1 00:00:02,826 --> 00:00:04,932 Speaker 1: Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast. 2 00:00:04,932 --> 00:00:08,871 In this show, the Texas FFA Foundation will take on a 3 00:00:08,951 --> 00:00:12,723 journey of exploration into agricultural science, education, 4 00:00:12,723 --> 00:00:16,050 leadership development and insights from subject matter 5 00:00:16,111 --> 00:00:19,728 experts and sponsors who provide the fuel to make dreams come 6 00:00:19,769 --> 00:00:20,030 true. 7 00:00:20,030 --> 00:00:22,481 Here's your host, Aaron Alejandro. 8 00:00:30,248 --> 00:00:33,331 Speaker 2: Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or 9 00:00:33,331 --> 00:00:36,814 whenever you may be tuning in to the Growing Our Future 10 00:00:36,853 --> 00:00:40,176 podcast, we want to, as number one, start off by saying thank 11 00:00:40,216 --> 00:00:40,356 you. 12 00:00:40,356 --> 00:00:43,479 Thank you for taking time to join us. 13 00:00:43,479 --> 00:00:47,183 I mean, we appreciate a platform like this where we can 14 00:00:47,243 --> 00:00:51,088 bring on guests that share their insights, their experiences, 15 00:00:51,408 --> 00:00:55,792 their expertise, in hopes that we, we pour into people. 16 00:00:55,792 --> 00:00:57,896 Like I always say, if agriculture has taught me 17 00:00:57,935 --> 00:00:58,976 anything, it's taught me this. 18 00:00:58,976 --> 00:01:02,249 If you want to know what the future is growing, well, how do 19 00:01:02,268 --> 00:01:02,831 you grow it? 20 00:01:02,831 --> 00:01:04,804 Well, you got to have the right information. 21 00:01:04,825 --> 00:01:08,594 You got to have the right seeds, and that's what this podcast is 22 00:01:08,594 --> 00:01:09,037 all about. 23 00:01:09,037 --> 00:01:12,605 It's bringing on people that can pour into us and make us 24 00:01:12,706 --> 00:01:15,719 better, make our communities better, our organizations, our 25 00:01:15,780 --> 00:01:18,325 families, and today is no different. 26 00:01:18,325 --> 00:01:23,341 I have known this young lady for a very long time and I was 27 00:01:23,402 --> 00:01:27,612 so excited when she changed roles and I said, hey, listen, 28 00:01:27,939 --> 00:01:31,231 you got to come be a guest on the podcast, and she graciously 29 00:01:31,292 --> 00:01:31,813 accepted. 30 00:01:31,813 --> 00:01:34,784 So, ladies and gentlemen, it's an honor to introduce you to 31 00:01:34,823 --> 00:01:36,588 Melissa Rosenbush Spicer. 32 00:01:36,588 --> 00:01:38,423 You're going to learn more about Melissa here in a second, 33 00:01:38,703 --> 00:01:40,367 but, melissa, thank you for joining us. 34 00:01:41,329 --> 00:01:44,465 Speaker 3: Thank you so much, Aaron, for allowing me to be on 35 00:01:44,506 --> 00:01:44,665 here. 36 00:01:44,665 --> 00:01:47,944 This is quite an honor and a privilege, and I am super 37 00:01:47,984 --> 00:01:52,418 excited to talk to you today about definitely UNI's probably 38 00:01:52,478 --> 00:01:54,203 favorite topic to discuss. 39 00:01:54,823 --> 00:01:58,331 Speaker 2: Yeah, we share a lot and, again, I've known her and 40 00:01:58,350 --> 00:01:59,593 her family for a long time. 41 00:01:59,593 --> 00:02:01,665 I'm excited about this opportunity to share. 42 00:02:01,665 --> 00:02:05,700 Okay, every guest we start off the show the same way with the 43 00:02:05,740 --> 00:02:06,501 same question. 44 00:02:06,501 --> 00:02:11,932 And I'm just curious, melissa, today, what are you grateful for 45 00:02:11,932 --> 00:02:12,394 today? 46 00:02:13,580 --> 00:02:16,911 Speaker 3: That's a great question and I think it all 47 00:02:16,950 --> 00:02:20,341 comes down to one person, and it's the Lord and Savior above, 48 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,209 because without Him I wouldn't have been able to wake up today 49 00:02:24,308 --> 00:02:29,288 and take a breath and be able to tackle all the things that are 50 00:02:29,328 --> 00:02:32,296 in front of me without him and his guiding light. 51 00:02:32,296 --> 00:02:37,788 He provides everything we need from health and family, friends 52 00:02:37,968 --> 00:02:41,802 and career paths and just every day enjoying what he provides 53 00:02:41,864 --> 00:02:42,164 for us. 54 00:02:42,164 --> 00:02:44,931 So that's an easy one for me, wow. 55 00:02:46,055 --> 00:02:47,038 Speaker 2: Okay, we can stop there. 56 00:02:47,038 --> 00:02:47,840 That's all we needed. 57 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:55,889 So that was great, because it's so true and I share, by the way 58 00:02:55,889 --> 00:02:58,106 , with the young people and with teachers. 59 00:02:58,106 --> 00:03:01,348 You know, one of my fun things I like to do with the kids is 60 00:03:01,487 --> 00:03:03,286 ask them name the most famous people they can name. 61 00:03:03,286 --> 00:03:07,307 And they will name entertainers , and they'll name movie stars 62 00:03:07,407 --> 00:03:10,274 and sports figures and business people. 63 00:03:10,274 --> 00:03:13,765 And then I said, great, now name me just one, that's all. 64 00:03:13,765 --> 00:03:17,741 I want One Name, one that wakes up every day and makes their 65 00:03:17,822 --> 00:03:18,483 own heartbeat. 66 00:03:18,483 --> 00:03:24,350 And I said you've got to have faith. 67 00:03:24,390 --> 00:03:27,496 You've got to have faith, and faith provides us the 68 00:03:27,599 --> 00:03:31,127 opportunity to serve a purpose, and that's kind of what brought 69 00:03:31,207 --> 00:03:34,423 us together, because you've had a life's purpose and I think 70 00:03:34,462 --> 00:03:39,152 I've had a life's purpose, and it becomes a passion of what we 71 00:03:39,212 --> 00:03:43,391 do and why we do it, and I'm hopeful that that's maybe today. 72 00:03:43,391 --> 00:03:46,842 That's what people will take out of this interview are some 73 00:03:46,861 --> 00:03:50,250 of the very paths that we've walked, experiences that we've 74 00:03:50,289 --> 00:03:52,600 had and things that we'd like to share. 75 00:03:53,683 --> 00:03:55,587 Speaker 3: So I agree wholeheartedly. 76 00:03:55,788 --> 00:03:57,671 Speaker 2: Thank you for that, because I agree with you 77 00:03:57,711 --> 00:03:58,294 completely. 78 00:03:58,294 --> 00:04:02,707 So let's start off and kind of give us a little path. 79 00:04:02,707 --> 00:04:05,782 You did not just fall into that seat that you're in right now, 80 00:04:06,884 --> 00:04:10,034 so I know that there was a journey that brought you to 81 00:04:10,116 --> 00:04:13,163 where you are at this stage in your career, the stage in life. 82 00:04:13,163 --> 00:04:14,747 Walk us through that. 83 00:04:14,747 --> 00:04:18,343 Tell us what it was like, where you grew up, how you chose the 84 00:04:18,382 --> 00:04:19,646 profession that you chose. 85 00:04:19,646 --> 00:04:21,391 Take us through that journey. 86 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:23,021 Speaker 3: Absolutely. 87 00:04:23,021 --> 00:04:25,569 I think I was very blessed. 