Hello everyone and welcome to the Within Range Coaching podcast.
I'm Ranger, certified holistic success coach, and in this podcast, I'm bringing down the
journey that entrepreneurs face as they start their organization, find solutions to the
roadblocks in their way, and create an impact that lasts.
So if you're an entrepreneur, nonprofit leader, or purpose-driven community member that wants
to learn how to grow your impact and develop yourself as the person behind the mission,
then this podcast is for you.
I know you're just as eager to get started as I am, so let's jump right in.
Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening everybody, and welcome to today's episode
of the Within Range Coaching podcast.
And we're continuing on with our Walk Across America series, but we're going to take a
step back from the folks and entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and community members that
I've met during the journey, and we're going to kind of circle back to one of the organizations
that I'm raising money for while I am making my jaunt across our nation.
As most of you know, I'm raising money for three different charities, Bigger Than the
Trail, which is a mental health advocacy group, and the Hospice Promise Foundation that covers
non-medical hospice-related expenses for those going through treatment, and of course, I'm
also raising money for the Future Farmers of America.
And I mean, I'll probably make a whole other podcast episode about my background in FFA
and why it was so impactful for me and why I chose to raise money for them, but I feel
like by the end of this conversation, you'll have a good understanding of really, I guess,
the implications and the importance of it from someone that is currently working for
the FFA.
And when I say working, I mean, she is in the trenches.
She's been there for 22, 22-ish years.
Yes.
She's nodding.
Yes.
Perfect.
So she's been there for 22 years and is currently serving as a communications manager for the
national organization.
I am joined by Kristi Meyer.
Kristi, thank you for joining us today.
Thanks for having me, Ranger.
I appreciate it.
Of course.
Yeah.
And I mean, I'm already excited to jump in.
I feel like we can kind of nerd out on the blue and gold, but in terms of you, would
you mind sharing with us what your intention for today's episode is and a little bit about
yourself?
Yeah.
So my intention for today's episode is really for people to understand the importance of
agriculture education and FFA and what it brings not just to those involved in it, but
to those to support it.
And I can just kind of hop in with a little bit about my background.
The interesting thing about me is I've worked at FFA for 22 years, but I do not have an
FFA background.
I was never an FFA member and I was not in agriculture.
I moved around a lot with my family and never had the opportunity to join FFA.
Instead, I majored in journalism and went to work for a local newspaper.
And I always joke that it might've been a little bit of foreshadowing because I was
farm editor for six months.
After a while, I loved being a journalist.
I love newspaper.
The hours weren't always the best.
And I had a colleague who mentioned that FFA was looking for someone in a communications
position.
And when I interviewed for the position, I told the director at the time, I said, the
great thing is I know nothing about agriculture.
So who better to tell that story?
And I've been telling the story of agriculture for 22 years.
And honestly, Ranger, I've fallen in love with it and it means so much.
It's why I have never left.
Interesting.
So I want to touch on what you just said, the, you know nothing about agriculture.
So who better to tell the story?
Like, why do you say that?
Well, I say that when I at least started, right?
When I started, I didn't know anything about FFA.
And so I thought, well, for someone who doesn't know everything, it's probably easier to tell
the story and not get bogged down in some of the acronyms and all of the background.
For those of your listeners who are in FFA, they know what I mean by acronyms.
I'll always talk about like this CDE or this LDE, and for those of us who weren't in it,
we don't know what it means, right?
So I was able to kind of boil it down.
I get bogged down by those all the time.
You know, what is it?
SAE, CDE, GHC, that's like all these crazy things.
And it's like when you're, again, I'm just a few years out.
Well, oh my gosh, like almost 10 years out, geez.
And it's still, whenever I see it, I'm like, wait, that was, I'm like counting on my fingers
trying to remember.
But yeah, no, I think what you said there is really interesting that you're able to
kind of let your own curiosity and I guess really just be that sponge and explain it
in a way that others could easily understand.
Because you're not getting caught down in the semantics and the jargon, the million
acronyms that are present.
