Advocacy ... What Moves You?

Welcome to the "Growing Our Future" podcast, where Aaron Alejandro invites inspiring guests to share insights on agriculture, advocacy, and making a positive impact. In this episode, Aaron is joined by Michelle Miller, also known as "The Farm Babe," an influencer, advocate, and social media powerhouse promoting truth in agriculture and debunking myths. Together, they delve into the importance of effective communication, the power of advocacy, and bridging the gap between farmers and consumers.

Michelle Miller, the iconic "Farm Babe," shares her journey from being an urban dweller to embracing agriculture through life experiences, self-discovery, and an affinity for the farm life. Michelle's passion for agriculture advocacy and her journey from city to farm make her a unique and compelling guest.

Story Notes:

• Embracing Agriculture for a Better Future
• Seeds of Greatness
• Gratitude and Freedom
• Living Your Brand
• Challenging Misinformation
• Advocacy and Bridging the Gap
• Advocacy Leadership and Professional Networking
• Debunking Myths
• Responding vs. Reacting

Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast. In this show, the Texas FFA Foundation will take on a journey of exploration into agricultural science, education, leadership development and insights from subject matter experts and sponsors who provide the fuel to make dreams come true. Here is your host, Erin Alejandro.

Speaker 2: 0:30

Well, good morning, good afternoon or good evening or whenever you may be tuning into the Growing Our Future podcast. We appreciate you joining us today and you know we just enjoy bringing this podcast to you. You know, I tell people all the time that if agriculture has taught me anything, it's taught me that if you want to know what the future is, grow it Well. How do you grow it? Well, you got to plant the right seeds, you got to nurture them, you got to take care of them and then you got to harvest it. That's the reason we bring on these incredible guests so they can share with us seeds of greatness that we can put in place in our lives and the lives of others to make our world a better place to live, work and raise our families.

Speaker 2: 1:11

Today is no different. We've got a celebrity today. She's an icon, she's an influencer, she's an advocate. But I think the title that I want to know a little bit more about is Big City Globetrotter Turn Farm Girl. We have the Farm Babe, michelle Miller, with us today. Michelle, thank you for joining us.

Speaker 3: 1:31

Yeah, thanks for having me, it's a pleasure.

Speaker 2: 1:34

Well, we're going to have some fun today because you and I, we have a lot in common when it comes to being advocates for agriculture, and we're going to talk about that, and we're going to talk about the importance of that and why we hope others will embrace and take on this incredible responsibility. It's not a task, it is a responsibility and we're going to talk about that. But, to get started, every guest on this show gets the same question, so you get the first question that every other guest gets and that is this Michelle, what are you grateful for today?

Speaker 3: 2:12

Oh, what am I grateful for? I am grateful for, I think, just being self-employed and being able to travel and have a lot of freedom to do what I want, when I want, and travel and just celebrate all facets of agriculture and life and just doing what I love every single day.

Speaker 2: 2:35

Well, you know, in the FFA we have an opening ceremony and in that ceremony we get to the treasurer's part and they talk about the emblem of Washington and they say that George Washington was better able to serve his country because he was financially independent. Well, I think there's some genius there in that opening ceremony and you just kind of spoke to it.

Speaker 3: 2:58

Well, perfect.

Speaker 2: 2:59

To have the capacity to live in a wonderful country full of freedoms and liberties and opportunity, where you can choose your destination. And you've chosen this entrepreneurial, this advocacy platform and it's giving you that flexibility to not just do what you enjoy, but to enjoy what you do.

Speaker 3: 3:23

Yeah, every day I wake up and I just like pinch myself, like how is this my life? It's pretty awesome.

Speaker 2: 3:28

Well, and here's how I know that, obviously, we're going to talk about Michelle being a social influencer and somebody that we, a lot of us, follow online, and that's what I was going to say. You know, I'm a big believer in live your brand and we're going to talk about that. We're going to talk about that as it relates to advocacy. Live your brand and I think that's one thing that I appreciate about your social media footprint is that you're always sharing where you're at, you're always sharing who you're talking to, you're always sharing something that relates to your brand.

Speaker 3: 4:02

Yeah, yeah, and I think that's awesome. Well, thank you, it's fun.

Speaker 2: 4:08

Okay, now let's go ahead and start getting into the formalities of the podcast. Obviously, there's a lot of folks out there who know who you are, okay, and they've probably read about you, they've scrolled, they've seen you, they know who the farm babe is. But for those listeners who may not know Michelle Miller may not know how she fell into the seat that she's in why don't you take us on a journey and tell us your story of how you came into this role that you're in and why you're so passionate about the role that you're in?

