WEBVTT - Legislator and Rancher: A split identity, with each part contributing to the whole 0:00:06.519 --> 0:00:10.600 Actually, I started purchasing half hers in for age when 0:00:10.680 --> 0:00:13.640 I was just a young girl seven eight nine years 0:00:13.640 --> 0:00:17.959 old and have always had cattle. Kimmy Lewis is a 0:00:18.079 --> 0:00:21.800 rancher in southeast Colorado, and as if that's not enough, 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:24.880 she tends to her neighbor's interests with a key position 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:29.000 in Denver. Producer Meredith Turk brings us our first on 0:00:29.200 --> 0:00:33.240 the job story from rural America. On the Job from 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:37.560 Hired to Retired is brought to you by Express Employment Professionals. 0:00:38.120 --> 0:00:41.760 Over the past thirty four years, Express Employment Professionals has 0:00:41.800 --> 0:00:45.839 put millions of people to work in meaningful and fulfilling 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:49.760 jobs and careers. If you're looking for work or want 0:00:49.760 --> 0:00:53.920 to grow your workforce, go to express prose dot com. 0:00:53.960 --> 0:00:57.120 Now here's Meredith Turk with the story of Kimmy Lewis. 0:00:58.120 --> 0:01:01.000 Driving south on Highway one O nine in Colorado is 0:01:01.000 --> 0:01:05.080 a surreal experience. They call this God's Country, and I 0:01:05.160 --> 0:01:10.000 begin to see why. There's expansive horizons, beautiful grasses, and 0:01:10.080 --> 0:01:14.000 stark canyons. Just before Las Animous County, we dip into 0:01:14.040 --> 0:01:17.119 a canyon that took my breath away. I could smell 0:01:17.160 --> 0:01:21.200 in moist desert pines scattered with yucca blossoms. Well, it 0:01:21.240 --> 0:01:24.880 looks more like West Texas or northern New Mexico than 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:30.520 it does, Uh Colorado. Everybody thinks Colorado's mountains or plains. 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:33.840 We're part of the short grass prairie, but we're part 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:37.320 of the purgatory canyon lands. And so there's it's beautiful 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.640 green right now this spring because of all the good 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:45.040 moisture we've received. What a blessing that has been. But um, 0:01:45.160 --> 0:01:49.520 we live in the canyons where there's maces and rocks 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:54.160 and trees and cactus and rattlesnakes and cattle across more 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:57.760 than seventeen acres. In the high desert of southeast Colorado, 0:01:58.200 --> 0:02:01.480 we visit a cow calfe operation with three hundred heifers. 0:02:01.720 --> 0:02:04.880 I'm Kimmy Clark Lewis, and I grew up here where 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:09.800 at Muddy Valley Ranch that lies halfway between Lahnta, Colorado 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:13.240 and kim Colorado in Las Angiemos in Bent County. This 0:02:13.320 --> 0:02:16.440 part of the country just got moisture, as they call it. 0:02:16.440 --> 0:02:18.600 It came in the form of a blizzard. But they're 0:02:18.600 --> 0:02:22.080 not complaining. In the high desert, they pray for rain 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.960 Louis took over this ranch from her father in and 0:02:26.080 --> 0:02:29.400 raised her kids here, all six of them. Well, I 0:02:29.440 --> 0:02:31.800 grew up here at Muddy Valley Ranch. I was the 0:02:31.840 --> 0:02:34.840 youngest of four daughters. And they moved here in nineteen 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:37.520 fifty eight and I was a year old. And I 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:41.400 lived here until I married, and then we had our children, 0:02:41.560 --> 0:02:45.079 and then came back and bought the ranch back from 0:02:45.080 --> 0:02:49.400 my dad in n and I've been here every since. 0:02:49.480 --> 0:02:52.560 So actually I've been here longer than my dad was here. 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:54.960 Lewis says it was hard to build a ranch. She 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:58.840 talks about a particularly hard time when they were scraping 0:02:58.840 --> 0:03:01.600 the bottom of the bear all to keep the ranch running. 