Ep. 92 - Catie Kershner with Kershner Custom Silver
We have officially gone full circle on the podcast with a guest from Season 1, episode 5, with Katie Schrock, Lisa Lageschaar, and Rachel-Owens Sarno in an episode that has since expired on our hosting platform but we called it “Crushing it With Catie Kershner!” Excited to have Catie back, so much has happened in the past few years and, in a weirdly poetic moment, some of the themes of that first podcast interview has come full circle years later, a global pandemic later, and as Catie has been named to the 2021 COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30 Class.
With a population of just under 300 people, today’s guest comes from one of the most remote places in the lower 48. Located in a town named after Michael Jordan the 19th century gold prospector (not the basketball star), the small southeastern Oregon town of Jordan Valley is known for their Big Loop rodeo, big ranches, and the amazing artistry of Catie Kershner of Kershner Custom Silver. Catie now lives in Nyssa, Oregon, and for the past two years she has been building her own little homestead home but still calls her hometown roots in Jordan Valley where her family ranch is.
Homesteading Movement
Katie (Schrock) and Catie have homesteading as a problem, especially after the pandemic. “I have a few too many,” says Catie sheepishly, “and I can’t stop!” What started with a desire to have four to five chickens, she built a chicken coop with a run. The plan was to have enough to have eggs and those with chickens know that chicken math is a real thing.
“It’s a diseases, it doesn’t add up, and if you want four to five, you’ll have fifty!” Says Catie. “I had three surprise batches of chicks, one batch I incubated because I ‘didn’t know I was having chicks.’ I have a couple of dogs, border collies - the worthless type that bark at the UPS man and school-busses and tramp to the neighbors and don’t do anything productive, also some cats that don’t catch mice, and then an impulse Craiglist buy of a pot belly KuneKune pig.”
“Adorable and hilarious, [the pig] is the best hundred dollars I spent,” says Catie with a laugh.
Career First with the NRCS
Working for the Natural Resource Conservation Service with the Department of Agriculture, Catie’s title is as a soil conservationist. As a part of her duties, she works directly with farmers and ranchers to help them practice conservation practices on their ground and assisting them with documentation and paperwork to bring grants to their farms so that they can operate day-to-day. A lot of their efforts right now is range conservation and irrigated ag lands, amongst the many other things that she does.
Working with the producers is the best part of her job and keeps her coming back. “They are real people and they are wonderful and you know you are helping good people produce meat and produce products that feed the American people. They are truly wonderful people that you get to spend time with and chat. Whether that means that we are chatting about my personal life,” says Catie with a laugh as they want to know her as a person and for her to know them as a person. “When you are dealing with farmers and ranchers, everything is personal to them .. they want to work with someone that they trust, that they enjoy being around, and that knows what they go through in a day-to-day and their background.”
Whether it’s sitting and chatting with them or riding around in their Ranger with them, it’s a great chance to help people with conservation that they may not have been able to do.
Administration Impacts in Federal Jobs
Originally, we interview Catie in January of 2019 and we asked her if administration had impacted her job and the response was that they were Farm Bill driven. Today, they are still in the 2018 Farm Bill which drives the programs and the funding. There has been some difference in their funding but they have had adequate funding for all of their programs countywide in Oregon.
As far as programs go, there hasn’t been a whole lot in difference between the Trump Administration or the Biden Administration besides some funding down the pipeline and the changes of the Secretary of Agriculture. Nothing can really be done differently until a new Farm Bill is drafted. They didn’t have to go on furlough and the budget got passed to at least go forward quarter-by-quarter or what not. That’s not anything different per administration, that’s just honestly how the government works in keeping the government going.
Vaccine Mandate
“I don’t think I come from a unique standpoint but then again unique. I obviously have a side hustle and come from an agriculture background and I know what it takes to pay my bills,” explains Catie. “With that being said, for Federal employees, there is a mandate that you have to be vaccinated in order to keep your job… I don’t plan to be to keep my job.”
“I am good at my job, my producers love me, my boss knows the work I do and I have no other reason to be let go than for my vaccination status. That’s the hardest thing right now,” says Catie, “However, I do have something I can fall back on. Not everyone has that.”
