Ranch Wife, Western Based Graphic Designer, Livestock Brand Creator ... Meet the woman behind Western Identity.
I’m not great with introduction posts. The thing is, I’ve lived A LOT of different lives in my 25 years and I either go on tangents on a part of my life that is completely unrelated, or forget parts that played a big role.
So bear with me, and I promise I’ll keep you entertained.
First of all, I’m a 25 year old ranch wife from Northern California who was lucky enough to marry the cowboy of her dreams and get to live a life on some of the most beautiful ranches in Nevada, Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho.
I’m a huge lover of Trail Guiding, exploring new places, sharing my passions with others, the Western Industry, good Ranch Horses, judgmental Red Heelers, Small Businesses, Red Bull, and homemade Sourdough. I grew up around horses, but not in the Ranching world. Everything I know about the ranching industry is thanks to my tireless husband, coaching me through the ins and outs of all there is to know, frequently needing to explain things to me like he’s explaining to a 4 year old (ya’ll are subject to that too though, right??).
I enjoy helping my husband out on the ranch in all aspects – branding, doctoring, moving cattle, gathering, checking health, fixing fence, putting out mineral, and being a passenger princess while shipping cows from one field to the next. I feel incredibly lucky to be able to live this life, even after the long days. I know that many people don’t get to do this, and have little idea of what it takes to put their food on their table.
I mentioned this in my last post, but my mom was a crazy horse lady. And that’s how my life with horses started at age 3. But she wasn’t only involved with horses – she wore a lot of hats. 4-H Leader, Project Leader, Tack Shop Owner, Pig Breeder, Stray Animal Collector, you get the gist, right?
It only makes sense that I would’ve followed in her shoes, living a variety of lives before the age of 25.
I showed horses, I rode almost every discipline, I raised a large herd of breeding sows, I was an active member of my 4-H, I competed in FFA Forestry competitions, and I took charge of advertising my mom’s saddle shop on social media – as young as age 13 - because she didn’t know how to.
If you put this all together, it probably makes sense that I decided to become a business owner at the age of 22. It also might make sense that I took a particular love for the Western Industry, social media, and maybe even - graphic design.
I didn’t know that I wanted to be a graphic designer until I was junior in high school. In an attempt to get out of Home Ec., I took an additional art class for my elective – Digital Media and Design. And I freaking loved it. The next year, I ended up making it both of my electives just so I didn’t have to leave when the bell rang. This class mainly focused on photoshop, image correction, manipulations, and fun projects, but when we ventured to the other Adobe Applications, I knew that this could be a career for me. But apparently, no one else did.
I was told that if I wanted to be a graphic designer, I would have to work for a big ad agency, work with mainstream brands, and live in the city. Ewww, no thanks. Hard pass.
And not knowing any better, I believed everyone who told me this. Until - I took an “Exploring Careers in Agriculture” class in my sophomore year of college and saw something familiar pop up on the list – a role as a Graphic Designer. Don’t ask me why I never saw the possibility for this while I was in high school, but suddenly the doors flew off the hinges and that old passion had re-sparked itself (a million times stronger than what it had ever been).
Around the same time, I had already been offering digital photo correction and repairs for my local community, but my husband’s cousin approached me to see if I would be interested in building her logo for her Western Mobile Boutique. Desperate to see what skills I still had in me, I quickly accepted and built what I still consider to be one of my favorite logos to date. From there, the fire was lit and I knew that I had found the role that combined all of my biggest passions – the Western World, Small Businesses, Social Media, Marketing, and Graphic Design.
As my relationship with my husband developed and I found myself in a remote part of the country – over an hour and a half away from the nearest town – my passion only solidified more. Being a Graphic Designer would allow me to live and work from anywhere with an internet connection. I knew this was the answer for me.
It’s been 3 years since that life-altering realization, and we’ve moved 3 times after our move to Nevada. I am so grateful to have established my Graphic Design company and for the opportunities it has helped me develop while our lives seem to constantly be on the road. (Let me also add a shameless plug to Starlink here, a priceless tool that has let me design and work from remote cow camp locations that don’t even have cell service.)
I have dreams of finally being able to quit my town jobs all together and live life working from my husband’s cow camp. Our current reality is that we have bills to pay that aren’t sustainable with my current income, but - I know it’s close. Every single day that I show up and let myself soak in this sweet realization that I’ve already achieved so much, I know that I am on the horizon of getting to live that ideal, dream-worthy life. And it’s all thanks to you guys.
