I Was a Fish Out of Water — And Into the Cow Pie

I was a fish out of water … and into the cow pie. It was Green Acres meets Tony Robbins. It was City-Slickers-meets-Deepak-Chopra.

Okay, it was none of the above. But it was fun.

I recently returned from Kansas where I was tasked with being a motivational speaker for a bunch of farmers — all members of Offerle Coop. I’m pretty sure that I wasn’t what they expected — fast talking jokester with a message about enjoying life. But I can tell you this: by the end of the night everybody — including me — was pumped. It was a good time.

They were celebrating their 100 year anniversary as a Grain Coop and invited me to address the Kansas group after a big dinner.

I loved it for a million reasons. Ok, maybe not a million; how ’bout five:

• I enjoyed my drive in. It’s a beautiful part of the country, and because I’m a city kid, I really enjoyed looking at the feed lots JAMMED with cattle. (Check out the video.)

Why else did I love being a motivational speaker at this Kansas event? Here are the remaining four:

• This audience wasn’t jaded. They didn’t come in with that Los Angeles or NYC attitude that they’ve seen it all. They weren’t a push-over audience; but they were open to giving the speaker a shot. That’s refreshing.

• It was a fun event, and I was proud to be part of it. Members of the Coop drove in from the entire region to celebrate, to get a steak, to meet with neighbors… and to hear little ol’ me. I think I’m not letting the cat out of the bag to say that not a Offerle Kansas doesn’t have a ton of entertainment options. So just the fact that they were having some dude from Colorado was news in itself. And we were in Dodge City… a fun trip for anybody in in SW Kansas!

• We got to poke fun at the farmers. There I was, this chatty, fast-talking speaker from Colorado clearly out of my element. So I made fun of me and how they barely let me in the door because I’ve never seen a true soybean. And I made fun of some of the men — good, hard working guys who are way more of the strong and silent type than I am. (There’s a shock, huh?) They answered my good-natured questions with one word answers which I accidentally (??) misunderstood. The women howled. The men thought it was hilarious. And I had one of the best nights of the year.

• It was a return trip for me. I had worked with Duane from the Coop a couple times in the past… years ago. It’s flattering to work for anybody. But being invited back (three times!) is five times cooler. (I know, I know. It’s weird speaker math.)

Thanks Offerle! I had a blast. And yup, the steak was delicious.

Brad Montgomery
Kansas Motivational Speaker, Fan of Coops, Fan of Offerle