You're able to really dive in and tell that story for yourself or your own understanding,
which in turn, I assume would make it easier for those reading it to understand.
Yeah, at least that's my hope, right?
Is by not really knowing any, I feel like after 22 years, I know a little bit more,
but I'm always learning something new.
And I will tell you, the other thing about this position is I am never bored.
There are so many amazing stories out there about our members, our alumni, the difference
they're making in their communities and in agriculture that I'm never bored.
And I'm always having stories to share out with people and let them know what a difference
these individuals are making.
Yeah, and if you could just, I want to ask more about the difference, those stories,
how you find them, et cetera.
And again, it sounds silly for me to ask, but can you kind of just explain what the
FFA is and the, like who can be in it?
What does it do?
Like give that bare bone basic description for us.
Yeah, absolutely.
So the unique thing about FFA is our organization is what we call intracurricular.
So in order for a person to be an FFA member, they have to take an agricultural education
class.
So their schools have to have agriculture education classes.
And if they have those classes, then they can have an FFA chapter and be involved.
And there's different levels of involvement of those FFA chapters, right?
Some members get all in and participate wholeheartedly, do leadership positions, do competitive events.
Many do what we call supervised agriculture experiences, SAEs, if you were using the acronyms.
But those are projects.
Those are projects that are hands-on learning experiences for those members.
And the great thing about FFA is that they have those opportunities, right?
So they can kind of explore all those different career pathways.
I like to share with people that this organization creates leaders, but it also helps our members
determine what career pathways they're going to take too.
And as you know, and your listeners may know too, there are more than 350 careers in agriculture.
It's not just production agriculture.
So it's really an opportunity for our members to explore that.
And a little bit further than that, to really give back to their community because service
is also at key.
So FFA really is a student-led organization that creates premier leadership, personal
growth, and career success.
Perfect.
And to really tie that all in, there's the three circles of Ag.
So there's the classroom.
You go to the class.
I took an agricultural mechanics class, Ag.Biology, Agricultural Sciences 1, which was plants,
Agricultural Sciences 2, which was animals for us.
So there's a classroom experience, the SAE, which is the supervised agricultural experience,
I'm raising a sheep.
I'm doing a landscaping business.
I'm growing vegetables for the fair.
And then there's the CDE, which is career development events.
And those are the competitions.
So for me, I did the veterinary science one.
Started that at my school.
Still going.
Awesome.
Livestock judging.
And then it's like the Napoleon Dynamite thing.
They're going and they're tasting the milk or looking at the different, kind of like
the nerdy farming stuff.
But there's also the ones that are like, oh, we're doing prepared public speaking.
This is a 10-minute speech.
We're going to do job interview.
Like you were saying, it's not just the boots on the ground, hoe-ers, mowers, but growers.
It's the people that are, like the auxiliary parts of it too, right?
The salesmen, the managers, the leadership, the advocates.
It's really more broad than I think people think when they hear future farmers of America,
which makes total sense.
I've had people be like, oh, you're just raising money for farm kids.
I'm like, kind of, but no.
Right.
I always like to tell people too that I think that's a misnomer, right?
Agriculture is all around us every day from the food we eat, the clothes we wear, the
fuel in our car.
Every single thing you touch each day has a component of agriculture.
And I think when you break that down and let people understand how important that is and
how important it is to build that talent pipeline in the agriculture industry, it gives it kind
of another perspective.
Yeah.
And that is a discussion that I've had with, I don't know, hundreds of people basically
at this point.
Oh, I bet.
You know, just explaining what it is.
Like, oh, again, like we were saying, like, it's not just the boots on the ground, which
that is very much needed, but it's career in general, not just, you know, it's not like
if you're an FFA, you can only go into ag, you know?
But you have that understanding and that background to bring it into these other careers.
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah.
So to kind of explain it on the, let's start maybe from the student side, from what you
have been able to see and what you've been able to observe.
Because again, since you weren't in it, I think you kind of had that unique perspective
of what you've seen in kids that have gone through the program.
Can you talk a little bit about that?
