Speaker 1: Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFA Foundation will take on a
journey of exploration into agricultural science, education,
leadership development and insights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who provide the fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, Aaron Alejandro.
Speaker 2: Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or
whenever you may be tuning in to the Growing Our Future
podcast, hey, we always like to say thank you.
Thank you because you know time's the only thing you can
spend.
You can't save it, you can't put it in the bank for later,
you can only spend it.
So the fact that you're willing to spend a little of your time
with us, I just want you to know .
We appreciate it, you know.
The other thing I like to tell people is, if agriculture has
taught me anything, it's taught me.
If you want to know what the future is, grow it.
So the Growing Our Future podcast is just about that
bringing on guests that can pour into us, that can share their
ideas, their experiences, their insights, so that we may find
some seeds that we can plant in our lives that will grow an even
better tomorrow, and today is no different.
Wait till y'all meet this lady.
I'm excited to have her.
She's the first ever teacher of the year that I've ever had on
the podcast, and we'll talk about that just in a second here
, but she did receive that honor in 2016.
But we have Catherine Villareal .
Cat, let me make sure I make it right.
Do you want me to call you Cat or Catherine.
Speaker 3: Cat's fine.
Cat's my childhood nickname, so Catherine to my mother, but Kat
to you, that's fine.
Speaker 2: Very good.
Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is Kat For real.
Speaker 3: Thank you for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Okay, Kat, Every person that's on this podcast.
We can start every podcast with the same question Ready.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 2: What are you grateful for today?
Speaker 3: I am grateful for and I always say grateful and
blessed for where I am in my life.
One of the things that I really sit back and look at now that
I'm older is I always kind of it sounds cliche, but was praying
to be where I am.
And when we get into talking through some of the stuff I'll
cover it is I like to remind people I'm not the typical
agricultural person.
I didn't grow up on a farm, I didn't have ranch experience.
I started in high school and I just fell in love with it and
that has opened so many doors for me to get to the life that I
had.
I remember dreaming and scheming and thinking of one day
being an ag teacher, one day having what I have now with my
husband, with our cattle operation and I know 10 year old
me that was a ballerina and in cheer and never really thought
about it would be like, wow, we got to do that, like that's our
life now.
So I'm very grateful and blessed for what I've been able
to earn and become through agriculture.
Speaker 2: Wow, OK, we can stop right there.
That was good.
No, that was really good, though.
Seriously, think about that.
I agree with everything you just said too.
By the way.
One of the things I like to tell people when you're on the
podcast or when they're listening to the podcast, is
practice R2A2.
You might share this with your kids R2A2.
share this with your kids R2A2.
Recognize, relate, assimilate and apply.
Recognize what somebody says, try to relate to it, take it in
and then apply it.
And already, just in your gratefulness, you shared
aspirations as a young person, the fact that you've worked hard
for something, the fact that you appreciate that you're
getting to live the dream that you had.
All of that already is a great start.
So thank you so much for sharing.
Speaker 3: Thank you, I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: I know that before we got started, you and I were
talking a little bit about what you do, and so why don't we
start there and why don't you take us kind of on a journey of
kind of where you started, which led you into the role that you
have now?
Because something tells me you did not just fall into that
chair.
Something tells me.
Speaker 3: There was a journey that took place.
Speaker 2: So walk us through that.
Tell us how you got to where you're at today.
Speaker 3: Walk us through that, tell us how you got to where
you're at today.
So, like I said before, I was not a typical agricultural
person I don't know what the right term would be but I had
the here and there experiences.
I learned and it's so crazy because my mom always brings it
up like she never really realized what an impact this was
going to be in my life.
I started in high school.
Like I said, my all my parents are both my parents are
educators.
So at the time that was when dual enrollment became a thing
and there was a lot of campuses down here in the valley that
were starting their programs, one of them being Progresso High
School, which is where my mom worked for 32 years.
So my eighth grade summer that program took off and she kind of
made the executive decision.
She said you know what?
You're not going to go to West Laco High with all your friends,
you're going to move to Progresso with me and those that
are familiar with Progresso.
There is a very big difference between West Laco and Progresso
and those that are familiar with Progreso.
There is a very big difference between West Laco and Progreso
and it was a culture shock.
I had always been around the town because my mom had worked
there forever, like long, long time.
She retired 33 years later.
But I was like, ok, after I had my moment I said you know what?
I'm going to go to school there .
The dual enrollment program you say is going to be good for me.
I'll try it out.
So we went through the dual enrollment program.
I started going with them to South Texas College and it was
really unique because we were like guinea pigs.
We were the first 25 students to go through the program so we
would attend like actual college classes on campus.
They bus us to and from and we went fall, spring and summer one
.
So I started taking college classes my eighth grade summer
and at the time it was it was a lot but I pushed through and it
was really hard on me because I also did cheer.