Speaker 3: 4:45

Yeah, sure. So I grew up in Ashcash, wisconsin, and I was a 4-H kid growing up and so, although I didn't grow up on a farm, a lot of my friends were farm kids. That got me really interested and excited about agriculture back in middle school and high school. And you take those aptitude tests in high school that tell you what you should major in and you talk to your teachers and guidance counselors and everything was like agriculture. You should be a farmer, you should be a vet, you should be a veterinarian, work with animals in some capacity, and I actually ended up moving to Los Angeles and got a degree in fashion. So I just wanted to see what else was out there. You kind of grow up in your same town and doing the same thing every day and I loved the farm life. I loved doing chores every day and riding horses every day after school and I was a big horse enthusiast as a kid. And so as you journey and you grow and you move away and you see what else is out there, my first job out of college was I actually worked for Gucci on Rodeo Drive, so it was about as far removed from agriculture as you can be, and I learned throughout my time four years in LA and then I lived in downtown Chicago for like seven years, and I learned throughout that time, throughout all my 20s, that like I fell victim to a lot of misinformation, and I think a lot of people do. I think people in urban areas are so far removed from the farm that they believe everything that the media says or they buy into food labels and myths. They become vegan or followed non-gmo, organic, gluten-free diets because some celebrity told them to, and so that was me. I was following this organic, non-gmo, gluten-free diet and all the stuff that a lot of people in urban areas do, and I ended up moving to Florida. I kind of got fed up with the big city life and the traffic and the expenses and I became like a bartender down in Pensacola Beach, florida, and I was just traveling the world, and so I think it's really important for people listening to think it's okay to like journey out, it's okay to travel and it really changes you and opens your soul, and I encourage everybody to travel and experience different facets of life. But at the end of the day, my teachers and guidance counselors were right, because what happened was, throughout this time of bartending and traveling the world, I ended up meeting a farmer, and so he was on vacation in Florida and we ended up dating for almost eight years and so I moved to Iowa to be with him back in 2014.

Speaker 3: 7:13

And I started the farm, babe, because when I moved to the farm in rural Iowa, I realized just how misinformed I was. Because he was a farmer and he was correcting a lot of this misinformation, I believe. So he was sharing with me. Like GMOs are not a bad thing, like organic does not mean pesticide breed, there's no such thing as added hormones and chicken. And my mind was just blown Like everything I thought I knew about agriculture was wrong.

Speaker 3: 7:38

And that became my passion was to think well, if GMOs are good and all these things are misinformation, what else is misinformation? And so my passion stems from wanting to share the real truth of agriculture, because I know what it feels like to be on the opposite side of the spectrum. So that's how it started in 2014. It started off as a blog. All I did was started a Facebook page and didn't really think much of it. I was like, I don't know, it's just going to be something fun to do, like a hobby on the farm. And from there, here it is. You know, nine years later, and it's insanely busy. It's grown leans and bounds, and it all started with a Facebook page.

Speaker 2: 8:18

There's so many things that I love about your story, by the way, that I can relate to, and so I'm a city boy. I grew up in Dallas.

Speaker 3: 8:27

Oh, wow, okay.

Speaker 2: 8:29

And then I got into some trouble as a young boy and trouble, you know, family, a lot of dysfunction, and my dad died. So I got placed at a boys ranch and that's where I got introduced to Ag.

Speaker 2: 8:41

And the guy that raised me. Everybody knows the story about Mr Chandler, but Mr Chandler would not let us have anything but an Ag job, and his philosophy was, he said darling, you'll never learn anything unless something depends on you. And to this day, to this day, we've been very successful at the Texas FFA Foundation, and one of the stories that I tell is very similar to what you just shared, and that is this Either we're talking about 4-H kids or FFA kids. When people ask me they say, aaron, what separates these kids from everybody else? I said it's real simple In the world of agriculture, if we don't do our job, something dies.

Speaker 2: 9:18

More of their program gets to say that no other program equips kids with that core value of I have a responsibility here to my land, I have a responsibility to my fellow man and I believe that that's a core value, whether it's 4-H or FFA, that when you give that to a kid they're going to translate that into everything they do in their life.

Speaker 3: 9:41

Yep.

Speaker 2: 9:41

Do you agree?

Speaker 3: 9:43

Yes, 4-h and FFA are such valuable programs and I learned so much from 4-H and I wasn't in FFA but I really wish I would have been and I speak at a lot of FFA events. I'm primarily a keynote speaker is how this whole branding has evolved and I've spoken at different regional and state and school FFA conventions and all this stuff. But when I speak at some of these statewide FFA conventions, I mean they're cool, these conferences are a big deal, and it blows my mind sometimes when I see these young people and I'm telling these FFA students right now, like the skills that they're learning that y'all are learning in FFA. You might not realize it now, but they are going to help you for life.

Speaker 3: 10:27

And I took public speaking classes in high school, like college level speaking, and I was always in pageants and on stage and like so I was. I was raised and I grew up in this ability to be. I was. I was in theater and drama and forensics and did a lot of public speaking competitions and all these things and that's what FFA gets you. And I see some of these students speaking at these FFA conventions and I have to go up after them to speak and I have to follow that, like as a professional keynote speaker that's been doing this eight years. Sometimes these high school FFA students show me up Like I'm like, okay, you guys are crushing it. You know, it's really something to be proud of and it's something that these FFA students impressed me with constantly is their ability to just crush it on that stage as a speaker. So hats off.

Speaker 2: 11:18

I'm not going to tell you who. I'm just going to tell you. We're very fortunate to work with some big brand CEOs and I'll never forget one of them. One time he said exactly what you just said. And here and here I am 58 years old and I'm about to walk on the stage and I've got my notes in front of me. He said and I've got to follow that young lady or that young man right there that, with no notes, just blew me out of the water.

Speaker 3: 11:45

Yeah, totally.

