Be Coachable!

Welcome to another episode of Growing Our Future! Host Aaron Alejandro expresses gratitude for the audience's continuous support and the opportunity to learn from inspiring guests.

This week's special guest is Terren Moore, the dynamic Agency Owner of Moore Farms & Insurance. Aaron expresses excitement about having Terren on the podcast and looks forward to delving into his experiences and insights.

The episode begins with a focus on planting the right seeds for a prosperous future and nurturing them to fruition. Terren recounts his unexpected journey, starting at the age of 15 with the Future Farmers of America (FFA), and reflects on the impact of networking and relationships in his life. 

The conversation delves into Terren's awards and recognitions, emphasizing the importance of a competitive edge and early investment in meaningful connections. Terren shares valuable networking wisdom, highlighting the benefits of remaining coachable and building relationships in high school. The episode concludes with Aaron and Terren underscoring the perpetual need for networking and continuous learning. Listeners are encouraged to reflect on the power of relationships in shaping their own paths.

Story Notes:

• Insights into Terren's Journey
• Awards and Recognitions
• Discussion on Competitive Edge
• Networking Wisdom
• Building Relationships in High School
• Subject Matter Expertise and Networking

Learn More at:

https://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's 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, I tell you what we appreciate you joining us, and we just appreciate being here. It is always an honor to bring guests on that are willing to share their experiences, insights and expertise to pour into us. I like to say that if you want to know what the future is, grow it. Well, to grow the future, that means you've got to plant the right seeds and then you've got to nurture them and you've got to take care of them and you've got to grow them into an incredible harvest that benefits both you, your family, your community, state and country. Today is no different. We have brought on a guy that I've been looking forward to getting him on this podcast. I cannot wait to hear what he's going to share. We have Taryn Moore with us today. Taryn, thank you for joining us.

Speaker 3: 1:22

Hey, thanks for having me here and really do appreciate my friend.

Speaker 2: 1:26

Well, we're looking forward to hearing from you, and I'm going to open the floor up to you here in just a second and just let you take off and run with it. But before we do that, we like to bring guests on, and the first question we ask all of our guests is Taryn, what are you grateful for today?

Speaker 3: 1:45

Today I am grateful for my health, because my health is what allows me to get up in the morning and start my day, and it allows me to lead my team well and efficiently. So, without without health and that includes spiritual health and also physical health and so my physical health, my mental health, all that, above all that included will allow me to lead my team and serve my people. So that's the one thing today that I'm grateful for.

Speaker 2: 2:22

Oh man, that's awesome. I love it. I love how you tied that all together. Yeah, I'm grateful for that as well. I meant the fact that you know, I like to tell people this. You ready for this. You'll like this. You and I both know a lot of people right.

Speaker 3: 2:39

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 2:40

And I don't know a single one of them, not one that makes their own heartbeat, that's right. So the fact that you and I have got a breath in our lungs and a heartbeat that is doing its job, that means that we have an opportunity, absolutely Opportunity, to do something good in our communities, in our businesses, in our organizations. And so I don't know about you, but I like people that are grateful, amen. You know people that are grateful to me. They're very, they're energetic, they're hopeful.

Speaker 2: 3:10

They're always looking forward, because when you're hopeful, you're not looking that way, you're looking that way, looking forward, looking forward. So I like grateful people. What is it? Somebody said one time your vibe attracts your tribe.

Speaker 3: 3:23

So I agree, I agree.

Speaker 2: 3:25

I kind of like hanging out with folks like you. So, yes, sir, awesome. All right, let's jump into this. We some of us in the world of FFA and agriculture we know who Taryn Moore is, but there's going to be some folks that are going to watch this that they're not going to know the name, they're not going to have ever seen him, not going to ever heard from me. So guess what we're about to do. We're about to introduce Taryn Moore to the growing, our future audience. So, taryn, take us back and kind of give us a little perspective on your life journey that has put you in the role that you're in today, and then, out of that, we will start unpacking some of those seeds of greatness that got you there.

Speaker 3: 4:04

Absolutely, Aaron. So, man, honestly, my journey really started by accident. I was 15 years old and I joined this organization Not sure if you've heard of it or not, but it's called FFA Future Farmers of America and whenever I joined this organization, I quickly realized that my circle of friends changed. My friend groups started becoming people who know how to they understand ranching and farming, and I mean people hanging around. They knew how to work on equipment and lawn mowers. I thought it's so cool that they could build things with their own two hands. They were self-sustainable and just knew how to fix stuff and they were big time problem solvers. Problem solving is something that I do every day in my business today. So that's kind of backtracking my FFA experience.