I did a lot of extracurricular activities and one of the things
that I got interested in through my high school best
friend was she's like hey, you have the morning block open, why
don't you take an ad class?
And I was like what is an ad class?
I don't know what that is and she's like it's about
agriculture, but you'll be fine because we can take it together
and high school girl mentality was like okay, bestie, time will
be, will be great.
And so I enrolled in that ag class and I met my ag teacher,
mr Gary Dominguez, and it kind of was just like a light
switched on.
I've always been very vocal, very I had the leadership skills
, I think, for like cheer and dance, and I was in GT, so I had
like the brains.
I just didn't put it to any other potential other than
school and I started to get involved.
I always say bless his dear heart, because he had a chapter
full of girls, high school girls , that he had to wrangle and we
weren't crazy, but we were a lot and he, he would take us
anywhere and everywhere.
He became like a second father figure to me.
Um, my parents now they always talk about how grateful they are
for him.
He's a great family friend of ours now.
Um, and it was something that I just started to do and I've I'm
the my mom says I have the oldest daughter syndrome.
Like I just kind of have a little, a little bit of
extraness to me when it comes to leadership stuff and I never
really asked her to do stuff, I just said I'm going to.
So he gave me the opportunity to show rabbits.
I had no idea what you do when you show rabbits, but he walked
us through it and I made sale at our County show and I was
hooked.
I was like, okay, this is cool, like I'm good at this too, and
so I started running for office.
I started doing contests, um, and I just became super
saturated in everything it is and I became very, very close
with him like a right hand, learned a lot of his tips and
trades.
And then he told me about where he went to school.
He's like I went to the university of Kingsville.
They have an ag ed program and I said okay.
I said that sounds great.
I said I want to do that, so went as far as to like plan out
my schedule.
We looked at things online.
Now my mom is going to correct me when she hears this, but this
is honest truth.
She was not ready to let go.
Her plan for me knew I wanted to be a teacher, I just didn't
know what type.
And then I just it clicked.
I said I want to be an ag teacher.
And she's like but you can stay here and go to UTRGV and be
close to home and all of this and she's like and you still
have to finish like your bachelor's, you're not done with
your associates.
Because I was also working towards that still.
And so she ended up saying like no, like you're gonna wait, I'm
not sure.
And it crushed me because I had this all planned out in my head
like it was, I was ready to go.
And so she's like let's finish at UTRGV and then I'll see how
you I feel about you going into the spring.
So I started that plan and they realized you're already have
your associates, there's nothing else you can do here.
I said, well, great, that's, that's awesome.
So I took like a mini summer off, I guess, or fall off, and I
continue to work towards that.
I say, you know, mom, this is what I really want to do.
She said, okay, if you want to do that, I'm going to relinquish
you.
So we got all my stuff transferred to King'sville.
I ended up going in like as a sophomore junior and she, I kind
of just got dumped headfirst into everything and I took it
all in.
I took my animal science classes, I got all of that stuff
done and I just became really, really excited about agriculture
and I was so excited to share a lot of it with my ag teacher.
He guided me through everything and it was just something that
really opened my eyes because I knew what agriculture was from
our small chapter.
But seeing that it was people's jobs like this is what they do,
it amazed me.
And I was able.
I was one of the youngest in our group and I was able to go
get mentored at a lot of the big schools at the time, like
Orange Grove.
I did observation at Orange Grove.
They were a machine like they still are a machine, but got to
see them train teams and run a program.
And then I worked under Frances Nelson at Cal Allen and she I
tell everyone she was the one that taught me that ladies can
be a boss.
I went in when she was having her last daughter and she the
first day cause I started in January, mid Nueces County heat.
She was very heavily pregnant, like she was getting ready to go
maternity leave, and there she is pushing steers through the
chute and I was like you know what I can do that Like, if
she's pregnant and doing all this stuff, I'm okay, cause I
was still kind of nervous, cause I you get to meet all those
people in college.
You're like my grandpa's had a ranch for 50 years and I'm like
I live in a neighborhood and I have three dogs like that was.
That was my closest tie.
All my experience was through my little county and stuff like
that, and so I learned a lot with Francis and through that
program and I really, really that that got me ready to go.
So I graduated when I was 20.
I never I tell my my kids now is like I I love dual enrollment
, but I didn't live the college you see in on TV.
I was so and I think it made me the teacher I am today.
Because I was so hyper focused, because I was ready to go.
I only had so many hours I could do and so I graduated at
20.
And I started looking for a job which I wanted to move back home
.
I knew I wanted to be close to home and I always tell everyone
I had to GPS my way to my first job because I never heard of the
town before.
Um, I think you're familiar with it because I feel like I've
seen you post from Port Mansfield before.
