A New Start - Let's Grab Coffee

Welcome to "Coffee in the Barn," where the aroma of insight blends with the richness of experience. Join us, Casey Bradley and Morgan, as we delve into the vibrant world of agriculture through the lens of motherhood, mentorship, and professional growth.

In our inaugural episode, we share our journeys in the swine industry, emphasizing the unpredictability and adaptability required in both motherhood and agriculture. We discuss the evolution of our careers, from the nuances of pig nutrition to the balancing act of family life and professional endeavors.

Casey, a seasoned animal nutritionist and entrepreneur, and Morgan, navigating her path in technical services and research, explore the dynamics of working in agriculture while juggling family responsibilities. We discuss the challenges of maintaining work-life balance, the importance of having a supportive network, and the unique aspects of our roles as mothers and professionals.

Our podcast also shines a light on mentorship, especially in the Women in Food and Agriculture (WFA) program. We delve into the significance of role models in the industry and the transformative power of mentorship, both for the mentor and mentee.

In our candid conversations, we reveal the behind-the-scenes realities of professional life, dispelling the myth of having it all together. We highlight the messiness and fun in our everyday struggles, aiming to resonate with anyone striving to find their footing in the agribusiness world.

Join us for heartwarming and honest discussions, as we strive to bring laughter, inspiration, and a touch of seriousness into your mornings. Whether you're a fellow ag professional, a parent trying to juggle it all, or someone curious about the intersection of agriculture and daily life, there's a seat for you at our table.

So grab your coffee, embrace the tangents, and start your week with us every Monday morning. We're here to make you smile and inspire, one cup at a time.

Transcript

Morgan - Introduction
 From boardroom meetings to bedtime stories, Coffee in the Barn explores the delicate dance of balancing the demands of our professional lives with the joys and responsibilities of being moms. Join us each week as we discuss the latest trends in agribusiness, share insightful interviews with industry experts, and sprinkle in some heartfelt anecdotes about the humorous and heartwarming moments that come with being a working mom in agriculture. Greetings and welcome to another episode of Coffee in the Barn. 

I'm Morgan Hart, your host, and alongside me is the fantastic Casey Bradley. As fellow agribusiness professionals, we're not just immersed in the world of agriculture. We're also navigating the intricate journey of motherhood. In today's episode, we'll dive into our personal stories, recount how our paths have crossed over the years, and uncover the compelling why behind Coffee in the Barn. So grab your favorite brew, settle in, and join us as we tip on insights, share stories, and cultivate connections.

Morgan – Episode Starts

Welcome to the kickoff of Coffee in the Barn. I'm your host, Morgan Hart, with my co-host, the wonderful Casey Bradley. 

Casey

Oh, I don't know so wonderful, but thank you, Morgan. We were just talking before we hit record, everyone, and this is our inaugural release of the new Coffee in the Barn. Obviously, I had it to focus on careers in animal science, but this is going to be the same thing. But we're going to take a different approach, and Morgan's going to lead it, and I'm going to learn to talk less but we were just talking before we jumped on how you can't see us on purpose because when you're a mom anything goes and we have little Jace that you may also hear in the background so we do have a guest we can't forget him because he didn't want to sleep today. 

Morgan

Yeah you can only be as prepared as you can be in in motherhood and sometimes they decide that they need to have a dance party at 5 a.m. and don't want to sleep. So that's just the way it rolls sometimes. Yeah, and I was gonna say, you know, I think being a mom's taught me that just to go with the flow a little bit more where my OCD-ness, I had to have everything planned out, but at least now I am a little more adaptable, I think, than I used to be. Oh, I would totally agree. I, before I had kids, I was very, I would say high strung, I think people would describe me as. I was not the most patient person. And, you know, that's, I guess, one of the positives of motherhood is it just has kind of helped well round me a little bit more. Helped me loosen up and, you know, enjoy the moment and not be as, you know, you have to have patience with young kids that you're you know teaching to do things and what not, and yeah that's one of the positives I've taken out of motherhood. My house might not be as clean as I want it to be but you know some days it's like that. 

