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A Vision of Connecting Talent with Jessie Jarvis
22 Plays3 days ago
What if one rancher’s vision could shape the future of the agriculture job market and create a movement of connecting leaders?
In this episode of The Cultivating Leaders Podcast, Nicole is joined by Jessie Jarvis, a third-generation rancher, entrepreneur, and the visionary behind Of The West. Raised on her family’s cattle ranch in Southern Idaho, Jessie shares how her entrepreneurship journey shaped her unique perspective on serving the industry, helping others build a career in agriculture, and the power of connection.
Jessie shares about:
- Recognizing an Industry-wide Issue: personal experiences opened her eyes to a successful business opportunity
- Building a Successful Startup: spoke candidly about launching the platform, stressing the sacrifices and risks of entrepreneurship
- Navigating the Evolving Ag Labor Market: addressed the challenges in agriculture’s current job market
Full of honest stories, bold insights, and deep passion, Jessie reminds listeners that the best leaders don’t just build businesses—they build communities.
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About The Cultivating Leaders Podcast
Real stories. Practical advice. Tangible growth. Join The Cultivating Leaders Podcast, brought to you by Agriculture Future of America, as we explore what it takes to lead in food, agriculture, and beyond. Whether you’re just starting out or leading at the highest level, this podcast is your go-to resource for leadership that matters. Listen now and start cultivating your leadership journey.
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Transcript
Challenges in Job Market Connections
00:00:02
Speaker
I still hear people saying, I'm looking for a job and I can't find one. And I still hear employers say, I'm looking for employees and I can't find them. That's not to say they're not, that they're they're using the site, but like it is still, even though we have provided a connection place, just like our, you know, the other competitors out there have provided a connection place. We weren't the first to do it by any means, but there is still just this missing piece where people are having a hard time finding one another.
Introduction to Jesse Jarvis and Of The West
00:00:38
Speaker
Welcome to the Cultivating Leaders podcast, where we get inside the minds of leaders to harvest great ideas and lessons that help you grow as a difference maker in food and agriculture. I'm your host and curiosity captain, Nicole Ersing.
00:00:50
Speaker
Today, we are honored to welcome Jesse Jarvis, a third generation rancher, devoted wife and mother, and the visionary founder and CEO of Of The West. Raised on her family's cattle ranch in Southern Idaho, Jessie cultivated a deep appreciation for the American West from an early age.
00:01:06
Speaker
This passion led her to create Of The West, a premier job platform dedicated to connecting talent and employers with the agriculture and Western industries.
Jesse's Background and Leadership Journey
00:01:15
Speaker
Jessie is the host of the acclaimed podcast, Leaders Of The West, where she fosters a community of pioneers and innovators striving to shape the future of ag and Western sectors.
00:01:24
Speaker
Jessie, welcome to the pod. What did we miss from your bio? Nothing. I think that that was definitely it. And thank you so much for inviting me to be here. I really am honored. Well, we are so glad that you are here. Okay. Southern Idaho, where where's home for you?
00:01:39
Speaker
King Hill. So we are right ah just about in the middle as you possibly can be between Boise and Twin Falls. So it takes me about an hour to get to Boise and it takes me about 50 minutes to get to Twin Falls.
00:01:52
Speaker
Those are going to be two of the larger cities in southern Idaho, which is nice because I can hop on the freeway and I'm an hour from ah Costco or a Target and I can get right back home and kind of be in the middle of nowhere, which I love.
00:02:08
Speaker
ah Only people who have lived super rural like that can appreciate what you just said about in an hour can be at a Costco. i had to ask about Southern Idaho. So I grew up in Eastern Oregon in a little tiny town called John Day.
00:02:21
Speaker
And so, yeah, we were three and a half hours from Boise, which would have been like the closest Costco or you know, big city. Now that you say that, I actually think I did know that about you, but I had forgotten that. Yep.
00:02:33
Speaker
Tiny town in Eastern Oregon. Rural with a capital R is what I always say. i grew up two and a half hours from the nearest Walmart. So when you're like, yeah, I can an hour or two at Costco, there are people, especially in agriculture, who live that far out in the middle of nowhere.
00:02:46
Speaker
Although I will say, so I have a friend, one of my closest friends, and she lives outside of John Day. And she had just shared that she gets grocery delivery from a grocery store that's an hour away. And I was like, wait a minute, why is that not a thing for me? So John Day is very up and coming.
00:03:03
Speaker
Oh, wow. You know, it's apparently expanding since my younger years, for sure. Awesome. Okay, well, Jessie, how about you just start us with a little bit of your leadership journey and and how and why you started of the
Career Transition and Leadership Experience
00:03:15
Speaker
West?
00:03:15
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. So I, as you mentioned in that bio, I grew up on my family's ranching operation in Southern Idaho. I was an only child. And so I was very involved with my parents and with our operation.
00:03:29
Speaker
And when I went to college, yeah i actually didn't want to be involved in agriculture. I wanted to go do something new. i wanted to go the pre-med route. And about six weeks into my college career, I was like, wait a minute.
00:03:40
Speaker
I don't think this is for me. I really miss the people of agriculture because I was at a very small liberal arts college. I was the only ranch kid or farm kid there for the most part. And so it just really opened my eyes to basically how the rest of the world works.
00:03:57
Speaker
thinks and feels and acts, especially ah about food. And so i so switched to a business degree. And then after college, I started working for the Idaho Cattle Association as their communications director.
00:04:09
Speaker
And I spent about three years there. And that was an incredible time just because, i mean, how often are you able to graduate and be able to land a job like that? And a lot of that came from the fact that I had had a summer internship with with the ICA that summer. And so then they asked me at the end of the year if I wanted to stay on. And of course I did.