But my first job was in San Francisco, texas, population 501
, like very, very small, and my ag teacher had heard about the
position and he's like I think you should apply.
And I said it's a single teacher department.
What do you want me to do?
Like I had just mentored under one of the biggest programs with
four other teachers.
He's like no, you'll be fine, apply.
So I GPS my way, go to the interview.
And I just remember pulling up and I was like, wow, this,
there's literally one light in this town.
There's no Starbucks, there's no gas stations, there's no
McDonald's.
Like it's 20 minutes from anything and if you're going to
Port Mansfield you'll miss it.
People.
I always tell people you know the blinking light where you can
turn left.
That's where we were.
I interviewed, I got the position and I'm probably the I
think I'm the first female ag teacher they had and they're
probably the youngest and I I kind of went to work and I
always tell teachers that are starting out you have to start
somewhere and you've got to learn somewhere.
And so I learned a lot with my kids.
I got hired.
One week later I was taking these kids to say convention had
never met them before.
We loaded them in a van.
I'm only a few years older than a lot of these kids to say
convention had never met them before we loaded them in a van.
I'm only a few years older than a lot of these kids, so we grew
together and my San Prelita chapter is one of my favorite
chapters that I have in my life because it was eight years of me
growing myself in a program and so it's a really small county,
willisee County.
We got in there and I had a lot of.
I followed a very tenured teacher so it was scary because
that guy had been there forever and I started to get to work.
We did a lot of the leadership stuff.
We opened those doors to kids to do contests.
Um, it was a big show community so I learned a lot about other
show species.
Um, I showed pigs through high school but I learned about, I
learned to do different things with the different animals, like
the goats, the lambs.
I had to.
I was the only teacher.
So it was a lot of trial and error and that's something I
always tell people don't be scared to try.
You mess up one time, you can figure it out, you learn from it
.
And it was a really good experience for me because I got
to do everything.
I taught shop, I did horticulture, I did that,
lifestyle classes.
I did all of the, the SAE projects with the animals and,
um, even doing like the leadership.
That was something that I feel like I left my mark there with
that, because those kids only knew show.
They didn't know what else FFA has to offer.
And I feel like that's where some chapters are at a
disadvantage, because it's not just about livestock, it's about
the leadership that you get from being an FFA member.
You got to take advantage of everything and so we ended up
having I really really loved it there.
It was my favorite, like I I said my favorite chapter in my
history and we had kids that I took my first team to state
there.
Um, my livestock judging team placed fourth at area.
Who made it to state.
That was like one of my top tier.
You made it moments, um, and my eye teacher was even like damn,
like you haven't even been teaching that long.
That's not fair.
And I was like, well, I was a nerd.
We put the work in, we got it done.
We had a lot of mentorship that helped get there.
I got to experience a lot of firsts with them, all my firsts.
But I went to national convention with one of my girls
I don't know if you remember way back when um god, I don't know
what year it was she was the talent contestant at state
convention.
That's staying, selena Carson.
Speaker 1: That was my kid.
Speaker 3: Yes, she, she was one of mine and she, she won state
and we went to national convention.
She competed at national.
So she gave me that opportunity and it was a really good
experience with that.
And so it started to grow into a monster, I say because our
program got so popular.
There was only so much to do there, but it became a very big
project.
And I got the opportunity from one of the teachers that moved
to IDEA.
She said look, this is what we're trying to do.
It's at a public, it's at a charter school, but I think
you'd be a good fit for the program.
So she invited me in, I interviewed, I got a position
and we started working together to build this program.
She moved on to another school because she got an opening at
our hometown chapter and I said understood, I got, that's an
opportunity of a lifetime to teach where you grow.
Understood, that's an opportunity of a lifetime to
teach where you grow.
And so it kind of left me in a space where I was very nervous
because Idea did not know what they were doing.
They were relying on us to kind of build this program.
They knew what they wanted, but the work had to be put in, yes.
So I started putting my head down and getting to work with a
group of eighth grade kids that knew nothing about agriculture,
but what I've ever told them, and I told myself you need to
make them fall in love with it, like Mr D made you fall in love
with it.
And so we talked about it in class.
We started.
I told him.
I said this is a two-year commitment.
If we're going to charter, I need you guys on board.
And so they said okay, we're ready.
So it was five girls, five eighth grade girls, and we went
through the process of chartering and it's 15 steps.
You got to meet all your deadlines.
I was dealing with Gwen, who was a godsend, and then it came
time to the site visit.
And they said, okay, they're going to send the big wigs from
FFA to see if you guys got it.
And I said, okay, how do we prepare?
And they're like, we'll just touch these touch points, which
I feel is like a test to you to see what you can do.
And so I said, okay, we got to hit XYZ girls and she's like,
but you can't help them, they have to know the knowledge they
have to put together the presentation.
