 who is a veteran loafer and works for John Mitchell of Flat River Ranch and Kelly has a few projects on the side as well and we want to shine a bit of a light on our loavers. So Kelly tell us a little bit first how long you've been over here in the States lobing. Well I've roughly been in the States for about nine years I started off at ESMS vet clinic I worked there for about a year and then decided you know change things up a little bit and I actually ran into John and he was looking for somebody and I have been there ever since so I'm going on eight years now working for John and yeah it's been great. So that's actually a long time in the world of loafering because most the probably the majority young kids who get in and get out they you know switch around they not sure what they want to do and they have a you know have a go at loafering. Why have you been committed to this for this long? Well I think it came with I was a little older as well like when I started doing it a lot of people when they get into it you know their teenagers early 20s I'm sort of one of those people that once I get something on my mind and that's what I want to do I want to learn it that way and that's you know it's like I didn't want to switch around and you know I have a great rapport with John and Slate River and and it's one of those things that's like well I don't want to learn it any but any other way I want to do it that way and I also wanted to learn more about training horses as well not just the loping side of things so I wanted to stick with the one program and and that's and I've been sort of like that my whole life it's like well I'd rather than chop and change or something stick with it you know there's gonna be tough times and you've got to get through it but when you come out the other end it's like oh wow I learned something and you know it just makes you better so. So you are gold you realize that because every single trainer and probably in non-pro and every person who really needs help would love to have somebody like you. Well yeah and you know even my experience that I had at the vet clinic before I actually started with John and Slate River that in itself especially for an Australian but things are pretty for lack of a better term primitive when it comes to doctoring horses and stuff at home like that and pretty much you'd spray some purple spray on a cut and be done with it and I was like wrap a leg what do you mean wrap a leg I don't know what to do there so I I didn't have a lot of knowledge when it came to those kinds of things so being at ESMS taught me a lot and that that information there is just gold you know just that experience and having the knowledge of when the vet would come over and look at our horses like I'd know what was going on and and so I just have that inside knowledge of that was in itself you know pretty valuable and then you know also learning how to work with a trainer you learn you know what to do what not to do and then you end up being in a position where you get new people in where you can train them as well and it's less stress on the trainer them having to do all of that you know then that sort of falls on me now and I can train people the way John wants them trained so yeah it's it's I like being in a position I like to have the responsibility but like I said I think that sort of comes with being a little bit older as well and yeah it's not how can we convince you think more loafers to stay not longer and think of it as a career you know what that is tricky I think basically like they've got to realize times are gonna get tough and it's like that with any job like I was always told you know animals and kids are the hardest thing to work with you know like it's they can be unpredictable and it's definitely definitely that way in our industry things change the going gets tough you just got to tough through it like the only thing I that's only advice I can give is you just got to stick with that work work through it and get through the other end and you're going to have a great foundation like of and know the program and yeah it's it's hard to convince people of that you know it sometimes it looks like there's not a light at the end of the tunnel but there often is well and one thing I think that's obviously increased the challenge or the responsibility for you is that you've taken on management yeah yeah well you know it sort of came about I started with John at Slate River then John decided he was gonna go out and and train out of his own place and train for the public and that really opened up the door for me as far as opportunity like I had had prior management skills in other jobs I don't like I work for lawyers for seven years and I actually trained the new lawyers that came out of law school and then went into shopping shopping mall administration and managed the admin for that so I had management skills so it's something that I was like I really I craved you know having that management kind of role and so we went out to his place it was like well it opened up this whole world of like okay well then there's we have to build customers and we have to keep track of cow feed and we have to do all this so it's like I really took it on with open arms because it was something else for me to learn and it gave me more responsibility which you know in some cases some people don't want the responsibility but you know I took it as a like okay this is how I make this better you know what I mean and obviously pay more because I guess the one yes yeah that's it maybe the long hours yeah the long hours and that's what I always tell people like never sit down and work out what you get paid hourly because you'll never keep doing it and and that was for me to like I wanted to make a career out of it and so I that's I that's why I took it on the way I took it on it's like yeah I'll do the extra work you know I'd be in that office at 10 o'clock at night doing the bills at the end of the month but it was just like you know what it's worth it because this is I'm gonna be more valuable and you know it's like it opens the door for a pay rise and that kind of thing and it just and also for me too I knew what was going on around the place you know so if you know hear conversation something about this or that or the cow truck and when they're gonna be I know when it was gonna like I could answer that question for somebody and you know it's some people don't want to have that like I said but for me that was what that was a driving force it's like I want to be part of it I want to do the best I can and yeah I wanted I want to know everything inside out yeah well and you've obviously tackled that and now you've got another outlet okay so I'm at first I just thought I was completely insane coming up with this idea but I just had this this craving basically to like you know channel my creative energy somewhere