93
Let’s hear the story of Nebraska, its communities, its number one industry Agriculture, and the people who make it happen. Sponsored by Nebraska's Law Firm® - Rembolt Ludtke.
93
Isabella Jacobsen--Engler trained, Nebraska focused
In this episode we visit with Isabella Jacobsen, the latest edition to the Rembolt Ludtke team. Isabella has a strong background in 4-H and FFA and attended the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study Animal Science and where she became active in the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program. Isabella excelled at the University of Nebraska College of Law and was a member of the National Moot Court Team. Isabella is a member of the Rembolt litigation team and looks forward to representing clients in all 93 of Nebraska's counties.
Nebraska. It's not just a place, but a way of life. It's 93 countries that are home to innovative individuals. Caring to do it. It's a story that's to be told. Welcome to 93, the podcast.
SPEAKER_02:Welcome to 93, the podcast. I'm Mark Falson, your host for today's episode, brought to you by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Latte. Today we're visiting with one of the newest members of the Rembolt Latte team, someone whose journey to Nebraska to attend the University of Nebraska Lincoln through the Ingler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program and the University of Nebraska College of Law, and now in private practice of law is a story of grit and purpose. Isabella Jacobson, welcome to the podcast. It's great to have you with us.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, thank you for having me on today, Mark.
SPEAKER_02:All right, give us your background.
SPEAKER_00:Okay, so I'm actually not originally from Nebraska.
SPEAKER_02:However, we're happy to have you, by the way.
SPEAKER_00:I've absolutely loved being here. Um I was originally in FFA and 4-H growing up and showed cattle and livestock and ended up deciding to come out here because Nebraska's the beef state. And as an animal It is, correct? Yeah. And as an animal science major um in undergrad, I was really interested in beef cattle and feedlot management and also the Angler program, which I was a part of while I was pursuing my degree.
SPEAKER_02:So what was your favorite class in the animal science department?
SPEAKER_00:So my favorite class in the animal science department had to have been animal production skills with Brian Ryling and Benny Moat. That class was probably the most practical class you can take in animal science. Um, it was kind of a hodgepodge of everything. We learned to back a uh stock trailer, which if you hadn't had experience.
SPEAKER_02:Did you teach a college class on how to do that?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, it's an entire college class on how to back a stock trailer, how to ferrow pigs, how to drive a forklift. Um, the most random assortment of activities that you could take.
SPEAKER_02:And where did you do those at?
SPEAKER_00:We did them all in the animal science department. So we learned to back the forklift in the arena that they do the horse riding in. Hilarious story, actually. One of the students in the class, when he was getting in the forklift, he actually shattered the door window, like the glass on the door, got all of the glass in the sand in the arena. I have absolutely no clue how they got that out.
SPEAKER_02:You know, if R.B. Warren, I know that he predates you by many, many years, had he been alive and that happened, I think someone would have died, actually.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, I I feel like being over there, if I had my horse in that arena, I'd be like, oh, we need to get this glass out of here immediately.
SPEAKER_02:So as part of your undergrad, you mentioned you were in the Engler program. What's the Engler program?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So the Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program is a minor program here at the university that focuses on fostering entrepreneurial spirit in students. As a part of the program, you work really closely with the directors to build businesses, but maybe less so build businesses and build the skills you need to be an entrepreneur in Nebraska or any state really.
SPEAKER_02:So did you start a business?
SPEAKER_00:I did start a business while I was in the program. I didn't really know that I had a business idea or what I was gonna do. I grew up working with my family businesses and kind of just creating mini businesses. So I was like, I know I want to do this, but why? And after COVID, I started baking a ton. And when I got back to school, I gave some to my friends and they were like, you should sell these, like baked goods. And I was like, I don't know about that. I took some baked goods to the professors over in the Engler program, and they were like, Yeah, you should sell these. So I ended up starting a bakery while I was an undergrad.
SPEAKER_02:What was the name of the bakery?
SPEAKER_00:It was called Home to Heart Bakery.
SPEAKER_02:So I'm often told by Engler grads that one of the things you have to answer is, What is your why? What was your why?
SPEAKER_00:My why was really, how can I make the people around me happy and feel fulfilled? It was kind of a weird way to say it, but you know, coming to Nebraska, not being from here, it was very easy to feel homesick. I'm super close with my family. I've always been interested in being outside and working with livestock. And so not doing that initially when I came here was really hard. So my why for my business particularly was how can I bring that feeling of home to people that maybe aren't home or maybe don't have that here? So that kind of drove me to create the business I did.