0:03:01.840 --> 0:03:03.640 There was a lot, a lot of work, and we 0:03:03.680 --> 0:03:06.359 had to watch every penny. I can remember one time 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:08.960 when we had bought a brand new pickup, and that 0:03:09.080 --> 0:03:11.079 was unusual for us to buy a brand new one. 0:03:11.120 --> 0:03:13.160 We always just would buy use because we didn't think 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:15.560 we could afford a brand new one. When the land 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:18.200 payment came along, we were a little bit short, so 0:03:18.240 --> 0:03:21.040 we had to sell that brand new pick up to 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:23.799 UH make the difference. And you know what, we made 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:27.240 our payment and UH kept right ongoing, so you know, 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:30.520 when you're growing that many children in a household, you 0:03:30.639 --> 0:03:33.079 just get by the best you can and the good 0:03:33.080 --> 0:03:36.200 Lord takes care of you. But you're just so busy 0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:38.280 with fun of life and and I guess as a 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:40.160 mom of six kids, I did a lot of cooking 0:03:40.160 --> 0:03:42.320 and cleaning and a lot of hungry. When you work 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:45.800 where you live, Louis says that everything merges together, but 0:03:45.920 --> 0:03:48.200 you have more time for each other, more time for 0:03:48.280 --> 0:03:52.400 the family. At the time, the banker didn't want to 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:54.920 do both loans. He said, you know, you can't hardly 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:57.680 pay that off. And then he says, and I'm really confused, 0:03:57.760 --> 0:03:59.680 Mrs Lewis, how are you going to do that? And 0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.760 with six children? But the children were, you know, getting 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.880 older than we had six children in nine years and um, 0:04:06.920 --> 0:04:09.840 but they were very good helpers. And in fact, um 0:04:09.880 --> 0:04:13.040 the banker said, well, I need you to call three 0:04:13.120 --> 0:04:15.520 people and have three people call me and let me 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:18.200 know why you should get this loan. Because I was 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.080 a female, and I, of course my husband was We 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.440 were applying together, but he knew I was going to 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.480 be the one to do it because my husband ran 0:04:25.520 --> 0:04:27.280 a truck and company and was gone all the time. 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.039 When I went back to see the banker that I 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:34.240 had the veterinarian, another lady rancher, and another good friend 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:36.599 of mine that was an older man called the banker 0:04:36.920 --> 0:04:39.800 and uh he said, Oh my gosh, we should run 0:04:39.800 --> 0:04:43.200 you for governor. He said, I can see now that 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:45.800 it's with those six children, that's how you're going to 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:48.720 get all this none this weekend, almost the whole family 0:04:48.880 --> 0:04:51.760 is here to work. Louis lost her husband a few 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.520 years ago, but she's been keeping the ranch up with 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:58.000 her children, and today's Mother's Day, but it's also time 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:01.520 to brand several hundred calves with their brand, one of 0:05:01.560 --> 0:05:04.920 the oldest in Colorado. Louis tells me it's going to 0:05:05.000 --> 0:05:08.360 be pretty wild out there, cowboys rounding up cattle, roping 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:11.640 them and branding them on the ground. We start early. 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:15.360 The cowboys and girls started down. I thought it was early, 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:19.159 but apparently there's an even earlier. I've been up since 0:05:19.240 --> 0:05:21.600 three because I had to put the beans on and 0:05:21.640 --> 0:05:25.520 make a big two big cobblers for lunch today. So 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:27.880 besides that, I had chores to do. I had the 0:05:27.920 --> 0:05:31.440 two nurse cows and bed the horses, and then put 0:05:31.440 --> 0:05:35.880 on a little breakfast for us. And and they all 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.720 got gone before we did so anyway, but I had 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:41.440 dishes to do because yesterday it was kind of a 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.920 big day too. So neighbors are what make this ranching 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:49.080 work possible. They call it neighboring, where neighbors team up 0:05:49.120 --> 0:05:52.680 to do big workloads like branding, and they rotate until 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.560 everyone is finished. Some of the people that will be 0:05:55.600 --> 0:05:58.400 here today helping us, we'll be neighbors. They'll just stuff 0:05:58.400 --> 0:06:02.280 from neighboring ranches, and uh, we try to help them 0:06:02.360 --> 0:06:05.680 whenever they need some help. And then when we call 0:06:05.800 --> 0:06:07.680 them and say, hey, we need a couple of guys, 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:12.840 and and it's so nice to have have them here 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:15.919 because you know what, that's what you gotta do. You 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:19.920 have to neighbor with your because it's it's so important. 