Oh, yeah, I would be more than happy to talk about that.
I'm going to go back a few years, though.
So when I started trying to drink from the fire hose, everything that the organization
was and meant, but the aha moment for me was when I went to our national convention.
And so our national convention is the largest student convention.
And at the time, I think our attendance was about 50 or 60,000.
Again, this was 22 years ago.
And watching these students and their faces and as they were meeting other people and
connecting and then hearing their stories, it really impacted me of what a difference
FFA made.
We had stories of people telling us that they were afraid to talk in front of people until
they took an ag class.
And then their ag instructor encouraged them to do public speaking.
And then they were fine being a public speaker.
And then they had leadership positions.
They became a state officer or chapter officer.
And so you really watched how their relationship with their ag advisor, encouraging them to
think a little bit outside the box and push them, helped them develop not just those academic
skills but those soft skills that help you in leadership roles.
So I really noticed that.
And honestly, I think it was maybe that my first or second year, I kept thinking, it's
really too bad that my high school didn't have a chapter because it just did so much
for these students.
And so over the years, I've just continued to watch that in the stories that come out
of, I was really shy.
I was in the back of the classroom.
I never wanted to get involved.
I took an FFA intro class and then I started to get involved and decided what pathway I
wanted to take, decided what I wanted to study.
A man who won star in agris science one year and he ended up creating a way to end kudzu,
which is an invasive species in the South.
And so he figured out how to do that and he patented it.
And then he went to work for NASA.
So when you hear that, you're like, oh, okay, that's pretty impressive.
Yeah.
I think that's so interesting because it sounds like there's such a spectrum of impact that
the organization can make on someone, whether it's going from just the shy, probably lacking
confidence kid to even being a chapter officer, like putting themselves in that position to
lose, to be, we vote on it and all that kind of stuff.
So being able to even say, I'll put my hat in the ring to winning it, all the way up
to this kid, which I feel like that's a whole story in and of itself, to go all, like invent
something that I'm sure other people were trying to figure out, you know, like actual
scientists.
That's crazy.
And I guess more so, I want your opinion on this because the way that I've kind of described
it is organizations like FFA and even fraternity that I was in the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity.
So the ag, I don't know, I felt like it was the college version almost.
It really gives you that padding and like a safe place to fail because, okay, I'm glad
that you kind of agree on that one too.
Like what, what do you think is that, what do you think is important about that for kids
and development?
I think it's that support system.
So for those who don't know, FFA is often identified by the iconic blue corduroy jacket,
official dress, official dress is that blue corduroy jacket, skirts or pants for women
now and black pants for men, but a lot of times we ask our members what that jacket
means just because it's a symbol.
And so many times we have students tell us that when they sip up that jacket, they feel
a part of something.
They feel like they're a family.
They feel like they're a community.
And I think that's so important, especially for the age that they are right to feel a
part of something, to have that support system.
So whether that support system be fellow FFA members or the advisor, but I think that helps
them because inevitably there's going to be times in your life where you're not going
to necessarily always succeed, right?
But to have that support system there.
And I think that's what that offers, whether it be your fellow chapter members or your
advisor or your supporters, you end up having a support system through FFA.
Yeah.
And what you're saying right there reminded me of something.
Do you have you ever heard of the American Legion?
Yes.
I used something called Boys State, which is like the mock government, whatever, foreshadowing
of a podcast episode I have coming up for those listening.
And I was sent to it from my school and I ran for secretary of state, I think.
I didn't know what secretary of state did.
It sounded like fun.
I wanted to be the sauce person.
I thought it was cute.
And during my speech, I made a con like I referenced the FFA creed, which like this
five paragraph.
I don't know.
We all recite it together.
It sounds crazy.
But I said something from it.
And three hours later, after all the speeches and elections, another guy from another chapter
from the other side of the state hunted me down and was like, was that an FFA reference?
I was like, yeah.
And he's like shook my hand and hugged me.
He's all like, I've been looking for other people, blah, blah, blah.
And he had like his chapter pin and his cowboy hat.
I was like, no freaking way.