Speaker 2: 11:46

But you know, I'm glad you mentioned that, so I'm going to throw a little bit of statistics at you here. How many high schools do you think there are in the state of Texas?

Speaker 3: 11:56

Oh my God. Texas is a big state, I don't know, like thousands.

Speaker 2: 12:00

There are thousands. So there's a little over 3000 high schools in the state of Texas. Now think about that 3000 high schools. Every one of them have a graduating class. So that means that everyone of them is going to have seniors that are going to get out of school. They're going to be looking for a job, a scholarship or an opportunity. And I ask the kids all the time. I say what's your competitive edge? What separates you from the competition? Because at the end of the day, everybody's buying for something.

Speaker 2: 12:32

Yeah exactly what's your competitive edge, and I believe that what you just shared is a great example. I believe that to have a command of the spoken or the written word gives, for H or FFA kids, a competitive edge against their peers, and you and I see that.

Speaker 3: 12:49

Absolutely Well and you're familiar with the discussion meet at Farm Bureau, right, yes, and so that is one thing that I've always found really cool, and also for the people listening, it's like, if you can get involved in these discussion meets the winners of these discussion meets they win some seriously cool stuff, like a truck or like a gator.

Speaker 3: 13:10

They're not just you're not just winning like a $50 gift card to Red Lobster, you know what I mean. You're winning a dang brand new Chevy truck. You know, sometimes I mean I can't speak for every discussion meet, right, but these discussion meets are serious business and I've been a judge for many of them across many different states, and I see some people just fall flat on their face. But I believe that FFA is a program that can allow students to absolutely crush it and dominate and make a huge impact when we think about the future of global food system security and we think about policy, who's going to, who's going to help our policy, who's going to fix things, who's going to make things better and it is these well spoken, articulate advocates for our degree, and FFA is a really great place to get started with all of that.

Speaker 2: 14:01

Well, we're going to, we're going to dive in. I really, I mean, you're doing such a great job, you're a great guest, you're, you're. You're just naturally giving me these transitions into what we're talking about.

Speaker 3: 14:12

I'm not even trying, but thank you.

Speaker 2: 14:13

You're doing good, all right. So I want to. I want to share a couple of quick stories with you, because I think you're going to get a kick out of these. I was given a workshop one time and I had somebody from PR firm say Aaron, I want you to talk to this freelance rider. Now she's on the East Coast and she rides for some big brands I don't want to name them and she wanted me, because of the presentation, to talk about organics and organic certification. And I told her I said, listen, I'm not an expert, but I'll, let's do it. If it goes bad, you're going to earn your money because you're our PR person.

Speaker 2: 14:45

So I talked to this lady and I did my research on her. So I knew that she was part of a community garden, that she was really heavy into organics, and so she asked me she says, aaron, everybody that knows me knows I'm just going to jump right in. I'm going to jump right in and ask you what do you think about organics and organic certification? And I just told her I said, number one, I am not an expert in any of the things that you just mentioned. I'm a 30,000 foot view guy, though, so I want to talk about, maybe the view of what you're talking about, but not as an expert. And I said I can already tell you that I'm going to give you an answer and you're not going to like it.

Speaker 2: 15:21

And she goes well, what is it? And I said I don't know. And she said well, what do you mean? You don't know? I said well, I just don't know. And she said I brought you here to interview you in hopes of gaining insight and you're telling me you don't know. I said ma'am. I said here's what I can tell you.

Speaker 2: 15:39

There's only one way you know something's organic, and that's if you grow it yourself. I said because otherwise you're taking somebody else's word for what has been raised and what they're sharing with you to consume. And I said in y'all's growing group. I said how many different pesticides are approved by the USDA for organics? And she said well, I don't know. I said you should look that up, because do you abide by the same standard as your neighbor? So now, does your neighbor say that your products are organic? But there's is. And so we are on the phone for 45 minutes and I'll never forget it. We got off and she said you know, erin, I'll never forget her last comment she said, the more I think about it. I guess the only way you know something is organic is if you raise it yourself.

Speaker 3: 16:26

Yeah, yeah, I know Well, there's a lot of standards and certifications and stuff, or there's a lot of standards and paperwork that goes along with organic certification. But I think that was one of the biggest aha moments for me throughout learning about advocacy and agriculture is that you know especially where it depends on where you are. I live down in Florida where pest pressure is pretty high and organic farms absolutely spray, and that was one of the things that I think really gets to me the most and you know a lot of people that think well, you know, I'm like how do I say this?

Speaker 3: 17:03

Like you could say like the woke crowd, right? They say, oh, I'm woke, you know, I only eat organic and I don't trust the government and I don't trust big corporations. But it's like but who do you think is profiting off of your purchase? You know it's the government, and it's the very same corporations that they're reeling against are the ones that are making profit off of them by convincing them that GMOs or conventional agriculture is bad, when that couldn't be further from the truth. That's one thing that I brought up. A lot is like organic. You may buy organic, thinking that it's more superior, but there's really no credible evidence to prove that there are pros and cons to every system, and so you can't just paint it with a broad brush. I have all the respect in the road for organic farmers. I have all the respect for non organic farmers, absolutely, and I want to promote them all and help people realize that we need all of them.