Well I mean my mom's at the stage of her life her house is impeccably clean. I don't know how she did it when I was younger but especially now because she doesn't have kids and as soon as I clean something the next thing I turn around…

Casey

and there's 20 Legos there…

Morgan

and I'm like yeah yeah you know you're like oh I'll clean it up when they go down for a nap and it's like what's the point they're just gonna destroy it two hours later after they get up.

Casey

Yes okay take the nap Morgan. 

Morgan

Well, kind of off topic, but that's how that's how this podcast is gonna go. It's good we're just gonna roll with whatever tangents we we see fit. We're gonna try to stay focused and we each have to hold each other back but yeah. I think we should say this is a taste of what it's going to be like. Yes. Well we But we wanted to give you a little bit more of a foundation in this first episode of this new program that we're putting together. 

Casey

So Morgan, tell us a little bit about the why of Coffee in the Barn. 

Morgan

Yeah, so our why with this podcast is trying to create a network of like-minded ag business women who are also moms and just kind of create that support system for us in the world, in the ag business space as well as help to try to bridge that gap between balancing motherhood and work and all the fun stuff that comes with it. 

Casey

And we're not going to exclude the women who have four-legged babies because I figure like they are moms as well and just women in general in ag. But yeah, it's going to come from a mom-focused perspective definitely. 

Morgan

And so with that, I kind of wanted to start off today with kind of just telling our story on how Casey and I met and how our paths have crossed numerous times over the years. So with that, Casey, you want to start kind of giving a little bit of introduction on on who you are and and what you do. Yeah, who am I and what I do? It depends on the day. 

Casey

I'm Casey Bradley. I'm an older mom, so I didn't have my children as young as Morgan and I only have one child, but I consider I have a household full of four-legged children. But someday we'll go in that story, it's not necessary today, but I have one miracle baby named Arthur. He is eight years old now, in second grade. Been married to my husband for 15 years, Jason. He's a police officer, so our family is a little different dynamic. And I think Morgan has a National Guard husband, so I think she'll tell you that. So we connected on that level a little bit. I've been in agriculture ever before I was born. So the joke was, you know, my mom was tired of being pregnant, it was really hot August, and she went on a three-wheeler ride with my dad in the South Pastures and bounced me out because that's how annoyed she was with being pregnant. So I could say pre-birth through, you know, today, and I've had a multitude of roles in the industry. I have been a manager trainee, farm manager for New Fashion Pork, student manager at Michigan State, prior to that, I worked at a dog kennel in high school. In my professional career, I worked at the University of Arkansas as a research manager. So I managed the facilities, the students, and the animals in all the research trials. And then I worked for Comeback Feeds where I wore multiple hats. I did poultry and swine nutrition. So even though I went to the poultry nutrition school of the US at the time, I didn't really do a lot of poultry nutrition work until I went to Kalmbach and I ran a research program there. Got involved with all species, including frogs, as a nutritionist. Yes, then I worked for AB Vista, and that's kind of where my path really changed of what I thought I wanted to do with my career and what the reality was or opportunity that I could do. So I got to travel the world, literally. I got to present in different countries. We were introducing the super dosing phytase and the US was ahead of that one. And I did a lot of the initial work even when I was at the University of Arkansas and then at Kalmbach Feeds. So it was just a great fit for me to share my experiences with the world and my friendships opened up everywhere. And then I had Arthur. I struggled with that work-life balance. I was traveling 80 to 90 percent and we made a family decision that was probably not healthy. So then I went to Purina Animal Nutrition for a short jaunt. And yes, that did reduce my travel, but mentally I don't know if I was challenged enough in that role. But innovation position came up with DSM and I was like, this is my dream job. I want to, I have all these ideas. I know the problems from the slat level up. It was a natural fit, was going great. Working for the University of Arkansas, we didn't have the best facilities, so I knew how to shoestring or shoestrap budgets and get things done. You know, replacing slats on your own, building the barn, concrete work, never thought I would do in my career. Right. So it was OK working on a shoestring budget. And I was really good at networking. The the board. They make decisions. Maybe not always the smartest one. My position got cut. And look, now I'm with the Sunswine Group, my own company. And I cannot believe it's been four years and I've done some amazing, cool projects. So the Real P3, which is pork producer inspired podcast. Now I'm going to convert more to a monogastric approach. And then I started coffee and careers in animal science. And those are my two flagship endeavors. And now this is going to be my third one, coffee in the barn with Morgan. But Morgan and I met technically when I was at DSM. 