I was like, okay, great.
So we we grinded those five girls really worked at it, we
learned everything, we competed in everything and we kind of
shook it up because we were the first idea to get that program
going.
And in our, in our inaugural year, we had a really good run.
We had one of our eighth graders end up being a top five
in the state and finalists for Spanish Crete as an eighth
grader.
Speaker 2: Wow.
Speaker 3: That that was wild.
She was officially the youngest contestant that year and
everyone's like are you lost?
They said no, she's going into semi-finals heat.
But she ended up top five and then we also were top four in
the area for horse judging and went to state that year.
So we hit state two years in our first year it was.
It was a very powerful moment but it was also scary because I
was like, oh no, what are we doing?
But we chartered and it's just been hitting the ground running
from there.
We've.
We've grown to be from one eye teacher to we're at four now
with about a little under 350 members, and we've just been
moving and grooving since so it's called idea yes, it's
through the idea public school system and it's a charter school
Speaker 2: yes, sir and you started with one now you're four
, yes, and you started with eight kids.
Is that what you said?
Speaker 3: so we had.
We had eighth graders, so they were in eighth grade.
Okay, we had, and it's so.
I've been having a moment all all week because we started back
to school.
They're juniors now, but they were my founding.
We're the aggies also, that's our, our school mascot.
So they're my founding aggies and my principal's like okay,
here's your principles about class go.
And so I taught the basic principles of ag class to eighth
graders who had never been in ag.
It's a very urban place where I'm at, we're kind of between
Mission and Palmview, but I had to fuel those kids to understand
what FFA was and what all they have to do, and it's a very
heavily Hispanic area.
So when we first started out, I got the typical like we don't
look like them, this isn't, this isn't us.
And I always tell them, I joke with them, because my mom's
Hispanic, my dad's white.
I'm like I'm half offended but I feel you.
So I understand and so I said if we're going to join them,
we're going to beat them.
And so we got it, we got into it and we we've been very
competitive ever since.
I've raised little monsters because now they feel like
they're the best at everything.
But I'd rather them be confident and wanting to try
because there's I've learned also to never turn them away
from a contest.
We're going to try everything and figure it out.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, that's life right.
You're helping them understand that it's a big world out there
and you don't need to be afraid of it.
And the other thing that I like is Dr Gordon Davis.
He's the gentleman that made the big contribution to Texas
Tech ICEV.
They named you know it's the Davis College of Agriculture now
.
But I love what Dr Davis says.
He tells everybody it's okay to win.
It's okay to win, and I think it's great that you're willing
to tell your kids it's okay to win.
Nobody's handed it to you, nobody's given it to you.
You're going to earn it.
But guess what?
If you earn it, it's okay to win.
Speaker 3: And they've.
They've really enjoyed it.
They've become super competitive.
And it made me happy because when we first started a lot of
them were like, well, I'm not, so, not.
So they ran show, which is what they would say, like I'm not
from the farm, not from a ranch, and I said neither am I I.
I said I lived in a neighborhood, I I had to buy my
first show shirt in high school to show my pig, because I had
never, I'd never, done a livestock show.
And so I said I'm the same as you.
I'm not, I'm not come from any kind of big corporation of
agriculture history.
I wish I did.
And so it kind of relaxes and eases them in.
Because that was my first thought when I first moved there
.
I said we're at a disadvantage because it's not a school set up
for an act program.
We didn't have a facility.
Um, it was just a typical school.
We're in an urban area.
There's not a lot of farmland or anything around there for us
to go off of.
I'm gonna have to teach these kids what agriculture is and
teach them to love it.
And they truly have fallen in love with agriculture and it's
just so crazy to see those eighth graders now as juniors,
where they're at and what they're capable of.
Two of those girls that started with me in eighth grade have
become district officers.
They both wanted to go on track to be area officers.
Become district officers.
They both wanted to go on track to be area officers.
It's just, there's been a lot of growth and I'm starting to
see the hard works of what we did so for the people that are
listening.
Speaker 2: You're hearing this incredible conversation and
you're hearing about South Texas .
I want to kind of put that in context for people that are not
familiar with South Texas.
Yes, a lot of times people say I say, have you ever been to
South Texas?
They said yes, I've been to San Antonio.
And I said now, wait a second.
I said let me help you understand that from San Antonio
to Progreso, which is where Kat's at right, from San Antonio
down, that far is right at four hours, it's right at 260 miles.
Now to put this in even more context from where I live in
North Texas to Progreso is nine hours, it's over 600 miles.
And so when we talk about South Texas, the Rio Grande Valley,
the Grandísimo Valle, you're talking about a stretch of land
that goes right along the Texas-Mexico border and it's
just lined with all of these great cities McAllen, west, laco
, mercedes, donna all the way down.