88 00:04:25,569 --> 00:04:28,125 There's a lot of people out there that kind of probably have 89 00:04:28,125 --> 00:04:32,425 similar stories as mine because there's a lot of ag teacher 90 00:04:32,466 --> 00:04:34,365 kids out there and I was one of them. 91 00:04:34,365 --> 00:04:37,850 My family from the beginning of time. 92 00:04:37,850 --> 00:04:41,182 I can remember wearing blue and gold little toboggans with FFA 93 00:04:41,281 --> 00:04:44,666 emblems on them when I was two years old, but I have been 94 00:04:44,706 --> 00:04:46,740 surrounded by the FFA program. 95 00:04:46,740 --> 00:04:50,949 My uncle's an ag teacher, my dad was an ag teacher and I was 96 00:04:51,029 --> 00:04:55,185 able to go K through 12 in our little town where my parents 97 00:04:55,266 --> 00:04:59,937 grew up and my dad was my ag teacher and put me through 98 00:04:59,959 --> 00:05:02,526 everything that I could be involved in with FFA. 99 00:05:02,526 --> 00:05:05,817 And then I decided my junior year. 100 00:05:05,817 --> 00:05:08,807 I knew I wanted to go to Tarleton State University and I 101 00:05:08,827 --> 00:05:10,374 knew I wanted to do something in agriculture. 102 00:05:10,574 --> 00:05:13,627 I thought I wanted to be an ag teacher but, I, wasn't really 103 00:05:13,726 --> 00:05:16,141 sure I had been an area president, had been very 104 00:05:16,161 --> 00:05:19,610 involved in the officer and leadership roles and I enjoyed 105 00:05:19,670 --> 00:05:20,461 working with people. 106 00:05:20,461 --> 00:05:23,586 So I followed that path and I'm going to be honest. 107 00:05:23,586 --> 00:05:26,492 At one time I thought, oh, I'm going to transfer to A&M and be 108 00:05:26,552 --> 00:05:28,476 a vet by my sophomore year. 109 00:05:28,476 --> 00:05:32,750 Well, the sophomore year came and I was like you know what? 110 00:05:32,750 --> 00:05:35,720 I think I'm supposed to be here for a reason and we started the 111 00:05:35,720 --> 00:05:38,766 classes with education and started learning about all the 112 00:05:38,827 --> 00:05:39,810 things in agriculture. 113 00:05:39,810 --> 00:05:43,507 And my path just kept rolling and God just kept putting me in 114 00:05:43,526 --> 00:05:45,312 the right places where I needed to be. 115 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,927 I graduated, I applied for one job and I said, ok, if I don't 116 00:05:49,947 --> 00:05:52,293 get that one, I'm going to stay here and work on my master's. 117 00:05:52,293 --> 00:05:53,521 I didn't get it. 118 00:05:53,521 --> 00:05:55,386 I laugh about that all the time . 119 00:05:55,386 --> 00:05:58,653 I won't say where it's at, but joke about that all the time. 120 00:05:58,653 --> 00:06:02,447 But he come back to me later and he said I really messed up 121 00:06:02,487 --> 00:06:03,187 not hiring you. 122 00:06:03,187 --> 00:06:04,069 I said you know what? 123 00:06:04,069 --> 00:06:08,629 The good Lord had a path and where it ended up was a couple 124 00:06:08,689 --> 00:06:11,720 months later, in the middle of the year, my high school 125 00:06:11,839 --> 00:06:15,449 principal called me back and said there was an opening with 126 00:06:15,509 --> 00:06:19,225 my dad back in Florence, and so I went back home. 127 00:06:19,666 --> 00:06:19,987 Speaker 2: Wow. 128 00:06:20,259 --> 00:06:23,581 Speaker 3: And that's where I stayed for 29 years. 129 00:06:23,581 --> 00:06:27,725 So not only was it my K through 12 school, but it's also where 130 00:06:27,805 --> 00:06:32,788 I taught my entire you know ag career and for 15 years of that 131 00:06:32,807 --> 00:06:35,569 I got to teach with my dad and I think that those were some 132 00:06:35,649 --> 00:06:40,432 gifts that I could never give up and what a great mentor he was 133 00:06:40,512 --> 00:06:40,932 to me. 134 00:06:40,932 --> 00:06:42,973 You know his friends were ag teachers. 135 00:06:42,973 --> 00:06:46,896 My family was, you know, devout and, you know, going to believe 136 00:06:46,896 --> 00:06:51,601 100 percent in what the program produces, and I am a product of 137 00:06:51,601 --> 00:06:55,507 that program and I know, just like you are, aaron, that we, 138 00:06:55,927 --> 00:06:59,190 you know, living proof of what an ag education and FFA program 139 00:06:59,391 --> 00:07:02,074 can, you know, produce and put out there. 140 00:07:02,074 --> 00:07:08,060 So, after kind of going through the realm of 29 years and I 141 00:07:08,161 --> 00:07:11,752 loved it 100 percent it was the best career ag teaching. 142 00:07:11,853 --> 00:07:14,901 I will forever be a champion of ag teachers. 143 00:07:14,901 --> 00:07:18,970 That, what they do and the way that they change lives and 144 00:07:19,451 --> 00:07:22,442 impact and inspire students there's nothing like it. 145 00:07:22,442 --> 00:07:27,560 And they work hard and they are passionate and they believe. 146 00:07:27,560 --> 00:07:32,190 And I will, like I said, I will , champion them for the day I 147 00:07:32,230 --> 00:07:33,754 die, till I have my last breath. 148 00:07:33,754 --> 00:07:35,403 I will bleed blue and gold. 149 00:07:35,403 --> 00:07:37,908 I will believe that this is the best thing on earth. 150 00:07:38,709 --> 00:07:42,326 And it just kind of happened that I crossed paths with Pete 151 00:07:42,367 --> 00:07:47,060 Hexter a couple years back and we had kind of crossed paths 152 00:07:47,100 --> 00:07:51,471 with Bloom for Good and we were very successful with a campaign 153 00:07:51,490 --> 00:07:54,824 that he put out and he just said , man, you've got something 154 00:07:54,884 --> 00:07:55,567 special there. 155 00:07:55,567 --> 00:07:59,723 And I'm really thinking I would like to grab some of that 156 00:07:59,824 --> 00:08:00,785 energy you have. 157 00:08:00,785 --> 00:08:04,673 And we started a you know, a real, you know a partnership and 158 00:08:04,673 --> 00:08:07,906 relationship there as I finished out my career and was 159 00:08:07,966 --> 00:08:09,031 ready to jump on board. 160 00:08:09,031 --> 00:08:11,682 And I tell you what it's been great, because guess what I get 161 00:08:11,721 --> 00:08:12,023 to do? 162 00:08:12,023 --> 00:08:15,692 I still get to help ag teachers and support FFA programs and 163 00:08:16,180 --> 00:08:19,567 still be involved in this industry that I love so very 164 00:08:19,648 --> 00:08:19,927 much. 165 00:08:19,927 --> 00:08:21,651 And so I again. 166 00:08:21,651 --> 00:08:25,249 God has blessed me just unbelievably and I'm just 167 00:08:25,329 --> 00:08:27,257 thankful every day for that. 168 00:08:28,661 --> 00:08:29,362 Speaker 2: What a story. 169 00:08:29,362 --> 00:08:32,389 By the way, let me ask you real quick how big is Florence? 170 00:08:32,389 --> 00:08:33,972 What class school is that? 171 00:08:34,721 --> 00:08:35,725 Speaker 3: It's a 3A school. 172 00:08:36,419 --> 00:08:39,567 Speaker 2: So for listeners that are not from Texas, they might 173 00:08:39,607 --> 00:08:44,662 not understand how big is a 3A school In the high school we had 174 00:08:44,662 --> 00:08:47,806 around 350 students In the entire school district. 175 00:08:47,865 --> 00:08:49,389 Speaker 3: it was about a little over a thousand. 176 00:08:49,408 --> 00:08:50,250 Speaker 2: It was about a little over a thousand. 