AMERICAN ANGUS ASSOCIATION - THE BUSINESS BREED

Junior Members at the Mic

Entrepreneurs, global travelers and community builders join The Angus Conversation — Junior Takeover.

By Miranda Reiman, Director of Digital Content and Strategy

September 18, 2025

When National Junior Angus Association (NJAA) members go out into the world, they take with them a wealth of experience. From the daily chores and preparation for a show to the knowledge base they built while preparing for contests, it’s clear their involvement in the breed serves them well as they pursue other endeavors.

While at the National Junior Angus Show (NJAS) in Tulsa, Okla., Angus youth from across the United States joined The Angus Conversation — Junior Takeover, a special three-part edition of the podcast, to talk about businesses they built, global experiences they had and how the Angus community shaped them.

From passion to profit

“Find a problem that you enjoy fixing ... and fix it.”

That’s advice from 16-year-old Corbin Russell, Paxico, Kan., when encouraging other youth to tune in to their entrepreneurial spirit.

He owns CK Leather, where he fashions custom leather pieces unique to each customer.

Russell and Kasey Meyer of Blue Hill, Neb., shared the joys and the struggles of starting their own businesses.

Meyer has a show heifer enterprise and launched KLM Engraving this spring, making custom cattle tags for fellow cattlemen.

Both said they really enjoy the customer service side of the business, and are learning some of the more intricate details of figuring out breakeven costs and time management.

The NJAA members shared ways their show experiences — from contests to the relationships they’ve made — have given them a boost.

“Make those connections; and there’s a million different contests to do — whatever fits you,” Meyer suggested. “Go out, find it, do it, make those connections; because by the end, they pay off and can help you with your business.”

Suter Clark, National Junior Angus Board (NJAB) member, co-hosted the podcast and added his encouragement to try something new.

“You can try it one time and if you don’t enjoy it, you don’t have to do it again. But if you love it, you’ll probably do it again a hundred times if you could,” Clark said. “So, really just take that leap and try it out.”

A global stage

Many Angus youth had a chance to take a big step out of their comfort zone this summer. Three NJAA members talked about the added complexity to a livestock contest when it takes place in a foreign country.

They shared the difficulty in placing a class “A-B-X-Y” instead of numerals and the challenge of backing a trailer, pulled by a manual pickup with the steering wheel on the opposite side of the cab. There were the differences in the stock, too.

“We were talking to a couple of the breeders ... what they’re looking for, what traits they are desiring,” said Sam Jordan, Savannah, Mo., who traveled with his 4-H judging team to the Royal Highland Show in Scotland. “They look for maternal presence; they look for function like we do here. Maybe the way they go about that is slightly different, but the basics are the same.”

Tucker Stagemeyer, Page, Neb., and Jonwyn Ayres, Medford, Ore., were both part of the American Angus Association’s Youth Team at the World Angus Forum in Australia. They learned the grass-fed industry and different feedlot management, but also saw familiar bloodlines and American-made pivots in use.

“There’s a few things we had in common, but the common denominator was Angus cattle,” Stagemyer explained. “I was able to connect with people from across the world because we shared the same interests.”

All of the guests talked about the lifelong friendships they forged.

“I think it’s very, very interesting to have those conversations that were actually much more similar than we are different,” Ayres said.

The forum was a unique combination of judging, practical application, debate and the show ring.

“I encourage juniors to take advantage of the opportunities that are here,” Stagemeyer said of the NJAS. “You don’t know what they’ll prepare you for.”

Everything from judging to speaking prepared Jordan to think on the fly in Scotland, he said.

“It’s pretty cool working your way up and looking back and saying, ‘This is where I started. Now, I’m internationally judging livestock, too,” Jordan reflected.

From layovers to lifelong friendships

While the trip doesn’t take crossing an international dateline, for some juniors show travel means crossing time zones and covering some miles.

When Tripp Gibson’s family packs for the NJAS, they have a “go bag” at the ready for easy overnights along the way. Cailee Flood loads her trailer in a specific order — premeasured feed for layovers on last.

“We usually stop, and we feed them, and we water them a couple of times depending on the distance,” said Flood, who traveled from Oakdale, Calif., to Tulsa, Okla., this year.

Gibson travels from New Mexico, and Flood’s West-Coast location means the cattle and the competitors often need to acclimate to a different climate and elevation, too. But it’s always worth it, they say.

“It’s not just to come down here and show. Everybody down here is like family, and it’s really heartwarming to come down here,” Gibson said. “Everybody is so welcoming and just willing to take you in and teach you things.”

The young Angus breeders had similar experiences, finding their community with the Angus family.

Entering high school, Flood struggled being the one who always had cattle to work with when other friends could hang out after school. As a freshman, she went to her first NJAA leadership conference, met fellow juniors from Iowa, and it was an instant feeling of belonging.

“Being able to have these people that relate to me on the exact same level ... I had never had anyone like that at home,” she said.

Social media and cellphones help the teens stay in touch.

“I feel way more connected because I have friends that are from Texas and Tennessee and just all over the country that every night I feel like we call each other. I call somebody that I’ve met at National Junior Angus just to talk to them,” Gibson said.

Then when they get to the show, they see everybody they’ve waited months to catch up with.

“Even if you don’t have a grand champion heifer, you can still come here and you can still have tons of fun and meet so many new people and learn more so that one day you can work up to that point,” Flood said.

Co-host and NJAB member Kyli Kraft added that new members often find it’s not long before the roles are reversed and they’re mentoring others.

“I think that’s what makes Angus so special is people pouring into the community and the culture and investing in it,” she said.