0:06:20.080 --> 0:06:22.200 And then of course some of us have been here 0:06:22.200 --> 0:06:24.840 a long time, so we've been neighbors a really long time, 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:26.800 so it's kind of like you get kind of get 0:06:26.839 --> 0:06:35.720 to be old friends. We finally get to the location 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:38.839 of the branding, there at least a dozen neighbors helping. 0:06:39.440 --> 0:06:42.320 There's a crescendo of mooing as calves await their turn 0:06:42.400 --> 0:06:46.720 for branding and castration and the mothers look on. There's 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:49.360 also a growing heat as the sun rises high with 0:06:49.480 --> 0:06:54.120 nothing to protect us only cowboy hats. Everyone is in jeans, 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:58.320 button up shirts, boots and hats, the classic ranch uniform. 0:06:59.279 --> 0:07:02.839 So we don't kind of hormones or anything like that. 0:07:03.000 --> 0:07:06.039 These are just calf hood vaccinations. So that's one is 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:10.560 a seven boy who absolutely away uh which helps them 0:07:10.920 --> 0:07:13.800 like with overreads, disease and things. And it has things 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:15.920 in it that they can get if you don't doctor 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.320 them for them, they can get that later on. And 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.040 then this shot is just for pink eye. And the 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:24.520 way the year has started with a lot of rain, 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:27.000 we could have a lot of sunflowers. Sunflowers bring pink 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:34.840 eye and flies. Flies bring pinkik. They hate the branding 0:07:34.880 --> 0:07:39.040 irons over a fire and prepare tags and injections. Louis 0:07:39.080 --> 0:07:41.640 tells me. They try not to work the cattle too much, 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.080 only touching them when they have to. When they're not 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:48.320 being worked like this, the cows are roaming in expansive 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:53.280 pastures for grazing. Louis has joined by most of her 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.360 children today, some who live on the ranch and others 0:07:56.400 --> 0:07:59.920 who traveled home for the occasion. My partners are my chill. 0:08:00.640 --> 0:08:03.119 I don't want partners that I don't know anything about. 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:06.320 I know these children and they know me, and when 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.640 the day comes, which won't be too long down the road, 0:08:10.200 --> 0:08:13.280 um that I need to kind of step aside and 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.960 let them worry about making land payments in because they're 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.239 all the right age. They're all in their young thirties, 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:21.320 the twins or twenty nine, and they all need to 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.200 come together and probably need to do this as a family. 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.160 Most of the people and her family are women, but 0:08:28.280 --> 0:08:30.600 they saddle up with the men and rounded the cattle 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:33.439 just the same. Luis is used to proving herself as 0:08:33.480 --> 0:08:35.760 a woman on the ranch. I was one of four 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:38.080 girls growing up, and my dad used always brag about 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:39.959 the girls, and finally, when I was aged thirty, I 0:08:40.040 --> 0:08:43.599 realized he didn't have anything else than girls, so no 0:08:43.720 --> 0:08:46.320 wonder who's going to brag about him. He always said 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:48.640 that the girls had a better handle on a horse 0:08:49.360 --> 0:08:51.640 because they didn't, they wouldn't lose their temper as bad 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:54.360 as a as a guy. This branding is a little 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:57.719 later than normal. They always consult the Farmer's Almanac to 0:08:57.840 --> 0:09:00.960 make sure they're using the correct moon cycle to Randon castreet. 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.840 There was a weather that postponed the branding, but also 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.719 Louis has a side job, and a pretty big one. 0:09:07.000 --> 0:09:11.200 Lewis just completed her first year as state representative in Colorado. 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:14.200 We'll hear more after the break, so stay with us. 