool.

[Dick Lowe]

So what kind of made you go the sheep route instead of the cattle route, if you say your whole family kind of did the cattle?

[D]

Well, my sister Kylie, she started showing and just being in the barn, like, being around them and stuff, it was just, like, it gave me a passion to want to do it, and it was just seemed very interesting, and I just wanted to follow in her footsteps for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

So I'm sure that that's probably kind of what sparked your interest, was your sister. So do you mind telling me a little bit about, you know, what the days look like, like, when you and your sister were both in the barn together?

[D]

So basically, we would wake up, we would go feed the lambs. She didn't live at home, so we would be in the barn together on the weekends, and we would work them early morning because it's cool outside, and then we would exercise them on exercise days, normally on Saturday, and. Yeah, feed in the evening.

[Dick Lowe]

So kind of how did you guys choose? I feel like a big battle between me and my brother Camden was deciding who was gonna get to show what sheep. So kind of how did you guys choose who got to show what sheep and how that went about?

[D]

Basically, how we chose was the older one always got the better ones, so she was always first pick, and then I just got the others.

[Dick Lowe]

Yeah, well, it's not like you got any bad ones, because you've shown good sheep your whole life. So going into that a little bit, I know that you've had the opportunity to show many herald sheep, and it makes sense. You know, your dad had the opportunity to partner with some of those sheep. So what has been one of your favorite or what is your favorite bucker donor that they. That they have?

[D]

Yeah. So having the opportunity to show many amazing herald sheep, there was actually two that really stood out to me. One being a weather that I purchased at Brownwood from Harold. His name was Thunder. And we were actually pretty excited with him going into oie, but that was Covid year, so it got canceled, so it was pretty disappointing. And he also got third overall at Southwest district, so that was pretty cool. And then there was another one, a crinkle you. And her name was Alo. She did her fair share of winning, and she actually won the Tulsa State Fair, so that was pretty exciting.

[Dick Lowe]

Yeah, those are two that I'm sure that you're really proud of. I remember, you know, it's hard to not get attached to those sheep when you're out there spending time with them and, and even the ewes back when you put them back into production.

[D]

Yeah, for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

So kind of going back to oie. Let's talk a little bit about the UU showed, who raised her and where did she come from?

[D]

Greg and Jamie Beatty with Beatty Club Lamps raised her and she actually was purchased in their annual U sale last year.

[Dick Lowe]

Perfect. So I know that you had the opportunity to show her at multiple different shows and I think I had seen somewhere that you had said that she won every show she went to. So knowing her track record going into oie, what were your feelings like? You know, I'm sure you're like, well, I have a, have a big a tracker record to keep track of and I'm sure that that was probably your goal to going into OI was to win.

[D]

Yes, for sure. I was very hopeful in regards to knowing that there was going to be some pretty tough competition. I was also just optimistic in knowing her quality and just overall excited and just ready to get in the ring with her.

[Dick Lowe]

So. So let's talk about show day. I remember seeing you, I think I saw you multiple different times, just kind of around the ring and you didn't act nervous. You were just kind of like, they're just doing your thing, just about how you are every time I see you. So were you nervous, excited or what were you feeling like that day?

[D]

So that day, maybe not in the show ring, but before I went in the ring, I was pretty nervous and pretty anxious, but getting in the show ring, I was very calm and just kept my cool and just, yeah, happy to be there.

[Dick Lowe]

So what, when you're in the ring, what is one thing you try to keep in the back of your mind?

[D]

One thing I try to keep in the back of my mind is to never give up. Always give 100%, always do your best and never let yourself down.

[Dick Lowe]

Absolutely. You've had the opportunity to have a special group of people behind you your whole show career. So tell me a little bit about who all is on your team and what roles do they play.

[D]

First and foremost, I would say my parents, they play a pretty big role in just being there whenever I need the extra help or, you know, just helping me get them ready at shows and stuff like that. Just being there in all aspects of it. Secondly, Tyler Rhodes, he has been a major help as far as picking out the lambs for each show season, helping Us with the amounts of feed that we need to be giving to each lamb and the amount of exercise and just putting all of his faith and belief in me. And lastly, my brother Kaden, sister Kylie, my grandparents, and my ag teacher, Mr. Bradshaw, just standing ringside and cheering me on and giving me the confidence that I need to know that I'm going to do good.