177 00:08:50,250 --> 00:08:53,453 The reason I want to share that is because, you know, a lot of 178 00:08:53,494 --> 00:09:00,042 times people think well, you know, to get the best of 179 00:09:00,062 --> 00:09:01,567 something you've got to be in the largest cities or the more 180 00:09:01,587 --> 00:09:02,893 metropolis type suburban areas. 181 00:09:02,893 --> 00:09:06,307 And I will tell you that the Florence program was an 182 00:09:06,427 --> 00:09:09,354 outstanding program in the state of Texas. 183 00:09:09,354 --> 00:09:12,828 They were very innovative in some of their approaches to some 184 00:09:12,828 --> 00:09:15,124 of their industry connections. 185 00:09:16,186 --> 00:09:19,731 You know I can tell you as an old meats judger, as a guy who 186 00:09:20,033 --> 00:09:23,927 grew up, I mean, the top job at Boys Ranch where I grew up, the 187 00:09:23,966 --> 00:09:27,961 top job I mean you could not do it until you were a senior was 188 00:09:27,981 --> 00:09:30,745 to work in the meats lab and to work on the slaughter and the 189 00:09:30,784 --> 00:09:32,167 kill floor of the slaughterhouse . 190 00:09:32,167 --> 00:09:37,354 And I'll never forget working my way up to that top job and 191 00:09:37,394 --> 00:09:39,456 then going to Texas Tech University. 192 00:09:39,456 --> 00:09:40,923 That was my job. 193 00:09:40,923 --> 00:09:44,171 I worked in the meats lab, I worked with the Texas Tech 194 00:09:44,270 --> 00:09:47,183 program and then I went to work for one of the local grocery 195 00:09:47,225 --> 00:09:52,042 stores and when I see what Florence had accomplished it was 196 00:09:52,042 --> 00:09:54,450 very inspiring because it was innovative. 197 00:09:54,450 --> 00:09:56,784 So I just want to throw that out that. 198 00:09:56,784 --> 00:09:59,631 You know, big schools are great . 199 00:09:59,631 --> 00:10:02,522 They do have a lot of opportunity, but don't think 200 00:10:02,562 --> 00:10:05,126 that there's not some really good imaginative people out 201 00:10:05,167 --> 00:10:09,134 there in the smaller schools that are doing just incredible 202 00:10:09,193 --> 00:10:12,407 things, and where Melissa came from is an example of that. 203 00:10:13,649 --> 00:10:15,863 Speaker 3: And I think it's a great point that you made, 204 00:10:15,903 --> 00:10:18,551 because even as small as a school district we are and 205 00:10:18,571 --> 00:10:21,205 people are always shocked by this there's actually five ag 206 00:10:21,225 --> 00:10:24,720 teachers there, and so we have a middle school program and then 207 00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:25,702 four at the high school. 208 00:10:25,702 --> 00:10:28,110 But I think what a lot of people don't realize, like oh 209 00:10:28,130 --> 00:10:29,543 well, that's just an ag class. 210 00:10:29,543 --> 00:10:31,869 When they don't realize half of what. 211 00:10:31,869 --> 00:10:35,859 I taught in the day was communications and radio and 212 00:10:35,918 --> 00:10:36,240 video. 213 00:10:36,740 --> 00:10:41,364 And we were, we were allowing to satisfy other components in the 214 00:10:41,364 --> 00:10:45,168 curriculum in our school and requirements for graduation that 215 00:10:45,168 --> 00:10:48,471 were not necessarily under the AFNR umbrella. 216 00:10:48,831 --> 00:10:51,373 And I think a lot of people don't realize that because those 217 00:10:51,373 --> 00:10:55,417 ag teachers are so passionate and creative and they understand 218 00:10:55,417 --> 00:10:58,840 the world that kids are learning some from those 219 00:10:58,919 --> 00:11:02,393 hands-on things that they do that they might not just from 220 00:11:02,452 --> 00:11:05,022 just a general ed teacher and nothing against general ed 221 00:11:05,042 --> 00:11:09,051 teachers but again, ag teachers they're my heroes, they always 222 00:11:09,131 --> 00:11:27,086 have been and what they can provide students. 223 00:11:27,187 --> 00:11:30,268 And you know, whether you learn floral and it's a fine arts 224 00:11:30,288 --> 00:11:33,590 career, or you know I'm learning speech and I'm getting all the 225 00:11:33,629 --> 00:11:37,890 time that the FFA program is what allows us to reach out. 226 00:11:37,890 --> 00:11:44,254 It's so complex and if you will open up those doors as an ag 227 00:11:44,274 --> 00:11:47,735 teacher and let those students feel, there's something for all 228 00:11:47,774 --> 00:11:48,936 of them to be involved in. 229 00:11:48,936 --> 00:11:51,956 You know, and I think that was the thing we tried to do, is 230 00:11:51,996 --> 00:11:55,758 make sure we were touching every student that sat in a seat in 231 00:11:55,778 --> 00:11:59,681 that building, whether it's a science fair because they really 232 00:11:59,681 --> 00:12:02,006 like science, which they wouldn't have thought that's ag 233 00:12:02,027 --> 00:12:05,784 related or even they're in the national band because they love 234 00:12:05,845 --> 00:12:07,187 music and that's something. 235 00:12:07,187 --> 00:12:10,542 But they were an FFA member, so that's something we've really 236 00:12:10,562 --> 00:12:13,289 worked hard at and I'm proud of that. 237 00:12:13,289 --> 00:12:17,211 To be comprehensive of the program so here's something that 238 00:12:17,211 --> 00:12:17,774 you know. 239 00:12:17,815 --> 00:12:20,101 Speaker 2: You're starting a dialogue here that I would not 240 00:12:20,142 --> 00:12:23,269 have taken us down, but I'm glad you're going down this path. 241 00:12:23,269 --> 00:12:26,663 You know, when we think of the scope of you know, melissa 242 00:12:26,923 --> 00:12:28,304 referenced AFNR Agriculture, food and Natural Resources our 243 00:12:28,345 --> 00:12:31,669 agriculture, food, natural resources when she referenced 244 00:12:31,690 --> 00:12:43,721 that, yes, that is a high school course, but the applications of 245 00:12:43,721 --> 00:12:45,386 what goes on there really are the basics of education that 246 00:12:45,407 --> 00:12:46,731 could go all the way down to the elementary level Exactly. 247 00:12:46,751 --> 00:12:48,397 I mean, I know of FFA chapters in Texas. 248 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:53,409 We've got a chapter that is on NASA and they use longhorn 249 00:12:53,450 --> 00:12:56,865 cattle to teach dominant and recessive gene traits and they 250 00:12:56,904 --> 00:13:00,111 bring in the pre-AP eighth graders from the Houston ISD. 251 00:13:01,480 --> 00:13:06,053 I know programs that are helping the kids connect with their 252 00:13:06,174 --> 00:13:09,283 pigs and with their sheep and goats and with their cattle and 253 00:13:09,322 --> 00:13:12,812 they teach the little kids about how much does a scoop weigh and 254 00:13:12,812 --> 00:13:14,355 with their cattle and they teach the little kids about how 255 00:13:14,436 --> 00:13:15,779 much does a scoop weigh? 256 00:13:15,779 --> 00:13:19,782 How much is a half a gallon? 257 00:13:19,782 --> 00:13:20,684 Hey, we got to fix this over here. 258 00:13:20,684 --> 00:13:22,109 I need you to weld me a 90 degree angle. 259 00:13:22,109 --> 00:13:23,953 And they say, well, I don't know what 90 degrees is, well, 260 00:13:23,974 --> 00:13:24,335 just weld me a T. 261 00:13:24,335 --> 00:13:25,841 Oh, that's 90 degrees. 262 00:13:25,841 --> 00:13:27,703 And so to your point. 