Speaker 3: 5:04

And so my ag teacher at the time, Charlotte, Maine. I'm from a small town called Winona, Texas, about 20 miles from Tyler's If you know where Tyler is, we're not too far from Tyler and she needed like one more person to join this thing called Farm Skills, and Farm Skills, of course, is a leadership development event. It's an LDE and Erin, I'm telling you, man, I had no kind of farm experience. I really didn't have any kind of ambition for farm or anything I did want to serve and she almost seemed desperate to find someone. And I was the one guy in the room that wasn't involved in anything. So I was like, sure, I'll give it a shot. Whatever Farm Skills is, I'll give it a shot. And I go to my first meeting and people that were there, people that I've always seen around school but weren't really friends with because I wasn't involved, I wasn't in their circle, and they were so friendly and just the way they carried themselves was different. And I said, whatever this is, I'm starting to quickly, quickly like whatever this FFA thing is. And so did the Farm Skills. We built a heat brooder lamp and it's my first time building something useful with my own two hands.

Speaker 3: 6:27

And so, long story short, I go home and tell my parents to say I'm involved in this thing called FFA, I'm super pumped about it. I built a heat brooder lamp. My friends, they're farmers, they're ranchers, they grow their own food. Like I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I still do today. But I just kind of stumbled across FFA and that's the first start and the rest has been history. I started farming on my own. I bought, I have multiple tractors. Now I lease acreage in my town that I have my business in. We're getting into the wholesale market. So it started with a small misunderstanding of what FFA was got involved with it and it's created me a lifestyle of freedom and has allowed me to generate enough revenue to have a team and to have a business here. So super thankful for all that FFA has taught me. And just we continue to look back and never forget that experience that I had when I was 15 years old and just kind of confused about what it was, but what it was all about.

Speaker 2: 7:30

Wow, teran, were you from Winona? Is that your original home? Yes, sir. You know anything about FFA. Isn't that crazy to think about that.

Speaker 3: 7:41

It is Looking back now, just in that time where I had no kind of experience in farming or ranching, and just where it's brought me today to owning a business in town, and it's a really cool journey.

Speaker 2: 7:53

We're going to unpack that a little bit more here in just a second. I was going to tell you we have a relationship with LaQuinta and one time the COO of LaQuinta. He knew nothing about agriculture as well, but because of the FFA, when he retired he went out to Tennessee and he has bought his own farm and he is starting a farming operation. But his interest stemmed from his involvement at the corporate level with the Texas FFA and now that's what he's doing.

Speaker 2: 8:24

So I love your story, by the way, and I think you know too, because I like to be an advocate for agriculture and I know you are too, and you know I think that's one reason I think your voice is so clear and it's so well heard is because you're passionate in what you believe. There is no question that those of us who know you have followed your career know that you are passionate about agriculture and I believe you've been recognized and you've received some awards in that. Tell us a little bit about that, about you know where those recognitions came from. Tell me what they've meant to you and then I want to follow up with you on how you got some of those.

Speaker 3: 9:03

Yes, sir. Yeah, my biggest memory as far as awards go is when I was, I believe I was a senior in college at Charleston State University in Stevenville and I was featured in the New Horizons magazine and that started with I attended New Century Farmer earlier that year, which is a FFA event, and one of the guys there I think Justin Davies this name actually I've got the plaque actually saying right in front of me, justin Davies, new Horizons. I could turn a computer around and show you about. The plaque is hanging in my office here of me holding a bushel of peas and shows my rose, my crops.

Speaker 3: 9:48

But that recognition and that it wouldn't even really in a war is really just being recognized across the nation as a, as a young farmer, was something that was live-changing, I believe my first time being in a legit magazine and you know, at the time I was 20 or 21 years old and that was just a cool experience because it all came through a relationship.

Speaker 3: 10:13

I met the guy at New Century Farmer. There is hundreds of other farmers there, but for some reason we just hit it off and started talking and he's like hey, by the way, we love your story, we'd like to feature you in our, in our New Horizons, like, yeah, I read all those magazines all the time, like that'd be awesome. So that's the one memory that I do have, that I still have the magazines. I see it every day and I have a magazine in my room and I read it at least once a week, just kind of looking back on where it all started, when I was in my early 20s when I was really starting to scale the operation and and and gross. That was a that's a really cool memory that I have that I cherish.

