by Rachel Cutrer
I hope this week has been off to a great start for you! Recently, my family and I traveled to the San Antonio Stock Show with our ranch’s show string of Brahman cattle. I love the show, but historically it’s always cold, wet, and rainy the first weekend of February. It makes for kind of a miserable weekend, but we love it.
My daughter loves the cattle life, but she hasn’t quite been bit by the “stock show bug” like my husband and I. Or like her grandpa Jim. She’s quickly approaching the age where she can show in junior shows, and we are kinda all just wondering what will happen – if she’ll want to show or not.
So, a few weeks ago, she said she wanted to go to the show with the ranch and work.
This was a first.
Usually she says things like “I want to go to the show and go to the carnival…” or “I want to go to the show and see my friends…” but she has never actually said “I want to go to the show and work.”
So we jumped on it. We were excited to make it a good weekend of her being on the crew and hope it sparked her interest a little more in showing.
As a child myself, I grew up on the show road. I spent hours upon hours sleeping in a feed mixing bin, playing in the dirt, or sleeping on feed sacks. But one of my favorite jobs was being the bucket filler. Like this…
I had to smile when I saw Mollie doing this job, because I instantly remembered how I loved doing this job as a child. I so fondly remember being old enough to fill up the buckets, but not old enough (or strong enough) to actually carry one. I remember filling up our buckets for V8, and then going over and filling up the buckets for my cousins stalls at J.D. Hudgins. It’s been 30 years, but I remember filling up these same buckets myself in the old barns at San Antonio. I remember filling up my buckets to the halfway point, so I could carry them. And I remember the feeling of when I was finally old enough to carry a full bucket.
Then I remembered another “bucket filler” picture that’s also hanging on our fridge at our house:
This was a coloring sheet Mollie (2nd grader) did early in this year’s school year. And the message of being a “Bucket Filler” is this:
“Actions or words that show that you care about someone. Saying or doing something kind. Helping without being asked. Giving sincere compliments. Showing respect to others. There are hundreds ways to fill buckets. Your bucket will be filled when, at the close of each day, you reflect on the ways in which you have filled buckets.”
You know I’m a nostalgic person. But I got to thinking, for the last 20 years, I have left every day at Ranch House with my bucket being filled. It’s been filled in the pride of knowing my team and I have made a difference for our clients. Maybe the website we’ve done for them has helped them find a new customer. Maybe that email blast we sent out for them helped them get 3 more bids at their sale.
And it is our hope that our clients, and our friends in the industry, feel like we’ve helped fill their buckets too. If you look at our core values, they include:
And it is our hope that our clients, and our friends in the industry, feel like we’ve helped fill their buckets too. If you look at our core values, they include:
- Unwavering commitment to integrity and customer service.
- Improving our customers’ marketing through innovative design and strategy.
- Sharing the story of agriculture with passion.
- Developing and educating future agri-marketing professionals.
By doing these, we hope that we can play a small role in “filling your buckets” at the end of the day.
And, as Mollie reminded me this past weekend, it’s never too early (or too late) to start being a bucket filler.
We love posting blogs like these from time to time, and if you read them, then obviously you know who Ranch House is. But, you might not know about all the services we offer. Our main service is website design, followed by digital marketing projects, and also print media. We would love to help you with any of these areas. Step one in working with us is to start off with a free 20-minute phone consultation with one of our team members.