263 00:13:27,703 --> 00:13:34,932 Agriculture programs have the capacity to help kids comprehend 264 00:13:34,932 --> 00:13:39,807 things that in a textbook they may be harder to understand, but 265 00:13:39,807 --> 00:13:44,038 in application they become easier to understand and that 266 00:13:44,058 --> 00:13:47,644 whole learning to do, doing to learn, and then when you 267 00:13:47,686 --> 00:13:52,994 accompany that with a teacher that's enthused about that 268 00:13:53,094 --> 00:13:57,000 learning opportunity, then I think that's a reason why, 269 00:13:57,041 --> 00:14:00,388 statistically we know statistically, not because we 270 00:14:00,447 --> 00:14:04,243 say so we know that our kids are outperforming their peers. 271 00:14:05,004 --> 00:14:08,711 We know that students in ag, science education and FFA are 272 00:14:08,751 --> 00:14:11,927 outperforming, and I think it's a lot of what Melissa's saying. 273 00:14:11,927 --> 00:14:15,445 I think it's a lot of the fact that, yes, these are 274 00:14:15,625 --> 00:14:19,360 agricultural courses, but we're offering something that creates 275 00:14:19,461 --> 00:14:22,948 so much more, which I'm a big you're in business. 276 00:14:22,948 --> 00:14:27,504 I'm a big believer in return on investment and, as a taxpayer, 277 00:14:27,806 --> 00:14:32,374 I want ROI and when I see what y'all do with our ag kids and 278 00:14:32,681 --> 00:14:35,543 our FFA kids, I think it's some of the best return on investment 279 00:14:35,543 --> 00:14:39,532 for tax dollars in the state and I just think it's all the 280 00:14:39,591 --> 00:14:40,441 things that you just said. 281 00:14:40,441 --> 00:14:44,769 So that's why I wanted to brag that I appreciate you bringing 282 00:14:44,830 --> 00:14:45,150 it up. 283 00:14:45,912 --> 00:14:49,304 So one of the things I like to talk about when we're talking to 284 00:14:49,304 --> 00:14:52,291 kids and I'm talking to teachers, as I always tell them 285 00:14:52,772 --> 00:14:54,114 practice R2A2. 286 00:14:54,114 --> 00:14:56,764 And everybody always asks me what's R2A2? 287 00:14:56,764 --> 00:14:59,048 Sounds like a Star Wars character. 288 00:14:59,048 --> 00:15:04,183 R2a2 is recognize, relate, assimilate and apply. 289 00:15:04,183 --> 00:15:09,053 Recognize what somebody says, relate to it, like you and I are 290 00:15:09,053 --> 00:15:12,347 talking, what goes on in Florence may not be the same as 291 00:15:12,408 --> 00:15:15,966 what goes on in downtown Dallas, so you got to kind of relate to 292 00:15:15,966 --> 00:15:19,187 it, but then you take it in, you assimilate it and then 293 00:15:19,207 --> 00:15:20,311 you've got to apply it. 294 00:15:20,311 --> 00:15:23,126 That's what this podcast is about. 295 00:15:23,126 --> 00:15:27,022 It's about bringing guests on and already just letting you 296 00:15:27,062 --> 00:15:27,182 know. 297 00:15:27,182 --> 00:15:33,091 Already you have talked about family faith, being flexible, 298 00:15:33,832 --> 00:15:35,455 being committed to your goals. 299 00:15:35,455 --> 00:15:38,043 Be on the lookout for opportunities. 300 00:15:38,043 --> 00:15:42,813 All of those, in my opinion, are great seeds of greatness. 301 00:15:42,813 --> 00:15:46,206 So I hope people that are listening heard every one of 302 00:15:46,245 --> 00:15:50,553 those, because those really are outstanding. 303 00:15:51,200 --> 00:15:54,028 So when we think about agriculture and we think about 304 00:15:54,149 --> 00:15:58,307 food, you were in the classroom and now you're out of the 305 00:15:58,347 --> 00:16:00,547 classroom, but you're kind of in the classroom. 306 00:16:00,547 --> 00:16:03,788 Do you think there's opportunities out there in 307 00:16:03,847 --> 00:16:04,370 agriculture? 308 00:16:04,370 --> 00:16:08,549 Do you see if I'm a kid sitting in Houston, dallas, austin, san 309 00:16:08,549 --> 00:16:11,600 Antonio right now, or maybe somebody's watching this. 310 00:16:11,600 --> 00:16:14,582 We've got people that call me from New York that love this 311 00:16:14,602 --> 00:16:15,104 podcast. 312 00:16:15,104 --> 00:16:18,841 If I'm sitting in a classroom in one of these other states, is 313 00:16:18,841 --> 00:16:21,567 there an opportunity in agriculture and FFA? 314 00:16:21,567 --> 00:16:25,104 Can it promote me into something along a career? 315 00:16:25,104 --> 00:16:27,490 What would you tell me is an opportunity? 316 00:16:29,379 --> 00:16:31,365 Speaker 3: Anything, anything they want to do. 317 00:16:31,365 --> 00:16:34,160 And I used to tell kids that on the first day of school since 318 00:16:34,201 --> 00:16:37,809 we're everybody's going back to school now and they be in here 319 00:16:37,830 --> 00:16:40,386 and they're freshmen and they're like, you know, I don't even 320 00:16:40,427 --> 00:16:41,230 know why I'm in here. 321 00:16:41,230 --> 00:16:42,837 I'm not an ag kid. 322 00:16:42,837 --> 00:16:45,263 That's what they would always tell me and I was like, really, 323 00:16:45,523 --> 00:16:47,586 so how are you're not an ag kid? 324 00:16:47,586 --> 00:16:49,688 How did you get to school today , you know? 325 00:16:49,688 --> 00:16:51,711 And what did we eat for breakfast? 326 00:16:51,711 --> 00:16:53,634 And you put on clothes. 327 00:16:53,634 --> 00:16:56,365 We touch agriculture through. 328 00:16:56,365 --> 00:16:58,308 We wouldn't be alive without it . 329 00:16:58,308 --> 00:17:01,845 And so for you to say, and I would tell them, you tell me 330 00:17:01,884 --> 00:17:04,070 something you want to do, and I'm going to correlate it with 331 00:17:04,131 --> 00:17:07,147 an ag career, you know, like, well, I want to be a nurse or I 332 00:17:07,188 --> 00:17:07,890 want to be a doctor. 333 00:17:07,890 --> 00:17:10,462 I said, well, great, because in our meat science class you're 334 00:17:10,482 --> 00:17:11,865 going to learn about the anatomy . 335 00:17:11,865 --> 00:17:14,949 The bones and muscles of an animal are the same as they are 336 00:17:15,028 --> 00:17:15,650 in a human. 337 00:17:15,650 --> 00:17:18,554 You know, you're going to learn all of that, your basics and 338 00:17:18,594 --> 00:17:19,335 your background. 339 00:17:19,335 --> 00:17:25,961 I have a lot of students that would come back and then say, 340 00:17:25,981 --> 00:17:28,567 hey, I got as a grad assistant, I got on a work project to do a 341 00:17:28,666 --> 00:17:32,353 research, because I showed rabbits and chick and I was on 342 00:17:32,373 --> 00:17:33,355 the poultry judging team. 343 00:17:33,355 --> 00:17:37,949 But she's a doctor and because of her resume, because of that 344 00:17:38,368 --> 00:17:40,554 experience, she was able to. 345 00:17:40,554 --> 00:17:43,666 You know she got put on that job and you know those are the 346 00:17:43,727 --> 00:17:47,102 things that they don't realize and you know we think about all 347 00:17:47,122 --> 00:17:47,482 the time. 348 00:17:48,183 --> 00:17:49,846 I use the example. 