Beauty and Bling…Sell it like a Rodeo Queen!

A cheering crowd, bright lights, and a whole lotta bling…

 

Oh, I didn’t see you there what with all this commotion. I’m sure you recognize me. Yes, I’m a rodeo queen! Oh yes the beauty, the fashion, the bling it’s all here, but did you know there is so much more than meets the eye?

As a young woman, I got involved in Queening and was instantly hooked. Not only did I compete, but also have extended that knowledge into a guidance role as a pageant coordinator. There is something ultimately fulfilling about being a role model for the next generation of talented young women.

There are a few tips you learn as a queen that are invaluable. First, you learn to sell and I don’t mean just yourself, but literally anything from fashion to a visceral concept of the “Wild West”. I remember walking the streets selling hand lotion one squirt at a time. I remember selling my home state to a crowd of visitors. I have literally seen a queen sell the boots right off of her own feet. It is incredible what goals you can accomplish when you put your heart and soul into it. Nothing shows this kind of dedication than numbers. So to put it to you numerically, a single queen’s contest consisting of 6-8 girls raging in ages from 6 years old to 23 years old (with as much of the funds coming from the younger girls as the older girls) can accumulate a $18,000.00 profit margin while accumulating upwards of $20,000.00 over all. All of those funds are generated within a two-month time span. So, to break that down, each girl is averaging approximately $2500.00 in 60 days (that’s better than most people’s average monthly income). It is pretty impressive!

Second, as a Queen you learn to advocate. You obtain knowledge about your cause and the community and advocate to a fault for that cause. You don’t just practice it you live it. I don’t think there is anything more valuable than the ability to accept a mission and carry it out not only in a professional aspect, but also in a personal capacity. To a business, this kind of assimilation is invaluable.

Finally, we are chameleons. We have the uncanny ability to blend into whatever situation we are thrown into. I would spend hours viewing “tape” on the legends of queening. One of the most challenging situations was the live interview. You had no idea what you were going to be asked or how it would relate to you. I have seen interview questions ranging from politics to pop culture. Being able to pull an eloquent, educated (well seemingly educated), and purposeful answer basically out of your butt is a rather talented skill to have. So, yes when you ask a queen if she feels the influence of pop culture on the political situations of the present elections has notable effects or not she will respond eloquently, politely, as politically correct as possible, and will some how one way or another tie it back to the western lifestyle!!

So, you see, there is more to this pretty face than meets the eye. Well, it looks like the crowd is calling! Oh, but don’t worry I’ll be seeing you in the stands!

Ride for the Brand

I am not a native born Texan, nor am I a native to the rodeo arena. I got a late start in the sport in my late teens early twenties. I will be the first to tell you it is HARD, especially when you have little to no support or direction. I learned a lot of tough lessons the hard way trying to find my way around the rodeo arena (and the back of horse for that matter). Luckily though, I found my way to Texas and married into the horse family I’d always dreamed of.

In my head I had always envisioned what I could be, but didn’t know how to achieve it. Until I meat up with my husband and his family, I would have never seen that vision become a reality. My trainer stripped me of everything I thought I knew, erased all the bad habits (and let me tell you, there were times and electric dog collar would have come in handy!), and then taught me true horsemanship from the ground up. All in all it took about 3 years to finally get the hang of it. During that time there was a phrase that embodied all I was fighting for: “Ride for the Brand”.

When I first heard it I didn’t grasp the full intention of this statement. Once explained, it became this sort of mantra I repeated to myself over and over again. Riding for the brand means portraying a true horseman and the utmost character qualities to best portray the “brand” or entity you are representing. Preparing for a race I would say to myself, “Is this how a true Diamond H athlete would dress? Look?” At an event I would say to myself “Is this how a true Diamond H athlete would ride? Is this how they would act?” Win or loose I repeated these questions to myself to ensure I represented my “brand” to the fullest extent it was given to me.

I truly believe if more of us took the time to ride for our brand, whether in personal or business, our successes would be more plentiful than ever. Modern marketing and recruiting categorizes Millennials as flighty and unreliable. This is a truly troubling concept. When did we as individuals stop holding loyalty? When did we stop caring about the impact we made on society or how we portrayed ourselves in front of others? Or maybe the blame should fall on the shoulders of the products and social ideals we are suppose to be holding loyalty to? Is the quality or craftsmanship not there? How are things different now than they were previously?

As a business owner I find it imperative that these questions remain in the forefront of functionality. If you do not have these brand loyalists, you may need to re-evaluate your quality or craftsmanship. If the quality and craftsmanship is sound, then possibly the delivery is to blame. Regardless of the reason the best practice you can do is to evaluate it and evaluate it often. Don’t let the lure of current financial gains to allow you to make the mistakes that could eventually make your business less credible or less desirable. The key to a long lasting gain and prosperity is to keep you brand strong.

So in closing, I’ll leave you with these words from Red Steagall:

“A man’s brand is his own special mark that says this is mine, leave it alone. You hire out to a man, Ride for his brand and protect it like it was your own. He carved him a ranch outa blood, sweat, and guts, so be proud you ride for his brand. So if you don’t like your outfit, then head down the trail, find a hoss that your saddle will fit. But if you get up early and catch your own bronc, show the boss that you’re makin’ a hand. And the more of it I understand the more I believe we’d be all better off if more people would ride for the brand.”

Branded

In the traditions of the “old west” as popular Hollywood lingo goes, the concept of branding was one of a necessity. Livestock owners found themselves in the grasp of an uncertain and hostile environment with vast amounts of open grazing for their livestock. The practice of branding your livestock allowed the animal to prove ownership to a particular producer therefore allowing ranchers to discern their animals from all the others. These brands created recognition and the root for what we now call a brand identity.

Beyond recognition, these brands taking on specialized shapes and characters put a sense of ease into these producers. Additionally, provided a trusted source for which their consumers’ began to identify with. In a sense you could think of it as some of the best advertising. As their ranch grew and their brand spread, their popularity did as well all under this specialized symbol.

Many of us are all too familiar with brands like the Four Sixes (6666), XIT, and King Ranch (running W). Those brands invoke a sense of quality and refinement through years of hard work creating a brand supported advertising system. In turn, this lifetime of quality animals proudly displaying this brand has built a multitude of financial gain, as we can see well documented in current values. Likewise, you begin to see a preference for these brands resulting in what I like to call “Riding for the Brand”.

When your product is successful you stop having employees, patrons, or customers and transition into your brand’s “family”. These are the people that above all else will choose your product or represent you over all others. A perfect demonstration would be the Four Sixes. To hear the words uttered, “Straight off of the Four Sixes” in reference to any type of livestock automatically indicates that animal is superior, furthermore to say you are working for the Four Sixes indicates you have been accepted into the fold and therefore will carry an insurmountable pride in what you do and who you do it for.

I find it interesting how the branding strategy has evolved into modern day society. What was once so valued and prized, has now been degraded into poorly executed pieces of a fad more than a strategy. I often see small business owners rush into getting their material out so people can “find” them and completely dismiss the idea of a comprehensive brand strategy only to end up a few years later with an unrecognizable “brand” or poorly executed one. You might ask yourself, whether it be from an agricultural business aspect or a standard business aspect, have you truly created a brand identity and is it truly successful? Do you have a brand “family” and can they easily identify your products from the rest? Is your “brand” associated with your successes or failures?

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.” – Jeff Bezos, CEO & Founder of Amazon