A few years ago, I started following Courtenay DeHoff (@courtdehoff) on Instagram. She is a mover and shaker in the Western lifestyle industry. She is an influencer in the best possible use of the term. She posts photos of her syndicated bull, Top Dollar, gorgeous Western-inspired photoshoots, and her thoughts on her work as a TV host and speaker.
What I most love to hear from Courtenay is her unapologetic message that anyone who wants to call themselves a cowgirl (or cowboy) can – regardless of if one owns cattle, lives in the west, wears Wranglers or has ever ridden a horse. She asserts that there should be no gatekeeping to the industry. She tells her followers to check their bias if we believe that only specific people “belong.”
Recently, she posted this quote from Dale Evans, the famous 1950s actress, singer and songwriter: “Cowgirl is an attitude, really; a pioneer spirit, a special American brand of courage. The cowgirl faces life head-on, lives by her own lights and makes no excuses. Cowgirls take stands. They speak up. They defend the things they hold dear. A cowgirl might be a rancher, or a barrel racer, or a bull rider or an actress. But she’s just as likely to be a checker at the local Winn Dixie, a full-time mother, a banker, an attorney or an astronaut.”
I’m trying to embody that message, and I feel like that person. Yet, I struggle to call myself a cowgirl, let alone a rancher. I don’t have a family ranching legacy. Heck, I didn’t even grow up on a ranch. Nobody knows my name or my dad’s name. I’ve never ridden in a rodeo and can’t rope. I have cattle, but not hundreds, and those cattle don’t wholly support my family. I don’t even aspire to full-time ranching, though the ranch is financially successful.
I regularly refer to our ranch on this blog, yet I wonder if I’d lose all my cred with my readers if they knew we only have 40 cows. Logically, I don’t believe others in the industry are judging me. But maybe they are? People tell me I belong. But do I really? It’s the worst kind of imposter syndrome. Yet, there has to be some truth to the close-minded attitude or Courtenay’s message wouldn’t have such a following.
This magazine is called Progressive Cattle, and I’ve always loved the name – the image of progress, open-mindedness and advancement in the cattle industry. I don’t think that message is just about the tools and protocols we use to grow beef. It is also about the people. If you find yourself in my shoes and not certain that you belong, I promise you, you do. You can call yourself a rancher.