SPEAKER_02:Did you ever have a chance to meet the late Paul Engler?
SPEAKER_00:I did. I got to meet Paul at our senior send-off my last year. And it was, he is a very inspirational person. His story, getting to see his background, and just his spirit bleeds into the program. So it's amazing to see so many new generations of entrepreneurs follow in his footsteps.
SPEAKER_02:What were some of the key milestones or courses you found especially impactful as part of the Engler program?
SPEAKER_00:So two courses in particular. I think all of the classes in Engler really help set you up for success. But any class you can take with Tom Field particular is just going to push you even further. And who's Tom? Tom is the director of the program. So he was chosen by Paul to kind of run and direct all of the students within the program. And I like to say that any talk with Tom is kind of like an inspirational speech. You feel like you're talking to a motivational coach rather than a teacher or a professor. So he runs the program and kind of keeps everyone going together.
SPEAKER_02:I would agree with you on all that. He's a great individual. So often we learn best from our mistakes. Were there any mistakes in your business that you perhaps gained some lessons from?
SPEAKER_00:Definitely. So now looking back as an attorney to how I operated my business as an undergrad student, I realize I was not doing things kind of by the book. If you've known anything about food law or cottage food law in the state, it's kind of tricky. You have to know what permits you need and what permissions you need. And so I didn't really have all that down when I first started. It took a lot of trial and error to figure out what I am doing? How can I make sure that I'm doing this properly? And how can I make sure that both I'm providing a really great product, but I'm also protecting my business and myself personally as I do it.
SPEAKER_02:Is the bakery still operational?
SPEAKER_00:So I no longer operate the bakery. Why not? So I did my last wedding where I catered for a 300-person wedding in um Roka, my first year of law school. And let me tell you, trying to balance reading 60 pages for contracts while also making a three-tier cake and a couple hundred cupcakes was a little more than I could handle at the time. So I decided to step back from the business and just be able to use baking as an outlet for fun and relaxation and stress release.
SPEAKER_02:Where did you do your baking at?
SPEAKER_00:So during different phases of my business, I baked in different locations. I started baking in my apartment kitchen in downtown Lincoln, my little studio apartment that had approximately one counter, I would roll out my dozens of cinnamon rolls on. And eventually I worked on baking at my home kitchen in Waverly, where I live now. And at different points, I also rented out commercial kitchens to operate and bake out of.
SPEAKER_02:Did you ever have any employees?
SPEAKER_00:Um, during the summer of my junior to senior year, I worked out of a coffee shop and sold there on the weekends. And I maintained one employee who would come and help me just kind of run the front area and help me kind of push things forward while we were going.
SPEAKER_02:So while you were operating your bakery and go working your way through the Engler program, I assume you had the opportunity to see other students and some of the cool things that they were doing. Are there any of those that really stood out to you?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So there is a surprising amount of people running businesses out of the Engler program. Um the Engler program consistently is pushing out students who build businesses that really touch all areas of the state of Nebraska. So if you look at like Hannah Esch, for example, with her cattle company Oak Barn Beef, where they focus on direct-to-consumer beef sales, that was a really inspirational person to look up to when I was going through the program because she kind of took this concept of direct-to-consumer sales when it was still fairly early in the commercial sphere. Not many people were doing it at the time. She built it and made a super successful company that's really interesting to see because you get to watch, first of all, a female founded company, which is inspirational to look at as a female business owner. And then also just how she navigated the sphere of selling from her small town in Nebraska to cities like Lincoln and Omaha and surrounding areas.
SPEAKER_02:Do you think you'll ever pick the bakery back up and actually make it a business again?
SPEAKER_00:Um, I've contemplated that from time to time. I think the biggest thing for me was that I bake to give people that feeling of warmth and joy. And so I loved doing it at the business, but it started to feel a bit monotonous. And I was doing it for the money rather than the feeling that I was getting. And so I stepped back from that to do more of the legal work helping business owners. And that became a lot more relaxing and fulfilling again. Um, I have contemplated stepping into it at some point with family members or friends, but as of right now, the plans to run a bakery business are pretty, pretty minimal or in the future.
