Recently, as I sat in an airliner gliding down into the city where we were about to land, I looked down in wonder at the endless stream of cars moving through the city’s arteries – one behind the other behind the other stretching across the urban expanse. In my mind, I saw all the great metropolises of the world, where most of the eight billion people on Earth reside, with the same endless lineup of cars, mostly holding one person on their own specific mission. Each of us with our individual tasks, our own way of thinking, our own list or priorities, joys, sorrows, hopes and dreams. It’s almost too large a thought for me to absorb. 

In college, instead of academics, it was the circle of people around me who inspired me, and from whom I learned the most. My mentor, a writing professor, would invite me to his house to sit around talking, eating and drinking with visiting professors he was hosting. I would go home energized by the commonality that I experienced. 

When I traveled between youth hostels in Europe in my early twenties, I moved constantly from place to place without really stopping (my dad said that from my postcards he thought someone was chasing me across Europe). The company of people sitting around talking on the hostel floors was what energized me, what kept me going.

As I look back, it is the people that I remember, and that have influenced me the most. Relationships with others have been the common denominator to my successes and ability to enjoy life, especially when I reflect on working together toward something we each believe in.

A visiting photographer recently sat in the living room with me here on the Paintrock at a birthday celebration. “I just don’t understand all these amazing people,” he said. “They are the same at all the ranches. Where do you get them? How do they all get here?” I looked at him shrugging. “I’m not sure,” I said. “We find each other.” 

Over the years the ingredient that has risen to the top in the people who we work with (over and beyond the obvious characteristics such as work ethic, honesty and responsibility) has been about enjoyment and fun. We prize kickass people who are fun to be around, no matter what. Someone who we would like to have a beer with after work. It may sound simple, but when you are having a good time with someone, all the hassles and frustrations are buried. Work becomes play, no matter how tiring or difficult it is.

When I first started seeking employees for Ranchlands 30 years ago, I placed an ad with a generic work description of what I needed, and there was not a single fit from the 50 or so responses. I rewrote the same ad, but this time, also asked for an essay describing what was important in their life. I received so many great applicants, including from people not even looking for a job, that I couldn’t decide which one was best. It reminded me of the energy that comes with caring and enjoying each other — a feeling that I had forgotten about from my younger days. I realized once again the pleasure of having a good person working at your side.

You’ve probably heard me say this many times, but it bears repeating, since it really is at the heart of what Ranchlands has become. Throughout our short history, we have come to recognize that Ranchlands is simply a group of likeminded people. In the motto that surfaced years ago, working together to live with the land, the key word is working together. I wonder sometimes if this sensibility is a product of the community dynamic that I was raised in long ago in Mexico. Perhaps that small group of people living five hours from town on a large ranch – which in essence created our own private world – manifested the same rich vibe that exists today in Ranchlands.

As I look ahead, this year is going to be significant and will be greatly impacted by people. We are packing up and moving two ranches and all the equipment, gear, machinery, tools, shops, and large herds of cattle that go along with them. But most importantly, the people who we work with and our families are moving their lives to entirely new places. Some of our people will be starting new ranching operations with new partners, including with a wonderful family who own a ranch in northern Montana, where we will be moving part of our herd and two of our apprentices in the coming months. I can’t tell you how excited we are about this new chapter (more about this later)(and although we have secured this new lease, we are still looking for other new ranches to relocate the rest of our herd!). 

While we are on the subject of new people, I should also mention that we have brought three new team members on board to help us with continuing to grow Ranchlands. You will be hearing much more about Theo, Emma and Jared, and the opportunities we are creating for you to have greater access and be more intimately involved with Ranchlands through the Collective. As we prepare to unfold a major new offering to you, our circle of friends, we realize that the most important challenge and what lies at the heart of what we are thinking is something simple, what I have been writing about: bringing together an inspired group of people on a mission who enjoy, most of all, sharing time with each other.