Speaker 3: 17:52

We need all farms of all shapes and sizes. But if somebody buys organic believing in the grocery store, believing that it wasn't sprayed or that it's superior, that is an outright lie, and that's what drives me crazy about food marketing is it's not the farmers that are. Well, there are a lot of farmers that are muddying the waters to that are usually like a smaller scale kind of hobby farmer. But if you're buying it in the grocery store, there's a very good chance that that organic was sprayed, and that doesn't mean that it's a bad thing. I think rather than being scared of pesticides, we need to talk about it and help people understand why they're used and the importance of them, because if we weren't able to protect our crops with sprays, the world would starve.

Speaker 3: 18:36

And it's like we think that apples and pears are delicious, and guess what? Insects think so too. And you know, as humans we need chemicals to survive. We need bug spray and sunscreen and medicine and food and nutrients and plants need that too. And so no different than we would protect ourselves and our family with chemicals like medicine and time and sunscreen and bug spray. It's our jobs to care for our plants and our animals like we would care for our own family, and that means that we have to use chemicals just like we use it on ourselves, and chemicals and chemistry and science isn't a bad thing. People just hear what they don't understand, and that's why we've got to advocate and help people learn the why behind their food.

Speaker 2: 19:17

So, as we, as we go through this podcast, what I'm going to do here, michelle, is I love it when people give us a little negative gold, and you just gave us one. So I want the listeners to hear what Michelle just said, and that is and I will encourage you to do the same thing Be discerning, be discerning, be a listener. And listening is not just your ears, it's also your eyes. So listen and be discerning. I bet Michelle will agree with me. I want you to be open minded. So, listeners, please hear what I'm saying. I want you to be open minded. I just don't want you to be so open minded. Your brain falls out.

Speaker 3: 19:58

That's good.

Speaker 2: 19:59

Just be willing to listen and to dialogue with somebody because we can learn from their perspectives, but be discerning in what you're consuming in your mind, and I think Michelle just said that beautifully, so I would share that. And the other thing that you said just a second ago that I want to tell you another quick story about is to realize that we can all be in this together. Yeah, so I was speaking at some schools in the Houston area and the teacher wanted me to come in and she warned me. She said Aaron, I do have some vegetarians and vegans in my class. I said it's no big deal.

Speaker 2: 20:37

We get to the very end of the day and the young lady walks up to me and she says Mr Alejandro. She said I'm a practicing vegan. What do you think about that? And I said I think it's great. And she says well, don't. You said you raised cattle, so don't you think you're ways better than my way? And I remember looking there. I said, ma'am. I said did you not listen to my presentation today? I said 25,000 people today are going to starve to death. I said let that sink in. They're going to die. And the last thing that went through their mind is. I wished I had something to eat. I said if you think we can get there on mushrooms, let's have that conversation. If I think we can get there on stakes, let's have that conversation. I said but why don't you? And I agree that we're going to feed people first and debate later.

Speaker 3: 21:26

Yeah, seriously.

Speaker 2: 21:28

And so that's why I appreciated your comment. I think it's great that we live in such an abundance that people can choose how they consume and how they feed their family. We're fortunate to have that.

Speaker 3: 21:43

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 21:45

And yet we get angry and we wanna debate it like somebody's right or somebody's wrong, and I'm thinking we're blessed.

Speaker 3: 21:54

Yeah, we really are. I completely agree. It's like I don't care what you eat, Just don't spread misinformation or disinformation on purpose to get there.

Speaker 2: 22:04

Exactly so. That's why I said I appreciate you saying that about being discerning, because we want you to be open, we want you to listen. It's important. Listening means that you're talking, you're dialoguing with somebody. That's an important trait of a good leader. But as a leader yourself, you've got to be discerning.

Speaker 3: 22:23

Yep absolutely.

Speaker 2: 22:25

All right. So I mentioned to Michelle before we started the podcast that at the Texas FFA Foundation, in the summer of 2023, we're gonna be unveiling a little card that students or teachers can pick up and put in their pocket, and it's just a little card about being an advocacy leader. And obviously now you know why I wanted to interview Michelle because I believe she represents an advocacy leader. So I wanna unpack that a little bit, Michelle, and let you kind of share some examples with us, if you would. But here's what we're saying An advocacy leader tends to be skilled at professionally networking, communicating and getting beneath the high sounding rhetoric to effectively engage in the details of important dialogue.

Speaker 3: 23:21

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much. Yeah, communication is so important, and I think the first thing that you have to remember is that just because somebody is misinformed, it doesn't mean that they're a lost cause or they're stupid or anything like that. I think the first thing we have to remember is patience, and empathy is my number one tip, and I think this comes easily and naturally to me, because I did come from the opposite view, right. So when you change your mind on all these things, you tend to have a little bit more empathy and kindness in your heart for people that are believing this information. So that's kind of number one.

Speaker 3: 24:00

But that was the whole reason why I started the Farm Babe was to help bridge that gap between consumers and farmers and help people, not further food, and so I'm all about just helping people. Like you see stories and you hear stories about families who want to make the right decision. They care about animal welfare, they care about all these things in the environment. So you're sitting there looking at the section of eggs and it's like I really can't afford to spend $6 a dozen for eggs, but like I'm gonna do it because it's better for the chickens and I really care about animals, and so that was me right. So that was the buyer that I always was, and so I think, when it comes to advocacy, just putting yourself in the other person's shoes and connecting on shared values is so important, and we all want what's best for the animals. We all want what's best for the planet. We all want to use fewer chemicals in the world. We all want to take the best care of the planet as we can.

