Ep. 70 - Bryce Albright with the Dude Ranchers' Association
Who needs a vacation? How does a Dude Ranch sound?
To be totally honest, we weren’t quite sure what a Dude Ranch necessarily was prior to this interview with the Dude Ranchers’ Association Executive Director, the 24 year-old COWGIRL Magazine 2021 30 Under 30 inductee, Bryce Albright. Dedicated to the preservation of the American Dude Ranch, the DRA goes above and beyond to not only preserve the wild west of history, but share a taste of the rural west for anyone at any age. From horseback riding, shooting sports, water sports, ziplining and more!
This isn’t just the year to get outside, it’s also the year to be a cowboy!
But what is a Dude Ranch? A dude ranch, or guest ranch, is a destination or vacation destination where people of all kinds go to experience what it is like to be a cowboy. Typically a weeklong stay, you experience horseback riding and, depending on the location, a variety of other outdoor activities that immerse you in nature. The experience of the modern west is an experience that many people don’t get the opportunity to experience until they go to a place like this.
Raised on a Dude Ranch
Bryce is a cowgirl raised between Wyoming and Montana on a Dude Ranch to parents who are a “dude ranch romance” that lasted more than a summer, in fact, they just celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary! Because of this, Dude Ranch’s are such a special place in the safety and autonomy that comes with a Dude Ranch is truly a special place in the world that we live in today.
“Growing up, I learned every aspect of the ranch,” says Bryce, whose aunt and uncle managed a dude ranch and one where Bryce worked at after they sold it. In her time on the dude ranch, she held every job title that they have available on the show.
History of the Dude Ranch
“I love the history part of it,” says Bryce. “History was my favorite subject and for a long time I thought I was going to be a history teacher.”
And the history of the Dude Ranchers’ Association is long, being formed in 1926! A trade association that has been around for almost a hundred years which is amazing in any industry of business. The first Dude Ranch was formed in the 1800’s by the Eaton brothers. A cattle ranch that they had moved out west too and homesteaded and then, after a while, their friends and family east became curious as to what they were doing. They figured out that it was costly to have people to come out to their ranch, so they started charging people and, in hindsight, it was genius! They had people paying them to work!
From their, that is how the industry and the association started! They currently have 93 ranches in 10 western states and one Canadian ranch. Most are still family owned and operated today. From the railroad to the gold rush, the industry is steeped in great western lore.
“It has been great to see this industry, and one of the only destination vacation industries, grow and thrive,” says Bryce with obvious pride.
Careers in Dude Ranches
There’s a job for just about anything as their is a hotel, a restaurant, and a ranch all combined! You have housekeeping that makes sure that the accommodations are good to go, you have the wait staff in the kitchens, chefs who have the freedom to experiment and grow, the wranglers that host rides and give riding lessons, fly fishing guides, office managers, general managers, owners, maintenance, and more.
“You work with a crew of people, some big, some little depending on the size of the ranch, and it’s like a family. These people bring in guests to their family locations and their homes to give them these experiences,” adds Bryce. “It’s for anyone!”
Wranglers will have to have some sort of horse experience but everything else can be pretty easily taught. Bryce says that working on the ranch was one of the best experiences that she could have had for her resume.
“I think a lot of my speaking skills, networking ability, a lot of that comes from my background of working in hotels as a guest services representative,” says TWL host Katie Schrock. “It’s great to combine all of that in the western industry, which makes it a lot more fun.”
Executive Director Role
“I always joke that if it weren’t for dude ranching, I wouldn’t be here,” says Bryce whose parents met on a Dude Ranch. “My mom worked multiple Dude Ranch jobs around the west coast, my dad did the same thing. He was a packer, my mom was a baker, housekeeper - really did it all!”
Later, they had the chance to raise their family on the CM Ranch, and they helped Bryce’s Aunt & Uncle run that ranch. In college, the Dude Ranchers’ Association has the Dude Ranch Foundation with a scholarship program for kids that work at Dude Ranch’s and are involved in the western industry that are looking to continue work in the Dude Ranch industry. That scholarship helped Bryce through her entire college career!
Right when she thought her Dude Ranch days were done for a while, a temporary position to fill a void as the executive director for the Dude Ranchers’ Association. Her current boss sent it to her via email with the line, “Just throwing this out there.”
A big move at the time, Bryce was immediately anxious! She got the position as the administrative assistant and after on year, the long-time executive director retired, and 22 year-old Bryce stepped into the role.
While she may have been young, Bryce’s extensive and entrenched lifestyle in the Dude Ranch industry has improved invaluable as she has a strong understanding and competency of the industry.