That's so funny.
And him and I are still buddies to this day.
Like what again, like 10, 12 years ago.
So like you're like you're saying that it really is a community that is I don't know.
I feel like it's stronger than like other basic clubs, you know, because we because
again, it's inter-curricular.
Like, you know that you have something in common beyond just I put my name on the like
on a club roster, right?
Yeah, exactly.
And I think that's one of the things that we strive for, right?
Is that when everybody gets together at some of these events like our convention, that
they can find people and maybe network with them, right?
Maybe they find somebody from the completely opposite side of the United States or from
Puerto Rico or from the U.S. Virgin Islands and can connect so they have something in
common.
Who would think who would think you would have something in common from somebody that
far away, but having that common denominator to start that conversation, that's important.
Yeah.
And I'll pretty much every job that I've ever been in, I asked them if they were involved
in like, oh, like what clubs were you in in high school?
What extracurriculars were you in in college?
You know, because I'm trying to find like, oh, you know, I was an FFA and I'm like, oh,
thank God we can be friends.
Not just like if you're not an FFA, we can't be friends.
But it's like, OK, now it's like easier to have a conversation like, oh, what did you
raise?
Oh, yeah, that's what my ring is like, you know.
So yeah, that common denominator is so important.
In terms of national convention, I went to my first one in 2018 and President Trump was
there, which politics aside, whatever, we can talk about that on another episode maybe
that we don't publish here.
But like, it's a big deal.
Like I don't I don't think the president of the US would show up to just any club get
together with a bunch of kids.
So it's it's a very I don't know, it's maybe from your side you can say something different
about it.
But I thought that that was crazy.
It was crazy.
Yeah.
And my my side has a lot to do with the dignitaries when they come in.
Yeah.
Doing the invitations and everything and then working with Irina.
So side note, our convention, super large this year, we had over seventy three thousand
people in attendance, but we only have one hundred and five people at the center.
So I always like to sing the praises of my colleagues that one hundred and five of us
put on that convention.
So I'm pretty proud of my colleagues.
That's amazing.
Yeah.
But we always invite the secretary of ag and the secretary of education and then the sitting
president.
We usually invite him the first two years so it's not going to conflict with like a
campaigning position.
And then we always invite the city mayor of the city and the governor because Indianapolis
currently hosts our convention.
And so the the mayor and the governor have been instrumental in helping us get those
supports.
So but yeah, it's I mean, I feel like.
Those dignitaries understand what our members are right.
Our members are those future leaders.
They're going to make a difference and they're also going to be those leaders in industry
to so.
So they're kind of understanding that if we support these kids, then they're going to
be the ones that are kind of like the changing of the guard.
They're going to be the ones that are potentially president or governor or mayor or even just
a community member that shows up and does the work and is on the committees.
Absolutely.
And that's one of the things, too.
We talked a little bit about the different facets of FFA, but one area is leadership.
We talked about that some of the leadership conferences.
But another area we talk about is advocacy of how to advocate for agriculture, but also
knowing knowing that is important, how to advocate, how to know those leaders in your
community so you can work with those leaders, talk with those leaders.
Washington Leadership Conference in D.C.
We have that.
That's an opportunity for them to go to the Hill, visit their congressmen.
Same with State Officers Summit, where the state officers can go out to D.C., do those
congressional visits so they understand how that works.
That's part of being a leader in your community, right, is to advocate for your community and
for the things that your community needs.
Definitely.
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Remember, excellence starts with the best genetics and DK Dorpers delivers just that.
Now let's get back to the show.
I guess on the adult, adult-y or adult side of the people that work for FFA, like what
is it that you guys, like what is that, I don't want to say like a day in the life,
but like the basic challenges, the basic jobs, like I think that that's kind of interesting,
but I'm not really sure what question I want to ask there.
Sure.
So I'll touch a little bit on advocacy and then go a little bit on some other pieces.
So with FFA, we're not, we're apolitical, right?
So we don't, we're nonpartisan.
When I talk about advocacy, we're really talking about issues that face our members or agriculture,
such as the current farm bill.