[Dick Lowe]

And those of you that don't know, you have a very good AG teacher. So what was it like, you know, when you finally got into ffa, Were you really excited about that experience? Experience or kind of? What has your experience been in ffa?

[D]

My FFA experience has been pretty amazing. I was actually super excited knowing the ag teachers that I was going to get to work with in the program I was going into. So, yeah, the experience has been overall the best experience I could say that you could probably have with any AG teachers.

[Dick Lowe]

For sure. You do have a very supportive AG teacher and not all kids have that. I hope you are thankful for who you do have.

[D]

Yes, for sure.

[Dick Lowe]

So I have a few fun questions to wrap this up for you. What is one quote you've tried to live by during your time in the ring?

[D]

So one quote I have tried to live by and it is actually out of one of Cody Johnson's songs. As soon as I heard it, I wrote it down on the whiteboard in the barn. Um, but it is, if you have a dream, chase it because a dream won't chase you back. And a reason why I have lived by that quote is because you have to work for something that you want. It's not just handed to you. So you have to be willing to put in the time and the effort it takes in order to accomplish your goals and achieve your dreams.

[Dick Lowe]

Absolutely. And I think that's very ironic that you say that that's your favorite quote because we had Dwayne Hurliman on, which was also the Oieu show judge, and in one of his grand drive speeches at Louisville a few years back, he quoted that same song and if I remember right, he quoted that same line. And I think that is. I think that's pretty cool and kind of really ironic considering that that was the judge that picked you as the grand champion Commercial you at Hawaii.

[D]

Yeah. That is awesome.

[Dick Lowe]

So my last question I have to wrap this up is who would you like to thank for getting you to this point in your show career?

[D]

I would mainly like to thank God. He has been the backbone in it all. He's given me the faith, he's given me the just Strength, the mindset. And I've just been able to put my trust in him every time going into the ring. Secondly, my parents, because they have been my overall biggest supporter, just being there at all times. And lastly, of course, Tyler, just literally from coaching me ringside and just giving me a good pep talk before every show, that I'm going to do good and just be confident and do your best.

[Dick Lowe]

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much, Lorraine, for joining me today. We are very proud of your success and look forward to what's to come in your show career.

[D]

Thank you.

[Steva Robinson]

All right, well, to wrap up this episode, we're going to finish off with the so you suck. Be sure I get a lot of feedback on these at sales or whatnot. People say, hey, I've been trying to do better and do what you said to do. And it's really kind of humbling to me that people actually listen to to them or are interested. So we'll keep going with them because the feedback's been really good. But if there's something you want to hear about, let us know. My so you suck. This week is about having relevant content. So there's this big rat race to make sure that you have something on your social media pages or some something to update with. But I think it's also important to remember that you need to put up something that's relevant too. So, you know, maybe it's nice to put up a candid picture of working use through the shoot or something that you're doing, which is important to do, but also make sure that it's not just white noise because after so many posts, I kind of lose interest. But if it's content that's relevant, that's something that's important to me or that resonates with me, and different things resonate to different people. So it's good to have a variety, right? But make sure that it stays on point. Make sure that it's, you know, true to your brand. And then let's make sure that it's also something that people want to see. And then my other part of so you suck. I gotta look this up quick. I saw this quote the other day, okay. Branding is how you shape your perception of your brand. It's the process of creating and managing how people see you. It builds trust and loyalty by aligning what you want people to think with what they actually think. Marketing is how you communicate that brand to the world. It's about connecting with the right audience, generating demand, and getting them to take action. So I think a lot of times, people think branding and marketing are just the same thing. It's two totally different like, your brand is your look, how people feel about it, and whatnot. And marketing is the act of getting it in front of the right people. So that's kind of something to take into perspective, and we'll build off of that on next week's or on the next episode. So you suck. But think about how you want your brand to be perceived. And, you know, do you want it to have a classic and timeless look? Do you want it to be, like, bold, brash, and trendy? Or, you know, how do you want your brand to feel to people? And then also think about what you're doing from a marketing perspective. So are you getting it in front of the right, you know, group of people? Are you getting in front of potential buyers? Are you getting in front of showman? Are you getting in front of people in your industry? So think about those two things as kind of your homework, and we'll talk more about it on next week. So you suck.

[Katelyn Sister Urban]

Sa.