349 00:17:49,846 --> 00:17:53,272 You know a doctor who has to make a split second decision 350 00:17:53,593 --> 00:17:54,575 when you're in the ER. 351 00:17:54,575 --> 00:17:58,969 Well, when you're judging of anything, you've got to do that 352 00:17:59,028 --> 00:18:01,093 in a small amount and you've got to tell me why. 353 00:18:01,093 --> 00:18:02,983 I don't want to hear, I don't know. 354 00:18:02,983 --> 00:18:06,311 You know, I want to know why you are backing up. 355 00:18:06,311 --> 00:18:09,988 If I'm on a gurney in the ER and they're fixing to have to do 356 00:18:09,988 --> 00:18:10,470 surgery. 357 00:18:10,470 --> 00:18:18,442 I want you to be confident, I want you to have a decision and 358 00:18:18,461 --> 00:18:20,046 I want you to be able to back it up. 359 00:18:20,046 --> 00:18:22,051 Well, that skill set that we learn in all of our career 360 00:18:22,212 --> 00:18:23,757 development events are going to help you with anything, and so 361 00:18:23,777 --> 00:18:26,742 really, I will not allow them to tell me that they're not an ag 362 00:18:26,782 --> 00:18:29,626 kid anymore and that without it you know you've heard the 363 00:18:29,646 --> 00:18:34,534 t-shirt you know without it we'd be hungry and naked and all of 364 00:18:34,554 --> 00:18:35,756 the things that we would be. 365 00:18:35,756 --> 00:18:40,832 But agriculture touches every single person's life one way or 366 00:18:40,872 --> 00:18:44,490 another and there's so many opportunities for us to do. 367 00:18:44,490 --> 00:18:48,769 I know that when you were talking about reaching down into 368 00:18:48,769 --> 00:18:51,280 the elementary, I'm going to add in real quick I used to do 369 00:18:51,340 --> 00:18:54,770 an ag science day with elementary students and we would 370 00:18:54,770 --> 00:18:57,680 communicate with the teachers of the elementary in their 371 00:18:57,819 --> 00:19:01,529 science curriculum and it was called ag science day because I 372 00:19:01,569 --> 00:19:02,151 started to think. 373 00:19:02,211 --> 00:19:05,289 I said, if our high school students are getting those 374 00:19:05,349 --> 00:19:07,840 hands-on opportunities and experiences where they're 375 00:19:08,000 --> 00:19:11,834 learning those, we're, you know, we are basically supporting 376 00:19:11,954 --> 00:19:14,663 history, we're supporting English, we're supporting math 377 00:19:14,963 --> 00:19:17,951 because they're actually doing those in the ag education 378 00:19:17,990 --> 00:19:18,491 classroom. 379 00:19:18,491 --> 00:19:20,343 How can we do that in elementary? 380 00:19:20,343 --> 00:19:24,613 So we started, you know, about 15 years ago, doing Ag Science 381 00:19:24,673 --> 00:19:28,125 Day, working with Texas Farm Bureau and our county Farm 382 00:19:28,847 --> 00:19:30,049 Bureau to sponsor that. 383 00:19:30,049 --> 00:19:34,699 It was so successful because the kids they rotated it with a 384 00:19:34,740 --> 00:19:35,461 different topic. 385 00:19:35,461 --> 00:19:40,010 So in let's use third grade they had to do a, the life cycle 386 00:19:40,010 --> 00:19:40,531 of an animal. 387 00:19:40,531 --> 00:19:42,263 So we use poultry science. 388 00:19:42,705 --> 00:19:45,998 Or maybe in fifth grade I had the teachers there said man, we 389 00:19:46,038 --> 00:19:47,461 are not doing good on the star test. 390 00:19:47,461 --> 00:19:51,230 They don't understand soil particle size, perfect, let's do 391 00:19:51,230 --> 00:19:54,261 soil science and we would bring it in and they would touch it 392 00:19:54,301 --> 00:19:57,530 and they make that and they were taught by the high school FFA 393 00:19:57,570 --> 00:20:00,685 students and talk about mentorship for that. 394 00:20:00,685 --> 00:20:03,901 And then when they got in high school I would say, hey, do you 395 00:20:03,941 --> 00:20:05,164 remember Ag Science Day? 396 00:20:05,164 --> 00:20:08,538 And they did, and that give back, you know, and that 397 00:20:08,617 --> 00:20:12,327 community outreach, it was just a blessing altogether. 398 00:20:12,327 --> 00:20:15,063 Programs like that that we can do, where we can reach 399 00:20:15,183 --> 00:20:19,221 elementary students, embed into other curriculums, it's a win 400 00:20:19,482 --> 00:20:24,792 because, like we just said, it touches everything and you can 401 00:20:24,833 --> 00:20:25,513 see I'm a fan. 402 00:20:26,381 --> 00:20:28,429 Speaker 2: Hey, listen everything that you just said, 403 00:20:28,589 --> 00:20:29,010 everything. 404 00:20:29,010 --> 00:20:32,094 If you want to know what the future is growing to ag science 405 00:20:32,036 --> 00:20:33,171 teachers, if you want to know what the future is growing to ag 406 00:20:33,171 --> 00:20:35,083 science teachers, if you want to know what your future 407 00:20:35,123 --> 00:20:38,372 classroom looks like, do exactly what Melissa just said. 408 00:20:38,372 --> 00:20:42,067 There is no one cooler in that elementary school than the high 409 00:20:42,087 --> 00:20:42,650 school kids. 410 00:20:42,650 --> 00:20:46,265 And if they show up in official dress, what is this? 411 00:20:46,265 --> 00:20:49,732 And next thing you know they're showing up with animals or 412 00:20:49,779 --> 00:20:53,148 they're showing up with experimental or plants. 413 00:20:53,148 --> 00:20:55,723 That is what fascinates them. 414 00:20:55,723 --> 00:21:00,017 So, to your point, you're growing your classroom and 415 00:21:00,198 --> 00:21:01,862 business is about numbers and numbers. 416 00:21:01,862 --> 00:21:04,971 So if you're growing your classroom, that's a good thing 417 00:21:05,010 --> 00:21:06,343 and the administration would like that. 418 00:21:06,343 --> 00:21:09,210 So keep growing your numbers Makes a lot of sense. 419 00:21:09,210 --> 00:21:12,306 One of the things that you said there that I thought was just a 420 00:21:12,306 --> 00:21:20,883 takeaway Wayne Gretzky, a famous hockey player. 421 00:21:20,883 --> 00:21:22,588 They asked him one time what makes you such a great hockey 422 00:21:22,608 --> 00:21:24,336 player and he said most players skate to where the puck is. 423 00:21:24,336 --> 00:21:25,740 I skate to where the puck is going. 424 00:21:27,063 --> 00:21:31,172 And if we think about that, we know that the world population 425 00:21:31,231 --> 00:21:31,813 is growing. 426 00:21:31,813 --> 00:21:35,443 Right now we're experiencing it right here in Texas a lot of 427 00:21:35,503 --> 00:21:39,897 growth, a lot of urban sprawl, taking up of natural resources. 428 00:21:39,897 --> 00:21:44,007 I got news for you we're going to have more people in this 429 00:21:44,126 --> 00:21:48,561 world in the next 30 years and we're not going to have more 430 00:21:48,862 --> 00:21:54,530 land to grow, more food, more water to take care of our 431 00:21:55,051 --> 00:21:58,542 growing, of our food supply to your point. 432 00:21:58,542 --> 00:22:02,211 It's going to take a lot of brilliant minds and we're going 433 00:22:02,231 --> 00:22:07,932 to have to have people that say I may not understand livestock 434 00:22:07,972 --> 00:22:12,084 production, but I understand engineering or linguistics or 435 00:22:12,203 --> 00:22:15,425 marketing to help get this commodity to the people that 436 00:22:15,486 --> 00:22:15,787 need it. 437 00:22:15,787 --> 00:22:17,071 If they don't, they're going to die. 438 00:22:17,071 --> 00:22:20,986 So I think there is tremendous opportunity. 