00:04:29
Speaker
So that was great. And then at that time, that was really kind of my first um journey into leadership, if you will. Of course, I was involved in FFA in high school and I was always, you know, that I was the class president and things of that nature. So I definitely had leadership roles. But when you're in high school and when you're in college, they look a lot different than when you are in the career world, if you will. And so, um you know, after I was the intern the next summer, i had an intern and I had no idea what to do with an intern. It's it's a lot different being on the other end of the table. and And even then, I remember that was the first opportunity that I had had to sit in on job interviews when we had hired and and a new administrative assistant. And
00:05:12
Speaker
So, that was an absolutely wonderful time period when it came to leadership because it really allowed me – and part of that was because we were such a small organization. You know, there were only two to three of us in the office at any given time that were really – full-time employed there. So I had an opportunity, just like when I was on the ranch, to really be like fully immersed in the goings-on of the business.
Founding Of The West: From Problem to Solution
00:05:37
Speaker
So I spent three years with ICA, and then I actually moved back home to the ranch because my parents were looking to hire
00:05:43
Speaker
another employee. And I knew that at some point I would probably take our operation over. And so I thought, well, if you're going to hire somebody, you might as well hire me. Because just knowing that even though I, as I said earlier, I was very involved in our operation from, you know, ah as young as possible to when I was 18, but I also still had to go to school five days a week.
00:06:04
Speaker
And so I had never truly spent 365 working in working on our operation. And so I did that for a couple of years and then my husband and I got married and he came back to, or he started working on our ranch, I should say.
00:06:21
Speaker
So at that time, we didn't necessarily have enough work for for all of us to do. I mean, in our busy seasons, yeah, we still need to hire additional people, but in those off seasons, we I kind of felt like I was a little bit too slow, if you will. So I had gotten a remote position with a company called The Boutique Hub and then um that led to owning a Western fashion magazine. And so all of this to say in my journey, the 10 years after I had graduated, i had a really unique position because I had been
00:06:55
Speaker
and somebody who was in college looking for an internship. I had met somebody who was a recent college graduate looking for a job. I had been on the other side of the table when it came to hiring within our small organization.
00:07:10
Speaker
i had also worked trying to find freelancers and contractors and and just knew the stress of like, I wanted to be able to find people who understood agriculture, but in the early 2000s, that was not necessarily a thing.
00:07:23
Speaker
And then when I moved back home, obviously I understood the ranch side of you know working in our industry and we have other employees on our ranch and I also have this expansive farming and ranching network and now with Western Lifestyle. And so it just put me in a really, really unique place that I do feel like I had this great network. And so i would get calls from people or texts saying, hey, I'm looking for a new job. Do you happen to know of somebody who's hiring?
00:07:55
Speaker
Or, hey, Jesse, we're looking for a new employee. Do you know of anybody who's looking for a job? And I you want to You want to help your friends. You want to be a matchmaker, especially when when somebody comes to you and asks for help.
00:08:07
Speaker
We all hate to ask for help, but we love to help people. like when you When somebody takes time and they ask you for help because they think you're the best person to put them in touch with somebody or who can answer their problem, like I really do take that as an honor.
00:08:24
Speaker
So I wanted to help as many people as I could, but I wasn't necessarily tapped into the job world to know like the right eligible bachelor for the eligible bachelorette, but if you put it into jobs terms, right? So one one week in the beginning of March of 2020, I think that it was either three or four calls that we had gotten, my husband and I both had gotten in a week about people either looking for a new employee or looking for a job.
00:08:51
Speaker
And at that point I thought, this is a problem within my network. And again, just being so familiar with all of the ins and outs, you know i also had a period of time where I was a freelancer there when I worked on it when i first moved home. And so ah just knew a little bit of everything, at least I thought I did, right?
00:09:10
Speaker
And I thought, you know if this is a problem within my own network, I feel like this has to be a problem for our industry on a larger scale. And so i got on Google and I did some searching and I didn't ever didn't really find what I thought I needed.
00:09:23
Speaker
By any means. so I thought, you know, i feel like that is probably my calling. But I also knew that because our industry is so large and it is just such a great industry, if you're going to do something, you need to really, really go all in.
00:09:42
Speaker
And i didn't necessarily know that that was something that I needed to be doing at the time. We had a two-year-old. I was pregnant with our daughter. we have a ranch.
00:09:54
Speaker
I had a part-time job as it was. So it's not like we had any shortage of of other things going on, but I just could not get that idea out of my head. So from March to June, I really just like sat with the idea. And then finally in June, I sat down with my husband and I was like, you know, I've been thinking about this for a few months now. And I just think like, this is something that we need to do.
00:10:14
Speaker
And he is the most supportive person in the world. And so of course he said, I think that you're the person who can absolutely take this on and you know really bring this to life. And that's how of the West was born.
00:10:26
Speaker
It's not the first job platform for agriculture, but it is unique as someone who's engaged with the website and the things that you do.
Of The West's Unique Market Approach
00:10:35
Speaker
How did it feel knowing that like, okay, there's other people out here trying to solve this problem, but I think they're missing this piece or like, even I'm going to be so bold as I think I can do it better.
00:10:46
Speaker
Yeah. And you know, I hate that because even when people like, and i know, yes, there are competitors out there, if you will, but I don't really see them as a competitor, right? I think about like jeans or boots.
00:10:58
Speaker
If Wrangler was the only company in the world that made jeans, do you think that they actually have the like the production facility to produce denim for every single person in the world?