and I actually it actually started out with I wanted to make leather handbags and do them all by hand and my brother he actually he has got his own leather business back home in Australia and when I grew up rodeoing at home and I actually made all my own shirts like that I just I wanted I wanted my shirts to look like they're the ones that were over here in America because we didn't really have a lot of that readily available to us in Australia and if you did go get them you'd pay a bunch of money for them so I was like I'm gonna start making my own shirts and my mom she was a seamstress and she was super creative as well and so I got her to help me and before I knew it I was like designing my own shirts and making my own patterns and stuff like that so I've always had that real creative deal going on and I got this wild hair and I bought some leather and well lo and behold I could never find the time to do it anyway one week I got so mad at myself because you know John's wife hope she knew I was gonna she's like you made a bag yet and couple of my other friends I'm like no I haven't it's really frustrating me so one week I got super mad at myself I'm like you have to finish a project by the end of the week so I had some I had the kangaroo leather I had the kangaroo lace because I think that was going to be part of my bags and I had some I ordered some freshwater pearls as well I had all these stuff sitting there and I'm just so hmm so I started you know tinkering around with it well the next thing I made a necklace there's this long tassel necklace with these pearls and I'm like huh that's pretty cool it didn't take me very long to do and that is honestly how this came about I'd had my I got my had my logo I had my my name and everything from a business Brumbi Goods and I had all that that was all in place but I just the product wasn't coming about so lucky didn't call it Brumbi handbags well it was going to be called that at one stage yeah it was but I just left it for a while I just left it Brumbi and then it just I'm like well I want to leave it open for maybe one day I will still get to those handbags so but for now it's it's evolved into jewelry and yeah it's so how long ago was that I started basically launched my business in February it's been in the works for probably oh my gosh three years now like it's been something I've been thinking about and and I've been you know gathering information and like stuff to make the products and but yeah February was when it all came about and that's when you launched your website no I actually just did it on social media Instagram is my main platform also Facebook I really use Instagram a lot though and then as as it evolved and got bigger it's like I had so many inquiries about do you have a website and I was actually I was going to go another route like with Etsy but it was a lot of work and I was like you know what just bite the bullet so I got Jordan Snyder she helped me get my website up and going and yeah it's it's been great it's been a learning curve and it's yeah it's good enough for the moment like I've got it reeled into where I can I can control you know what's going on as far as you know how much I make and all the rest of it and basically what I can handle for right now but I know like if I kind of let the rain loose a little bit it could it definitely could get up get quite a bit bigger and quite a lot yeah it's it's doing really good for me though so the website was very professional um your photography is very professional do you do that yourself yes yeah so I've dabbled in a little bit of photography um a lot of it just the horses and scenery and stuff like that and I was like you know what I can do this product photography is is quite difficult as I um but you know I just shadows and oh my gosh absolutely yeah all of that but once again I'm just like well just do a little research and see what you can find out and yeah I just have a little deal at my house and yeah I do a lot of it just in like a little photo briefing at home and then sometimes I'll venture outside and do some stuff out there but it's yeah so how do you get your ideas for your pieces usually when I'm loping yeah like it's yeah you know I started when I was loping around um because every morning we usually start an hour before John does so between saddling horse and just getting set up and stuff and I jump on that first horse and that was always a horse I'd have the most time on so I started listening to um like books on tape and stuff like just and they you know educational motivational all that and um just to you know get the mind right and keep learning um so like I always like it's it's a matter of the you know when you're loping around utilize that time as well to I don't know whether and you know sometimes I would listen to Joyce Myers um you know just take that time instead of just you know not thinking about anything thinking about something so it's turned into me now I actually don't listen to my books on tape as much anymore I actually aren't constantly thinking about Romby and what's next and you know that kind of stuff so and I stay tapped into the western world like the western industry a lot you know um the rodeo world and especially you know the cutting world and and also my my roots from home as well like I like to try and keep that spin on it as well so that's your style that you like yeah yeah and I yeah definitely um I've sort of I've ventured into a little turquoise and things like that as well here lately because you know I did I did grow up rodeoing so I've kind of got that little that little piece in me as well and I like to you know sort of dabble in that sort of stuff as well but you know I wanted to use the the kangaroo leather not only for its durability and um yeah it's just it's just a great product but you know it's something that ties me to home as well it's kangaroo leather you know it's yeah so Brumbie was just something I it just it just came up like just like I'm here in here in America I'm an Australian I really want something that that sort of ties me to home as well and but also it's you know something that explains me a little bit as well well then I was just like well a Brumbie you know it's still it's a horse um little wild free spirited kind of you know that's kind of where where I went with it and um and a lot of people know what a Brumbie is from me I'm from Snowy River some people don't but I kind of I did deal on Instagram Facebook just explaining you know what Brumbie and um yeah it just seemed like the right the right name and it's yeah it's pretty catchy so you work with leather you've obviously got some pearls um turquoise turquoise um you know what I've just started um like with like copper wire and stuff I've just started playing around with that and that's kind of fun so I've got some stuff coming there that's sort of some new