Karina Jones is a real-life ranch wife in the Nebraska Sandhills and one of the most highly sought-after speakers in the cattle industry nationwide!
This isn’t just an ordinary Wednesday, this National Small Business Day and we are celebrating all of you, right here on Ranch Raised!
Small businesses have been the heart of life and economy in the U.S. since the first settlers arrived. The idea of a self-made man emerged during this time when virtuous was the pioneer who built a home and life for his family despite the odds. Many colonists during this period lived on small farms in far-flung rural areas. With only the wilderness and their farms for sustenance, families had no choice but to be self-sufficient.
These very people who made candles, sewed dresses, shoed horses, and ran the general store where the pioneers of our small business heritage. As America aged more and more people became specialized in a craft like baking bread, printing the newspaper, butchering meat, and even raising livestock and crops to feed their communities. It was this entrepreneurial spirit that inspires and motivates me to keep rural America alive and insulated from corporate takeover even though it is proving to be a lofty task.
So at every turn, I encourage you to support your local sale barn, greenhouse, boutique, pharmacy, café, grocery store, and the list goes on and on. I can think of no better way to celebrate National Small Business Day!
Today, the U.S. has over 32.5 million small businesses — from mom-and-pop stores to establishments providing jobs to entire towns and even our self-employed farmers and ranchers. The weave of America’s fabric is made more vibrant and resilient by small businesses.
Karina ranches with her husband, Marty, and 4 children near Broken Bow, NE. She grew up in western NE, with roots also in southwest SD. The cattle industry and raising kids is her passion.
Watching the cattle industry go the path that it has gone, she could no longer sit quietly at home checking cows, fixing fence, and doing all the everyday tasks wondering when some else was going to make it all better. As she became more active and outspoken on industry issues, she was asked to join the R-CALF USA staff in September 2020 as the Checkoff Petition Campaign manager. That position transcended into her current role as full time Field Director for R-CALF USA.
You can hear her almost every Friday on Your Ag Network’s Hot Barn Report, where she deep dives into cattle industry issues and industry reforms. Listen to Ranch Raised on a Your Ag Network hometown station or www.youragnetwork.com where she talks about her daily life on the Jones Ranch.
Cattle producers are her people. She will meet you at the county fair, at the sale barn, or anywhere the dusty trail leads.
karina@youragnetwork.com or visit facebook.com/ranchraisedwithkarinajones
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