00:11:10
Speaker
No, they can't. Like we need different companies Trying to do the same thing so that we can really meet people where they are.
00:11:22
Speaker
Just like teachers. One of your favorite teachers in high school or in college or a professor is also somebody's least favorite teacher or least favorite professor. Or your favorite song on the radio is somebody's least favorite song on the radio. So we all have differences. you know We all learn differently and there are things that we really feel called to or feel that we need. And so I really respect the work that those other companies, ag careers and ag hires are doing out there because If we truly want to see agriculture into the next generation and and see it grow in the future, we need all of us. i wanted to take a different approach to it because I think that, of course, there are some things that I want to do differently and I want to do a little bit better or I want to put more of a focus on.
00:12:07
Speaker
But that's not to say that any other platform out there or even, you know, Indeed or LinkedIn or or wherever somebody is looking for a job, that's not to say that any of them are doing it wrong. We're just doing it differently.
00:12:19
Speaker
and i I'm a big believer in a rising tide lifts all ships. my true passion is in helping strengthen our industry and helping connect people with more jobs. And if somebody is able to get their new job or find their new employee through one of my quote unquote competitors, that still does at the end of the day, fulfill that goal of that tells me I need to be working on myself to do it better. So they find me, but The ultimate goal is is for our industry to continue to grow. And so I really do want to see that happen any way possible.
00:12:56
Speaker
Yeah. Your analogy of you know different kinds of jeans really resonates with me because i can go into my closet and, of course, I've got different brands of all those jeans.
00:13:07
Speaker
And so whether we are talking fashion or you know like where people are hunting for jobs, people like choices. And we need a variety of platforms and a variety of choices.
00:13:20
Speaker
So I'm curious, how did this go from, okay, an idea in Jesse's head to, okay, now we're live on the internet and and serving people? Oh, this is such a great question. Okay. So i always kind of liken it to living in a house. I have thankfully been able to live in a house my entire life. So if you were to ask me, Jessie, what are the things that a house needs? I'm going to be able to tell you.
00:13:41
Speaker
Like we need a cement foundation. going to need two by fours. We're going to need sheeting. We're going to need insulation, flooring, electrical work, plumbing, all of these things.
00:13:53
Speaker
If you gave me all of those tools and told me, okay, Jessie, go build a house. I wouldn't have the slightest idea what I was doing. So yeah, so the same kind of applies to websites, right? I mean, I've been a user of the internet since, what, the early 2000s, we'll say.
00:14:10
Speaker
If you were to ask me, Jessie, what does a website need? I'm going to be able to tell you all of the things that a website is going to need and how, you know, we're going to need to have this great user experience and, you know, as fewest clicks as possible, and we're going to need a great checkout page, and we're really going to need to convert all these people. But okay, how are we going to do it?
00:14:29
Speaker
o That's where you lost me. like I am not a technical person by nature, but I am so incredibly grateful and thankful for people who are. so I have a great connection who is ah master at web development and designing, and she is a true problem solver. We were just talking a couple of weeks ago and about problems and and how i problems kind of stress me out a little bit depending on the season. And she was like, Jessie, I just love to solve problems. like
00:15:02
Speaker
That is where I get my joy. So there is no problem when you come to me with a problem. like I love to solve it. This woman is also our web developer. And so I came to her and i I asked her, I said, this is the thing that I'm thinking of. Is this even possible? Is this even doable?
00:15:19
Speaker
like Is the reason that these are large companies behind these job platforms, is it because it's going to you know take a lot of capital. And she said, no, Jessie, this is easy.
00:15:29
Speaker
I don't really know that easy is the right word, but she is that great problem solver. And so she, over the next six months from June to December, built the jobs platform from scratch.
00:15:45
Speaker
At the time, we were using WordPress. And so we had a variety of different plugins and And those worked absolutely great for that first iteration of the site. So we like I said, we started working in June, we worked through December, and then we turned the site on on January 1st, 2021.
00:16:04
Speaker
And what was really unique about that first year is the site was free for everybody to use. So if you were an employer posting a position, it was free to post your position. It was obviously free to go apply for jobs. It was free to use what at that time we called the trades.
00:16:20
Speaker
side of the site, which is now referred to as the directory, but everything was free. And the reason that we did that is because I just know how important trust is in our industry.
00:16:32
Speaker
And if you want employers to come post a job on your site, what do you have to have? You have to have their trust. Yes. And you have to have job seekers. Oh yeah, absolutely. Well, how are you going to get job seekers? Yes.
00:16:47
Speaker
You have to have jobs on the site to have job seekers. and so It's like a chicken or the egg kind of thing. Exactly. It totally is. We have to have both. And they're two very different audiences. How we market to them you know back then and even today is very, very different. And so you have to have both of those. well You're right. Like the chicken or the egg, which one are you going to have first?
00:17:07
Speaker
And so that was what we did as far as our investment into bringing in that traffic was – that anybody could use the site for free so that we could really build trust and build that audience and that network to then where we could make it into obviously a ah revenue generating system.
Challenges and Success in Launching Of The West
00:17:26
Speaker
ah What was that like as an entrepreneur? Okay. You're turning on a new idea. You're funding it yourself. And tell me about the like business mindset behind that of maybe not sure if this is going to work. And also I'm going to fund it for myself for Yeah.
00:17:41
Speaker
Yeah. And we we have been self-funded the entire time. you know I had thankfully been able to sell the magazine that I was a co-owner of And so that was kind of the seed money that I used to start of the West.
00:17:53
Speaker
But I maybe left out an important detail and that was we launched the site January 1, 2021. then went had baby on February 2, 2021. So I was the phase twenty twenty one so i was in the phase of Our son, had he was a couple weeks shy of turning three years old. We had this brand new baby. We had a brand new business.