Speaker 3: 24:52

But I think the more you dig in with farmers and not necessarily what the media and the food companies are feeding us, pun intended you learn that there's a lot of really beautiful stories to tell with how far we've come and how far we're continuing to grow. And so I have several hundred thousand followers now and I'm reaching about 45 million people per month on social media. And it's just amazing when you have breakthroughs and probably my biggest breakthrough is the Burger King story. So are you familiar with the Burger King story? Tell it.

Speaker 1: 25:25

Okay, tell it.

Speaker 3: 25:26

So during the pandemic, burger King came out with this horrible ad and it was like talking about how methane was destroying the planet and that cow farts were to blame. And Burger King's whole thing was like, well, we're going to save the planet by feeding lemongrass to cattle, which is going to reduce methane emissions. And they put out this commercial and it was horrible and it was like little kids in gas masks and like the polar ice caps are melting all because of cow farts. And it made farmers look terrible, like just a bunch of uncarelessly environmentally destructive jerks. And I had a problem with this and so did many other people, because hashtag boycott Burger King was trending on Twitter and people were really mad and people fought back and so I was doing some social media posts kind of putting Burger King on blast that were going pretty viral and I ended up just sending a tweet to Burger King's global chief marketing officer, fernando, just explaining why we found the ad so offensive. And Burger King actually reached out to me and I explained to them and I said reducing methane and all of these things and helping the environment, sustainability it's a noble cause, but farmers are already doing a great job and like 97% of methane comes from their mouths. It doesn't even come from their rear, and so they're doing this whole thing about cow farts and like that's not even how it works. So they had the whole scientific premise wrong from the get go. And the research that they did was based on one study in Mexico that talked about how, yes, if you were fed lemongrass to cattle, you could potentially reduce methane emissions by up to a third. But the other studies they were trying in the States and in the EU were coming up with inconclusive results that weren't yet published. So you have all of this stuff and so I had Burger King up and they actually took me up on it.

Speaker 3: 27:11

So not only did they retract that ad, but they put out a new ad, and it was filmed on my farm in Iowa. I took them to a methane digester, took them to a dairy farm, took them to a cattle feedlot, had a Iowa state involved, iowa Farm Bureau, remnant nutritionists, I mean you name it. I put together this tour that just immersed them in all things environmental sustainability, and that was just a huge communication breakthrough where Burger King was able to say you know what, like, we kind of screwed this up and they took down the ad and put out a new one that highlighted farmers and all about their collaboration and celebrating what we do. So to me, that was one of my biggest, like like happiest moments in my career as an advocate, but like there's been so many situations like that where our industry has pushed back and we really have to do a better job of being more proactive instead of reactive, because we have a really great story to tell and that's the beauty of advocacy.

Speaker 3: 28:08

So if we're all out there, if I'm reaching four million a month on social media but there's, you know, 10,000 other people out there doing what I do, that can really make waves, and so you know we're doing that. We're doing that in agriculture. Through the power of social media, we have the ability to reach millions of people with a click of a button, for free, and it's also a career path. I think when people think, oh, I'm just gonna start the social media page or they wanna be a YouTuber and it's like you can't, I mean YouTube is just one piece of the puzzle. But as you build that following and that credibility and that voice that people look up to and respect, we can move mountains, and so I encourage everybody listening to think about that and how can you advocate and turn that into a potential career path?

Speaker 2: 28:55

This is why I wanted this lady on here. But the thing that scared me about this was I knew that we could take off on so many of these topics that we could be on here for hours.

Speaker 1: 29:07

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 29:08

Because you just shared something else that I think is really important, and I wanna make sure people hear what you just said. When we see something out there that we disagree with, we have to make it a choice of whether we're gonna react or respond and think of it in terms of doctors and medicine. If we went to the doctor and the doctor gave us medicine and said your body's reacting to that, that's not good. We want to have the right response Now. To have that response. I think there are some things that we have to do and I want to throw these out to you and I want you to share with me whether or not you think we're on the right track here. These are things that I believe are really important to be an effective advocacy leader here. They are Number one be genuinely authentic. Yes, genuinely authentic. Number two believe. You've got to personally believe what it is that you're sharing, because if you don't, somebody's going to vet you out. You better know your stuff. Yeah, you've got to be willing, as Michelle has said and we've said in this interview. You've got to be willing to dialogue. You've also got to be willing to be recognized when we talk about live your brand. I tell people all the time. If I go to your social media, based on what you share, like and comment on, I know that you're an expert in three areas Just because of what you do. So you've got to live your brand so that you become recognized.

Speaker 2: 30:31

The other thing and that's the reason why I appreciate Michelle is you got to make yourself available. Yeah, you've got to be willing to put yourself out there and be a little bit vulnerable and be available, because you never know what opportunity you may have to change misinformation, just like Michelle did. You got to be willing to get involved. You can't sit on the sidelines on this one, you've got to get involved. Agriculture you've got to be involved. Remember, you want to know what the future is growing. You've got to be involved. And then, lastly, you got to place your treasures there. And when we say place your treasures there, we're talking about philanthropy, and we say that philanthropy is the giving of time, talent, treasure or testimony. And you've done that. You've been willing to do all four of those.