Morgan

Yeah, when I was in grad school. 

Casey

And so Morgan was, I was just, it was always natural. And I guess Craig Wyatt was my supervisor at AB Vista. And he always said, you know, extensions, like the perfect job for you. And who would have thought that I could use my passion of extension in my own business. And that's what I exactly do. I call myself, I'm the professor without a university. I like that. Go on with your story, Morgan.

Morgan

It's interesting how you can, you know, when you're in college or even when you're younger, you know, you're like I'm gonna do this. I'm gonna do that. This is what I want to be when I grow up. But there's no direct path to, to where you're supposed to end up. Casey, you're a perfect example. You know, you did some weaving in and out here and there until you got to where you are today and where you wanted to be, I take it. 

Casey

Oh, and I'm not done. There's going to be some more weaving.

Morgan

 I don't apply, you're done. 

Casey

I have like 20-some years left for the, you know, the Social Security retirement age. I'm not done yet. There's going to be some more weaving and hills and up and down.

Morgan
 0:10:51
 I hope so.

 Okay, little background.

A little background on me. I just turned 30 this year and my, I guess, endeavor, I always like to have a goal or challenge for every year and my goal for turning 30 was to run 30 miles. And so I completed 30 miles or a 50K on my, well, 50K is 31. So I just had to run the extra mile so I could hit the 50K, but I ran 30 miles on my 30th birthday. And if that tells you a little bit about myself, I'm always up for new opportunities and challenges. And that's kind of, I guess that part of me has always kind of stood out within the different ag opportunities that have presented with over the years. And so I did my undergrad in animal science and I didn't grow up on a farm. I grew up just with on my friends hobby farms. My parents didn't have a lot of land, so we just raised like ducks and rabbits and for the fair and I always had dogs and whatnot. And growing up, I would always bring home animals that my mom would have rather not had in the house.  Like the pet gerbil. Hey, that sounds like, you know, that's like, there. Yeah, my mom did not want that stuff in her house. You know, I was always the first one to volunteer to take home the class pet and my mom did not like that. I would bring home, you know, baby birds that had fallen out of their nest and like, try to bring them back to life. I found a cat, like the week before I was leaving for college. I found a baby kitten in the middle of the road and brought it home at 1 a.m. and my mom was like, that thing does not come in the house. And it crawled up into our car engines about three times over the course of two weeks. 

Casey

It probably didn't have a long life then. 

Morgan

We did not have the cat very long. And yeah, anyway, so I, as far as I got involved with pigs, I like to say pigs chose me, I didn't choose pigs because it was one of those paths that I never really thought about, you know, growing up as a, as a little girl, you know, people are like, well, what do you want to be? And I was like, well, I want to be a vet when I grow up. And I got to college and everyone was like, I'm going to vet school. And I was like, there's got to be something else. There's got to be other careers that you could do besides going to vet school. And I started working at the university research lab and got involved in biomedical research and using pigs as biomedical models for human research. And I really enjoyed the applied side of the agricultural world. And so that kind of, I guess, guided my path a little bit through undergrad and grad school was working in a few different research labs. And I knew having the production experience was going to be important. So I did intern with Iowa Select for a little bit the summer before I graduated. And from that experience, I decided to continue my education at grad school. And now I'm a technical service and I also am able to help play a role in our research facilities as well. And I really enjoy helping producers with whatever problems they might have on the farm. So I kind of get the best of both worlds of being able to provide tech support to our dealers and customers, as well as still being tied into the applied research. And I really, really enjoy that. And that's kind of where I thought I would end up. And like you, I took a couple of twists and turns there. I did a couple year and a half in sales, and then I was a farm manager for a couple of years in between grad school and where I am today. And yeah, that's kind of my professional weaving and my route professionally.

