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@alisonerskine_
To me, being a cowgirl means leading with kindness, showing grit, and always stepping up to lend a hand wherever it’s needed.
I embrace that identity every day by holding myself to those values and encouraging the people around me to do the same.
I grew up in the ag industry, with a multi-generational family running a mixed operation, but my childhood was especially shaped by showing horses and going on long pack trips through the Rocky Mountains.
Growing up around livestock teaches you responsibility, hard work, and empathy early on. Those qualities are valuable in any industry, and they give you a real head start compared to someone who didn’t grow up with that kind of hands-on experience.
We didn’t have many formal traditions in our family, but when it comes to values, one saying was always instilled in us:
“How you do one thing is how you do everything.”
That quote hung in our home and in my dad’s offices, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t repeat it to myself. It’s a reminder that with hard work and consistency, there’s nothing you can’t accomplish.
There are so many different forms a cowgirl can take—it’s not a box you have to fit into. But I believe that at the core of being a cowgirl, no matter what it looks like for you, are two things: kindness and hard work