SPEAKER_02:In what ways did the your participation in the Ingler program uh affect or change your career trajectory, what you wanted to do?
SPEAKER_00:Yeah. So I came into um undergrad not fully knowing what I wanted to do.
SPEAKER_02:I grew up wanting to You're the first college student, by the way, that's ever said that.
SPEAKER_00:I know. It's so common. Every, I feel like every animal science student you talk to, at least half of them are gonna say they wanted to be a veterinarian. And for me, that was very true. I was ready to be a large animal veterinarian, you know, be like Dr. Pol on Nat Geo and take that in stride. But I took chemistry and I was like, oh, maybe I don't want to do Ochem for another rest of my life. Um and I had to pivot and figure out what I wanted to do, and I had no clue. Starting my business in Angler and getting to work with Dave Lamb, Brennan, Tom Field, Michelle really opened my eyes. And there's so many areas that are really impactful that I could go into. Um, having the business with them, I was able to figure out okay, I like baking, but the legal complexities that come with running of business are kind of something that you have no clue about unless you spend some time really digging into it. And that digging into it was the most fun part. And so because I started that business, because I started doing that, I started to go down the pathline of maybe law school would be a good choice. I could combine my business knowledge, my ag background, and a little bit of everything to build a really fun career that I think will be way more fulfilling.
SPEAKER_02:So if you could go back to your pre-Engler self, is there anything you would tell yourself at that stage?
SPEAKER_00:So looking back before starting Angler, before becoming really involved in Angler, I sat into the classes and I was like, I don't have a business, you know, I don't really have my the family business that I plan on running. So I don't really know where I fit into this whole thing. You know, so many of the companies that go into Angler, they're very ag focused, and or you have a thousand acres that you're going back to farm. And I just didn't have that background. So I was, I felt a little lost. But I found out more as I went through it. Like I would go back and tell myself, you know, you don't have to know what the next step is. You don't have to know, you know, in five years, I'm going to be running this company and I'm going to be advancing this idea. You just have to be willing to take that jump, to take an idea and just kind of run with it. And it's okay to fail. It's okay to need to turn around. Tom always says, if you're going to fail, fail fast and you know, be willing to pivot, be willing to change. And so I would go back and tell myself that because I think, especially as a freshman, your the idea is like, oh, failing is like the worst thing. If I fail, I don't know what I'm supposed to do. So to kind of maybe embrace it a little bit more and be willing to kind of just take those wild ideas for a run and see what happens.
SPEAKER_02:So tell us about your law school education. Where'd you go?
SPEAKER_00:I went to the University of Nebraska College of Law.
SPEAKER_02:And uh well, wait, let's go to that first year. How was the first year of law school?
SPEAKER_00:The first year of law school was pretty rough. Um, I know you've probably talked to some college students who say you don't do a ton of reading in undergrad. Um, I was able to get by with like studying and going through a lot of that. So going into law school where it's like, okay, here's a hundred pages you need to read this week, and you're gonna get cold-culled in front of all these people you don't really know was terrifying. Um, also, the fact that you go from a lot of these students go from being the smartest person in the room to now you're in a room full of the smartest people in the room and you're like, oh my gosh, the imposter syndrome was real.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, no, no, I I have no doubt I was the dumbest member of my law school class. There's no doubt in my mind.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, definitely. Whenever I look back at it, I'm like, oh my gosh, these people like are so accomplished. You're sitting next to these, these individuals who have built businesses or who have established careers. Um, and you look at them and you're like, where do I fit in in all of this? And so that was probably the hardest part of law school was balancing this workload, but also just trying to feel like you actually had a place at the school because you had earned that spot.
SPEAKER_02:It's my understanding you maybe received an award or two in law school. What awards did you receive in law school?
SPEAKER_00:Um, so during law school, I was a member of the national moot court team.
SPEAKER_02:And what does that team do?
SPEAKER_00:So that team essentially were selected based on the competition that they run in the spring, where you file a brief to an appellate court, you give oral arguments, kind of like you would hear someone give to the Supreme Court. Um, from that process, you're then selected. And over the fall, you have a really intense two months where you get a problem, you have to write a brief with your team, and then you fly out to the regional competition and go actually argue it against other schools in the region.
SPEAKER_02:How'd you do?