stuff um a lot of beaded beaded necklaces um I love working with beads there they're really fun you know there's so many and part of the fun of it is sourcing the product to to you where do you find it a lot of it actually Etsy um it's a really good that I have a great connection um the bead barn in mineral wells she's been fantastic it's funny I knew um her name's Amber and she actually worked at the dry cleaners in mineral wells and that's how I met her um and then on Facebook I saw that she'd opened up a bead shop in mineral wells and yeah we've we're actually had a lot of fun together just like I'll you know call her I'll be like hey I'm looking for this and she'll like I'm on it and she'll she's she's got the contacts to track it down for me so now you're you're wearing um a necklace yes yes yep um there's some floating pearls I do this with um some silver on as well um I glue the pearls in the place on on the leather so they so they don't move they stay spaced evenly the earrings um super light and a lot of this stuff I had in mind for the working girl and the girl who rides like I'm kind of this was this was my original idea behind doing these it's something that was still feminine but it was easy to wear um and same with the earrings you don't have to look like a loafer you can still look nice exactly that's it it's just like I still want to look feminine um and you know some some of my some of the beaded stuff like I'll even myself I'll just be like oh it's too heavy on my neck whereas you know this stuff is super easy um the leather is so durable um and earrings like I would always just wear tiny just tiny little earrings that can stand something big in my ears but when I made these like you don't even know you're wearing them and that's what I love about them so so the fashionable and functional yes yeah and then of course I ventured out into some longer stuff and stuff with pendants and tassels and stuff like that but yeah this stuff originally started off like with you know having a shirt in mind wearing it with the shirt and it being comfortable to wear yeah so you got a range of things what about other is it mainly necklaces necklaces earrings um I do bracelets as well a lot of beaded bracelets I also do the kangaroo leather and the pearl bracelets with like a snap on them um all my um my leather like leather chokers and stuff like that they actually tie at the back so it's you can size them so a lot of people like to you know wear them as a choker have them a lot tighter other people like to wear them longer um so but they they fit fit everybody and yeah and how many kind of styles or designs do you have a bunch it's amazing like because even I've sort of started getting some different color pearls and things now and that's really fun and then once you like I can I'll just sit there at night time and I can I'm just like oh cool this will look great together and yeah so who are your customers you know what I shipped to Australia I um I have been shipping to Colorado Florida all kinds of places here lately it's been really fun instagram is fantastic for that and people they love how personable it is well you know they can shoot me a private message and be like hey I've got this in mind so your custom custom make something yeah for sure that's really fun actually I enjoy doing that and working with people on that and everyone's been great so far they're kind of like this is kind of what I want but you know just put your like put your spin on it like yeah it's that's a lot of fun now that you've got this creative outlet what does that do for you overall that um you know in your in your job as a loper and a manager how is it how are you feeling now as opposed to 12 months ago you know it's just giving me something for myself um that's what I like about you know I'm accountable I'm just it's all me you know if I if I haven't made a necklace that night and I wake up the next morning it's like oh you should have done that but I've got no one I've got no one to be like Kelly why haven't you done that you know it's it just gives me something to be you know not that like in my job you know it's very rewarding um there can be times where it's not rewarding as well and it's you know it definitely is you know it's it's hard work and you know something doesn't go the way it's supposed to it's just like for me I really do wear my heart on my sleeve and if something doesn't go the way it's supposed to I it'll stick with me for a day or two I don't let it go it's not like oh well we'll get it next time it's like oh like I really I'm quite hard on myself um so it's with this it's kind of it's making something it's being creative and I love to be able to make something look at it and be like you know what I just made that how does it feel when you see people walking around oh that just it's fantastic you know and I always tell people like there's a little quote it's something about you know jewelry is like like a spice you know just adds to what's already there and you know you've got all these beautiful people around and you know they wear one of my necklaces and it's yeah it's very satisfying yeah so would you offer any advice to other lopers to find an outlet whether it be creative or whether it be just something else that they might have a passion for to help keep them in the industry absolutely like I was saying you know like even you know listening to my audible in the morning and stuff like that you know find something else to kind of kick you along and give you something to look forward to yeah there's plenty of avenues like you just got to this industry itself there are so many successful people and it can be so motivating to just talk to some of the people without an industry because they are smart they're like I said they're successful they're there's so much knowledge to gain from just talking to people within our cutting-horse industry it's it's fantastic and it's very inspiring mm-hmm yep so what long-term what do you think your plans are with ramby goods you know what I I would like to say I hope I'm famous one day and I joke around about it with John and John's like you're gonna have to you're gonna have to hire somebody to help you and I hope that's a problem I have one day I really do I hope I would like to build it to where I do need some help and for me you know like having a booth maybe like somewhere like the NFL would just be the ultimate you know I'm at this point like having a storefront isn't something I kind of I kind of want right now no I like the online store and it works good for me right now you never know you just you never say never basically but yeah if it's to a point where it's I can you know hit some yeah like the NFL or something like that that would be that would be pretty rewarding yeah well best of all your real asset to the industry thank you joining us today thank you very much