Speaker 3: 31:22

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 31:24

Are we on the right path here when we think about advocacy leadership?

Speaker 3: 31:28

Yeah, no 100%, and I got to say too that it gets a lot easier with time.

Speaker 3: 31:34

Like I feel like even myself or for other people listening who may think, yeah, I should start advocacy, but like I don't know what happens if you have detractors? What happens if people don't like you? What happens if you know what happens? What happens? Stop saying what if? And just do it. And like, just do it, because you have to remember that your followers are always going to be your cheerleaders. You're going to have a lot of people building, you're going to be building a community of people that are there to support you and so when you do have negativity or detractors or you are scared about something, the more you do it, the easier it becomes and the more fun it is, and anything like negative that could come of it is such a small, small, small percentage I mean I'm talking like one or two percent. A vast majority of doing this as an advocacy leader is really a positive outcome. It's a positive experience and you know if you're a little shy or nervous about it.

Speaker 3: 32:29

I just want to tell you all that it's really not as bad as it's all in your head and when you do it it's really rewarding and I mean every day I wake up and I'm just like, wow, you know, I get to travel the world and tell the story of where our food comes from. Like who can say that? You know, and it all started with just starting, and so you know, just just get out there, be vulnerable, put yourself out there and I guarantee you that the results and the feelings you have of breakthroughs and communication and all of that is worth it. It's worth every second. It's been amazing. It's really, really great.

Speaker 2: 33:06

I'm going to brag on and I know you and I both we deal. I've got colleagues across the United States. There's a lot of great organizations but I am going to brag on the Texas FFA for a second, of course, agricultural Science Education of State of Texas. We have over 241,000 students enrolled in Ag Science. Our membership is over 169,000. That's awesome.

Speaker 2: 33:28

So what's interesting is that I spoke in New York one time and I remember when I was in New York at that time there was only one FFA chapter in New York City. Okay, one, why I think about that. The city that consumed more food than any other city in America had one Ag Science program. We wonder why it's difficult to battle misinformation, right, yeah? So we looked at Houston, the fourth largest city in America, harris County. You're going to love this Harris County. We have our FFA membership, our Ag teachers and our Ag programs. There are enough programs in one county for 25% of the United States combined. Wow. So in a city that large we are part of the dialogue of food, of agriculture. Now I am proud to say I was recently with my counterpart, todd Lighall from New York and I've since learned that they've added 12 more programs now in New York City. I believe it's 12. That is incredible.

Speaker 3: 34:38

Yeah, but we eat about 10 times that, 100 times that, oh my God.

Speaker 2: 34:43

But when I think about that, that's another reason I wanted you on here as a guest, because I believe that your voice and your example can inspire others to become micro influencers. Yeah, so they may not be the farm, babe. They may not be you know Aaron Alejandro's limited Live, your Brand but what they may be is their own voice in their community, where they're seen as the subject matter expert, absolutely, and they become a micro influencer.

Speaker 1: 35:13

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 35:14

Of what you and I want to see us all to be better at.

Speaker 3: 35:18

Absolutely Well and like, even when I started the farm babe so the name the farm babe was a spin off of the food babe, who is like spreading anonymous information and you know, I she blocked and banned me from her Facebook page and I found this Facebook group called banned by the food babe, which was like 10,000 people that she's blocked and she doesn't speak a word of truth, and so that's how the farm babe was born and I just I just wanted to fight back against the misinformation that was out. There was, like, you know, kind of just let a fire under me, you know, and when I first started, I thought I was just going to be a micro influencer, like I never started my platform to be a career. I started it, I just started a Facebook page of something to do and, wow, like little did I know it would grow into a six figure brand, you know. And so it's like, the more you think about it, it's like if you just start as a voice, thought, leader in your community, the sky's still the limit. Like you could have a couple posts of videos that go viral and put you on the map and you up.

Speaker 3: 36:18

I had a story go so viral that I ended up getting interviewed by the Today Show inside edition, lester Holt, washington Post. Like people today, like all these things, like I've CNN, I've been on the front page of all that some of the major, major media outlets in the world and it's all because we had a TikTok video go viral and so everybody can do that. So you just never know what could go viral that could allow you to be a global thought leader instead of just in your community. Your community is great, but don't shy away from doing it because it can change your life in the best way possible.

Speaker 2: 36:56

That is powerful. Right there, that is our full test. I got to tell you micro dirty jobs. You know, my micro was on the show and we were talking and he said something and you just said it and it made me smile. Micro talked about his grandfather and he called him the magician that he could take something and make it make it something incredible. But he talked about agriculture and the war in the term broadcaster and where that came from. And broadcaster actually came from taking seeds and broadcasting them.

Speaker 3: 37:31

Oh, no, kidding Cool.