00:18:14
Speaker
And i knew that I couldn't do it all because I still had that part-time job. i didn't i didn't necessarily go all in. Obviously, of the West was not making any money at the time. So I still had to have some kind of of consistent revenue stream.
00:18:28
Speaker
So i did hire somebody. Her name is Sarah Wilson. She is now our director of marketing. She has been there since April of 2021. So a little over four years now.
00:18:41
Speaker
And I cannot say enough incredible things about her. She is just the glue that keeps us all together. But yeah, so we had an employee that I was paying. and again, the site is making no money. And so when you ask, is this a good business decision?
00:18:57
Speaker
You know, maybe, maybe not. But i going back, I wouldn't trade it for anything because, again, I am always somebody who is going to play the long game. The short game is absolutely, yes, we need to be you know making revenue.
00:19:11
Speaker
But I know that trust is going to trump it all. And if somebody comes to the site and they pay for a bad experience, they're not going to come back. But if they are able to get a good experience and then the next time they go to post a job, okay, well, now we have to pay.
00:19:30
Speaker
But I had such a great experience. i am like I'm happy to hand over my money, if you will. i just knew that, again, in the long term, that was the right decision to make. It's not a decision that I would recommend necessarily,
00:19:46
Speaker
So don't, if somebody is listening and they think that's what they're going to do, i pump the brakes. I don't necessarily know that it's going to work out, but it was the right decision for us.
00:19:57
Speaker
What were some of the like early challenges that you encountered and how did you push through those? I mean, ah other than like, you've got two tiny humans that you're trying to be a mom to and everything else going on in your life.
00:20:10
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I ah heard Kevin Costner say, if you build it, they will come. And ah while he may be good looking, he absolutely lied.
00:20:23
Speaker
It is not an if you build it, they will come because I totally thought that we were just going to flip on the switch or, you know, make the ah URL live on January 1 and we were just going to have throngs of people running.
00:20:35
Speaker
Lining up to post their jobs and to get on our email list and it was going to be easy because again it was stemming from a need that my own network had and I knew that You know, usually if you're having a problem somebody else is having a problem, too So I knew that it was a larger problem than again just for my network, but that was not the case and And so, I mean, maybe I was naive, right? But I think that we all kind of do with our projects or you know goals or businesses, if you build it, they will come. Like, oh, if this is a need for me, you know somebody else is going to find this. No, that's not how it works.
00:21:13
Speaker
We had to market our tails off. And while I do have always had a career in marketing and communications, that wasn't necessarily something that I was thinking of at the time.
00:21:25
Speaker
I just thought, well, this is a good idea. Everybody's going to see the value in this and you know they're going to go tell their friends about it. ah No, that's not how that goes. So that was definitely the biggest lesson and biggest eye-opening one.
00:21:38
Speaker
Again, so memorable because it was so early on in our career. But just the importance of continuing to truly market and do that in such a very good way.
00:21:50
Speaker
I will be honest as a marketer, like what you just said spoke to my heart because I'm like job security. Yep. Everybody thinks like you have a good product and it'll just sell itself, but it doesn't. That's not how it works. No, it doesn't. It doesn't.
00:22:02
Speaker
um
Emotional Fulfillment and Industry Impact
00:22:03
Speaker
Okay. But you have grown fairly rapidly in the last few years. So let's talk about the wins, the successes, what you have seen as people have used the platform and started to connect on it.
00:22:14
Speaker
Oh, you know, anytime that somebody, especially in person, when somebody comes up to me and they tell me, you know, i just wanted to tell you, thank you. i found my job throughout the West and, you know, i absolutely love where I work.
00:22:29
Speaker
It doesn't matter if it was the very first time that I heard that or if it is the hundredth time that somebody tells me that, it still is the coolest feeling because, i mean, for the vast majority of us, we all need to have a job, right? We have to keep the lights on and keep a roof over our head and food on the table. And if we want to take our kids to Disneyland or to a rodeo or NASCAR race, whatever it is that you know we want to go do as a family, everything costs money.
00:23:00
Speaker
And so to know that we are able to play a role in somebody finding fulfillment in their career, to know that we are able to play a role in that connection piece to where they can provide for their family and invest in their children's future and keep that roof over their head and go out on a date night and splurge on a fancy steak or whatever it is, like that is not lost on me.
00:23:26
Speaker
That is a very, very big deal. And then on the employer side of it, knowing employees are our greatest asset. So when I think about the farmer or rancher or ag business or whoever it is that is able to hire somebody through our website so that their business is able to continue on and continue to grow and they're bringing new ideas and new brain power and just you know, that new energy into their business to continue it on
00:24:01
Speaker
It really is just, I don't even have words for it to be quite honest. Like that is such an incredible feeling to know that we have played a part in that. It is so incredible to hear you say that because I think so often in business, we get stuck with just like, what's the product that we provide and not the people that we serve.
00:24:19
Speaker
And it's so clear that you, one, had a good idea, right But that you're driven by this vision of helping and connecting people and how that that really comes back and gives value to them and value to the industry. it's It makes me like fall in love with Of The West even more, I'll be honest.