Casey
 0:14:45
 What about your family? I want to hear about your family.

Morgan
 0:14:46
 I was getting there. Personally, I like, so my husband and I are high school sweetheart. We have a really good support system and we still live, you know, with five minutes from my parents and ten minutes from his. We live in the same town that we both grew up in and I always knew at a young age that I wanted to be a mom. And my husband was like, I'm okay if we have kids or if we don't have kids, like whatever, whatever happens. I was like, well, we're gonna have kids. It's just how many we're gonna have. When we first started dating, I wanted to have six because I grew up in a family of four and then I was like, okay, I don't know if I can do six. And then Miles was like, yeah, we're not having six kids. I was like, you're not the one that's pushing them them out of you, but we'll see how it goes. And today we now have two kids, a three-year-old and a one-year-old, almost one, and I hope we'll have at least one or two more, but we'll see. We'll see how things go. And I think I, my career started, you know, with the whole COVID thing. I am able to work from home and I've kind of, you know, before, after grad school, I was working on the farm and doing, but once I got into sales, it was kind of unique because I was able to work from home and which really helped with the balance of, you know, motherhood and, and, and work. And so I think, I think that whole turn of events and the way I guess, how do I put it? The opportunity nowadays that's presented where you're able to work from home and you know kind of have that flexibility is a lot different than it was you know even five ten years ago. 

Casey

No I really agree and you know and this has been my passion and also this podcast started through a symposium at Midwest Animal Science. It was funny that Morgan mentioned that and I don't think she remembered that you know it was the team behind Coffee and Careers that kind of put that together and focused on women. And what really shocked me was how many men were in the room for that symposium, like managers of women. And I thought that was really great because it shows how ag is changing. Our industry is open to new ideas. But I go back into my career and working on a farm, I still don't know how moms do it, because you can't take your cell phones into barns, at least pig barns. Cattle and other things, you can put them in the truck and drive them around, or the tractor, and you see a lot of that Instagram and all that, but that's not a reality in the swine industry. But, and then I worked for Kalmbach, and I was expected to be there eight to five, even if I took calls in the middle of the night from the feed mill or different things like that, or I had to weigh or feed chickens before work type deal for the research part. But I don't know if I could have balanced that. And I even know Kalmbach's a little bit more relaxed and I think some of their employees have freedom to not be in the office all the time. But I actually don't have to have a physical office, but I choose to, because as you can imagine, my house is not set up so well to work from home, because I have two dogs, I used to have two cats, two rabbits, a son, and a husband that works nights. And anybody could come through the door any minute, and it would just displace my thought process. So we decided a long time ago that renting an office was much cheaper than buying a new house. So that is the trade off. So, yeah, things are a lot different for working parents today. So that is the background of us. 