439 00:22:20,986 --> 00:22:25,439 I think it's sad that when they polled Americans, a lot of 440 00:22:25,479 --> 00:22:29,426 Americans don't know what agriculture is, but everybody 441 00:22:29,487 --> 00:22:32,794 knows what food is and I love what you said. 442 00:22:32,794 --> 00:22:35,709 From the time we get up in the morning, we got a roof over our 443 00:22:35,749 --> 00:22:35,930 head. 444 00:22:35,930 --> 00:22:39,785 Ag commodity that's a product If we eat. 445 00:22:39,945 --> 00:22:42,672 Speaker 3: Breathe in oxygen that was produced by trees and 446 00:22:42,711 --> 00:22:43,032 plants. 447 00:22:43,259 --> 00:22:45,827 Speaker 2: Everything that, like you said, that we touch has 448 00:22:45,907 --> 00:22:47,512 something to do with agriculture . 449 00:22:47,512 --> 00:22:49,759 Let's talk leadership for a second. 450 00:22:49,759 --> 00:22:51,845 Let's talk leadership for a second. 451 00:22:51,845 --> 00:22:52,847 You've taught for a while. 452 00:22:52,847 --> 00:22:56,782 You've trained a lot of teams, you've offered a lot of advice. 453 00:22:56,782 --> 00:22:58,330 Give me your top three leadership traits. 454 00:22:58,330 --> 00:23:01,306 If you could tell somebody to be an effective leader, what 455 00:23:01,346 --> 00:23:01,846 would they be? 456 00:23:03,550 --> 00:23:05,933 Speaker 3: I think the number one would be an effective 457 00:23:05,973 --> 00:23:06,654 communicator. 458 00:23:06,654 --> 00:23:11,061 You've got to be able to communicate with people and 459 00:23:11,102 --> 00:23:13,204 always tell the kids read the room, because sometimes they 460 00:23:13,244 --> 00:23:17,194 don't, and unfortunately today our students don't do that as 461 00:23:17,275 --> 00:23:21,840 well, because they are glued to something that thinks for them a 462 00:23:21,840 --> 00:23:25,464 lot of time, whether it's a computer or a phone or whatever 463 00:23:25,484 --> 00:23:29,721 it may be, and so communication is definitely my number one. 464 00:23:30,450 --> 00:23:32,473 The other one I'm going to say is work ethic. 465 00:23:32,473 --> 00:23:39,030 Work ethic is no leader should be outworked by their other 466 00:23:39,111 --> 00:23:41,857 people, you know, by the people below them. 467 00:23:41,857 --> 00:23:45,432 It should always be a team effort, and I want to work 468 00:23:45,492 --> 00:23:48,622 alongside the leader and they should be giving that as an 469 00:23:48,710 --> 00:23:49,230 example. 470 00:23:49,230 --> 00:23:53,400 And so if, if you don't understand how to work, or you 471 00:23:53,460 --> 00:23:56,814 put your best foot forward or you have pride in the work 472 00:23:56,854 --> 00:23:59,800 you're producing, uh, you always want to leave things. 473 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:02,773 My daddy used to always say you leave things better than you 474 00:24:02,814 --> 00:24:05,999 got them, and I think that's something with the work ethic as 475 00:24:05,999 --> 00:24:06,358 well. 476 00:24:06,358 --> 00:24:12,513 And then the third one I actually have four, so 477 00:24:13,134 --> 00:24:16,323 dependability, which might fall with that work ethic. 478 00:24:16,323 --> 00:24:20,176 If you your word means something if you say you're 479 00:24:20,196 --> 00:24:23,182 going to do it, then you need to make sure that that you do. 480 00:24:23,182 --> 00:24:28,819 You know there's nothing more, and that integrity or character 481 00:24:28,839 --> 00:24:30,551 is, you know, part of that as well. 482 00:24:30,551 --> 00:24:33,182 And then with that I would roll in compassion. 483 00:24:33,683 --> 00:24:36,614 I think people have to be compassionate because everybody 484 00:24:36,994 --> 00:24:39,480 walks in different footsteps. 485 00:24:39,480 --> 00:24:43,590 We're all trying to do the same thing, but their paths are 486 00:24:43,652 --> 00:24:47,499 different, and so just be, you know, compassionate, to 487 00:24:47,640 --> 00:24:50,952 understand that people you know may be having a rough time or 488 00:24:51,053 --> 00:24:53,961 hard time, and that's where that servant heart comes from. 489 00:24:53,961 --> 00:24:56,856 That we talk about a lot is, with community service, the 490 00:24:56,896 --> 00:24:57,538 living to serve. 491 00:24:57,538 --> 00:25:00,874 I could dissect the entire FFA motto for you because it fits 492 00:25:01,174 --> 00:25:04,623 every single thing we're doing, but I do believe that that's 493 00:25:04,670 --> 00:25:06,823 something that we try to teach our kids. 494 00:25:06,823 --> 00:25:08,631 You know that that is something that you want. 495 00:25:08,631 --> 00:25:11,097 To be a productive citizen, you want to make sure that you're 496 00:25:11,137 --> 00:25:15,996 giving back and that compassion and understanding, living to 497 00:25:16,036 --> 00:25:16,257 serve. 498 00:25:16,277 --> 00:25:18,741 Speaker 2: That was really good, by the way. 499 00:25:18,741 --> 00:25:20,044 That's real good. 500 00:25:20,044 --> 00:25:26,839 No doubt a good leader is an effective communicator, both in 501 00:25:26,859 --> 00:25:28,723 the written word and the spoken word. 502 00:25:28,723 --> 00:25:33,298 And the other thing is I like that you said this, by the way 503 00:25:33,338 --> 00:25:34,382 but don't lose your voice. 504 00:25:34,382 --> 00:25:38,058 Don't let technology become your voice. 505 00:25:38,058 --> 00:25:43,001 It can help you amplify your voice, but be discerning. 506 00:25:43,001 --> 00:25:46,915 I love that you said be discerning and don't be afraid 507 00:25:46,955 --> 00:25:52,003 of technology, but don't let it replace, because it's not going 508 00:25:52,023 --> 00:25:54,575 to replace your work ethic, it's not going to replace your 509 00:25:54,615 --> 00:25:55,198 integrity. 510 00:25:55,198 --> 00:25:57,854 I love to ask the kids. 511 00:25:57,854 --> 00:25:58,876 A lot of times I ask them. 512 00:25:58,876 --> 00:26:00,181 I said tell me about your business. 513 00:26:00,181 --> 00:26:03,498 And they always look at me and say, mr Alejandro, I don't have 514 00:26:03,538 --> 00:26:03,960 a business. 515 00:26:03,960 --> 00:26:05,395 I said, yeah, you are, you're it. 516 00:26:05,395 --> 00:26:06,573 I said what time? 517 00:26:06,593 --> 00:26:07,075 Speaker 1: do you open in? 518 00:26:07,095 --> 00:26:07,477 Speaker 2: the morning. 519 00:26:07,477 --> 00:26:08,290 What? 520 00:26:08,310 --> 00:26:09,334 Speaker 1: kind of customer service. 521 00:26:09,374 --> 00:26:09,955 Speaker 2: Do you deliver? 522 00:26:09,955 --> 00:26:11,441 Are you responsive? 523 00:26:11,441 --> 00:26:14,076 Do you do what you say you're going to do? 524 00:26:14,076 --> 00:26:15,596 I mean, we are our business. 525 00:26:15,596 --> 00:26:18,369 That's why everybody knows I go by the handle of your brand, 526 00:26:18,811 --> 00:26:20,096 because that's who we are. 527 00:26:20,990 --> 00:26:23,598 And to your point, I think those are great examples. 528 00:26:23,598 --> 00:26:31,090 Work that could. 529 00:26:31,090 --> 00:26:33,255 Dependability, compassion, empathy, vulnerability, all of 530 00:26:33,275 --> 00:26:34,377 those are signs of great leaders . 