00:24:37
Speaker
Well, and I think that, you know, in a way, I think we're kind of lucky because, yes, we we have a product or we have a service, but it is simply we are providing the connection place. So we don't do any kind of recruiting. We don't do any kind of headhunting. I don't search through any resumes for people. That's not to say that we won't in the future, but we're Right now, we are fully self-serviced to where an employer comes, they pay to post their position, we market that position, and then job seekers find it, and it goes back through the employer for all of the interviewing and and all of the hiring process, if you will. And so we are very removed from
00:25:13
Speaker
from that. So I think that I do still get to see it through like from the b beginning to the end. I do get to skip out on the messy middle, if you will. Sounds like you've said this up perfectly for you. yeah But it is like, it is that feeling like the, the,
00:25:28
Speaker
it it really is about the people.
Navigating the Agricultural Job Market
00:25:31
Speaker
And jobs are not sexy. They're not fun to talk about, right? We don't, i mean, so i would that's why I think so highly of Sarah and her work when it comes to marketing what we do, because you have to get really creative to get people engaged with marketing jobs. And that's a part that we kind of want to leave behind. Like,
00:25:50
Speaker
When we get on our phones in the evening and want to scroll Instagram, you don't want to listen to resume tips. You want to watch some funny Theo Vaughn or you know Dale Brisby video or whatever that is. So I have so much respect for her and the work that she does because she has done a phenomenal job at, if you will, like making jobs sexy and fun and cool to talk about.
00:26:13
Speaker
but But again, I just think that we are in such a lucky place where we are able to to really get to connect with people because like you say, that is the best part of our industry but by and large.
00:26:27
Speaker
Absolutely. Okay. So working in the agriculture labor space, you're the connector of people. I mean, this is the area that you work in. So if you had to describe the current ag job market today, ah let's start in one word, but i um I'll let you expand on it. What would it be?
00:26:43
Speaker
Tricky. Tricky. That's not really the word that I was initially... ah One word, that's that's so difficult. But yeah, I think it's tricky because... And I'm sure you guys can say the same thing. you know we Even to this day, ah with Of The West being around for almost five years now, I still hear people saying, I'm looking for a job and I can't find one.
00:27:02
Speaker
And I still hear employers say... I'm looking for employees and I can't find them. That's not to say they're not that they're they're using the site, but like it is still, even though we have provided a connection place, just like are you know the other competitors out there have provided a connection place, we weren't the first to do it by any means, but there is still just this missing piece where people are having a hard time finding one another.
00:27:28
Speaker
And it's not to say, you know, just like you said, it's not enough to find somebody. You have to find the right someone. You have to find the right candidate. You have to find the right employer for you.
00:27:38
Speaker
Because again, going back to what we talked about earlier with jeans, right? Like we all have different things that we like and don't like in ways that we feel fulfilled and, you know, leadership styles that we work well with and that we don't work well with. And so, um,
00:27:52
Speaker
I think that that is definitely tricky in itself. I also think one of the things is there are a lot of jobs in agriculture, but the number of people involved in agriculture has been declining since the 1980s.
00:28:05
Speaker
And so eight it is just a very tricky dynamic to be part of this industry that is somehow growing, but somehow shrinking There are the right candidates out there looking for a job. There's the right employers, but they can't really connect. And so I think that I do see it as a true opportunity. And it's not something that like disappoints me. I see it as something that I am excited by.
00:28:32
Speaker
like That tells me there is more work for us to do. That tells me that there is you know job security for us in a way because we can make that process even better for everybody who is involved.
00:28:46
Speaker
That's such a great outlook to have on it because, yes, we hear the same things from like I know students right now who are struggling to find their internship, their first job. And on the same point, we have partners that are like, where is the good talent hiding or can you get more students through AFA?
00:29:05
Speaker
And so to look at it as like, hey, that means we still have work to do. that's That's just a fun way to look at it versus, yeah, it's a problem to solve, but the people are out there. It's just finding and connecting them.
00:29:17
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. I could not agree more. What are trends that you are seeing right now in the ag job market? I will say I don't necessarily know that the ag job market is necessarily that different from the job market as a whole. One thing that I think is really interesting, though, is ah when it comes to our parents' generation,
00:29:39
Speaker
It is not uncommon to hear about somebody who has been at a company their entire career, like 20 years, 25 years, years. my mother-in-law has worked in the very same office since she was 20 years old.
00:29:55
Speaker
So for 30, longer than my husband has been alive. So for more than 35 years, she has worked in the same office. that is not something That is not something that you hear about very often. And maybe even I'm not as as well connected on the mainstream job side of things.
00:30:11
Speaker
I think it is probably just as common in the real world. i do think people in relationships in agriculture, it is there's probably a higher percentage of people who, again, are our parents' age who have been in those those careers their entire life.
00:30:29
Speaker
And what I think about when it comes to people who are my age, so in their mid-30s, That is not the case. I actually don't necessarily know of anybody who is in the same job now that they got when they first graduated.
00:30:46
Speaker
It seems much more common to stay at a place for two to four years and then go find something new. And I think that's done for two reasons. One, I think that People need variety.
00:31:00
Speaker
And so they want something different. They want to be challenged in a new way. They want to you know go put their impact on on somebody else and make a positive impact in a different way.
00:31:14
Speaker
i think another reason, though, is because, and studies and data show, that you have a higher chance of getting a better salary or a stronger offer when you change jobs versus getting a raise.
00:31:31
Speaker
And at the end of the day, when we go back to this idea that jobs are how we keep a roof over our head and food on the table and and you know we do need money to survive, i think about how much talent is lost in a company because they are unwilling to give a raise.
00:31:51
Speaker
But if somebody new is coming into that company, are you going to start them at a higher salary than you would have started that great person who you've already trained and and invested in?
00:32:02
Speaker
You know, I think about, we all know this when it comes to your cell phone provider or do people still use Dish or DirecTV? Yeah, but like if you're a new customer, you get a great deal.