Speaker 2: 10:53

Well, and I think you were involved with Farm Bureau to a little bit, is that correct?

Speaker 3: 10:58

Absolutely. Yeah, I've got a few awards from Farm Bureau on both the membership side and the insurance side. So on the membership side I was the Texas winner for the collegiate discussion meet, where I think it's a panel of five people we have a conversation about issues in agriculture such as eminent domain immigration, h2a workers, h2a programs, all that good stuff. And I won Texas.

Speaker 3: 11:27

But the funny thing is I got a job with Texas Farm Bureau on the insurance side so I couldn't compete in nationals. I couldn't get it. I was going to go to that they're gonna find me to Nashville to compete on the national level. But I couldn't compete because I is conflict of interest and I took a job at Farm Bureau. So I started thinking I was like I could win. I think it was five grand or something. If I won, we're gonna take a career where I'll generate a lot more than $5,000 over the course of that career. So I said I'll take the job. So I took the job. I didn't get to compete in nationals but I did qualify for nationals for the discussion meet.

Speaker 2: 12:01

Wow. Well, I mean, that's what I mean by that. In other words, I obviously I know your ag teacher and you know, I will tell you that when you sit in the seat that I sit in and you're dealing with the whole whole state of Texas, it's always fun to watch those kids that just kind of stand out, and you don't always know that folks like me are out there watching you. And so what I mean is is I just want you to know how rewarding it is for folks like me to have been watching you since high school. Yes, sir, and go. You know what? That's that right there. That's what FFA can do. That right there, Absolutely that's what agriculture can do. And when I see your smile and I see your passion for what you do, it's contagious.

Speaker 2: 12:46

And you know, listen, I've talked to a lot of business leaders. I've talked to a lot of executives, and one of the things I like to say is a fountain can can only rise as high as its head. That's as high as a fountain can get. It can only get as high as its head. And so when I hear enthusiastically talk about your team, I'm sitting here thinking something tells me that their leader is pretty inspirational. That he's pretty encouraging. He's probably pretty clear on the goals and directions of what they hope to accomplish and I would say that probably the organization is a whole and successful because of that.

Speaker 3: 13:28

I agree, and I'm sick, sick or grateful every day.

Speaker 2: 13:33

Well, let's talk about this real quick. Okay, so, state of Texas, and really this is across the United States, but we're just going to hone in here on the state of Texas. Do you, do you happen to know how many high schools are in the state of Texas?

Speaker 3: 13:48

If I were to guess Aaron, I would say there are 10,000 high schools.

Speaker 2: 13:59

Well, that was a little high, but that's okay. There's a little over 3,000 high schools in the state of Texas. Okay, now think about what I'm about to say here 3,000 high schools. How many of those high schools are going to have a graduating class this year? All of them, every one of them, right? So that means all these kids are going to graduate, they're going to be looking for a job, they're going to be looking for a scholarship or they're going to be looking for an opportunity.

Speaker 2: 14:30

So the question I like to ask the kids is what's your competitive edge? What separates you from every other person out there? That's jockeying or an opportunity. I think having a competitive edge is something that can make it. It could be something as little as a strong, firm handshake. It could be something as small as a yes or a no, sir, a yes ma'am or no ma'am. Little things can sometimes be the competitive edge. But in your business experience, in your career experience, in your college experience, how important has the competitive edges that you've gained in life been to opening doors of opportunity in your life? Tell me a little bit about that.

Speaker 3: 15:15

I love this conversation, aaron. I love this. If I could go back to high school, teran, I did an okay job at it. But if I knew back then what I know now, I would have invested in relationships a hundred times more. Like I said, me and you both, we know a lot of people. We both have lots of quality relationships in our business and probably personal life. But if I were to go back, aaron, man, I could have done a lot more, but I didn't know at the time in high school exactly how far relationships can get you.

Speaker 3: 15:58

But, man, that is literally the one simple thing that you can do as a high school student, starting your freshman year. It doesn't have to start when you're starting to look for jobs, it's got to start early on, because those habits, man, it's like compounding interest. The earlier you start doing that, man, that snowball keeps rolling. It's crazy how many folks you can meet from one person, literally one person. How many folks you can meet. I can tell some of the stories of. I can tell you my most recent thing I met a guy named Chris Paradiso at an insurance conference. He introduces me to Mike Stromsoe, mike Stromsoe introduces me to Nancy and David and another insurance agency. So, like this big tree started with one person that I met at a conference and then it just it blossoms.