With the farm bill, one of the things that we're asking for is for a position in USDA
that works with the youth organizations.
So like FFA and 4-H.
So I just want your listeners to be clear that we're not taking any political sides,
you know, of how the advocacy works.
So that, that's also like a, a very fine line you have to walk, right?
Of how do we advocate for our members and make sure that it's not political.
So we have a team who does advocacy and also literacy that talks about ag literacy, how
we share that ag literacy works on pieces like ag day.
We have a whole division, our educational division, which works with our advisors, which
helps try and give them resources that they might be able to use in the classroom with
their members.
Then we have a leadership division who works with our state officers and with our conferences,
our leadership conferences.
So they figure out what that curriculum looks like, where those conferences are going to
be, hire the facilitators and works with members.
And then we have an events division where they coordinate with all those conferences.
And of course, with the convention, which is one of our largest events as, as you know,
as you've gone for your listeners who have, who just think it's, oh, just a little convention
to put it in perspective.
We use Lucas oil stadium, bankers life field house, where the Pacers play or played until
they got beat by the Celtics.
The Indiana state fairgrounds, seven event hotels, and we book about 120 hotels for that
week of convention.
So it's a very large event that takes up the entire city and we have a team who works with
all of those venues to make sure we have the facilities that we need.
So that's kind of a, an overview of some of the people who touch members every day.
And then of course we have the stuff that doesn't touch members every day, like our
finance department and in our IT department that we couldn't do anything without.
And then we have our foundation and our foundation works with our corporate sponsors and our
individual donors to explain the FFA story and hopefully get support so we can continue
to do those programs.
So that's kind of, that's kind of it in a nutshell.
I will say that COVID was a little bit of a struggle for all of us.
We were all working from home.
The organization was great when we did go back.
We did hybrid.
So three days a week we're in and we get to see everybody.
And then two days a week we're still at home.
But yeah, it's like I said, 105 people, but those individuals are very busy and we all
have a passion for agriculture and for our members.
Yeah I think that's, that's always so funny to hear.
Because when you're a member or I don't know, an outsider looking in and like seeing all
the blue jackets and this and that, like you don't think of the 105 people that are, I
guess what the people behind the mission kind of using my own nomenclature there, but that
are making it all happen.
Right?
Like it's, it's always so fascinating for me to hear like the organizational structure
that businesses, nonprofits, et cetera have.
Because yeah, I mean, 105 people, it sounds like a ton.
And then once you start kind of getting involved in everything, you're like, okay, that's not
a whole lot for, for a conference that has 75,000.
Because isn't FFA total like 300, how many people are in across the nation?
Do you know at the top of your head?
Currently we're more than 945,000, but we are trending towards a million.
That is insane.
And what considerations need to be made as the membership grows on a national level?
Cause it's, it's mostly the chapters that would be growing.
So I figured the ag teachers, I'll probably have my ag teacher on at some point, but like
what is that significance as you, as you kind of push to a million on the national level?
Yeah.
A couple of things.
One, definitely there's such a need for ag teachers, right?
Because I don't think people understand that our ag teachers are so amazing because yes,
they're teaching, but they're also our FFA advisors.
So they're doing so much outside of the classroom with their FFA members and it's definitely
not a nine to five job for them.
And so you run the risk of burnout.
So we really need to make sure that we have that support for them.
You know, how can we support our ag advisors and ag education teachers and how can we encourage
those members to go into education?
But then the other option is our other avenue we really need to look at is how do we make
sure that all FFA members feel apart, right?
Like how do we make sure that they feel included?
And so that's, that's one of our jobs is to make sure that we break down those barriers
so that anybody who wants to be a member can be a member and then make sure that we have
those opportunities, right?
We talked about more than 350 careers in ag.
Well, knowing that there's a lot of opportunities for different SAEs, whether it's raising livestock
or maybe it's something as like working in a pet store or working at a zoo or we have
one young lady, she worked as a whitewater raft guide because that fell under outdoor
recreation, which was a proficiency area.