Female Leadership
Through the early years, leadership was predominantly male, and the first female president came in in the late 1990’s. Since then, there has only been three female presidents in the 100 year industry. True to it’s roots of being family-oriented, many couples have ran the organization, meaning that women have always been involved. Standard to the time, the women handled the secretarial positions while the men were the face, but as the change with the office staff moved to female, women started to make even bigger moves in the industry.
“To me, it means that finally women have made their mark. Being in an industry that is so predominantly male … the entire western industry … to see so many women rising to the top … is just amazing to see these women figures stepping into these huge roles and taking it like it’s nothing! They are here to make a statement - it’s incredible!” Says Bryce about young women and women in the western industry who are the movers and shakers of the world.
Day-to-Day
With the mission of marketing Dude Ranch vacations, Bryce is very involved in the world of marketing and press worlds to promote the Dude Ranches within their association across as many platforms as their budget allows. They also serve like a travel agency that doesn’t collect commissions, assisting people who are looking for places to go and share recommendations based on their needs.
Day-to-day changes daily, but mainly focuses around marketing taxes and executing marketing plans. Bryce is joined by another office staff member that helps handle all of the administrative tasks.
Some of the business pain points that they are working towards include getting Dude Ranches in front of as many new people as possible that may be interested in vacationing at one. They also work with trade partners and assist their members with their hiring of talent.
“Ranches in the association have to apply and have to set a certain number of criteria and have to uphold those guidelines in order to stay members and they do quality checks every five years,” says Bryce, whose task is to do those check-ins and application approvals. Due to COVID, she didn’t get to travel a lot last year, but she couldn’t be more excited about getting out and growing the association.
A lot of brainstorming, a lot of networking, and all for the promotion of this 100 year-old industry!
Attending A Dude Ranch
Unique Checkpoints
Ziplining
Rock Climbing
Horseback riding
Fly Fishing - some literally have blue river fishing areas.
Cattle work - Some are working cattle ranches that allow the guests to help brand cattle, move cattle, and fix fence; they will show you every in and out of being a cowboy.
How to Pick Your Dude Ranch
The Dude Ranchers’ Association launched a new site a year ago that was a complete overhaul and showcases all of the fabulous Dude Ranch locations in their group. There is also a page that utilize filter features and will help you find the perfect ranch for you, your group or your family to go to! There is also a “plan your visit” tab that shows you the Dude Ranches and travel insurance, but it also has a “choosing a ranch” section that can walk you through finding the best ranch for you and help narrow down your search for the find your ranch page.
How to Get Your Ranch to be a Member
An application process located on the website here, the Dude Ranches have to be all-inclusive which means meals, lodging, and activities (which includes horseback riding). The ranches go through a pretty strong approval process in order to be a part and, if everything checks out, the Board of Directors will approve for a visit to happen. Ranches then move into a year long probationary membership and then they are approved.
If you have the facilities and are looking into a second form of income, you can call the association and they’ll help walk you through everything that you would need and what that plan forward could look for your ranch.
Dude Ranch Convention
The largest industry event in the nation, they’ll see 250-300 people there including most of their member ranches, people interested to get involved in the industry, vendors for the trade show, industry professionals from the travel industry and the western industry, and is a four day event. This is also when they conduct business as an association as a whole.
The opportunity to bounce ideas, network and brainstorm is one of the biggest benefits to being a member.
COVID & The Dude Ranch Industry
“One of the hardest things that we had to deal with, the Dude Ranches wanted us to create an industry standard of cleaning, care, and how to operate,” says Bryce who explains that the issue with developing a blanket statement to cover all the ranches was hard. The second part was keeping the ranches afloat and they had to get creative on what they could do.
A big part was moral support and to send as many bookings to the ranches as possible.
“If 2020 taught us anything, it was to think outside of our comfort zone and that everything was constantly changing,” says Bryce.
The 2020 Wildfire Season
“I look forward to the year where we don’t have to stress about wildfires, but I don’t think that’ll ever happen,” says Bryce. California Dude Ranches have had to handle copious amount of wildfires in recent years due to drought and wildfires in the mountain states, on top of COVID, kept many ranches from being open. Whether it was COVID restrictions, wildfires, smoke or other, it’s extremely terrifying.
We gave a big shoutout to Jamie Denue with J. Lee Photography who went with us to the COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30 who had just lost her job from a Colorado Dude Ranch that lost a big part of their ranch from the Colorado wildfires. Make sure to check her out here on Instagram!
Looking to 2021
“We are honestly looking at Dude Ranches having one of their best seasons ever, which will just blow you away to see how many people and how many travel agents calling us, and within a days time of us sending recommendations…” they’re getting booked! Looking into 2021 is looking promising and the opportunity for more people to fall in love with the western way of life is amazing!
Some ranches are already half-booked for 2022, which is insane! From one of the worst years ever to the best years ever is just amazing! As the 100 year anniversary comes forward in 2026, they are excited to continue carrying on the legacy!