Speaker 3: 16:51

Imagine if you start that your freshman year of high school. Wow, how many folks that you can meet. That's going to be job opportunities. And also you may not even get it. You may not even be career related. You might get a job in their area and they might invite you over for dinner one night. You can make a new friend, you can make a new friend and then that new friend, you see them out in town somewhere, you see them at something else or you see them at a business function and then it just builds. It's hey, meet my friend there. It's just great. Just one person can literally just. It can be a blossoming tree.

Speaker 3: 17:25

But if I thought this way in high school, man, we'd be ahead 10 times and we've, like I said, we're blessed, we've done well, but we'd be ahead 10 times if we would have done a better job at investing in relationships early on.

Speaker 3: 17:39

A lot of my teachers, aaron, from high school, are clients of my insurance agency, even your teachers, even people that you, even people that you looked up, you looked up to, that poured into you, that taught you.

Speaker 3: 17:51

You can still develop a serious business relationship with those people once you get out of high school and get out of college and you start your career life. So that's the one competitive edge is someone who can invest in relationships with other people with no strings attached, not to do it to get a job, not to do it to to have to send your resume or to have an opportunity, just to do it with no strings attached. Invest in relationships with no kind of goal or anything, just to meet people, and then that trees keeps growing and growing and growing. What company interests start early? Your freshman year, by the time you're a senior man, you didn't got to apply for scars. People are just recalling you to say, hey, have you applied to this yet? Hey, have you done this yet? Because people that you met along the way it all just keeps on blossoming and growing.

Speaker 2: 18:44

By the way, I couldn't agree with you more. So successful people know lots of people, and in the words of Zig Ziglar I love Zig Ziglar, by the way, and you know Zig Zig says this about this.

Speaker 2: 18:57

He said if they know you, they will listen to you, but if they trust you, they will do business with you. And what builds trust? Well, relationships, relationships build trust. So when you said that, I'm sitting there smiling, thinking that's exactly right, you have people that want to do business with you because they trust you, because you're taking the time to build that relationship. You know, think about it this way. A good friend of mine said this one day and it made a lot of sense. He said you know, one of the best ways to build a relationship with somebody is to break bread with them, to sit in their home or sit in a restaurant and break bread with them. He said but here's the funny thing about that they didn't just get dropped at the kitchen table, they didn't just get dropped at the dining room table. Somebody had to open a door and let them in. Somebody had to navigate them through the house to get to their seat. Hey man.

Speaker 2: 20:01

Isn't that what relationship building is about?

Speaker 3: 20:04

What it's all about, my friend.

Speaker 2: 20:06

We got to open it all now. Got to navigate. Sit down and let's break bread.

Speaker 3: 20:13

I love that. It's a tiny picture.

Speaker 2: 20:15

Yeah, build that relationship. You know we have a program in the Texas FFA Foundation called the Foundation Ambassadors, and I remember one of my very first ambassador coordinators. I've never forgot this story. He told me so, mr Alejandro, when I was a freshman I used to go to the FFA convention. He said my goal was to go around the exhibit area and collect pens. He goes, that was my goal was to go around and collect as many pens as I could, he said. But then when I found the ambassador program, I stopped collecting pens and I started collecting contacts and by the time that young man got ready to apply for college, he had the CEOs of major corporations who knew him, who gotten to know him over the course of those years that he served as an ambassador, who were writing letters of recommendation. It's exactly what you described.

Speaker 2: 21:13

You know I feel like it's our responsibility and you're in this boat now, teran but I really feel like it's our responsibility as adults. Our job is to create opportunities. That's our job. The young people, their job is to determine the outcome.

Speaker 3: 21:33

Amen.

Speaker 2: 21:34

Right. So somebody created an opportunity, but you're the one that had to flip the switch and determine the outcome. Yes, sir.

Speaker 2: 21:43

You had to get in there and say I'll be on that skills team, which I was on the farm skills team too. You know you got to be willing to jump in there and be a little bit vulnerable, realize you don't know everything. Right, learn to listen, learn to compete. There's no trophy for just showing up, right, right. And you start putting all those little elements together and then to your point four years later you're graduating and you find out you have a competitive edge like nobody else.