00:32:13
Speaker
If you're an old customer, what what kind of a great deal are they giving for you? I mean, I've been for with Verizon now for 20 years. I don't get a, hey, you're a loyal 20-year customer.
00:32:25
Speaker
you should get a better deal than the customer we just acquired yesterday. So there's a lot to say about the job market in that same breadth. But I think that that's something that is really interesting when it comes to trends in the in the job market. And I think you know maybe for anybody who's listening is kind of consider...
00:32:43
Speaker
When that time comes, how can i invest in my people so that they stick around so that they can continue to invest in me and my business? Because it is extremely expensive to have to go acquire a new employee.
00:33:00
Speaker
I think, too, it maybe changes the way we begin to think about talent development as well, because it's not to say that people aren't going to stay. There are there are people that stay in certain roles for extended periods of time, and there there is some longevity.
00:33:15
Speaker
But also, people are going to switch roles. I think if we think of like millennials, Gen Z, millennials. They're going to move and people move for different reasons. But and it makes me wonder if as an industry we need to approach talent development more holistically.
00:33:31
Speaker
Like knowing that like this is a group project because the talent pool for agriculture is small and I may only get you for a short period of time and then you're going to go somewhere else. Or I'm going to get someone else from, like, if we're more collaborative and working together on talent development, knowing that, you know, a student who's maybe in college today could move through, gosh even five to up to 10 different type of organizations throughout their career versus sticking with one
Career Path Insights and Opportunities
00:33:59
Speaker
the whole time.
00:33:59
Speaker
So talent development maybe isn't just the, don't want to say it isn't just your responsibility anymore, but it is really more holistic from a business standpoint and an industry standpoint.
00:34:10
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. and And I don't want to fault anybody who who has been a career jumper. Because again, if I think about if I am was in my, you know, if I was 55 and I had worked at six or seven different companies, and I had those strong networks within the industry, that absolutely makes me an asset to who I'm working for now. So there's definitely pros and cons on either side, and I don't want to fault anybody by any means. But I just think it's a very interesting dynamic and situation that we're in now. Because again, if we're doing that comparison of our parents' generation versus the generation today, i think that there's there's just a lot of interesting thoughts from that.
00:34:54
Speaker
Yeah, yeah. The just dynamics around the way we manage careers looks different. Even though i think the breaks that people sometimes take from it or the the changes that people make in their career. Like you may start in in doing one thing and end up doing something completely different or even your own journey, right? Like where you started in a typical like association type of job, which I think is, you know, when you're an ag comm student, which like I was, that's kind of like, hey, that's the path that I want to take.
00:35:21
Speaker
You discover that there's more out there and now you're an entrepreneur. Oh, absolutely. And I know this, and I'm going kind of go off course here, but I think that you bring up such an important thing. And I, anytime I get to talk to students specifically, I always tell them this.
00:35:35
Speaker
And I know that not everybody who's listening to this is a student by any means, but I know that there's a couple of them out there. So when I first started working for the Idaho Cattle Association, I was their communications director. And one of my roles was producing our monthly magazine that went out to all of our members called The Line Rider.
00:35:51
Speaker
I always had been a great writer that is just like a natural born talent of mine, but I had no experience with magazines whatsoever. Again, aside from the fact that I loved reading them, like anytime I was going to go into a bookstore or a gas station, I was going to come out with a magazine. I've loved magazines my entire life and I had this ability to write.
00:36:13
Speaker
But other than that, I knew nothing. So I was thrown into this role. And then after I left, that is what got me hired for my next position. So I'd actually gone, there was a, i think it was a ah marketing coordinator position that I had applied for at the Boutique Hub.
00:36:33
Speaker
And i didn't get the job. It came down to me and somebody else. And the other person who was hired, she actually had experience in the retail industry. I did not.
00:36:43
Speaker
So she got the job. and A couple of weeks later, I got a call from the owner who is one of my best friends. And so I always give her heck about this every time. She said, hey, I know we didn't hire you for this role, but yeah um my friend and I are going to produce a Western fashion magazine.
00:37:02
Speaker
And we know you have magazine experience. Do you want to come work for us? And I told her, i said, yeah, let me, I'll take a couple days and think about it. We'll see. In my head at the time, I knew I was absolutely going to take that role, but I just wanted to make them like sit and stew about it because you didn't hire me. So I'm not just going to like be, you know, desperate energy and say, yes, I'll take the job.
00:37:25
Speaker
So I think I waited about a day and then I called her. And then our, so the first issue of that magazine launched, was produced. It was an absolute hit. and I actually got to buy in as an owner because they needed to change the title of the magazine at the time. and I had a trademark for Western Runway. so i gave them the trademark, the name, and I became an owner of Western Runway. and We produced that magazine for five years, I believe, before we sold it. and Like I said earlier, what i what I was able to take from that was the seed money that i was able to have to start of the West.
00:38:01
Speaker
So who knew that when I was 21 years old, right out of college, knew nothing about magazines, that one single skill is what has like really i founded my my career in.
00:38:14
Speaker
And so I think, again, I told you this was going to be a very long story, but ah ah to summarize all of that, I think that there are so many things that are important that, you know, maybe we're not interested in in at the time, but in the future, that could be the skill that sets us up for the next move in our career.
00:38:35
Speaker
Like if I didn't have that magazine experience, if we didn't have that monthly magazine for our members, my life would literally look completely different. Mm-hmm. I think that is such a great story because careers, I often don't look like you plan them to.
00:38:51
Speaker
And i think that's just such a good example of being open to opportunity and what comes your way because you never know what little like wrinkle in the journey is going to completely put you on a trajectory that's often better than you ever imagined.