SPEAKER_00:We did okay. We did okay. We went to the regional competition, and our oral arguments went really well. And that's honestly the best part about these competitions. We unfortunately didn't move on. However, the experience was one that was really interesting because you get to see so many different schools and how they prioritize like the style in their arguing and how they write their briefs, and it was a very um rewarding experience.
SPEAKER_02:What was your least favorite thing in law school?
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I would have to say that my least favorite part of law school was probably just the balance of things sometimes. I have a tendency to get really involved in a lot of things because there's so many cool things that they offer at the law school. And I was like, oh, I want to do this and I want to do that. And that meant my 2L year was a little chaotic between being in on the national moat court team, being on law review, being president of the Student Bar Association. You kind of had a lot of uh irons in the fire, and trying to balance that while also working and figuring out what you want to do as a career was probably my least favorite part.
SPEAKER_02:So, what about your your ag background, your participation in the Angler program? What about those experiences uh helped you in law school?
SPEAKER_00:Working in ag generally, everyone learns skill sets like time management, reliability, responsibility. Those things are even more unique to the ag profession just because those are instilled from a really young age. You have to take care of some cattle, you have to take care of your horses, things like that mean that you have to be responsible because you're not just responsible for yourself, but you're responsible for this other life, these other things. And so carrying those through to law school, you're like, oh, well, I think I can manage this. I've done calving at 4 a.m. I can I can handle these rigorous studies because I've done such in-depth things in the past. And the responsibility aspect carries through to being in the legal profession because you know, you're responsible for your clients and for advocating for their interests and really putting forward the arguments and the things that they maybe can't do themselves. And so all of those skills and lessons you learn working in ag and having this background really carry through to practice pretty well.
SPEAKER_02:So back in your days in 4-H and FFA, what kind of cattle did you have?
SPEAKER_00:So I tended to show black Angus, but my very first steer that I showed was a red Angus steer, and he was my favorite thing. What was his name? His name was Chewbacca.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I always told my daughters never to name your steer, uh, but I'm glad uh I'm glad that didn't bother you at all.
SPEAKER_00:Well, so Chewbacca got his name because the day we picked him at our FFA farm, we we got the halter on him and I tied him up. And I kid you not, the bellow he let out sounded almost identical to Chewbacca in Star Wars. And I was like, he's got his name.
SPEAKER_02:You know, I do a pretty good imitation of Chewbacca, but I am not going to do it on this podcast. Uh it often brings joy to my family, uh, or not no joy, but they do laugh at me quite a bit. So again, you got this egg background, you go to law school, uh, you then took the bar exam. Tell listeners what is the bar exam?
SPEAKER_00:So the bar exam is the licensing exam that you have to take following law school in order to actually become a licensed attorney in whatever state you're gonna practice in.
SPEAKER_02:Was it tough?
SPEAKER_00:I will say that the bar exam was probably the hardest thing I've done in my life.
SPEAKER_02:Do you want to do it again?
SPEAKER_00:Never. I am very grateful that I passed on the first try, and I can like safely say that I will only be practicing in states where my bar exam score is transferable to.
SPEAKER_02:So how many days was it?
SPEAKER_00:It was two six hour days.
SPEAKER_02:And when did you start studying for it? And how many days or months did you study?
SPEAKER_00:So I started studying pretty much right after graduation in May, so probably around May 14th. And the first month was about seven hour days, um, six days a week. And after that, the first month didn't feel too bad because it was largely watching videos, answering multiple choice questions. But then once you got from May into June, and then really into July, which is the month of the exam, those seven hours were brutal. You were now spending seven hours doing a hundred multiple choice questions and six essays and trying to review everything. And I think throughout the two and a half months of bar prep, I made probably 400 um index cards and flashcards of just all of the rules that I could pull out of the books.
SPEAKER_02:How did you find out you passed?
SPEAKER_00:So it was actually pretty funny. I was sitting in my office here at Remboldt and I was in the middle of looking at an email and I got a notification on my phone and it said NSC Attorney Services. And that's what they had been emailing us from. And I was like, oh, well, we're getting close. Like I think it still has four days until they said they'd tell us the result. And the subject line was preliminary results. And before I could even like contemplate whether I was going to open it or not, or if I wanted to take a deep breath, the preview of the message said results, pass. And I was like, oh. And you can be fairly confident about coming out of the bar exam, but I will tell you, almost no one feels like they passed that exam.
SPEAKER_02:Correct.