Speaker 3: 22:15

Yes, sir, is that spot on, that's spot on because post-graduation, all through high school, I was very involved with the school, very involved with Texas Farm Bureau, and I was offered a position on both the membership side and then the interest side and I, at 20, 21 years old, I had the opportunity to pick what I wanted to do. I went hand tied and said I've got this one opportunity that I've got to go do this Now. I had options when I graduated from college from Charleston and I was like I can do this, I can live here. I can. I mean, I had options. It was very nice having those relationships because it all starts in early high school. It's like that compounding interest. That early you started doing that man, the more doors are going to open for you when, at time of college, when you're looking for a career, those doors are open. So I can. I could pick which door I want to walk through to navigate the rest of my professional life.

Speaker 2: 23:14

I love it, by the way, what you just said. I mean you are you and I had not even talked before this interview, but I'm telling you you are, you are scripting exactly young people. I cannot tell you the number of young people that have been foundation ambassadors, Ford leadership scholars, young people that got so involved in their FFA career and in their college career that when they graduated, they had options. And I tell them all the time be aware of how blessed you are, because there's a lot of people that don't have options. Yes, sir, I agree.

Speaker 2: 23:50

There's a lot of people that did not work to create those options. When you jump in and you get two hands full of it and you put in a little sweat equity and you learn to listen, and you learned like you say, and be vulnerable, be willing to compete, it's amazing. When you get an opportunity in front of you, you find out there might be more than one. It's a good life. Not bad.

Speaker 3: 24:16

Not bad, my friend.

Speaker 2: 24:18

So the other one that I was going to share with you. I thought this one was pretty good. They asked Fortune 500 CEOs one time I forgot I think it was either Successor Inc. Magazine. This is years ago. They asked them if you were going to promote somebody in a job. I'm going to give them a promotion Based on three criteria. How would you rank the criteria? And the three criteria were performance, attitude and networking. Yes.

Speaker 2: 24:44

They asked Fortune 500 CEOs, how would you rank them? A lot of times people will say, well, probably their performance. Somebody else will say, well, no, it's their attitude. Fortune 500 CEOs rank networking at 60%, attitude at 30% and performance at 10%. Yes, sir. Because at that time that you're up for a promotion, you've already demonstrated that you've got the performance Right. I really like somebody with a healthy attitude, but I really like somebody with a strong network. Yes, sir.

Speaker 2: 25:23

People with a strong network can solve problems quicker. They can identify an opportunity quicker. So, one of the awards that we give at the ambassador program, you'll love this. But we have an award that we give every year at the ambassador and it's called the three-foot award and we teach the ambassadors to get to know people within three feet of you.

Speaker 3: 25:46

Okay, I like that, because we tell them in your lifetime.

Speaker 2: 25:49

it's exactly what you've shared, Taran. We tell them that in your lifetime, the people around you will become your constituents, your colleagues, your marketplace. You become your doctor, your lawyer, your elected official. So take advantage of getting to know people, Getting to know people in your bubble.

Speaker 3: 26:13

Absolutely.

Speaker 3: 26:14

Opportunity sits all around you and when people are missing out, I think even today, even as a professional, as a business owner in my town, you've got to network with folks who are quote unquote your competitors, because whenever you shift your mindset from these are my competitors to these are folks that I can learn from, these are people that we are competing.

Speaker 3: 26:40

Of course we're not wearing it on my insurance side. We're in a hard market and so there's lots of moving around, lots of moving and shaking in the insurance business today, but mainly you meet other folks who are in the same business as you. You get to learn and you get to grow from that. You get to share ideas and honestly, aaron, we've written business from people that are doing the exact same thing that we're doing, that they may not have the same market that we have and vice versa, we'll exchange business. I mean, I have the same market that they have, but we're in the same industry. I think, as and once you get into your professional life network with people who are in the same industry as you, because it's not all about just me going to meet with lenders, me going to meet with real estate agents, so hey, meet with other insurance agents too People in the same field, because you can always grow, you can always learn from people in the same same field as you as well.

Speaker 2: 27:27

So Wow, one of my board members who's been on the podcast before. His name is Cleo Franklin. Cleo and I do some workshops together and Cleo challenged me at something one day and anybody that knows me knows I like good, hard questions and Cleo challenged me. We were doing a workshop at the International Association of Bears and Expos and I was talking to the group about becoming a subject matter expert. I said find something you're passionate about and spend five, 10, 15 minutes a day studying that, and if you'll do that, I think over the course of five years they would consider you a subject matter expert. And.