So you know, really letting people know that there's different opportunities there and
helping them understand that while also helping them understand the importance of agriculture
education.
We're growing a lot in urban settings and I think there's a couple reasons for that.
I think that people now do have an interest of where their food comes from, right?
So there's a lot of opportunities to do greenhouses, rooftop gardens, you know, and really help
people understand where their food comes from.
But also the sciences, science is huge right now, especially like biotechnology and food
sciences.
So there's also a big push there.
So our challenge and our job is to break down those barriers for those members who want
to be a part to make sure they're a part and also make sure that they feel welcomed.
Yeah, so it sounds like a lot of like diversity inclusion, whether it's, you know, nationalities,
skin color, all these, you know, like you were saying from the middle of nowhere town
all the way to these metropolitan areas, because I'm sure that those kids are also kind of
like, why would I want to be in the farm group, you know, but like you're saying, it's also
that diversity and inclusion of careers, of pathways, of titles, jobs, careers, because
I know that the way that I kind of saw it in FFA was whatever job you have, you can
argue it for your project, right?
Like there's some way that you could connect it.
But even if you're making that stretch and you're fighting and arguing for I felt like
that was like a proficiency in and of itself of trying to convince the I teacher that this
counts.
I think she kind of played along with it too sometimes.
But you know, you look at it through a different lens.
It's like, how is this actually benefiting me right now?
Like okay, well, if I'm working as a cashier in the grocery store, and you're like reading
in the proficiency, like how can I get this to work?
Like you're taking a more active role in it even, which I feel like for kids is also so
important to see the value in every experience.
Yeah, absolutely.
And everything that you're learning right in that hands on experience is something that
you can apply.
You know, we really talk about that.
Like I think sometimes we forget those soft skills that are needed.
And so so many of those opportunities like working at a grocery store, those are skills
that you can take to other places, right?
Because okay, you might think, well, I'm just stocking shelves, or I'm just checking out
items, but you're having that interaction with people, you're still having those dialogues,
that connectivity.
So there's really a lot of pieces that you're learning as you go along.
And those experiences when you're 14, 15, 16, aren't that big of a deal until you're
in your 30s, and you find someone that doesn't have those skills.
Correct.
And you go, oh my good, how would you mean you don't know how to run a POS, like a point
of sale?
How do you not know how to greet a customer when they walk in?
You know what I mean?
So it's like you get that leg up because you're having to do these different basic skills
over and over and over again, that I feel like it becomes kind of like what you're saying
earlier, like the what is it like the curse of knowledge?
Right?
You don't know that people don't know certain things, and it doesn't make sense to you.
But it's like, you didn't know that 10, 15, 20 years ago.
Exactly.
Yeah.
And that's the student side, that trajectory.
So you come in as a freshman.
I don't know.
I felt like that was the biggest thing was that I didn't know all the opportunities that
you could do until I was a junior or senior, because there's just so much stuff going on.
You're getting all these different things thrown at you.
And then you're a senior and you're like, well, shoot.
Like there's all these other things I could have done.
I wish I had more time.
But like you don't.
And I think that's a great thing about FFA is once you're an alumni, and this is my experience,
like there's still opportunity to be involved.
So like, can you kind of touch on that?
Like as a alumni or I feel like my fiance, once we move in together and everything, like
she's also I'm going to drag her into something.
So even if you weren't in FFA, like what is that that involvement look like from the alumni
slash adult side that doesn't necessarily work for the organization?
Yeah, absolutely.
Well, I'm actually glad you brought that up because our alumni and supporters, we recently
changed the name to alumni and supporters.
And that's because if you were not an FFA member, you could still be an alumni.
For example, I was not an FFA, but I am a lifetime alumni member.
Basically the reason that we did that is we know so many people want to give back.
So sure, people can get back monetarily, but if they're in alumni and supporter groups,
they can also give back as mentors.
A lot of our alumni and supporter chapters work with their local chapters and maybe they
go help them to practice for their competitive events or maybe just to travel when they're
going to their state convention or to their state conference.