Speaker 2: 37:33

And so when you said what you did, think about that you have become not only an influencer, but you're a broadcaster. You're your broadcasting information, better information, more informed information. We're engaged in dialogue, so I just thought that was kind of neat when you said that. So anybody can go out there with these incredible platforms that we have to communicate and be a broadcaster and learn how not to react, learn how to respond, understand algorithms. I want everybody to understand algorithms, because we don't necessarily want to share with everybody, because we don't want to help their algorithms, but we want to help the right algorithms, one of the things, michelle, that I like to talk about. I do. I've done a lot of fairs and expos.

Speaker 3: 38:21

And.

Speaker 2: 38:22

I tell them to Google things and see what images pop up.

Speaker 1: 38:26

Oh yeah.

Speaker 2: 38:28

And the reason why is because that is called emotional intelligence. Yeah, so I want them to hone in on emotional intelligence. And what's that? What that means? Here's an example Google kitty cats and puppy dogs. And what do we see? We see these images of holding fluffy and pet and fee, fee and you know, it's all sweet right. 73% of Americans see a cat or dog every single day. Now let that sink in 73% of Americans see a cat or dog every single day. When you Google it, that's what you see. And I asked the kids and I asked AgScience teachers. I said how many people see a goat every day? How many people see a pig every day? How many people see a steer or a half for every day? Now let's Google what we put up there. Oh, there we are. We're strangling it with a rope and we're poking it with a stick.

Speaker 3: 39:22

Yeah, I know.

Speaker 2: 39:24

We're strangling that goat. It's so sad that people think that we're whipping that pig. We're putting those chickens upside down.

Speaker 3: 39:33

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 39:34

But the point is this if we become aware of that, then we can become strategic about how we share better emotional intelligence to the incredible work of what these young people are doing, the skill sets that they're learning, the core values that they're learning. We don't abandon what we stand for, we don't abandon what we do, but we become better at communicating by understanding this component of emotional intelligence.

Speaker 3: 40:05

Yeah, exactly Well, and it's just sad that, like, the animal rights activists have become so loud with those images of, like taking outdated images from a country or whatever, and like, the food companies and the activists are the ones leading that discussion, and it's just, it couldn't be further from the truth, and so it's got to be a matter of people understanding it. Just because you Google, it doesn't make it true, and part of that intelligence is realizing it's like anything in life, like you have to go to the source. If you Google your medical symptoms, you're going to convince yourself that you'll be dead in five minutes, you know. And it's the same thing if you Google, like a factory farm or what's a GMO stuff like that it's all about like SEO and like, yeah, people are far removed from it and that's why we have to tell the story, because, like, if animals were not treated right on farms, farmers would be going broke. It's in our best interest to care for these animals.

Speaker 3: 41:03

And so, when you see something negative about animal agriculture, it's like, yeah, that upsets everybody, but I guarantee you that it doesn't upset anybody nearly as much as it upsets the farmer, because, like, that's not only our passion and what we do every day, but that's also our livelihood and so it's like everything that people feel in general about wanting to care for animals.

Speaker 3: 41:25

I would argue that a farmer feels that on steroids, like ask the farmer how much time and effort they will put into a sick lamb or a sick cow or whatever, and it's like their needs come first. Like I can tell you many, many, many nights where I did not sleep because I stayed up with that new born lamb and like that's what I raised in Iowa was like corn, soybeans, oats, hay cattle, sheep, rye, all that stuff. So you know, when you go from the city and understanding what people believe, to the farm and actually living it, you're just like, wow, people have no idea and we've got to advocate and share that beautiful, uplifting story of just how much we care. Like we're humans, we all want what's best, but like you have to go to the source and not just believe something because it shows up on Google images, you know.

Speaker 2: 42:15

I've got to throw a plug here for Taylor, sheraton and Yellowstone, because when I watched that series, obviously Taylor's a Texan, so we want to follow Texans. We want to see what they're doing the way that he introduced the character that was the environmentalist and then to watch her transition because of her experience of learning what they did. Oh, now I understand why you brand. Oh, now I understand why you vaccinate. Now I understand why you have pasture rotation. I think it is one of the most genius advocacy tools we've had in a long time, totally To help people really grasp what you just said. Your experience was as well.

Speaker 3: 42:59

Yeah, and Clarkson's Farm. Dude, you watch Clarkson's Farm? Oh, that is such a good show. It's so nice to have the realness of like the struggle is real. That show is so accurate. I mean, I've only seen like I don't know a handful of episodes, but do you agree that it's like?

Speaker 2: 43:18

Clarkson's Farm.

Speaker 3: 43:20

Yeah, but it's pretty accurate, Do you agree? Do you watch it?

Speaker 2: 43:23

I have not, but I'm going to.

Speaker 3: 43:25

Oh, yeah, yeah, you're going to. I've heard of it, it's on Amazon Prime and, like it is so good.

Speaker 2: 43:31

You're the second person that's told me that by the way.

Speaker 3: 43:34

It's so good, it's so accurate. It is like so many shows in agriculture are like overdramatized or they're misinformation or they're just selling a story, and like he sells a story. But he sells a story of, like, the truth of farming and like he's like one day he's just decides I'm going to be a farmer, and like he doesn't know anything. So he just like buys a tractor and then the tractor is too big. And then like he thinks he's going to raise livestock and then the waters don't work and he's got to well, didn't you think about this and didn't you think about that? And he's like no, you know. So it's a pretty accurate show.