Speaker 2: 28:11

Cleo challenged me about that and he said, aaron, he goes, I don't like subject matter experts. And I said, cleo, I'm trying to help people understand if there's value in becoming a subject matter expert, right, well, aaron. The problem is is that when you become a subject matter expert, you forget. You stop asking questions because you think you have all the answers. Wow, I was like, well, thanks a lot, cleo. Now I've changed my tune and so here's my new tune I do want you to become the subject matter expert and then, when you get there, I want you to be an intern as a subject matter expert.

Speaker 2: 28:50

That's right, that's right. You're. You're a subject matter expert in your community. Okay, you are, but what have you done by making yourself vulnerable and being willing to network with other subject matter experts? Amen, you're kind of an intern.

Speaker 3: 29:08

I'm an intern.

Speaker 2: 29:09

You're kind of learning what they have to say.

Speaker 3: 29:12

Yeah, one thing, that one thing that I promised my colleagues is that I will forever be coachable. I can guarantee. I can guarantee anyone that I talk to I will always be coachable, because there's never going to become a time where I'm going to know the most about farming. I'm never going to know the most about leadership. I'm never going to know the most about money or business, or spiritual or health. I'm never going to know enough to be to the point where not coachable anymore, not able to listen.

Speaker 3: 29:49

We've done a lot of things before. We've had a lot of success, honestly, we've moved and we've shake, we've done. We've done a lot of things, but I will forever be coachable and I will always need someone to continue pouring into me as I pour out to others, to my team, to my community, to my friends, to my family. But I'm always looking to receive guys. I just got a plan yesterday from Atlanta, georgia.

Speaker 3: 30:15

I'm in a coaching group, even as a business, as a business owner, as someone who has a team, and I get to lead my team every day. Someone's got a port of tearing to you because I can, I can, I can. I pour out every day, but I've got to, I've got to be willing to receive and be a sponge every day. My mind's like a sponge man. I've got to take in knowledge and wisdom from others daily and I just believe it's such an advance.

Speaker 3: 30:39

You can get so far ahead because people I'm hanging around, aaron, these people have been in business for 30 plus years. Man, I'm 26 years old, I'm a young and they consider me a baby. They're like you're baby. I get the whole time You're a baby. It's like we're in the same room, by the way, but but they all, they all. For me, my mind's just a sponge and if I can get taught to someone has 30 years of experience and me have five years I'm adding experience to my resume just from being the same ruins as people, and so I promise everyone around me I will always, always be coachable.

Speaker 2: 31:16

Aaron, that that word's bigger than you may realize. I can't tell you the number of people in my career that I have hired. I've only ever had one person that I actually ever had to terminate. That's been over 30 years ago.

Speaker 3: 31:27

But that's pretty nice.

Speaker 2: 31:30

But what I like that you said is there have been people that have been an employee that were just not coachable, right, and I don't know. I hope listeners really hone in on this word coachable, because if you're stubborn and you're not willing to learn or to say I'm not right or to say that I'm not not have the right answers, anybody that knows me knows I'm exactly what you just described and I deal with some high level people, right, and I've had great coaches. By the way, I've had great mentors, not people that are out to get you. Right, because I don't like gotchas.

Speaker 2: 32:12

No, sir, I have dealt with the gotcha kind of people. I like those guys and ladies that get you off to the side and they just kind of say you know what? You did a good job there. Here's how you could have done it better. Right. You're like that was good. Exactly.

Speaker 2: 32:27

I can do that, I want to do that, so I appreciate that All right let's talk about FFA a little bit here, and I've already kind of covered it. You've really covered a lot of things, but I'm going to see if we can hone it in just a little bit more. If you were in front of an ag class right now of 167,000 FFA members, Love it. And you could say here are three tips of leadership that I think would give you a competitive edge. What would you tell them?

Speaker 3: 33:00

Top three? I would say honestly, erin, number one is invest in relationships. That's first and foremost. That can honestly be the only one. It really doesn't matter where. You hear this all the time. It doesn't matter what you know, matters who you know. So we can learn that stuff. We can learn stuff down the road, but it matters who we know. I'd say, invest in relationships. That's the number one tip that I can give, not only high school here, but adults. I mean people who are in their careers and everything too. But number one would be someone who invest in relationships. Number two for me it's going to be work ethic. I mean that's a big one because Tell us a little bit about that.