531 00:26:34,377 --> 00:26:37,624 So I hope people picked up on those, because that's gold right 532 00:26:37,624 --> 00:26:41,413 there, gold All right. 533 00:26:41,413 --> 00:26:43,759 So now let's talk about a little bit about Bloom. 534 00:26:43,759 --> 00:26:46,703 So it's really interesting. 535 00:26:46,723 --> 00:26:50,592 I love meeting people, by the way, and I'm always fascinated 536 00:26:50,632 --> 00:26:52,817 to learn about people, to learn about their backgrounds. 537 00:26:52,817 --> 00:26:59,335 And I remember, before COVID, I had an opportunity to meet this 538 00:26:59,335 --> 00:27:02,020 gentleman and he was telling me all about Bloom. 539 00:27:02,020 --> 00:27:08,714 His name was Pete Hexter and I just liked Pete Hexter, and I 540 00:27:08,775 --> 00:27:11,777 liked it because he was very accomplished in his career. 541 00:27:11,777 --> 00:27:18,041 But he was looking at what was next and it's like Tom Ziegler 542 00:27:18,102 --> 00:27:21,065 and Zig Ziegler say we're all going to leave a legacy. 543 00:27:21,065 --> 00:27:24,547 We're either going to leave that legacy by design or by 544 00:27:24,606 --> 00:27:25,048 default. 545 00:27:25,048 --> 00:27:30,451 Legacy by design or by default. 546 00:27:30,471 --> 00:27:31,692 And I just remember Pete telling me Aaron, I'm looking to do 547 00:27:31,712 --> 00:27:35,798 something that's going to make the world better, and I love it. 548 00:27:35,798 --> 00:27:43,291 When people have that FFA aha moment and I remember when Pete 549 00:27:43,771 --> 00:27:46,615 had that moment at the convention, both national and 550 00:27:46,654 --> 00:27:48,416 state convention when Pete had that moment at the convention, 551 00:27:48,436 --> 00:27:49,478 both national and state convention, he's like, OK, this 552 00:27:49,498 --> 00:27:50,679 is, I know we've got to support this. 553 00:27:50,679 --> 00:27:56,265 And so he's made several pivots in the company for the very 554 00:27:56,345 --> 00:28:02,250 purpose of wanting to support and why do you think it is that 555 00:28:02,270 --> 00:28:02,892 Pete's so committed to that? 556 00:28:02,892 --> 00:28:03,393 Why do you know him? 557 00:28:03,393 --> 00:28:03,472 Now? 558 00:28:03,472 --> 00:28:06,838 You work with him, what y'all do so focused on helping young 559 00:28:06,880 --> 00:28:07,160 people. 560 00:28:08,162 --> 00:28:17,131 Speaker 3: Well, I do believe you know they changed the name 561 00:28:17,151 --> 00:28:18,673 from Bloom to Bloom for Good, because I do believe you nailed 562 00:28:18,693 --> 00:28:20,598 that that Pete is looking to leave a legacy of good and that 563 00:28:20,638 --> 00:28:24,212 goes right back to that servant heart which you know being a 564 00:28:24,272 --> 00:28:28,060 leader and wanting to give back, and he understands completely 565 00:28:28,401 --> 00:28:31,295 that, just like you said, we've got to grow our future in the 566 00:28:31,414 --> 00:28:34,082 youth, in all of our youth leadership programs. 567 00:28:34,082 --> 00:28:35,212 I mean, that is our mission. 568 00:28:35,212 --> 00:28:38,786 Bloom is about supporting youth in agriculture and other 569 00:28:38,846 --> 00:28:43,076 leadership programs, because if we don't lift them up and we 570 00:28:43,116 --> 00:28:46,590 don't help them and you know, I think a lot of times even my 571 00:28:46,651 --> 00:28:50,916 experience as an ag teacher a student will tell me later well, 572 00:28:50,916 --> 00:28:53,441 if you hadn't told me that I was going to be good at that, I 573 00:28:53,500 --> 00:28:54,201 wouldn't have done that. 574 00:28:54,201 --> 00:29:02,289 I'm like oh my gosh, you were so talented, you know, did you 575 00:29:02,329 --> 00:29:02,631 not see that? 576 00:29:02,631 --> 00:29:03,051 And I've said no. 577 00:29:03,051 --> 00:29:04,875 If you hadn't told me to be on this team, if you had not told 578 00:29:04,894 --> 00:29:05,596 me to write that speech. 579 00:29:05,615 --> 00:29:07,357 If you had not told me to run for this office, I would have 580 00:29:07,377 --> 00:29:11,424 done it because I didn't know I could or that I had the ability, 581 00:29:11,424 --> 00:29:15,593 and so I think a lot of times they are so fragile in the age 582 00:29:15,653 --> 00:29:16,476 that we're talking about. 583 00:29:16,476 --> 00:29:21,010 These youth are the future and again I say that, aaron, you and 584 00:29:21,010 --> 00:29:26,519 I are living proof of what an FFA program can build and grow. 585 00:29:26,519 --> 00:29:30,811 I mean, when I was a sophomore, I was so shy, I did not want to 586 00:29:30,811 --> 00:29:32,015 talk. 587 00:29:32,015 --> 00:29:34,741 I know this is unbelievable, people don't believe this. 588 00:29:34,741 --> 00:29:37,777 But my daddy said, nope, you're going to district leadership 589 00:29:37,817 --> 00:29:41,173 camp and he sent me away and I'm like, no, I won't know anybody, 590 00:29:41,173 --> 00:29:42,816 you can't do that to me. 591 00:29:42,816 --> 00:29:46,502 Came back and my mom says you haven't shut up since. 592 00:29:46,542 --> 00:29:50,492 So it was really that pivotal thing where it opens it up and 593 00:29:50,553 --> 00:29:51,816 then you talk about aha moments. 594 00:29:51,816 --> 00:29:55,994 Even as students we have that and that's so cool to watch when 595 00:29:55,994 --> 00:29:59,147 it switches and you realize about the premier leadership, 596 00:29:59,268 --> 00:30:02,074 the personal growth and leading you to career success. 597 00:30:02,074 --> 00:30:06,440 And I truly believe that Pete saw that and he wanted to be a 598 00:30:06,500 --> 00:30:11,972 part of it and he picked the best organization and I just I'm 599 00:30:11,972 --> 00:30:15,140 so happy to be on the journey with him and the entire Bloom 600 00:30:15,180 --> 00:30:19,135 team to help and serve, because I do. 601 00:30:19,135 --> 00:30:20,971 I have a servant heart and so it was. 602 00:30:20,971 --> 00:30:24,080 It was a no brainer for me at the time of retirement, when I 603 00:30:24,101 --> 00:30:25,464 had to get out of the classroom, that this was exactly what I 604 00:30:25,484 --> 00:30:26,909 wanted to do at the time of retirement when I had to get out 605 00:30:26,909 --> 00:30:27,269 of the classroom. 606 00:30:27,430 --> 00:30:28,530 Speaker 2: That this was exactly what I wanted to do. 607 00:30:28,530 --> 00:30:31,212 That's the reason why I wanted to mention that, because I can 608 00:30:31,252 --> 00:30:32,934 tell you from the seat that I sit in. 609 00:30:32,934 --> 00:30:39,619 It was fun, and has been fun, to watch where Bloom was, to 610 00:30:39,660 --> 00:30:42,221 watch their connection with my colleagues across the United 611 00:30:42,281 --> 00:30:47,405 States, to see what role you're playing now and its next steps, 612 00:30:47,586 --> 00:30:48,027 if you will. 613 00:30:48,027 --> 00:30:54,693 But at the end of the day, I love it that it's not just about 614 00:30:54,693 --> 00:30:55,174 it is a business. 615 00:30:55,194 --> 00:30:55,896 Businesses are not. 616 00:30:55,896 --> 00:31:01,432 Like I tell my colleagues, businesses are not a fountain of 617 00:31:01,432 --> 00:31:01,894 funds for nonprofits. 