So there's so many opportunities for people to give back.
And that's also an opportunity also, like if you have a potential SAE for a student,
right?
Maybe you're like, hey, maybe it's a local veterinarian who has an opportunity for someone
to work in the vet office that they can be like, hey, this opportunities here.
Do you have any members who are interested?
So as an alumni and supporter, you can really give back and help those members really become
part of the community, help with their SAEs, help with their proficiencies.
And I think our members appreciate that.
I think they appreciate having that adult connection of what their life can look like
a little bit after, right?
And then I think the other piece too that a lot of alumni and supporters help with,
many of our chapters like to give back to their communities.
I would be remiss if I did talk a little bit about service.
Many of our members have service projects in their community where they give back, whether
it's community gardens, working at pantries.
We also have a couple who have done dock toys for the local shelters, but you'll have those
alumni and supporters who will be there for them to help during those projects, right?
Like be there on site with those projects or encourage them of how to get involved.
So there's so many opportunities for people to get involved and play a part.
So my shameless plug, Ranger, is they can visit FFA.org backslash alumni and supporters
and see how they can get involved locally and even nationally to give back and help
those FFA members.
Sorry, I always try to Google things as people talk about it so that I can kind of see if
I see anything of interest.
I misspelled something, so I'll do it later.
But yeah, and I think that's the, I don't know, there's also such a cool aspect of being
able to, when I was in college, when I was in high school, I showed poultry, right?
And in college, I worked with one of the local 4-H groups, which is, I'd say it's on the
same parallel as FFA, but different, right?
And I was the poultry leader for a few years.
And I don't know, it was just so funny and cool getting to talk about chickens for hours
and hours a week.
And I think that's the fun thing too, right?
It's like you get to kind of nerd out with the kids and you know, it's a challenge in
and of itself because you take this information that, again, like we were talking about earlier,
that is so common.
Like I seriously had to explain what a beak is or a comb or the crop.
And it's like, those are names that I picked up on my own after a while, but now you have
to take all that information and make it appropriate for your audience, which I think is something
that, I don't know, not that I didn't do when I was in FFA, but not as intensely as I did
as a supporter and alumni of the organization, right?
So it's like, even then there's still so much to learn and throw yourself into essentially.
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think, you know, I'd be remiss if I didn't say as an alumni, I learned a lot from
those members too, right?
Yeah.
Like it's definitely a two-way street.
Yeah.
And I think that that's also, it's humbling almost, right?
Yes, absolutely.
Or it's like, wait, did this kid just teach me something and I'm supposed to be the expert?
It's like, how do you manage that now?
But yeah, I think that's so fascinating and so interesting.
And I guess further on, what am I trying to say with this one?
When it comes to that support and that advocacy, I guess on like the advocacy level, and I
mean, I don't know, I feel like it's like always towing the line of being too political.
Like is there a way for folks that are our alumni to get involved in that aspect of it?
Maybe volunteer with like the other adults or is that something we leave to the professionals
rather than being hands-on with the kids?
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
I do think that's one that you have to tread really lightly on.
So I don't really know if there's a way for the adults to really get involved in that
piece.
I would say make sure to keep an ear out with your local school boards with the CTE, career
technical education, because that's what FFA falls onto is the career and technical education.
And so we always say, you know, make, listen and make sure that those programs aren't getting
cut.
That's probably the best way to advocate, advocate for your FFA chapter and for your
CTEs.
That's the most important because when schools look up budgets, often those are the areas
they look at first.
So the best way for you to advocate is to be an advocate for agriculture education and
FFA and really support career technical education.
There we go.
I think that's what I was looking to ask for because yeah, I think because again, what
is it like with government stuff?
It's like the local level is what's most important because that's what directly affects you rather
than the crazy stuff happening on national or international, right?
Okay.
So I think that's, that's exactly what I was looking for.
So and I don't have kids or anything.
So with that advocacy, is that something that you kind of just pay attention to in the local
school board site?
Like, do you have to be have a kid actively involved to show up to those or is it kind
of just, I know this is important.
