If you had told 13-year-old me that raising and caring for livestock would have a thread of correlation to my future career as a financial advisor, I wouldn’t have believed you. And yet here I am, about to tell you how spending my childhood in 4-H clubs and Future Farmers of America chapters molded me in ways that equipped me for the challenging career I’m in today.
I grew up in the woods in what was then the outskirts of Ocala.
My childhood was traversed through wooded trails and along dirt roads on foot, bicycle or horseback with dogs trailing along.
There was always some sort of farm animal around- chickens, rabbits, steers, pigs. My mom also taught me about preserving foods, baking, sewing and all range of crafts. When I turned 12 and joined my local 4-H club, all those animals and skills took on new meaning for me. They were my ticket to the Southeastern Youth Fair held annually in February. I was heartbroken that I had joined too late to show a pig that first year, so I settled for entering my rabbit and some canned pears.
The fair became the highlight of my life as a child.
I intentionally involved myself in enough projects to take the entire week off school and spend every day at the fair. I have a feeling my love for wearing cowboy boots to work daily is rooted in my 4-H outfit of choice in the show ring back then- a kelly green top, white pants and cowboy boots.
My spare time between shows and helping friends get their animals ready often was spent volunteering behind the counter at the snack bar. Everyone paid with cash, so working there provided practice for learning to count back change to customers- a skill that seems all but lost today.
Tara Cunningham was Ocala-famous in my eyes at my first fair because she won grand champion in the steer show. I aspired to reach her success level in the pig show someday (it never happened). I recognized her immediately the first week of seventh grade at Osceola Middle School and we became best friends. It’s a friendship that continues to this day.
The gift of a lifelong friend isn’t the only thing I carried away from my extracurricular activities.
Getting to the fair took hard work, and I learned that hard work increased my chances for success.
In addition to feeding and caring for our animals, my brother and I kept detailed records along the way on feed expenses, vaccination schedules and weigh-ins. I learned how to groom pigs so they looked their best in the show ring and eventually the auction.
I continued my 4-H membership in high school, but also joined FFA. I wore my blue corduroy FFA jacket with pride as I competed on the parliamentary procedure, dairy and land judging teams. I held elected office in both organizations and learned valuable leadership skills. There were countless opportunities to volunteer for all sorts of causes, and I learned how good it felt to give back to my community.
These experiences also taught me the harsh lesson that life isn’t fair and despite my best efforts, I might raise an animal that didn’t make weight or grade and therefore was ineligible to enter the show and ultimately be sold.
I learned to be a good communicator by writing letters and making phone calls to would-be bidders at the auction.
I followed up with thank you notes to buyers.
I understood the power of marketing and realized early on that the more creative I got with my pig’s name, the more people were willing to bid on it. If I could get a chuckle out of the audience, I felt like I was on my way to earning more money. I named my pig Olivia Rootin’ John one year. That was a hit!
In those moments I was focused on having fun and learning the direct skills required to do well on all those particular projects. I can assure you that back then I didn’t realize my thickened skin from not always winning a ribbon would equip me to endure the sting of occasionally being passed on by a prospective client or seeing a client move on to another advisor. Our compliance officers at LPL ought to thank my 4-H leaders for teaching me to keep such accurate records from a young age. And every client who chooses me to be their advisor still gets a handwritten note from me, because I learned long ago that little things like that mean a lot to the sort of people I’m attracted to.
I didn’t realize in those moments how those lessons would translate into other life chapters, but I am forever grateful that they have.
January 2025