It just goes all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico and it's
just an incredible part of Texas .
If you've never experienced it, I highly recommend it.
It's just a special place and I love talking about the Valley
because I've enjoyed so much getting to know the people, the
culture, the food, the la familia, the family connection,
food, the la familia, the family connection.
So I think all of that is important because when we're
listening to you describe your students and describe some of
those mental hurdles that they may have to get over, they have
to have a mentor that helps them see beyond the city limits,
that sees beyond the county, and I think that's kind of what
you're lending to their discussion, is you're helping
them see a bigger worldview.
Speaker 3: And I don't think I had ever put it into perspective
until we started to expand and leave.
A lot of my kids have never been outside of the Valley.
When I love the Valley also because something I've learned
to love being in that part, because obviously I'm from the
Valley, but we are also the citrus capital where, where,
where you find all of your citrus it's probably come from
down here, and so I started to tie those connections to kids
and I didn't realize just how much we were opening doors until
we started to go to different events.
Some of the only times my students have been out of the
valley have been with FFA.
We've traveled to Texas A&M.
We've traveled to Texas Tech they love Texas Tech, by the way
but they had never been past McAllen, they had never seen
outside of the valley and I really enjoyed opening those
opportunities to them.
Because now I smile and smirk when they talk to other kids
Because like, yes, that one time I went to tech and we judged
horse judging, like they think they're the coolest things now
because they've seen so much.
But for some of my students that have never experienced
anything like that, for them now to be like I think I can go to
school here, Like that's where I'm like, OK, we're doing
something right, they can see what they can do.
Not that nothing's available for them in the valley, but I
wanted them to open doors and I wanted them to see what they're
capable of.
Speaker 2: Man, that's good, that's real good.
Man, that's good, that's real good.
No-transcript.
Speaker 3: Like I mentioned before, I always tie back to
being open, and one of the biggest blessings I have in my
life is the fact that I didn't grow up in agriculture, but now
my life revolves around it.
I had mentioned before, or I haven't mentioned it yet, but my
husband's also an ag teacher, so we're a family of ag teachers
.
Speaker 2: So you were telling me a little bit about your
husband and go ahead and keep going from there.
Speaker 3: Yes, sir.
So he's also an ag teacher.
We met in college, going through the ag science program
there at Kingsville, and I've learned how important support is
through him because he's been there so much throughout my
whole entire career.
We started dating outside of me first getting my first job.
He was always there for me when I was learning the ropes
because he grew up in a family that was agriculture based.
He grew up with his family owning a cattle business, which
was always a dream of mine because I said I lived in a
neighborhood, didn't have access to that.
So he's really taught me all the things that it takes and the
hard work to own and run a program.
So his support has showed me what opportunities can provide
to people, just knowing that you have somebody in your corner
and knowing that there's always someone there to cheer you on
and help you and teach you what you need to know.
He's always taking the time and I think that's something that
people need to do more of is to teach not only his students but
myself and really just show me that everybody's capable of
anything.
You just have to try.
And so he was one of my, is one of my biggest supporters and
he's helped me get through and do a lot of what we do as a
chapter, and so he's also taught me looking for opportunities
for students and we've been able to figure out and find things
that are available to our students and fit their their
specialties.
So we've figured out the opportunities that open when you
are a good speaker, things learning those leadership skills
that are super important to not just being successful in a
contest but just being a good person.
I think the FFA does such an amazing job of that because it
teaches you those real life world skills.
I feel like every coach says that they're teaching them
lifelong skills and every teacher says they're teaching
them lifelong skills.
But I think this organization goes above and beyond when it
talks about molding our students .
Something my principal always says is I can tell our students
from typical acts or typical ideas students right away,
because our kids know how to shake a hand, they know how to
talk to adults, they know how to advocate for themselves.
They've done so much advocating for themselves in growing our
chapter.
And she says you don't see that , you don't see that in students
outside of this organization, and so I've learned that that
opens a lot of opportunities.
It's not who you know.
It's what you can do and what you bring to the table.
Speaker 2: And success begets success.
So by teaching those kids those little things, they have
success and they're like, wow, igets success.
So by teaching those kids those little things, they have
success and they're like, wow, I had success.
Well, maybe I can have it over here, or maybe I can pursue it
over here.
And then the other thing that I like that you're doing.
One of my favorite quotes from Tony Robbins is he says success
leaves clues, and I love that, because your success, you're
leaving clues for them.
Their success, they're now leaving clues for the kids that
are following in their footsteps and it's just going to keep
getting better and better and better.
So talk leadership with me.
If you could give a kid three leadership skills and say here
are three skills to be successful in life, what would
they be?
Speaker 3: Number one is confidence.