Speaker 2: 33:51

Why is work ethic so important?

Speaker 3: 33:53

The reason why is because, man, there's some hungry folks out here too. Once you get into the real world, when you're in high school, and you're making that transition into the real world, there are people out there that are hungrier than you are and they're willing to eat your lunch. It's just the reality. They're willing to eat your lunch and they don't care.

Speaker 3: 34:12

They don't care how nice you are, they don't care where you come from, they don't care what your last name is, they don't care what you did in high school. No, they're willing to eat your lunch and they will. And so I mean work ethic is huge. I've got to get up every morning. I'm up at 5 o'clock every morning. I'm not going to lie. Last night I got some good sleep. I've been out of town the last couple of days. I did sleep a little bit extra today, but almost every morning I'm at 5 o'clock in the morning to have that competitive edge against my competitors, because there's folks out there that look up at 430. You know what I'm saying. You've never made it, but the small tweaks in that work ethic, that's foundational for me, because you've got to be above average in order to excel. And if you want to live life on your own terms and you want to create growth and you want to create freedom and you want to create a legacy, you can't do it, but this is a doing. You can't sleep till 8 o'clock and be in the office at 10 o'clock every day. It's just not the reality, and so that's for me. I'm in a business sales role. So that's, for me, that's the way we have to think in order to have that competitive edge. But I think if you apply these things as I'm saying as a business owner if you apply that to any kind of career, man, work ethic is going to be the foundation, because that's what's going to get you promoted, it's going to get you recognized.

Speaker 3: 35:38

People love prairies and recognition. I don't care who you are. People love to hear their name, get called. People love to receive awards. People love to receive an. Apply something with their name on it. You can be the most humble person in the world, I don't care who you are. You want to hear your name, you want to get recognized. And so in order to do that, you've got to do these things behind the scenes that no one's looking at. My team does not know that I'm up at five o'clock in the morning starting to work on business that early. People don't know, and it doesn't matter.

Speaker 3: 36:09

What I'm going to do is going to take for us to excel and live life in terms of freedom. But work ethic is truly the foundation to not only business and your personal life too. It takes work to have a family and to have friends. Having friends is work. Making plans with friends on the weekends after you've worked all week, Like everything, takes work. And so if you have a work ethic and that daily attitude and what it's going to take to excel, some of the things in your life just kind of fall into place.

Speaker 2: 36:40

Now wait a second Teran. Are you telling me that that land just doesn't produce the crop, that you actually have to work to get that crop produced?

Speaker 3: 36:49

I wish it did my friend.

Speaker 2: 36:54

How much we can learn from agriculture. That applies to life. Yes, sir. You can't harvest something you don't plan, that's right. You can't harvest something you don't care for, that you don't weed out, that you don't protect.

Speaker 3: 37:14

It takes daily work, and that's I'm reading the magazine that New Horizons featured me and Reap what you sow, thank you, you reap what you sow, and this, this apply. It's great. It is great to have things in agriculture do relate to same things in our life. Repel you sow. I mean, aaron, even when I go to an insurance conference, people will say planting seeds they're not picturing what I'm picturing. I know it's different.

Speaker 3: 37:39

And they and they, they say planting seeds. I'm picturing, like you know, my John Deere 7100 planter planting seeds in the ground, and you know. But planting seeds, investing in relationships, that's what planting seed means. Do you know, making that initial phone call, that they may not be ready yet, but a year down the road starts to grow and then, eventually, you can harvest, planting those seeds.

Speaker 2: 38:03

That true, mike wrote. You know dirty jobs guy, mike was on the podcast Nice and Mike and I were talking and one thing that he said which I thought was really good is he talked about being a broadcaster and he said being a broadcaster is really an ag job because the term actually came from broadcasting. Oh yeah, you're spreading seeds. It is, I think, sense, so it's, it's kind of what you're saying is that you know there's a, you know I, I think too, when I think about what you said, about you know the, the intentional relationship building and your work ethic. You know, I think the other thing there that stands out to me along that process that you do it too, by the way is that you're a good communicator. Yes, sir, I think you're clear. I think people you speak in a way where people can see the direction, where they can see what the reward is for the outcome.

Speaker 2: 39:01

Right, and that's that drives people to want to be a part of that. Yes, I think you do that.

Speaker 3: 39:10

Thank you. So there's my talk to my last one. I've already said it, but being coachable, that's. That'd be my last one. So if I was in order, relationships, work ethic and being coachable, I mean just on those three you literally could have a really good book at that.