Speaker 2: 44:07

All right, like I said, we could keep talking. Trust me that we could just keep going, but we've got to start wrapping this up, but I want to wrap it up under the brand that you are OK. So what I would like for you to do is share three tips to be an effective advocate leader in agriculture. What would you share for students and teachers? Three tips to advocacy.

Speaker 3: 44:31

OK, number one for advocacy leadership is, when you do think of a brand, make sure you start with a brand that everybody can remember. Ok, that's like number one, hands down, like the farm babe is easy to remember. Millennial farmer is easy to remember, like stuff like that. A lot of people I see they start a brand name and they go off of like a last name that's hard to pronounce. So, remember, they don't know how to spell it. It's got underscores or numbers or whatever. Just go with a handle that's easy, so that when you're walking down the street you can say, hey, follow me at the farm babe. Right, like something like that. So make sure that you have something that is memorable and catchy.

Speaker 3: 45:08

Ok, number two is find out what really moves you. Find out what it is that is your niche, that is your passion. Like what do you love to do? Because if you do something that feels like a chore, you're not going to want to do it. I'm genuinely passionate about myth busting. Like it's important to me because I know what it feels like to fall victim to misinformation. I spent way too much money on groceries when I couldn't afford it and so I'm kind of getting revenge on my wallet a little bit. To be like debunking misinformation is really important.

Speaker 3: 45:43

And number three, I think would be to network, like get out there, attend conferences, be involved, be involved as much as you can. I speak at a lot of these events so I don't know if you ever want to speak, or at Texas FFA, I'm available. I have spoken at some smaller community FFA events in Texas, but never like any of the bigger ones or whatnot. But those are the opportunities where you get a chance to meet mentors and meet people that can help you and connect with other peers and learn and connect and grow, because we're really kind of that strength in numbers. So as an advocate, when you're putting yourself out there, it's important to collaborate with other people. So my following has really grown a lot when other people shared my content that had bigger followings than me. Or I did a video with Millennial Farmer.

Speaker 3: 46:36

I was in Minnesota, I went to his farm and he shared a little video with me and I got 5,000 followers overnight. So remember, when you're growing, your brand is to network and collaborate and build relationships as key. So those would be my three.

Speaker 2: 46:50

We need to say no more. Michelle, thank you so much for taking time. I know you're busy. I know that we've been working on trying to get this scheduled and I sincerely appreciate what you do. I believe in what you do. We just need more people doing it and it takes us all. It's a loud and noisy world out there and if we're not careful we can sometimes get negative, and I don't want us to be negative. I want us to be grateful. I want us to be hopeful, because I think that being hopeful and grateful is going to attract more people to listen to what we share and why we share it. So you do get one last question. We do have one fun question at the end of every interview.

Speaker 3: 47:41

OK.

Speaker 2: 47:42

Ready.

Speaker 3: 47:43

Yeah.

Speaker 2: 47:44

Michelle Miller Farm Bay. What is the best concert you've ever been to?

Speaker 3: 47:50

Ooh, a concert. That's a good one. So what's interesting about me is I'm actually really into house music, which is funny Because most people in farming they're like into country, which I love. But David Guetta actually is my favorite. So I love house music, electronic music, and so David Guetta was so good that I've never been more enthralled where you're just sitting there staring at just the energy. It was so good, so good yeah.

Speaker 2: 48:20

Oh look.

Speaker 3: 48:22

And usually I shocker Usually I shocker up an answer when people are like you, like electronic music.

Speaker 2: 48:29

I have had the entire spectrum on here, from heavy metal to pit bull to. I mean we've got the whole spectrum the 70s, all the 80s, We've got all the country, we got it all. So thank you.

Speaker 3: 48:43

I'm talking about the first house music in three years.

Speaker 2: 48:45

You are the first house music, so thank you for adding that to our smorgasbord of favorites.

Speaker 3: 48:52

You too. Hey, thanks so much, and I think it's cool you had Mike Rowe on the show. When you send me this link, you're going to have to send me that one too, because I want to hear that for sure.

Speaker 2: 49:00

Well, we've had Mike Rowe. We've had Tom Ziegler, ziegler's son. We've had Temple Grandin. Dr Grandin was on. So, and I tell you, dr Lida Garcia, at Ohio State University. She's the head of the meat science department. Incredible story, incredible story. Nice. Yeah it anyway. It's fun. We appreciate you tuning in. That's what this show is about. If you want to know what the future is, grow it, but you have to have people that are willing to share and pour into us. And, michelle, we appreciate you taking time to do that today.

Speaker 3: 49:37

I appreciate you as well. Thank you.

Speaker 2: 49:38

And I hope that somebody found something here and you go out and you plant it and you grow it and you harvest it, because, remember, the essence of leadership is to plant trees under whose shade you may never sit. Let's grow that kind of future. Until we're pass cross again, everybody, be safe and do something incredible for somebody else. You'll feel good and you'll know it's the right thing to do. Thank you all so much for joining us today.

Speaker 3: 50:09

Thank you.

Speaker 1: 50:15

We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Growing Our Future podcast. This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen agricultural science education so students can develop their potential for personal growth, career success and leadership in a global marketplace. Learn more at mytexasffaorg.