That's something that I lacked and I still lack at times, and
that's why I say support is so important, because I am very
much an overthinker when it comes to things and that's what
limited me sometimes when it comes to putting myself out
there and I kind of have to put myself in a mindset Like my
husband says you've got this, you can do it, just try it, just
try it.
And so I have to.
I have to put myself out there in a lot of ways and I think
kids need to have that confidence.
It's not being cocky, it's not being, it's not saying you're
better than everyone else, it's just having the confidence in
yourself to just take that chance with yourself, do what
you need to do.
So confidence, I feel, is key and I've humbled my kids a lot
because I said you know what?
You're not better than anyone, you're just good.
You got to be better, you can always be better and we always
look for opportunity to grow.
So confidence is one of my best ones.
I also think a good leadership skill to have is going to be
responsibility.
With roles comes a lot of responsibility, and I've learned
that as I've gone through my career is you start to get
offered things.
Like you said, because you're successful, like you know what
you'd be great at this.
Like you said, because you're successful, like you know what
you'd be great at this, you do this and so it's a lot of
responsibility and it's making sure that you're able to not
only be responsible for yourself , but if you're leading others,
you need to be a good leader in that set.
So being able to manage all the things you need to manage and
be responsible for that, I think responsibility is a big
leadership skill to have.
The other one, I would have to say, is going to be
vulnerability.
I think that you need to be open to the ideas of others,
because there's not always going to be.
Your path changes, right.
Like you said, you find clues to what you want to do, and just
the change that I've seen in students has made me realize
they're very vulnerable with me because they don't know what
we're doing.
I tell them to get ready for a contest.
We're leaving in the morning.
They're going to jump in and if they figure it out, they figure
it out.
Be open to it.
Like a lot of them, I always use my Spanish creed eighth grade
Spanish creed contestant as my example.
I talk about this because she was a EB student, meaning
Spanish was her first language.
She wasn't the most confident when I got her, but she wanted
to be active and she comes from a part of Mexico that has a very
heavy diction.
So me, naturally, I was like you know what it's going to be a
challenge because, number one, it's your second language,
you're still learning English.
Number two, you're going to have to overcome that part of
your life, right.
And so I said you know what?
What about Spanish creed?
I said you speak beautiful Spanish.
I said let's take advantage of this, let's let's be vulnerable
and look at it together.
And so I gave her the creed.
She got the creed down and it's .
It was just like a duck to water, like I can listen to her
say the creed every day.
She just has.
It was her passion and they got her to that top five spot as an
eighth grader.
I never thought I would have that, to be able to say that we
had a top five student in our first year chartering.
So that kind of opened her doors to be vulnerable to other
opportunities.
Now she's our chapter president , she's a district officer, she
wants to go to school to become an agricultural recruiter.
She wants to work in agriculture and this is a little
girl if she never was vulnerable, would not have that
opportunity that she has now.
So vulnerability it sounds like a weakness to some, but I think
you need to be open to ideas.
Speaker 2: Every good leader that I deal with and that I
communicate with, that I talk with.
These are the very conversations we have, Because
if you're not willing to be vulnerable, then you might not
be coachable.
Being vulnerable opens you up to be coachable and you know,
sometimes you have to be willing to say critique me, Tell me
what I can do better, Tell me where I might have missed an
opportunity.
And if you're coachable, that being coachable is a sign of
vulnerability and most good leaders have that built into
their DNA.
Speaker 3: And it's been amazing to see her grow into that
leadership role, because she was a girl that didn't really talk
a lot because she felt like she couldn't communicate.
And to see her, she she's told me she's like Ms V, like I want
to do.
This is this, is it.
She's like FFA is my priority, this is where I belong, and so
she's been our biggest advocate for our students to see, like if
Ximena can do it, I can do it, and so she's in her district
leadership role.
I've been just so proud of her because I feel like sometimes
those higher level officers have that reputation where it's like
, oh, it's so-and-so, whose daddy was an FFA and they came
from this such great stock, which doesn't take any away from
the kid, but I feel like it means a little bit more when you
come from somewhere like she does, and you inspire those
other kids, like my kids at Palm Beauty do better.
Speaker 2: Well, I appreciate so much of what you're sharing.
People ask me all the time about all the podcasts that I've
done and the people that I've had the honor of interviewing
and talking to, and they've been great.
But I got to say, when I hear your story, when I hear Kat
Villareal's story, when I hear Justin Reyes's story, when I
hear Archimedes Reyes's story, when I hear Lata Garcia's story
especially three of y'all, because y'all come from the Rio
Grande Valley it is very inspiring.
It's inspiring because of some of the cultural norms that
sometimes become barriers to taking risk, to stepping out, to
trusting others, to finding those clues, and so when I hear
y'all speak and I hear you on your journey, I hope that
teachers and students alike will hear and say, wow, if they do
it, maybe we can do it too.