Morgan

Yeah, I forgot why. Right. Yeah, I would agree with the yes. It's nice to be able to work from home. I mean, I still would say I probably travel 30 to 40% of the time. But yes, when, so kind of going back to my husband is. Oh yeah, this is a good, really important. So my husband enlisted in the Air Force when we were seniors in high school. And so he's been in for almost 12 years. And we, so he's been on deployments throughout college and whatnot. And after we got married, he had a unique opportunity that he's able to work kind of a shift schedule at the base. So he works two days on, four days off, and it doesn't matter if it's holiday or weekend. So that is good, but it also comes with its challenges because on days that he's home, he's home all day. And some days we don't have grandparents to watch the kids. So my husband is kind of, he works full time, but he's also a stay-at-home dad a couple days a week. And so, yes, I have lots of interruptions throughout the day. And yes, my phone is always on and I will always answer it, but sometimes I have to call you back in five minutes because I'm in the middle of feeding my toddler or cleaning up some mess that someone's created or, you know, just the things that happen when little kids are at home. And, you know, for the most part, we balance things fairly well, but there are the occasional moments where you have to, you know, just remember that you're a mom first and you need to be a mom first. Your job will, I don't say your job will always be there, but a job will always be there and no one can replace you at home. 

Casey

I would agree. And that's been very hard for me to learn because I am a career driven, not, I'm just a driven person, right? It's just in my nature, I can't sit still, I have to be busy, but I also want to succeed. And to me, I had to change what that looked like a little bit. But I was also going to say, that's what we also have a lot in common, is Morgan has a stay at home dad. I would say my husband is very similar, because he does shift work as well, and he works nights. We choose to work nights. He enjoys it. He loves the crime at night. He doesn't like the politics with all the brass entering the day. So he prefers the night shifts. But that gives him the opportunity that if I have a meeting or if I'm traveling, he can get Arthur on and off the bus. He's home. Arthur's old enough now that he can just watch some TV or hang out quietly while Jason naps or you know sleeps if he needs to. So it's a really good balance and fit for us to make it work because we're both not traveling. But you have a great support with your parents there. I don't so I'm one that my support network looks very different than yours. My families are in Michigan and Pennsylvania. So we use a friend and different babysitters to get by. And so I also try to balance my work around my husband's schedule, because you can imagine paying somebody to stay with your son overnight is not cheap. So yeah, it's a balance that we try to do as a family together and be a mom, take care of household finances and needs and work needs. So it looks different for everybody. Yeah. And I think I would definitely the support system, I guess. 

Morgan

And in my cases, there's no way both of us would be able to do our jobs and do what we do without without the help that that we have. And, you know, there's there's gives and takes. And and, you know, did my husband always think that he was going to be a stay at home dad?  Oh, he did not.
 He was OK not having kids. But you know, I think it's one of the greatest things, you know, being a mom, but also seeing someone who didn't necessarily think that he would enjoy fatherhood as much as he does. He might not say it, but I can see it. Like, he's on the floor playing with them all the time, you know, obviously with two kids and under, like, three and one, like there's going to be fights, there's going to be someone having an accident in some shape or form, or there's always going to be, you know, the challenges. But I, it just warms my heart watching him kind of mold into this father that I don't think, I don't think he necessarily thought he was going to enjoy it as much as, as I see that he enjoys it. I don't know if he'll ever admit it, but that's one I really, really like seeing that. 

Casey

And you know, I have lots of friends in the industry that are moms or dads, and what I notice about the really successful ones and the ones that tend to stay together, it's a team effort. It's like that team, best friends, getting things done. Yeah, sure, do I get upset that I have to pick up my husband's socks, you know, on a daily basis and watch the Lego traps in my house. Yes, but you know, I wouldn't have it any other way. Because there's things that I do that drives them absolutely nuts. It's true. It's a balance. It's a give and take. My in-laws are down at the moment. And I said, my mother said, I don't know what kind of mom I would have been like at 25 versus 35 when I had Arthur. And she goes, Oh, you would have had a lot more energy and done more things. And I'm like, but I would have lost my temper even worse than I do today. So I'm grateful that I did wait a little bit from that perspective. Finances can control my temper better, but he still knows how to push my buttons. I think we push each other's buttons. We're so alike, Arthur and I, personality-wise. But yeah, what else are we supposed to be talking about on this introductory, how are paths crossed? 