00:39:07
Speaker
Oh, I could not agree more that. You nailed it. Mic drop. Yeah. Okay, well, we should probably move into the rapid fire segment of this podcast.
Educational Platforms and Entrepreneurship Challenges
00:39:18
Speaker
I'm ready. So try to answer these as quick as you can. So, Jessie, if you had 10 times the resources you have today, tomorrow, what would you build next? Okay. Well, we're building Schools of the West.
00:39:30
Speaker
It is a platform where you can go connect with ag schools and ag trades. Yes, it is coming. It was supposed to be coming spring.
00:39:41
Speaker
We had to rearrange some things. It will be coming this fall, but I would put all of our resources into Schools of the West. Okay. Savannah is going to butcher me because I always do this on our rapid fire segments and I'm like, we're going to be quick, but I have a follow-up question.
00:39:55
Speaker
Okay, tell me more about what that looks like and what inspired it because i am super intrigued of Schools of the West. Yeah. So it's going to look just like our current freelance directory does. So what that is, is we're a place where you can go connect with freelancers and contractors and they have they all have their individual profiles.
00:40:14
Speaker
So Schools of the West is going to look just like that. It is going to have anything in the industry from you know two-year community college, a four-year university, master's programs, graduate degrees, doctoral programs,
00:40:27
Speaker
Again, all focused in agriculture. And then it's also going to have trades as well. So if you want to go be an auctioneer, you're going to be able to type in auctioneer and find any auctioneer school in the United States where you can go pursue that trade.
00:40:46
Speaker
Same with equine dentistry, same with equine chiropractic, same with welding or any anything within our industry where you need to have a certification or formal, for lack of a better word, training, you are going to be able to find that through Schools of the West.
00:41:02
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, the other thing that I'm really excited about is you're also going to be able to sort by industry specific things. So if you know that you want to go pursue a business degree and you also want to be on a meat judging team, you're going to be able to filter by industry.
00:41:18
Speaker
business degree and meat judging team. And then all of the schools that are members of the directory that have ah meat judging team, or you can go get a business degree are going to come up.
00:41:30
Speaker
So it's just going to be a much easier and better and more efficient way to connect schools and students or even career changers because we know there are plenty of people will use the healthcare industry.
00:41:43
Speaker
For an example, they've been in the healthcare care industry for the last 10 years. They don't want to be involved anymore. So they want to go find something new. Do they need to go back to school? Do they just need some kind of a trade or training or certification?
00:41:57
Speaker
so we're going to be able to serve that group of people as well. So incredible. Oh, if that makes me excited for you. I think that's going to serve so many young people, and well, and people in general in such great ways.
00:42:09
Speaker
Back to rapid fire. Okay, back to your rapid fire round. Sorry we butchered that. i um I always tell ah my team I'm queen of rabbit holes. So there was an example. Savannah's nodding. um Okay, Jessie, what's a common misconception about entrepreneurship?
00:42:25
Speaker
Well, the first one that comes to mind is that it's easy. I think people think that, oh, it's easy. You can set your own schedule. And if you don't want to work today, you don't have to. But that's not the case. Yeah.
00:42:36
Speaker
What's one thing you are still working on as a leader? I'm thinking about this. There's a lot. Being involved without being involved. So again, I know this is a rapid fire. I got to be quick. But I trust our team to do everything that I ask of them, obviously.
00:42:54
Speaker
But then I still find myself getting yeah involved. And so I think I'm finding the balance of, and not necessarily micromanaging, but like, oh, we could do this or we could do this. And no, i like let them run with it.
00:43:08
Speaker
We hired them for a reason. They are absolutely talented. Go let them do their jobs. Yep. think you described a struggle so many leaders have, not just you, especially entrepreneurs, because this is your baby.
00:43:20
Speaker
Okay.
Balancing Tradition and Innovation
00:43:21
Speaker
So what is one piece of advice from your podcast guests? For anyone who's listening, she has a wonderful podcast and gets to interview all kinds of great leaders in agriculture as well. ah So if you like this podcast, you'll probably like Jessie's too.
00:43:33
Speaker
What's one piece of advice from your podcast, the guests that you've had that you still think about? Oh, there are two of them. The first is from Carly Peterson. And she said, no stands offer for new options.
00:43:45
Speaker
I had never heard that before. And my face literally looked like yours right now because that was when she said that I had never heard it. And I think it's probably a pretty common quote. But again, no stands for new options.
00:43:59
Speaker
i lost in my mind when she said that because I was like, oh my gosh, that is the best one. The next one came from Haley Kinsel. And we were talking about in her relationship with God, we often ask things like if if the same thing keeps happening to us, we can find ourselves asking like, God, haven't I learned this lesson before?
00:44:17
Speaker
Like, why do I have to continue to learn this lesson? I i feel like I've got it down. And she said that she has realized it is not the lesson, it's how she responds to the lesson. Like, did I respond or react better this time than I did last time?
00:44:37
Speaker
And there are ah some specific things in life where I feel like I am just constantly learning the same lesson. And I don't want to be learning that lesson anymore, Jesus, if you're listening. But I now reframe it as,
00:44:49
Speaker
Did i do a better job, again, like reacting or responding this time than I did last time? Because really, like, that is the reason I'm learning the lesson. I need to grow as a person. And so that has just been transformational for me, for sure.
00:45:06
Speaker
Yeah, those both of those are wonderful. Ones that I'm now going to do some noodling on myself. Great. What do you hope that the next generation of ag leaders dares to do differently from, I'm not going to say our generation, but maybe the generation above us?