If Kat can do it and Della Cern has done it who's on the
foundation board?
And all these people that are just extraordinary young leaders
, if they can do it, why can't I do it?
And that's the reason I wanted you on the podcast.
So you know one of the things I like to share with people is
always ask them I said how many high schools are in Texas, and
they always joke and somebody will say a lot yeah, so there's
over 3000 high schools in Texas.
Now think about this over 3000 high schools, how many of them
are going to have a graduating class this coming year?
Every one of them.
That means kids are going to be out looking for a job, a
scholarship or an opportunity.
Question that I ask is what's your competitive edge?
What separates you from the competition?
It could be exactly what you said a while ago firm handshake,
look him in the eye.
Yes or no, sir?
Yes, ma'am, no ma'am.
It could be the fact that you made a connection in Lubbock,
texas, which is miles from the Grand Dix-Saint-Mobilier.
It could be the fact that you went to Texas A&M and made a
connection.
It could be the fact that you went to Austin, texas or Waco,
but the end of the day, students .
So, kat, what I appreciate?
Something else that you're saying?
This is just my soapbox.
I tell the adults our job as adults, our job is to create
opportunities.
That's our job.
And then I look at the kids and I say your job is to determine
the outcome.
You're not entitled to anything .
We're going to do everything we can to encourage you, equip you
and empower you, but at the end of the day, you've got to
determine the outcome.
You have to find your competitive edge and I just
think it's great that teachers like you are out there pushing
these kids.
Tell them don't see hurdles, don't see boundaries, look for
opportunities, work hard, be responsible and get it done and
next thing you know, they could be the next podcast interview on
the Growing Our Future podcast.
Speaker 3: And I think competitive edge is such a
controversial topic with kids these days because their idea of
competitive edge is what they already have within them, like
oh well, I know this because I grew up doing this and whatever
that they feel like that entitles them to a competitive
edge.
But seeing my kids come from nothing to what they've done,
you grow your competitive edge and you have to create it and
it's something that it's open to everyone, like I always told my
kids when we first started, I said everybody wears the same
jacket.
Everybody is where you're at.
You are all on the same page.
I said how bad do you want it?
You got to put yourself in the game and it's just locking in
and getting things done.
And that's something that I've been very blessed to have so
many mentors in my life that have showed me the opportunities
.
But it just means and I know every ag advisor thinks their
kids are the best but my kids have come from nothing and
anytime we would go into scenarios where we're going to
state contests or an area contest they have that minute,
like every kid does, where they're like oh no, what am I
doing?
And I said you're meant to be here.
You need to get to work, do what you need to do, and they've
made my career what it is, and I take no credit other than just
being that ag teacher that's there to not let them turn
around because I said I was you.
I, I know what it's like to feel like you didn't come from your
sister showing livestock all your life.
You your first contest was a district contest.
You didn't.
You never knew anything about it.
And that's my favorite part of watching them grow is because,
when the history and everything comes down to it, people on
paper and like, wow, these kids are so successful.
But it's like if you only knew that they had no idea what FFA
was before they took an ad class , you would be amazed.
Speaker 2: Well, I mean, life's not a solo project.
You're helping them understand that.
You're helping them, that you have to be looking to know, like
you said, you've got somebody there helping you build the
confidence.
You've got people that are willing to help you.
But you've got to be looking.
You've got to be working on developing your skills so that
when the time comes to win that you can win because you're
willing to outwork somebody.
That was your competitive edge.
So that's why I say I enjoy these conversations so much and
they're not complicated conversations.
These are not complicated ideas .
It's like I tell people it's what you got inside called want
to.
You got to have a little want to and when you can find a
person like you or a mentor or somebody that pulls that want to
out of us, it's hard to stop somebody that's committed to
greatness.
So keep doing what you're doing .
I just want to thank you.
Okay, before we leave, you get one fun question.
Everybody gets a fun question.
Speaker 3: Okay, I'm ready.
Speaker 2: Ready.
What's the best concert you've ever been to?
Speaker 3: The best concert I've ever been to.
That's a tough one.
Well, I have to think about that one for a little while.
Oh, I know what, it is OK.
So the best concert I've ever been to was actually my first
concert.
So this was back in the day I was in elementary school and
this is where I told my parents I said all the signs were there,
like I was meant to be a country kid, you guys.
Just I was misplaced at birth or something.
And because now my mom talks about it and she's always like
man, if I would have known you would have taken this seriously,
I would have bought you that steer, I would have bought you a
heifer, you would have been everywhere.
And I said you know what, mom?
I think it makes my story even that much better, because I see
all these people that are so successful and they become ag
teachers and they're just these powerhouses and I sometimes I'm
like I'm not going to get there, but I'm like it gives me that
edge to show my kids you know what, you can do it.