Morgan

You kind of mentioned it a little bit earlier, but I think the first time we met was when I was in grad school and you were at DSM. And you came, DSM did a lot of work with my grad school professor and I think you guys came in for product update or presentation or of some kind. I don't know if that was a... A research update and then talking about the future so John Bergstrom let me come along which was really fun because it'd be an innovation and we wanted to do more things. So Dr. Crenshaw did a lot of work with Heidi and Kinky Back. So if you're not really in animal nutrition and stuff and we'll get into some of these topics because we want to educate you from a different perspective as well. So we didn't say that up front. This is not just for ag moms. This could just be for anybody wanting to learn more about how their food's raised. So we're going to have a variety of topics to where if you are in ag, it'll give you some talking points to use with your non-ag friends or colleagues that you meet and people in your life, I guess. 

Casey

But it's also going to be hopefully to pull people in that's not in ag to learn about cool people like us and be like, oh, they're real people.  They have a heart. They care.

Casey
 0:25:54
 But we're going to get into things like health, nutrition, Hy-D, sorry vitamin D. Yeah. And I mean, lots of, I mean, just to highlight some of the topics that we're going to discuss throughout, throughout the year is... But it was all because of Jon Bergstrom that we met. So yeah, sorry, let's finish that story first.

Morgan

 0:26:14
 Yes.

Casey
 0:26:15
 Sorry. Yeah. But yes, John, thank you for introducing Morgan and I. But then we also met kind of, you were a farm manager and you weren't happy. So you reached out to me, I think at that time, like, what's my next steps? 

Morgan

Yeah I think I think I was just kind of looking yeah what's my next career move just I think I got some resume help, some interview, just kind of mentoring professional professional mentorship help and you just kind of helped me kind of navigate okay you know what do you like to do you know make a list what do you like to do? What do you not like to do? Where do you think you might end up? Or where do you think you might like to be doing? So I was just kind of at that part in my career where I was looking to move on to the next challenge and the next move. And then, you know, we've ran into each other numerous times over the last couple years at different conferences and have, I would say, made it a point to kind of touch base and stay in contact as our careers and lives have changed over the last five or six years. And then most recently, we just by chance got matched in another mentorship program. It's sponsored by Alltech, the WFA. I can't remember exactly what it stands for. Yeah, WFA, that's all I know. Food and Ag, 

Casey

I think, women and food and Ag. Yeah, I think so. I'm gonna say, women is the future of Ag, but no, I think it's food and Ag because there's a, I've met some really cool people that work on the food side. So very, very interesting program. I love it and I said well yeah I've already mentored Morgan and this would be great and they're like well we could change I'm like oh no no I know Morgan. 

We already have an established connection. Yeah this is going to be easy for both of us. We know we can be brutally honest. And we're both going to exceed in our different mentee mentor roles. Well, and here's the secret about mentoring. It's not all about giving back because I've found that I always learn and grow myself. So if you're on the fence of wanting to mentor either in a formal or informal capacity, I highly recommend it because you'll grow professionally as well. But fake tangent, got on my soapbox. Sorry. 

Morgan

Okay. Women in food and agriculture. Okay. 

Casey

Confirmed. Yes. But Morgan wanted to work on her technical presentation skills and that's public speaking.

Morgan

0:28:58
 Yeah. That was one of my goals for the program. Yes. And just kind of overall.

Casey
 0:29:04
 You know, Morgan's a good presenter. I don't really have to teach her a lot. There's some things she's got to tweak and she's got to be, learn to be more comfortable in her skin because I've also noticed I'm doing podcasts now and once you hit the record button people change they're not as relaxed it's like oh no I got to be careful what I say and especially if I work for a company what am I allowed to say? That's what editing is for right? Well yeah but I don't try to edit too much because it's like takes out the human. 

Morgan

I hope you'll be editing some of my tangents.

