No One Can Do You Like You

I come from a family of rodeo champions. My dad won the Dodge Circuit Finals several times, my sister is a National Champion Goat Tyer and both my brothers have won several state titles. My uncle was inducted into the ND Hall of Fame and All-Around saddles are a staple in the decorative theme at almost all of my cousins’ houses. Honestly, I’m sure there are relatives that I am forgetting about who have won other titles. My mom always kept track of that stuff. So, trying to track down all this rodeo information without her sucked and made me just generalize it and keep it brief. But either way, I think you get the idea, my family loves rodeo and they were good at it. 

Naturally, I thought that I had to follow in those footsteps as well. Of course, I had to be in rodeo! That’s what our family did. Those were our vacations every year. To this day, some of the people I met through rodeo are some of my most precious friends. The whole rodeo lifestyle was and is amazing. 

So, why did I hate it? 

Let me give you a little insight into how rodeo was for me…

One time, my sister was trying to teach me how she dismounts for goat tying. She did her run, and of course, it was just as smooth as she was. It was always impressive to watch her work. I still get butterflies when I think about that. 

Well, now it was my turn to go. So, I mount up, start off running down to the end of the arena and end up getting drug all over that same arena because my boot was stuck in my stirrup. 

Another time, I was trying cutting for the first time. Cutting is an event where the main objective is to separate one cow away from the herd and keep them separated. 

Well, again, it’s my turn. I sort off the cow, and the first cut that little bitch makes back to the herd throws me off my horse in the opposite direction. I fell flat on my face. In front of an arena full of people. That fucking happened. I died a little bit that day. 

Finally, the most obvious sign that I shouldn’t be rodeoing, was before every event I was in, I had to go hide somewhere and vomit. Every time. My body was physically rejecting it. But my stubborn ass was like, nope! Let’s see how this goes!! 

As I just told you, it didn’t go well. 

When I realized how much I hated this sport, I finally talked to my parents about it. I was so unbelievably scared to tell them I didn’t want to rodeo, because again, it is what we did as a family. I thought they were going to be so mad at me. I had made up the image in my head that they were going to be so disappointed. 

Turns out, I think they were just as relieved as I was!! Rodeo is expensive, even if you’re winning. So, if you’re not winning, it’s pointless. They were not mad one bit. 

I think back on that moment a lot. My parents never made me rodeo. They never told me I had to do that. Not once. I had put that pressure on myself. I told myself that I had to do that. I even took some of my senior pictures with a cowboy hat on (see insert). Don’t get me wrong, I look great, but c’mon. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not out here rocking cowboy hats. 

I just one hundred percent believed I had to be a cowgirl, and to this day, I am not sure why. 

Obviously, this caused a bit of an identity crisis for me. If I don’t rodeo like the rest of my family, what will I do? Who will I be without that? How am I going to be a champion in my own life? Where do I belong now? What is my magic? What arena is my arena? 

I struggled with that for so many years, I can’t even begin to tell you. I never knew where I belonged. Until I decided where I wanted to belong. Until I realized that it's okay to be different and pursue my own, weird path. I mean, I have always kind of been a unicorn. Might as well own it and sprinkle glitter in today's face. 

Now, I truly I know that I am meant to help people, and I love the beauty industry. I know that to my core. So, for now, I think I have created the perfect balance of that! I have found my arena and it feels great. Things are going great, and I am in love with what I’m doing. And now, I totally understand the power of “No one can do you, like you”.

Things are coming together and going great, because I am on my path. I’m no longer forcing something that isn’t meant for me, like with rodeo. I am just following my heart and doing what comes naturally. I am doing what I am meant to do, and I am finally becoming me. I can feel it in my bones. And no one can do me, like me. 

To find this new path, however, took a lot of soul searching. A lot time. And a lot of honesty. There was a period where I truly had no idea what I wanted. It took a lot of trial and error to end up here, and there will be more of that in the future! Hard times in life are guaranteed, but I’m learning that hard times doing something you love is a lot different than with doing something you hate. 

For example, I hated practicing for rodeos. Absolutely hated it. It also didn’t help that my brother was ridiculous and made me run the shoot 15,000 times a day. Oh my God, how I hated that. But people who love that, the endless nights at the arena, they absolutely LOVE IT. They love practicing over and over and are happy to run that damn shoot. 

Now, I LOVE practicing my tattooing, or researching more about cryotherapy, or trying different tanning solutions. I love researching my industry and trying to think of the next thing I want to try. I love doing all of it, because this is what’s meant for me. This is my magic. This is my arena. This is where I will become a champion.  

So, now that I have found what is meant for me, no one can do it like me. And whatever you find that is meant for you, can also only be done by you. 

Whatever your magic is, find it and stand in it proudly. Because no one can do it like you.

Happy trails,

Em