What a Month!

Wow! Ever look back on a time and just think what a month! Remembering that time in your life will probably have a impact over the years to come. As I look back on the end of February and March I definitely had one of those moments. I was blessed with opportunity after opportunity and am so thankful for all that the last month brought me.

It started out with attending the Oregon Dairy Farmers Association’s annual convention. First I was only planning to attend as a member of their Oregon Young Dairy Leaders program, but merged into being asked to speak at the convention on social media. I’m not a speaker, it is not my forte and honestly I don’t think I will every get to point where I am completely comfortable with getting in front of a whole room of people to speak. But sharing my passion for agvocacy and encouraging other producers to add their voice to the much needed picture of the dairy industry is a topic that was easy for me to come to the front of the room for.

The day after convention and my speaking engagement I packed and took off for sunny Phoenix Arizona to finish my third and final phase of the Young Dairy Leaders Institute. YDLI was an experience I will remember and benefit from for the rest of the life. It truly deserves it’s own post and I definitely will get to it soon! It was so great to be back together with my classmates and growing relationships we had formed over the last year. To be among a group of young individuals who are so passionate and dedicated to the dairy industry left me walking away feeling so empowered and optimistic for the future. It really was the fuel I needed to take on the next task on my calendar.

The week after I arrived back home I was headed to Portland to shoot a video commercial for KATU 2’s morning show AM Northwest. The commercial was to air during National Agriculture Week and featured the top agricultural commodities to Celebrate Oregon Ag. When I was approached and asked to be the face that represented dairy I was truly honored. I also hoped and felt it would help to change that perception of the average farmer from an older male to that of a younger mother. I don’t think that is often the person that pops into the average person’s mind when they think of a farmer. I was also a little nervous, but glad I had just gone through media training at YDLI. It was a great help and I pulled off my camera time in just two takes, which put me in rock star status for the day! It’s been so fun to hear all the great feedback from the commercials. My favorite was from my husband’s Grandma who had the morning show on in the other room and heard my voice and couldn’t figure out if I had come to visit. She got a thrill out of figuring out it was me on tv and complimented my poise. Great memory to top the opportunity off.

During National Ag Week my Instagram account was featured by DairyGood. It was a great feature of some of the top dairy voices in the social media world. Super fun to be counted as part of that group. Instagram has really been a platform I’ve really enjoyed using over the past year, it’s been fun to watch my audience there grow.

The greatest honor and opportunity came during this time frame also as an offer to write for Hoard’s Dairyman. One of the oldest and most respected trade publications in the dairy industry, it’s the one that has graced our table for the longest. Being asked to join their newly formed team for their online blog HD Notebook is a privilege I will treasure for a long time. It also the fuel I needed to really jump start my writing again, having a deadline really gets the fingers to the keyboard. You can follow along with my posts under the tag Hoard’s.

I don’t share all this to toot my own horn, sometimes we just have to look back on a time frame and be thankful. This last month is a time I will forever be grateful for all the opportunities that came my way. It’s also fun to remember and celebrate a time frame that will leave a lasting impression and that challenged me to grow in areas I’d never even considered. Cheers to opportunities!