618 00:31:01,894 --> 00:31:03,859 Businesses are in business to make money. 619 00:31:03,859 --> 00:31:13,067 But as a result of their success there comes a lot of 620 00:31:13,169 --> 00:31:18,393 philanthropy, and I like it when I see that they say, hey, 621 00:31:18,413 --> 00:31:19,996 listen, we want to support because businesses could put 622 00:31:20,016 --> 00:31:20,676 their money in a lot of places. 623 00:31:20,676 --> 00:31:24,470 And so I'm always thrilled People that know me know I say 624 00:31:24,510 --> 00:31:28,422 this when I write proposals and we've been very successful. 625 00:31:28,911 --> 00:31:31,078 I'm very proud of what we've been able to accomplish. 626 00:31:31,078 --> 00:31:33,897 When we write proposals, there's two questions that I ask 627 00:31:33,897 --> 00:31:36,336 myself so what and according to who? 628 00:31:36,336 --> 00:31:40,636 It's real easy for us to go around and say we're the 629 00:31:40,757 --> 00:31:44,692 greatest youth organization in America, but we may have a 630 00:31:44,791 --> 00:31:48,837 stakeholder that their son or daughter was exceptional in 631 00:31:48,877 --> 00:31:54,665 sports or band or UIL, or speech and debate or Eagle Scout. 632 00:31:54,665 --> 00:31:58,279 So it's very arrogant for us to say that. 633 00:31:58,279 --> 00:32:01,974 But when I can say, well, according to Ford Motor Company, 634 00:32:01,974 --> 00:32:08,242 according to McCoy's, according to Justin Boots, according to 635 00:32:08,343 --> 00:32:10,925 Bloom, our kids are pretty good. 636 00:32:10,925 --> 00:32:15,320 So there's my so what and my according to who. 637 00:32:16,030 --> 00:32:22,105 So when we have stakeholders that believe in us, it makes our 638 00:32:22,105 --> 00:32:23,970 efforts more rewarding. 639 00:32:23,970 --> 00:32:27,339 So I just want to say thank you , thank you to you, thank you to 640 00:32:27,339 --> 00:32:33,519 Pete, and again, it's all about the leadership. 641 00:32:33,519 --> 00:32:36,263 We could sit and talk all day about all this. 642 00:32:36,263 --> 00:32:40,919 The good thing is, we both agree that we want a better 643 00:32:40,959 --> 00:32:45,653 Texas, we want a better United States and we believe that Ag, 644 00:32:45,694 --> 00:32:48,721 food and Natural Resources and the FFA could be a great portal 645 00:32:49,731 --> 00:32:53,419 to get those great leaders out there in business, in 646 00:32:53,640 --> 00:33:00,396 agriculture, in classrooms, and thank you for sharing that with 647 00:33:00,457 --> 00:33:02,862 us and joining us today. 648 00:33:02,862 --> 00:33:05,955 Before we leave, everybody gets a fun question. 649 00:33:07,019 --> 00:33:14,776 Okay before we leave, everybody gets a fun question, okay. 650 00:33:14,816 --> 00:33:17,022 Speaker 3: So melissa rosenbush basher, tell me what is the best 651 00:33:17,022 --> 00:33:19,390 concert you've ever been to, oh , wow, okay. 652 00:33:19,390 --> 00:33:23,977 Well, I just went to one recently that was pretty 653 00:33:24,037 --> 00:33:24,798 fantastic. 654 00:33:24,798 --> 00:33:29,786 Um, it was Zach Topp, because my son that was his his 655 00:33:29,865 --> 00:33:31,989 graduation president from high school was that? 656 00:33:31,989 --> 00:33:32,589 That's what he said. 657 00:33:32,589 --> 00:33:34,374 He's such an old soul. 658 00:33:34,374 --> 00:33:39,152 I couldn't afford George Strait tickets to see Zach Topp, but I 659 00:33:39,152 --> 00:33:43,162 did sneak into the Astrodome in high school with my best friend 660 00:33:43,162 --> 00:33:47,219 and we did get to peek through the fence there and get to see 661 00:33:47,259 --> 00:33:48,682 George Strait ride around on his horse. 662 00:33:48,682 --> 00:33:49,934 So that was pretty good too. 663 00:33:49,934 --> 00:33:52,857 But I would say those are my top two for sure. 664 00:33:52,917 --> 00:33:54,080 Speaker 2: Wow, that's good. 665 00:33:54,080 --> 00:33:55,734 That's really good. 666 00:33:55,734 --> 00:34:01,133 Yeah, no, it's a fun question to ask and it's amazing the 667 00:34:01,192 --> 00:34:06,885 spectrum of artists and entertainers and stories that 668 00:34:07,047 --> 00:34:11,114 have come out of this podcast, everything from Metallica to 669 00:34:11,195 --> 00:34:13,922 Pitbull to, obviously. 670 00:34:14,041 --> 00:34:14,742 Speaker 3: King George. 671 00:34:17,251 --> 00:34:18,336 Speaker 2: Even the greatest showman. 672 00:34:18,336 --> 00:34:23,074 I mean, it's been fascinating to hear people, but I just think 673 00:34:23,074 --> 00:34:24,840 it's a reminder that we're all the same. 674 00:34:24,840 --> 00:34:29,512 We all like a good movie, a good book, a good song, and 675 00:34:29,574 --> 00:34:31,338 those are just things that we have in common. 676 00:34:31,338 --> 00:34:34,349 So thank you for sharing that. 677 00:34:34,369 --> 00:34:35,996 Speaker 3: Tom, absolutely yeah. 678 00:34:37,271 --> 00:34:37,974 Speaker 2: All right folks. 679 00:34:37,974 --> 00:34:40,945 Well, thank you for stopping by for another edition of the 680 00:34:40,987 --> 00:34:42,492 Growing Our Future podcast. 681 00:34:42,492 --> 00:34:46,244 This is just another reason I loved Melissa coming on, for 682 00:34:46,284 --> 00:34:47,047 several reasons. 683 00:34:47,047 --> 00:34:50,438 Melissa really is an example of why I love my job. 684 00:34:50,438 --> 00:34:52,215 People ask me that all the time . 685 00:34:52,215 --> 00:34:53,335 They said you really like your job. 686 00:34:53,335 --> 00:34:53,856 I said I do. 687 00:34:53,856 --> 00:34:57,992 I said I get to work with some incredible educators, I get to 688 00:34:58,052 --> 00:35:03,132 work with young people that want to serve, and then I work with 689 00:35:04,255 --> 00:35:10,210 some incredible sponsors who have a heart for the future, and 690 00:35:10,210 --> 00:35:11,735 Melissa just kind of embodies all of that. 691 00:35:11,735 --> 00:35:13,340 So thank you all for stopping by. 692 00:35:13,340 --> 00:35:17,711 Until we meet again, go out and do something great for somebody 693 00:35:17,711 --> 00:35:17,711 . 694 00:35:17,711 --> 00:35:22,099 You'll feel better about it, you'll make things better and 695 00:35:23,143 --> 00:35:23,963 grow the future. 696 00:35:23,963 --> 00:35:26,333 Plant the seeds you heard today . 697 00:35:26,333 --> 00:35:31,240 Plant them, take care of them, harvest them and then share them 698 00:35:31,240 --> 00:35:31,240 . 699 00:35:31,240 --> 00:35:33,125 Thanks for stopping by. 700 00:35:33,125 --> 00:35:36,018 We'll see you next time on the Growing Our Future podcast. 701 00:35:41,010 --> 00:35:42,996 Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the 702 00:35:43,036 --> 00:35:44,601 Growing Our Future podcast. 703 00:35:44,601 --> 00:35:48,931 This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose 704 00:35:49,032 --> 00:35:51,889 mission is to strengthen agricultural science education 705 00:35:52,431 --> 00:35:55,300 so students can develop their potential for personal growth, 706 00:35:55,750 --> 00:35:58,880 career success and leadership in a global marketplace. 707 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:01,257 Learn more at mytexasffaorg.