And I love country music since I was little and my favorite
artist was Alan Jackson.
I loved Alan Jackson and he was coming to the Rio Grande Valley
, and this was back in the day when you couldn't buy your
tickets online and you couldn't do all that right, and I was
begging my dad.
I said, please, please, please, I want to go.
He's like what do you want to go see?
I said I just I like country music and my dad is a hardcore
rocker, beach boy type vibe, which I love that side of me too
but country was where it was at and he surprised me and he
spent all day on the phone with Ticketmaster and bought me
tickets to Alan Jackson and it was my first concert I was ever
gonna go to and I remember my dad buying the CD and he's like,
okay, we, we got to know these songs, like I got to know them
too, and so it became this kind of passion that we had together
and to this day we we fell in love with Alan Jackson together
and it was just him and I was my first thing me and my dad did
alone.
He took me to the concert and our song has always been the
song Drive.
He took me to the concert and our song has always been the
song drive.
And he says that that's our relationship, because I did not
want to let you go.
I didn't want you to drive.
And he's like and now look where you've driven, to look
what you've become.
And so he, that is a very special moment to me and I not
only it's my first concert, but it was the one that was most
special to me because he's getting up there in age, we're
getting up there in age, and he's always like remember,
that's the first concert I took you to and he'll put, he'll
request that song when we're hanging out and barbecuing, and
he, it's a very special tie to me it's's beautiful and I
appreciate you sharing that and I know your dad's very proud of
you.
Speaker 2: Thank you, that's a beautiful connection that you
have.
You know, I lost my dad when I was 10 years old and caused a
lot of problems for me.
I got sent to a boy's rank because of it, but thankfully
God put other people in my life that kind of took on some of
that role.
But when I became a dad I can tell you I've drug my kids to
everything.
I've spoiled them.
I've made them go to.
They've got yeah, they've got to see more concerts than most
kids see in a lifetime.
But to your point, I did that because I want what you just
described and I hope one day my kids look back and say you know
what I remember, we got to do those things and I hope they
cherish them as much as you do.
Speaker 3: And we had that conversation.
It's funny that it comes up.
We had that conversation just the other day because I'm older,
I don't live at home, but I live near them and me and my
husband spend a lot of time golfing with him and stuff.
And we were having lunch one time after around and he said I
gave you a lot of opportunities, right.
And I was like where's this coming from?
And he's like I was a good dad.
I said yes, you were a great dad.
And he's like I took you here.
We did this.
I said, dad, it was never about where you took me, it was just
the fact that we were doing things as a family.
We did this together.
And he's like I just want to know that I did enough and I
don't need to do anymore.
And I said no, I said you're great Like retire, retire, live
your life Like you're good.
But I think that's such a special connection is just the
opportunities that your parents give you.
They don't ever realize what they're doing and I I know it's
something that you, you mold your children, but it's my
parents always tell me we had no idea, like we had no idea this
is where you were gonna end up.
But we're so.
We're so thankful.
Um, they enjoy our, my lifestyle so much more.
Now.
My, my dad, is a chancla cowboy what me and my husband call him.
He loves to come out to the ranch and whenever we go out of
town he's like I'll check the cows, I'll do all this.
He eats it up.
He loves it.
So, him and my husband.
He's taught my, my husband's got to give him so many
opportunities too, and it's just opened a whole new door to our
family.
Like we never thought that this was where I would end up.
I I always thought I knew I was going to be a teacher.
I love that part, I love education, but being an ag
teacher has made me, made my life what it is.
Speaker 2: Well, let me tell you , um, uh, I'm honored to know
you, um, I'm glad that our paths have crossed several times and,
um, that we were able to make this happen, and I appreciate
you sharing your heart, your dreams, the challenges, but all
these little steps along the way that have put you where you're
at, so that you can pour into the kids that are in your care.
I find all that inspiring and I want to wish you the best and
don't ever hesitate to call If we can ever be of assistance.
We're always just one phone call away.
Speaker 3: I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: All right.
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for stopping by for the Growing
Our Future podcast.
You can see why I told you Kat was going to be a great
interview and I hope you found some seeds of greatness there.
I sure did, and remember we've got to plant them.
You know, if agriculture has taught me anything.
If you want to know what the future is, grow it.
You got to plant them.
You've got to take care of them , you got to harvest them and
then you got to share them.
And Kat just told us that entire story.
Speaker 1: And it was beautiful.
Speaker 2: So until we meet again, everybody go out, do
something great for somebody.
You'll feel good about it and in the process you might just
make our world a better place to live, work and raise our kids.
Thank you for joining us.
Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the
Growing Our Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthen agricultural science education
so students can develop their potential for personal growth,
career success and leadership in a global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.