Ep. 81 - Team Roping Journal Assistant and Digital Editor Kaitlin Gustave
presented with COWGIRL Magazine
Kaitlin Gustave discovered her love of team roping at the age of sixteen and never looked back. The young roper, an editor in her own right, has competed at the college level in team roping and breakaway roping. After an internship with what was then known as Spin to Win Rodeo and is now known as The Team Roping Journal, she took a job with them and has never looked back!
“The world is really small, the people know me through my mom and sister, and vice versa, people know them through me in some ways,” says Kaitlin. We were excited to flip the script on Kaitlin and interview her on a podcast instead of the other way around.
Competing in College Rodeo
“It’s kind of funny,” says Kaitlin, who grew up in southern California with a family that didn’t ride. “I started english and jumping… it’s crazy, I look back on this all the time and it’s so crazy how I came into the rodeo season.” From jumping to western pleasure and english flat, and then into ranch sorting and team penning, and from there it evolved to roping the dummy at work. Kaitlin started to take roping lessons and begin to find her roping passion.
Recognizing the efforts and support of her family, Kaitlin was able to be homeschooled her last two years to be able to focus on rodeo. At the same time, Kaitlin’s parents sent her to NRS in Decatur, Texas, to attend the Trevor Brazille and Patrick Smith team roping school for her birthday. They rented a horse from the school, and Trevor changed the trajectory of Kaitlin’s entire life!
“I guess he saw something within my roping that he liked. We talked to him on the next steps for me and where I could go to excel in the roping, and his close friends, Lari Dee Guy, and, by the Grace of God …” Kaitlin got to go spend a couple weeks there. A lot of people get to go there and rope but not many get to live there. That’s exactly what Kaitlin got to do after graduating high school where she roped all day every day.
At that point, she didn’t want to go to college and had no plans but Lari Dee and Hope Thompson sat her down at the kitchen table and talked her through the importance of a degree you could fall back on. The coaches at West Texas A&M University gave her a scholarship opportunity but it was only a few weeks before the new year started. Hustling to get all of her paperwork together, Kaitlin found out at the last minute that she had been accepted and was on the team!
The Importance of Mentors
Lari Dee and Trevor helped Kaitlin excel with her roping and that’s what got her into the college side of it. From there, her performance at the Spicer Invitational got her the offer to compete for West Texas A&M University. It took a lot of blood, sweat and tears, to get to that moment. Never underestimate how hard you have to work, but if you do, the right people will notice and invest in you.
“Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.” That’s exactly what Kaitlin did and her effort was not unnoticed. Following her mom’s advice of not being afraid to ask, the worst someone can tell you is no. Just asking Trevor for what the next steps could be, opened up so many opportunities for her.
Favorite College Rodeo Moments
“You know, there was no actual wins, I guess. College rodeo was real tough for me, I went in there with high hopes and expectations to qualify for the CNFR and I never came close,” says Kaitlin. From horse issues and borrowing horses, “Rodeo is so crazy, it’s like family. They let you on their best horses and support each other.”
Overall, without big wins, the real wins were the opportunity to make those close friendships and never backing down. Entering every rodeo and getting down the road, Kaitlin has no regrets of getting the experience of traveling down the road, roping steers and rope some calves.
College Rodeo Advice
The best thing that Kaitlin can advise those interested in rodeoing is to get around the right people and make the grades you need too to be able to compete. You can’t let the misses get you down! Get into the practice pens and break down your runs. Whether you are going for fun or going to win, it’s always fun. Do it. Pay the membership fee, get to the rodeos and do it. There is no stopping you! Just keep entering - that’s where winning comes from.
A Passion for Writing
Storytelling has always been a part of Kaitlin’s passions, but in her early years it took the surprising form of songwriting. Despite her self-proclamation of being a terrible singer, she took a lot of lessons in songwriting and playing her guitar. Diving deep into her journal and self-reflection, Kaitlin has always loved hearing people’s stories.
Her first semester in college, not knowing what major she wanted, Kaitlin was just taking classes to “be in college,” but her love of watching Kadee Coffman Blair on the NFR show every year doing the broadcast journalism. Doing those live interviews was something she wanted to do but now she loves to sit behind the scenes and tell people’s stories.
Recently, Kaitlin has started to dip into the on-camera stories, and the special skill of capturing them right is a part of what drives her in her career.
A Spin to Win Internship
Meeting Chelsea Schaffer, the Spin to Win editor, at Lari Dee Guy’s house when she was living there, Kaitlin had a connection that she leaned into when she had a few more credits for college so she contacted Chelsea for the opportunity. At the time, they weren’t looking for an intern, and was a bit nervous to have her come work for her.
“It’s funny! I lucked out and she let me come up and live in Colorado for a summer in 2017 and she showed me the ropes,” says Kaitlin. But it wasn’t quite the internship she thought she was going to have. Ever since she had thought about being a journalist, she had hoped to work for Spin to Win Magazine as the magazine purchased the USTR and the WSTR and so all of the big team roping magazines turned into one big team roping magazine!
“If it hadn’t of been for my mom and dad getting me into the right places and following my dreams… I wouldn't be where I am today,” says Kaitlin, who is appreciative of the circle she has gotten into.
Working in the Writing & News Industries
Deadlines are no joke and you have no option to slack. If a rodeo ends Saturday night, you better be turning items in first thing Monday morning. There is always a lot going on and that was one of the biggest learning curves was being able to get the news out before it was blasted everywhere or old news.
Time management was another large component that she had to perfect, as well as interviewing skills. While Kaitlin says that college was great and she learned a lot, she has learned so much from her co-workers and her bosses in interviewing and writing skills.
The Score Podcast
Produced by the Team Roping Journal’s official podcast, The Score, is all things roping. At the start, Kaitlin didn’t really listen to podcasts nor was into it, but somewhere, along the lines, they gave her the role of being the podcast editor! Chelsea Schaffer is the host of this iconic show, and Kaitlin was the producer. That has moved to even more requirements which also includes her co-hosting with pro rodeo news and updates.
“I’m on it more, which is really strange for me because I never thought I would be a podcaster,” says Kaitlin with a laugh. The Equine Network as a whole is extremely busy but they have been even busier with a variety of projects coming through which has allowed Kaitlin the option to be the Short Score podcast host with is every Tuesday.
“It’s crazy how it’s evolved! … I love it and I don’t ever want to stop doing podcasts!”