Herding Her Story Podcast

Eileen Breen spent some of her childhood in the states and in Malawi, Africa. Her love for horses started at a young age and while she pursued many career paths including as a stockbroker, she ultimately found her way back to the equine industry in equine assisted services. She started her journey in equine assisted services with the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association and currently teaches adaptive riding.Eileen previously served as the Director at Heartstrings and Hoofbeats and now currently serves as the Services Facilitator at CSU Spur’s Temple Grandin Equine Center. Her story is full of twists and turns but grounded in passion. We hope you enjoy this great listen!

Dr. LuJean Waters is a proud 7th-generation rancher who is the owner/operator of Heartland Large Animal Services based out of Bartow, FL. She is also a professor at Warner University, teaching beef cattle production and animal sciences. When she is not busy with clients or class, she likes to spend her time showing registered Brahman cattle. She is also involved with the Florida Cattlemen’s Association at the county and state level and currently serves as a board member of the Florida Beef Council. This is one jam packed episode that you don’t want to miss!

Ava Budde grew up in eastern Washington as a third-generation rancher. She was involved in 4-H and FFA, went to Northwest College for livestock judging, and is currently an agricultural communications major at the University of Wyoming. She previously served as the Washington State Beef Ambassador and is finishing her term as one of three members of the 2024-2025 Collegiate Beef Advocacy Program. She is passionate about advocating for the agriculture industry and we cannot wait to see what she’ll continue to do for our industry!

Liesa Priddy grew up in the south part of Immokalee. She owns and operates JB Ranch, a cow-calf operation that focuses on land stewardship and conversation. She has served our state in many capacities including as commissioner of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, on the Ave Maria Stewardship Community District, and the Big Cypress Basin Board to name a few. She was awarded the Land Conservationist of the Year award from the Florida Wildlife Federation in 2011. We can’t wait for you to hear about all that she’s done in the conservation space in this episode and what it means to back up a claim with scientific knowledge.

COVID was definitely a hard and dark time for everyone, but a lot of good things came out of it, including Florida Farm Finder! Meet Jillian Childs, founder of Florida Farm Finder. Jillian founded Florida Farm Finder to build a community around Florida’s farm direct food. This community has allowed people to get produce and food directly from local producers and has highlighted both small and large producers! Not only that, it has allowed people to start their producing their own foods and goods and connecting them with their local UF IFAS Extension Agents for resources. We hope you are inspired by Jillian’s gumption just like we are!

What’s better than working cows? Working cows with an all girl crew! We have to give a HUGE thank you to Heather Howell Cleckler for connecting all these amazing #LadyLegends and bringing all of us together. So much was unpacked as we sat down to talk about the work weekend and what opportunities in the industry mean to the upcoming generation. We couldn’t fit it all in one episode, so look out for Part 2!

Kim Brackett was raised in Wyoming on a cow-calf operation. She currently lives with and her family, operating Brackett Ranches Limited Partnership, a cow-calf and stocker operation based in southern Idaho on the Idaho/Nevada border. She’s had a long history of service in the beef cattle industry including but not limited to chairing the Beef Industry Long Range Plan Task Force, Cattlemen’s Beef Board, the Beef Quality Assurance Advisory Group, and serving as president for the Idaho Cattle Association. She was also awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship in 2018 to study abroad and research issues affecting sustainability and the agriculture industry.

It was an honor and a privilege to be able to sit down with Mr. Doyle E. Carlton III and his wife, Mrs. Debbie Carlton. Both Mr. Doyle and Mrs. Debbie serve as mentors to so many of those around them, including us. This episode is packed full with family histories, tales of the 1923 flood of Okeechobee, rodeo love, stories of raising ranch kids, conservation before it was talked about, and so much more. We are eternally grateful for their continual support and hope you find them just as endearing as we do!