Meet Annie | Ranch Wife & Mom

We had the good fortune of connecting with Annie and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Annie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
My husband and I grew up ranching, we are both the fourth generation to continue ranching in our families. We knew from the start we wanted to raise our boys that way. I grew up in Wyoming and am partners with my parents on a ranch up there and my husband and I are partners with his mom and dad on a ranch here in Aguila, AZ. We are so blessed that we get to raise our three boys, 9,7, and 3 in this way of life. We are also a rodeo family and we homeschool- I’m pretty sure that’s the closest you can get to the definition of ‘busy’! As we all know this economy has been crazy the last couple years and as our boys are getting older things are getting more expensive. We were managing just fine but also thought some extra money coming in could be nice, you know just in case we ever had time to take a vacation somewhere! I would sometimes browse online work from home jobs but none of them seemed to fit our crazy schedule and getting a town job was something my husband and I really didn’t want to explore because being home with our boys was top priority to us and more important than having some extra spending money.
One of my good friends and neighbors who is also a rancher and mom started her own business a few years back and she kept telling me I needed to find something to do and start my own as well. Starting my own business was so far out of my comfort zone I never really put much thought into it until she showed me a jar of beef tallow she had bought to help her hormonal acne. My middle son has really dry skin and she said it would be perfect for that, so I started doing my own research on it. I loved that you could make it without all the extra added chemicals and things that are in traditional lotions, so I got some beef suet from our butcher friends over in Salome, AZ and gave it a try! After a few months of trial and error I finally got to a product I loved and started using my friends and family and testers. When I was getting so many positive reviews back and many ‘you need to sell this!’ comments I decided to go for it! This business has provided my family and I with so many blessings and I love that I get to share the products I make with people around the U.S. and hear how much they love it and how it helps them. It is also an added bonus when I get to use beef suet from the cattle we raise ourselves so I know exactly where it came from! The best thing is I still get to be home with our boys to homeschool them, rodeo throughout the year, and go help with random ranch duties when my husband says, ‘jump in let’s go!’

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Probably the thing I am most proud of is making this business from something that I enjoy doing that ties into what I love the most- raising cattle with my family. Not all of the suet I render for my products comes from our own cattle, but I also get to support another small family business, AN Cattle Custom Processing, which is where I get the bulk of my suet from and they know where all the cattle they butcher come from and what type of feed they were raised on. I take pride in doing the whole process myself from the very first render so I can ensure the tallow has never been overheated which can change the structure and decrease the benefits, and also making sure there is no moisture in the finished product to provide a longer shelf life for my customers. Sure, it would be handy to buy already rendered tallow to make products out of, but I enjoy doing the whole process and feeling confident in the product I am putting on shelves.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I am probably not the best person to ask for this question because we don’t make it to town much! If some of our friends came to visit us, we would probably take them to see some spots on the ranch, we have some pretty neat spots that are fun to explore especially for kids if they enjoy climbing! With the added bonus of my husband getting to check waters at the same time! There is a restaurant in Aguila that is a great place to eat when you don’t feel like cooking dinner. Then one day we might head into Wickenburg and check out some of the local shops like the JLM tack store, they always have good deals on what you’re looking for! Then probably stop for lunch at Capital Farms, they have the best burgers! If it’s one of my friends we might try to sneak away to a barrel race and let our husbands take the kids out to do something fun, my boys are really into target practice right now with their BB Guns and 22s. If it’s a weekend my boys don’t have a rodeo we might try to go out to Alamo Lake and go fishing or tubing. Then just hang out I guess! We like playing card games and my boys always want to have a fire and roast marshmallows when they have friends over.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It would be a long list if I listed everyone who has supported me in this adventure! My husband who has supported me 110% even with me wanting to throw in the towel a few times. He is always willing to help with whatever I need, mostly sniff testing the tallow to make sure it isn’t beefy smelling! Or taking the boys out with him to check cattle waters so I can get labels on straight without our littlest trying to help put stickers everywhere! My friend I mentioned who had started her own business and really gave me the push to start mine- I definitely would not have done this if she hadn’t told me to toughen up and just go for it, so thanks Millie (McClearys Mother Clucker Ranch Goods) for getting me started! When you start something like this I think who you have around you can really make or brake the whole thing. It became very apparent to me that the people my husband and I have in our lives are the right kind of people.

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