Speaker 2: 39:32

Really good.

Speaker 3: 39:33

A really good book.

Speaker 2: 39:35

Well, listen, we had another hour. We could keep talking, but we got a lot of stuff. So I really appreciate you taking some of your time and joining us for the growing our future podcast. Everybody gets one last fun question, so you get one last fun question. Awesome. So, taryn Moore, tell me what's the best concert you've ever been to.

Speaker 3: 39:58

The best concert I've ever been to. I will say this, erin I've been to a lot of concerts. If you don't know, I'm actually a musician. I play piano and drums. I played our local church playing, playing music and solos. Seven years old, actually had a full ride's car ship for marching in the band. So I'm a huge music guy and so I'm not going to say it was a concert, but I was actually a Nashville, tennessee, in the year of 2021, I believe, actually on a corporate trip with when I was at Farm View before opening my own agency.

Speaker 3: 40:36

I was on a corporate trip and, man, I was listening to this band and they were just spot on, man, everything was just clear. You can just hear all the riffs and just you just feel the beat in your chest. It's just, you know just, I guess, picture the setting that I was at Erin. They were such great musicians. I had to ask all the to the lead singer after, between songs and I said, man, you're the best musician I've ever heard, and I'm a musician myself and I said you're the best musician I've ever heard. I said, could I play drums on one song with you guys? Like I'm seriously, like just loving it.

Speaker 3: 41:16

And they were going by playing for tips. I had the guy a hundred dollar bill. I said, man, just trust me, I'm a musician. I really want to play a song with you guys. And you know what they said. Here's the thing If you don't ASK, you don't get. I asked he said yes, I gave a hundred dollar bill for the tip. I got on stage in Nashville, tennessee, most memorable experience of my life. Get on, get on the get on the drums. And they play Tennessee whiskey. That's a song they're playing, and then I'm just on drama.

Speaker 3: 41:51

I was just in the to this day, one of the best moments of my life playing drums in Nashville, tennessee. Because I asked. I said, man, for when I came from a place of gratitude I said, man, I'm so grateful, you are amazing musicians. Can I play a song with you guys? I'm a musician myself and I just love to just sit in for a song. And I don't ask for free, I'm going to contribute. And I give a nice tip and they said, yeah, man, come on. And guess what, aaron, after that song, man, the whole crowd goes crazy. They're thinking that this random guy gets on stage and just rocks the house. And they say, can you play one more with us? I said I'd be honored and we did three songs together, nashville Tennessee. That's the best concert, hands down, I've ever been to, because I got to be involved and I play with an awesome group of musicians. We'll never forget that.

Speaker 2: 42:45

What an incredible story. Yeah, okay, so I'm going to, I'm going to intrigue you a little bit here. So before we started recording, I told you that I wanted you to follow, get to know or meet or get connected with Dan O'Alibe. Yes, sir, okay. So I want you to remember what you just shared with me, and when you go back and watch Dan O'Alibe's podcast and you hear his answer to the same question, you'll realize how special what you just said really was.

Speaker 3: 43:21

Wow, I've got to listen right now, dan.

Speaker 2: 43:25

I just it's really good. Well listen, Taryn, number one from the world of Ag, science, education and the FFA. I want you to know we're proud of you, thank you. You're a great example of what our program can do. You're a great example of somebody that gets in that jacket. You know I tell people all the time that jacket just give you a hug. That the jacket doesn't ask you know what you're, doesn't ask you you know where you come from. It doesn't ask you about your religious beliefs, sexual orientation, color of your skin. Jacket just says come here, I'm going to give you a hug and here's an opportunity. That's right, and you took advantage of it. Yes, sir, because of it, you've done some great things and something tells me that there's even greater ones ahead. But we appreciate you joining us today To all the listeners.

Speaker 2: 44:18

You know, growing our future podcast is just that. You know. We say all the time if agriculture's taught me anything, it's taught me that if you want to know what the future is, grow it. Well, you got to be intentional about the seeds that you plant. You got to be intentional about the intended harvest, and when you have guests like Taryn and others on, they're giving us those seeds, great seeds that will make us better personally and professionally. So thank you for joining us today. Until we meet again, everybody, go out and do something extraordinary for somebody else and just continue to make this. Make this community state country a great place to live, work and raise our children. We'll catch you down the road. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 1: 45:09

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.