Casey
 0:29:40
 We will be editing!
 This is a little we program. Let's hope that, well, this first one is just a jump start. 

Morgan

It's a jump start. Yes. 

Casey

But we want you to feel like you're part of this conversation because we chose not to do video because it's 6am recording times and we have a dance party going on in Morgan's house with a milk craze you know it's a new hot topic drink of the toddler stage and we have our really strong brewed coffee to get us through the day both yeti well mine's not a yeti cup today but normally I have a yeti cup but this is yeah so normally I have a Zimpro yeti cup everybody I'll see if you have videos in me or you're on calls and I said, let's start charging Zimpro money to drink out of the coffee cup, but it's a Yeti cup, but today I'm fashioning my own cup, the Sunswing Group. But no big deal, you can't see it. But yes, we are having our coffee. We don't necessarily work in a barn every day, but we, our house is our barn. My office is my barn. I have feed samples, I have packaging, I have boxes of ingredients, I have scales, I have sharps containers, if you looked in my background, so it is a barn. But we are here to help Morgan grow, but also have fun and do some outreach. I've been wanting to do more of this. So my purpose, I went through a significant woman training this year at church, and with that, I had to create a mission statement, and I don't really have it totally mapped out to where it's really good to say it, but it's creation. It's helping people go from surviving to thriving. And so in agriculture, you can look at that, what we're trying to do for food security in third-world countries, in my mind. But I also look at that what we're doing as two professional women examples for other women in our industry or parents. Let's take the gender off of it and make you feel like you're not alone. That it's okay to have these concerns, these questions, this guilt, you know, this imposter syndrome, different things, because we're going to keep it real, even though we're not on the real P3. It's the coffee in the barn, but it's going to be real conversations. And I'm trying to fill in the gap. I know I promised not to talk too much, but Jace is having other ideas at the moment. So we have to improvise. 

Morgan

Now, it's all good. 

Casey

Is there anything else we need to wrap up on? Awesome organizer?

Morgan

I don't think so. Our podcast will be coming out every week. Yeah, we hope we hope that's the goal. The goal, the goal is to have a new contest every week. 

Casey

You need to adapt okay so if it's not quite every week you get why. Maybe it'll be two in one week because we have so much to talk about. Well this was supposed to just be 30 minutes and we're at 45 minutes so. 

Morgan

Hey we're all ready overachievers. Hey it's a great way to start start a morning. 

Casey

Oh, it is and I'm energetic. I'm gonna do some dance moves here Jace. Look at me Can you see? Oh, you can't hear cuz he's like I'm ready to go back to bed now 

Morgan

Me too, but I've been up for the last three hours But anyways Welcome to the coffee in the barn join us pick your morning that you want to listen to this Grab your coffee and just laugh with us and maybe take a little bit of seriousness in this conversation. But we want to make you smile. We want your day to start off great. So have that cup of coffee. We're going to try to post them on Monday morning. So you can start your week off with some fun, exciting tangents that we get. We go down. 

Casey

Yeah, I think I'm very excited to get this started. It's, it's, yeah, I don't know if I'm at a loss for words because that doesn't usually happen. I'm just excited that I'm creating and I hope I change one person's life.
 It's all there.

Morgan
 0:33:53
 Yeah, I think, and I think that, you know, being a young mom and I think based on my perspective, the first female role model mentor, yeah, mentor that I kind of was like, hey, she's a mom in agriculture. Like, you don't see, at least when I was in grad school, a lot of the professors were males. And I did have a couple really, really good female role models that I could look up to and that I worked for. But I would say 80% of them were males. And Casey was kind of that first person that I saw working in a tech support role that was a mom and doing it all, and I was like, hey, I want to be like Casey. And you soon realize that it's messy behind the scenes. 

Casey

It's very messy. It's very messy, but that's what keeps it fun. If everything was the same, I would be bored. I know, but just people that meet me at conferences or different things, if you're a younger person listening to this and you think I have it all together, it's a lie. 