SPEAKER_00:So I was very stressed and I read that result and I was like, this weight just lifted off of my shoulders, and I felt so much relief. So I got to walk over to one of our partners, Jane's office, and I just, in complete disbelief, I was like, I passed the bar exam.
SPEAKER_02:So that is much different than how uh folks found out back when I passed. Uh it actually was done via snail mail, because that's all you know, we didn't have email back then. And because mail doesn't hit everyone's mailboxes at the same time, my classmates, some of them received the letter that day, others did not. And so they're off then, and again, we're calling each other to find out did you get did you get the letter? Did you not get the letter? And then rumors start to run rampant. Is if you didn't get the letter, does that mean you didn't pass? Or the are the fail letters coming out later? So again, electronic delivery is a far better way to let folks know all at the same time, as opposed to waiting depending upon the US mail.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, that sounds pretty awful. I know Tim Engler in our office was telling me that when he passed the bar, they actually were told, okay, call into the Supreme Court on this day to find out, but don't call before 8 a.m. And the lines were just jam-packed because starting at 8 a.m., everyone was calling to ask, did I pass? Did I pass? He said that was the last time they did that system.
SPEAKER_02:So you are now a lawyer, correct?
SPEAKER_00:Yes, I am.
SPEAKER_02:And what what do you foresee yourself? I take it with your litigation background, that's something that you feel like you're uh is a passion of yours.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. I I went into law school knowing that I wanted to do business litigation and working with employers and businesses. And so it was pretty early on for me that I knew I wanted to be in a courtroom at some point, and I also wanted to be working with businesses and advancing those interests.
SPEAKER_02:So you live in Waverly?
SPEAKER_00:I do.
SPEAKER_02:It's a good town.
SPEAKER_00:I love Waverly.
SPEAKER_02:So do you ever see yourself getting back into livestock, getting back into production ag, getting back into a bakery? Maybe you can set all that up out in Waverly at some point.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, definitely. I've actually talked pretty in depth with my family. My mom and my stepdad move out here in the next uh two or so years once they retire. And we've found that there's not many places to board horses or do um like riding events. And we happen to have um a horse ride uh horse background. And so we've already looked into getting a nice stable up and running and getting some different um opportunities opened to different agriculturalists in the area to give them a place to really advance their businesses and advance their activity in agriculture.
SPEAKER_02:Do you have a name for it already?
SPEAKER_00:We do not have a name for it yet.
SPEAKER_02:If you don't want to share it, I understand.
SPEAKER_00:No, we definitely don't have a name for it yet. We've mostly been working on the big picture plans, working on figuring out where we're gonna get land, how we're gonna set this up, and then we'll figure out the name.
SPEAKER_02:So, Isabelle, you've listened to uh past episodes of this podcast. There's one question we ask all of our guests. You get one word, and only one word, that to you best describes and explains this great place where you attended the University of Nebraska College of Agriculture, where you participated in the Ingler program, where you attended and graduated from the University of Nebraska College of Law, and where you now practice law with Rembolt Lutti here in Lincoln, Nebraska. What's your one word for Nebraska?
SPEAKER_00:My one word would have to be family.
SPEAKER_02:Explain.
SPEAKER_00:So coming to Nebraska, I was a big family person and I missed my family dearly, didn't know what I was doing, was super unsure of being here. But I found that when you really take the time to know the people of Nebraska, you find your family here. You find a family within Angler, within the professors, within your classmates, because these people all care about making a strong community. You can find your family within the halls of the law school. You meet some of your best friends, some of the people that you will know for the rest of your life. And then you find your family in the places you work because you get to see these people who actively care about the future of this state, the future of the people here, your own future. And so it just kind of encapsulates Nebraska. Like you come here and you can find your family.
SPEAKER_02:Isabella, thanks for joining us. Thanks for sharing your story. It's inspiring to see how your ag roots, your Ingler experience, and your new legal career all kind of connect. If you enjoyed this episode, consider subscribing on Apple, Spotify, or whatever your favorite podcast app is, and be certain to share it with friends as well. And please keep on listening as we release additional episodes on Nebraska, its great communities, Nebraska's number one industry, agriculture, and the people who make it happen.
SPEAKER_01:Thanks. This has been Nighty Three, the podcast, sponsored by Nebraska's law firm, Rembolt Ludkey.