00:45:22
Speaker
I don't necessarily want to say differently, but I just hope that we continue to to keep pursuing innovation. i think that we really have made leaps and bounds. ah Our industries have truly innovated in the last 30 years.
00:45:35
Speaker
And I just want to continue to to keep that going because that is really what is going to move agriculture forward in the future. Yeah. Okay. Moving out of rapid fire, but I want to build off of what you just said.
00:45:47
Speaker
i think there is so much innovation in technology and growth in agriculture, but the thing that makes agriculture in my mind often so special is the tradition. And especially if you think about Western culture and the, like there is obviously nostalgia and there's pop culture pieces of that, but there is also true like Western tradition culture things that I think um are a special piece of agriculture to keep around. So how do you think we balance that in the future of maintaining this like Western heritage, but also with the innovation that we need to solve tomorrow's problems?
00:46:20
Speaker
Okay, Nicole, you must live in my mind because this is literally something I ask myself all the time. How are we able to really like preserve the past without staying in the past and how we can move forward and like the the best of both worlds, if you will.
00:46:42
Speaker
And, you know, because I think about how much of our industry has changed and, you right Like GPS and tractors and how much more efficient that makes us and hydraulic squeeze chutes and all of that. But then I think about branding.
00:46:57
Speaker
right This is something that was invented in the – has been around since the 1700s, 1800s, probably even longer than that. But again, for for thinking about in America. There is still no better way to identify an animal and it is something that is still absolutely needed because live in an area where cattle f cattle theft is still a thing, right? So here we have an idea that has been around hundreds and hundreds of years and it is still the best way to to do something.
00:47:26
Speaker
So i think about just that balance of, you know, what are things that we absolutely need to be innovating on? and And what are things that, again, like you said, with culture and heritage, how how do we protect and preserve that?
00:47:41
Speaker
Because sometimes you're right. the Sometimes the way that dad and grandpa did it is still the right way. Mm-hmm. No, it is for sure. or at least the mindset that they approached it with is the right mindset to approach it with. Yeah. It's that moving forward.
00:47:56
Speaker
But I think innovation can seem so sexy, but there's also just some really good things I think to hang on to as we grow as an industry.
Perspectives on Remote Work and Connection
00:48:04
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah, I love that. Okay. So Jesse at AFA, we love hot takes. So bold, unconventional opinions.
00:48:11
Speaker
What is a unconventional or bold thought that you have about leadership or the future of agriculture? Okay. This is probably not bold, maybe unconventional. It's probably going to make the younger generation mad.
00:48:26
Speaker
And I don't want to say I don't care, but I absolutely do care. If you are just out of college, you probably don't deserve a remote job. but Remote jobs are not a right.
00:48:37
Speaker
They are a privilege. and we see a lot of people who are very early on in their careers and they they're only looking for remote jobs.
00:48:48
Speaker
And i will tell you, i will not hire somebody who has not worked in an office. You learn so much in that experience.
00:48:59
Speaker
I need to know that you can show up on time when the door unlocks at 8 And I need to know that you can work alongside people who you maybe don't get along with and you don't get to alienate yourself and lock yourself in ah in a room and you know work miles and miles from them. You have to work alongside them.
00:49:18
Speaker
And I need to know that you, you know, in a boardroom know like when to speak and when not to speak. Because again, those are things that are usually learned best in person. And so I just want to encourage people who are probably, I'm going to say in in your twenty s you probably are not qualified for your remote position in the sense that you need more development in an office.
00:49:45
Speaker
Again, where you can learn side by side with incredible leaders in our industry to make you a better leader. But I think that there is, we and we see it all the time, right? Remote jobs get 20 to one applications. And I mean, I've had a remote job. i I need to have a remote job. So I fully, fully get it.
00:50:05
Speaker
But when you have just graduated college, yeah you need to go work in an office before you get a remote job. And now I'm probably going to, I mean, and yeah, no, i'm I know that I've just made a lot of people mad with that. But I think that there's a lot of value in working alongside people and and just that in person.
00:50:23
Speaker
Yeah. there is There's so many skills that you learn just being up close with people. And that's why we ask how it takes. it's I think as leaders, we need to be challenged. And so love that you've shared that.
00:50:36
Speaker
Okay, Jessie, this has been such a fun conversation. And so I've so enjoyed getting to know you and a little bit more about what you do. i know I'm sure our listeners have as well. At AFA, we believe in building bridges and connections in many of the ways that the West does. So where can people connect with you and learn more about what you do and your brand?
00:50:55
Speaker
Oh, well, thank you. i The feeling is mutual. So you can find Of The West at ofthewest.co. You can find us on Instagram, same handle at ofthewest.co.
00:51:08
Speaker
On Facebook, it is Jobs Of The West. And then we're also active on LinkedIn. If you just search Of The West, we'll come right up. Personally, you can find me at Mrs. J. Jarv. So that's M-R-S-J-J-A-R-V.
00:51:20
Speaker
And then I do have a website, jessiejarvis.com. You can also go check out Leaders of the West. You can get it anywhere you get podcasts. We do have an episode with Mark Stewart that launched in either March or April. So that's definitely a good listen for all of your listeners.
00:51:36
Speaker
So because because of that AFA connection, that was an incredible episode. so yeah, that's where can find us. Love it. Go check out Jessie and of the West on all the places that you can find her. Thank you so much for being of us, Jessie. And we appreciate you joining the Cultivating Leaders podcast.
00:51:51
Speaker
Thanks for listening to the Cultivating Leaders podcast brought to you by Agriculture Future of America. you've been here before, you know we value feedback as a gift. Please leave us a review and let us know how we're doing.