Morgan

So you were just putting on a front? 

Casey

No, I'm getting the job done. 

Morgan

Yes, yes. But I just wanted you to know that, like I've always seen you as a role model and you know there's been multiple females throughout my career that I've found and have kind of helped also fill that role but you were kind of the first one. One of the first ones. 

Casey

Well thank you that really wow. But I would say you're one early in my career or not early in my career, early in my journey of wanting to start coffee and careers, you are one of those people who inspired that program and because of that, that's why it's so exciting to start this new chapter of Coffee in the Barn with you, Morgan. So thank you so much and I'll let you sign off. Well, hopefully you guys will tune in next week to hear what the next topic is and hopefully kids will stay asleep. You should tell them what the plan is. 

Morgan

Oh yes, that's right. We're not starting off yet. No, so as we all know, January is very much about, you know, everyone's wanting to set their new goals for the year

 and...

Casey
 0:36:14
 Thank you for using goal, so resolution. Yes, well everyone uses resolutions. We're going to, yeah. We're going to be talking about success.

Morgan
 0:36:22
 Yeah.
 Yeah, so you know, January's everyone's like, oh, it's a new year, new me. Yeah. I think it's a little bit more achievable if you can set goals for yourself and kind of like set being set your intention for the year, smart goals and intentions for the year. So that's kind of our January theme is going to be around goal setting and being intentional and topics pertaining to that. 

Casey

And with that, I have been working on a 90-day challenge for goals. It's gonna be like a journal workbook program. So it's gonna go with January. So keep an eye out for either the e-book and I gotta figure out with Kindle on how to get that published on demand if you like print copies.
 So working on that.

Morgan

 I look forward to seeing the completed. 

Casey

Yeah, I'm already behind schedule. 

Morgan

Well, you gotta wake up again at 5 a.m. and get going. New year, new me. 5 a.m. here we go. So that'll be the next couple weeks. 

Morgan

We'll just kind of be talking about goals and intentions and, you know, then every week we'll kind of be talking about different, I don't want to say hot agriculture topics, but educational agriculture topics and possibly thrown in some drama, not mom drama, but mom feedback. I don't like drama. Mom stories or challenges that we have as moms that might pertain to said topic, such as biomedical or non-GMOs? Non-GMOs or how do we feed? We feed pigs, but how do we feed our kids? Yeah, pigs are models for humans. So, yeah. So, it's going to be fun. Yeah. And just, it's just a positive.

Casey

 Jace is a downer, man. He's like, take the energy down with that dirty diaper boy.

Morgan
 I still got energy.

Casey
 No, I'm just kidding. But yes, we don't want to end on a low note. It's full of packed fun. We're going to try to keep the curse words out because if I do that, we're family friendly. Yeah, family friendly. But I work in progress and I get either very angry or very passionate. It comes out. So I'm going to try not to because obviously we have very important people that are joining us on the calls.

Morgan
 And they repeat everything. 

Casey

And then some.

Morgan
 0:38:55
 Yes.

Morgan
 0:38:56
 And that's going to be fun. With that, we'll see you next week. 

Casey

See you next week.

Casey – Concluding Remarks
 0:38:59
 As we wrap up our inaugural Coffee in the Barn Chat, we thank you for joining us on this journey.  As few working moms deeply rooted in agribusiness, we understand the challenges and joys that come with balancing professional and family. Stay tuned for our next episode of Coffee in the Barn Chat. Understand the challenges and joys that come with balancing professional and community. Stay tuned for our upcoming episodes where we'll delve into setting ambitious yet achievable goals and explore strategies for growth. Or, together we'll navigate the exciting world of agriculture, fostering a community where empathy, science, and passion for our industry thrive. Until next time, keep sowing seeds of success and nurturing your dreams. Remember, every big achievement starts with the courage to grow. Remember, every big achievement starts with the courage to grow.

See you soon!