I believe in this.
We should keep this in our county or district or whatever.
I would just say most school boards, their agendas are always public.
So you can always just kind of keep an eye on it.
So in its school board meetings are open to the public unless they're an executive session.
So if there's ever an opportunity where you hear that they're thinking about taking away
some of those CTE classes or FFA classes, just, just get involved and explain, you know,
the best way actually to stay involved is volunteer at an FFA chapter as an alumni.
And then you'll know when those things come up and you won't have to worry about looking
in the local paper or try to follow.
So become involved with your FFA chapter and then you'll know if there's ever an issue
that you need to talk to the school board about.
Exactly.
And, and with that, my, the veterinary science team that I started, the, it, the, what was
it?
Not the advisor, the coach, the mentor leader who the adult that knows actually what they're
talking about with it was the local veterinarian that I also interned for, for four or five
years and she's still involved to this day.
So whatever you do, there's, there's some kind of project that you can be involved in.
So yeah, absolutely.
But yeah, I think that's a great place to kind of end it is this is, you know, this
is what FFA does for students, the career technical education, you know, in the classroom
hands on, you know, working for someone, doing your own thing, doing your project, competing,
whether it's at the local state, national, whatever level, involvement for alumni and
supporters, whether or not you're involved or not, I feel like everybody can kind of
understand the importance of being there for students, mentoring them, teaching them these
skills and how to maintain that in schools and ensure that this kind of trend continues
so that we can hit a million.
Is there a projection for the million that you guys know of or?
Well, we are hoping, usually we know our new membership numbers in August, so we're hoping
come August we'll be able to make a big announcement.
Oh, how exciting.
Yeah, awesome.
Well, Chrissy, is there anything else that you feel these listeners should know about
or one last tidbit they want to walk away with or anything?
You know, I would say that we have great stories of our members and if they would like to see
some of those stories, follow us on social media at National FFA.
We're on Instagram on X and on Facebook and actually on LinkedIn, too.
So if some people want to really kind of see some of our working with some corporate sponsors,
you can you can find us there.
But yeah, follow us on social and if you need a lot more information about us, just visit
FFA.org.
Perfect.
I think that's fantastic.
And as always, all the information is going to be linked down in the show notes, the direct
for your all of your social media accounts, the website donations, et cetera, et cetera.
And I'll even put the alumni and supporters link in there as well because I finally found
it.
There's dashes in between the words.
Oh, oops.
But yeah, awesome.
Kristi, thank you so much.
I appreciate your time and I will talk to you guys throughout my journey and I'll probably
be on.
Wonderful.
Ranger, thanks so much.
Good luck on your journey.
I love following you.
And if you need anything else, you know where I am.
Perfect.
Thank you.
Thanks.
And thank you to our listeners once again for taking time out of your day to listen
to today's episode of the podcast.
I personally had a great time talking to Kristi.
I felt like I could finally nerd out about the FFA and it was really fascinating for
me to hear the I guess the professional behind the scenes side of it because I feel like
as a as a member and alumni, you see very much, you know, the blue jackets, the hands
shaking, the baby kissing on that end.
But you don't really hear a whole lot about the actual work that goes in to make all the
magic happen.
So if you'd like to be a part of that magic, as Kristi said, get involved with your local
chapters, get involved with your local organizations, even if you weren't a member before, it's
still a great way for you to get into your local community, help support members and
high school students as they start to develop the skills that will help them in their future
careers.
All their information is going to be down in the show notes.
So go ahead and feel free to check them out, their social media, their website, et cetera,
et cetera.
And again, a thank you to today's episode sponsor.
Their information will be in the show notes as well.
And if I can ask one last thing of you, it would be for you to give us a rating and review
on whatever podcast platform you're listening to.
Ratings and reviews go a long way in terms of helping support the mission of the podcast,
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If you've made it this far, I feel like you have something to say about the episode or
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If you could share today's episode, I will be sure to share your share on my social media.
Thanks again, guys.
And as always, have fun, stay safe and be yourself.
We'll see you in the next one.