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.959 You're listening to On the Job From Hired to Retired. 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.880 Meredith Turk is our guest producer today. I'm your host, 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:31.679 Steve Mencher, and here's a word from our sponsor, Express 0:09:31.840 --> 0:09:35.960 Employment Professionals. If you are searching for a job, Express 0:09:36.040 --> 0:09:39.760 Employment Professionals can help access free video training on what 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:43.200 skills are in demand in today's job market, resume writing, 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:47.360 interview tips, and more. Visit Express pros dot com slash 0:09:47.520 --> 0:09:51.319 job Genius. You can become a job genius today Express 0:09:51.360 --> 0:09:55.040 pros dot com slash job Genius. Express is on a 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:57.520 mission to put a million people to work each year. 0:09:57.840 --> 0:10:01.480 Let us help you get informed with a job market forecast, 0:10:01.679 --> 0:10:04.920 part of the free job Genius video series from Express 0:10:05.000 --> 0:10:09.240 Employment Professionals. Watch it now at Express pros dot com 0:10:09.400 --> 0:10:13.440 slash job Genius. Welcome back to On the Job From 0:10:13.640 --> 0:10:17.760 Hired to Retired. Kimmy Lewis has plenty to do at 0:10:17.760 --> 0:10:21.080 her Muddy Valley ranch, but she decided that helping her 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:24.640 neighbors by being their voice in Denver was something else 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:28.520 she just had to do. Once again, here's Meredith turk 0:10:28.800 --> 0:10:31.120 Lewis ran for office to protect the things that are 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:33.760 most important to her on the ranch. She went to 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:36.360 the Colorado House of Representatives to be a voice for 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.560 all the other ranchers in her region. I never intended 0:10:39.640 --> 0:10:42.480 to run. I never did. I enjoy just being here. 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.520 My whole intent on the whole thing is to show 0:10:46.720 --> 0:10:50.599 these people, helps show them that they too can do this. 0:10:51.200 --> 0:10:54.800 So I intend to not be in there forever. I 0:10:55.040 --> 0:10:58.480 expect some of these other people that worked right alongside 0:10:58.520 --> 0:11:01.880 with me to step up for some type of uh. 0:11:02.160 --> 0:11:04.520 Run for something, whether it's city council, whether it's a 0:11:04.600 --> 0:11:08.120 county commissioner race, or congress or whatever they want to do. 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.840 Show them, hey, I'm a rural person, but you can 0:11:11.960 --> 0:11:15.280 get elected. She's been fighting for property rights against the 0:11:15.320 --> 0:11:19.640 government conservation organizations. She also wants to educate the public 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:23.240 about beef production and explain that rangers in southeast Colorado 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:26.160 produced most of it. We've always been a little bit 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:31.280 of a political family. My sister Sparky was the state 0:11:31.400 --> 0:11:35.360 director for U S. Senator Hank Ground for fifteen years 0:11:35.520 --> 0:11:38.599 and actually was working for him when they took the 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:43.880 first big group of land in Opinion Canyon in ninete. So, 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:49.040 so I knew the battles that they had fought. And 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:53.920 then UM watched Dad and people always respected Dad, and 0:11:54.000 --> 0:11:58.079 always they would call here they'd have an issue, you know. 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.920 And so basically, I after I got elected, I made 0:12:01.960 --> 0:12:04.839 a statement, well, at least now I'm elected to the 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.800 position that I've been doing for quite a while. So 0:12:08.520 --> 0:12:11.199 Lewis said, next year she'll be smarter at the legislature. 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.000 She knows she doesn't have to run everywhere and do 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.360 everything like she did this year. Tackling a city job 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.160 in a country job means when you come home, you're 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.800 coming home to work too. Just the night she got home, 0:12:24.120 --> 0:12:26.640 her ranch was in the middle of a blizzard. I 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:29.319 came in from Denver the night that the blizzard started 0:12:29.360 --> 0:12:31.959 two weeks ago, the big blizzard that killed the most 0:12:32.000 --> 0:12:34.120 of the cattle over east here, and I got my 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:37.480 pickup unloaded. I have some water running out here in 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.600 the trees the wind break, and move that because I thought, 0:12:40.640 --> 0:12:42.280 what this storm is going to get like they're saying, 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:44.800 I've very do all these things, did everything. I was 0:12:44.840 --> 0:12:47.679 putting my pickup in the barn and I thought, well, 0:12:47.679 --> 0:12:49.599 I better go check that last half her. Well, she 0:12:49.840 --> 0:12:53.560 was calving and it was starting to snow and rain, 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:55.960 and I'm out there and this is like ten thirty 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.079 at night, and I've been working since, says, I left 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:00.559 Denver trying to get all this done. Brought in groceries, 0:13:00.760 --> 0:13:03.120 and I got her in the rock barn, and that 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:09.960 last half her caved in there. Even though she works 0:13:10.000 --> 0:13:13.480 where she lives, Louis says, there's nothing like coming home. Well, 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.000 the first thing I always noticed is the smell that 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:20.079 I just smell the fresh air, the fresh air, the 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:23.199 air the wind usually blows out the south southwest here 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:25.959 off of these maces, and the maces are full of 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:29.840 pinion pine and cedar trees, and it just smells so good. 0:13:30.160 --> 0:13:33.640 And this spring, of course, this last month, we've had 0:13:33.640 --> 0:13:35.680 a lot of good moisture. So then you just smell 0:13:35.840 --> 0:13:40.439 that and it's just, um, I think that we take 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:42.640 a lot of that stuff for granted, and it's just 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:46.480 it just really fell. It smells clean and fresh and 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:50.319 and I really enjoy that more than the other. What 0:13:50.480 --> 0:13:55.079 have you learned about yourself through this career? Well, this 0:13:55.320 --> 0:13:59.319 career change, I've learned that there are a lot of 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.640 things that you can do that you never thought you could. Uh. 0:14:03.040 --> 0:14:05.800 The funniest thing about someone like me going to Denver 0:14:06.160 --> 0:14:08.760 is it didn't scare me to be in the House 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:11.679 of Representatives at all. And it doesn't scare me to 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:16.719 stand up there and talk agriculture and be on a 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:20.600 completely different wavelength than everybody else. That doesn't scare me 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:23.120 at all because I'm always just trying to be myself. 0:14:23.600 --> 0:14:25.720 What would you be doing if you weren't doing this? 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:29.000 You know, I don't know what I would be doing. Uh, 0:14:29.400 --> 0:14:32.280 I guess ever since I was a small girl, I 0:14:32.360 --> 0:14:35.600 figured somebody would need to take on the ranch, and uh, 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:39.360 all my sisters were either teachers or worked in public 0:14:39.400 --> 0:14:42.880 relations or something, and I just I wouldn't know. I 0:14:42.920 --> 0:14:45.600 wouldn't know what I'd do. Louis hopes to retire student 0:14:45.640 --> 0:14:48.200 on a patch of her land and watch her kids 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:52.040 run the ranch, but she'll probably always be involved somehow. 0:14:55.240 --> 0:14:57.760 I've been talking with Kimmy Lewis, owner of the Muddy 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:01.440 Valley Ranch south of the hunta call Wado. She's also 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:06.040 a legislator who represents her neighbors in Colorado House District six. 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:12.520 I'm producer Meredith Turk in Denver. That's all for this 0:15:12.760 --> 0:15:16.880 edition of On the Job from Hired to Retired, brought 0:15:16.920 --> 0:15:20.600 to you by Express Employment Professionals. Find out more at 0:15:20.680 --> 0:15:24.800 Express Prose dot com. Music for this episode by Steve 0:15:24.920 --> 0:15:30.080 Mencher and Ghost from Creative Common Sight CC mixed. This 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:34.040 podcast is produced by Steve Mencher for Men's Media, Red 0:15:34.160 --> 0:15:37.920 Seat Ventures and I Heart Radio. Find us on I 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:41.040 Heart Radio and iTunes, where we hope you will leave 0:15:41.040 --> 0:15:43.720 a nice review that helps other folks find us too, 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:47.720 And of course you can listen and subscribe wherever you 0:15:47.840 --> 0:15:51.480 get your podcasts. See you next time on the Job.