“When the time comes, I will be the one that goes,” says Catie. “Come November we will find out what is going on here. Whether I am going full time with my business and maybe working part time doing a bunch of other things or what goes on. That’s the current biggest change we have seen. There are a lot of good people losing their jobs all over, not just Federal employees.”
A big part of Catie’s reason for staying at her job is her love for her producers and their jobs. They have been a big part of her life and her community, leaving them is the hard part. “I can do a hundred other things to pay my bills,” says Catie, who is ready and willing to do whatever it takes should the time come if she does have to leave. “I know my boss and my higher ups have my back and don’t want me to be fired… It’s out of their hands and there is nothing they can do. It’s well beyond the local and even regional aspect of helping their employees. You just go day-by-day and none of us saw this coming - I guess that’s why coming from the background I did where you are prepared for every circumstance. You save money and be willing to work because Lord knows there are jobs everywhere, and be willing to do whatever you have to do to pay your bills, keep your house, buy your groceries… and do what you have to do to live.”
In our last episode with Catie, we talked to her about how her family had raised her to always have more than one form of income because you never know what will happen out of your own control. Catie is extremely thankful for Kershner Custom Silver but is also wary because she knows that if America goes to another recession, Kershner Custom Silver will be the last thing that people want. That’s why she is clinging to her government position to know she will have a paycheck whereas Kershner Custom Silver is a luxury that everyone needs.
“Whether I need to wait tables, work at a coffee shop, drive onion truck or go home and work for my parents, I know that if I were to lose my good government job or walk away from it… I know no matter what that I have faith in myself that I can make it work because I know that I am willing to work,” says Catie.
Catie wasn’t the only one - Katie also did the same when she built her side hustle in 2020 raising meat birds and laying hens. Butchering and processing them herself and educating on how to cook with heritage birds. Building in this homesteading role, it was important for Katie to make sure that that side hustle was a necessity - not a luxury item. A part of why chickens were selected for it was that the local Foster Farms plant was shut down and there was a chicken shortage in her community.
Kershner Custom Silver
When the pandemic first hit, food started becoming harder and harder to buy, lack of supplies in groceries, many farms and ranches started selling direct to consumers. Catie’s side hustle is a luxury item and joining her fellow makers community, they didn’t know what it was going to look like.
“It’s still something I am seeing - that people are turning closer to home and supporting small businesses more than ever,” says Catie. “I had a stupid-crazy year, I hit my year goal long before the end of the year. I couldn’t believe that I hit it with all that we were going through, what people were dealing with with their home life, and people being out of work. It’s definitely been a little crazy and not what I expected it too. But that’s to be said whether you are in a pandemic or not. If you hustle and drive towards something that ou really have a passion for” you’ll get there.
People want to know who you are as a regular person - not just what you do. Catie is a silversmith but her followers love hearing about her chicken problem and her impulse KuneKune pig. They want you to be someone that they can be friends and then they want to support you. “I am just an animal hoarding person with too many animals and too many side projects,” say Catie with a laugh. But because of the support of those that buy from Kershner Custom Silver, she’s been able to purchase her home, remodel her shop and that’s something she couldn't have done on one job.
“I have big goals for myself and they don’t get met if I don’t work hard,” says Catie.
Chasing Goals
If you want to make your goals happen, it’s not going to be the blueprint that you were given in middle school. We are in a time where the housing market and the horse market is ridiculous. Be controlled every day in how you chase your goals.
“I work really well leading up to an event because the pressure is on,” says Catie, who jokes that she has an issue with procrastination problem.
“I don’t have time to eat, to have dinner or time for friends. I am just in the shop and I lose it! I work really well under pressure and I hate that that is my motivation,” Catie laughs. But her shop is just a few steps out her back door and she can just go work a few hours after work every day and hours on the weekend. Starting small and a couple hours a day adds up, especially if you are making something or adding inventory. Those few hours make the biggest difference and that’s her goal on the daily.
“I am not great at it,” Catie admits. “Like anybody, I get burnt out… it’s good to listen to that” inner voice that tells you it’s okay to take a break. When you are in a role that you have to do everything, there is always the haunt that if you aren’t working, then nobody is working which will stop a lot of people from working.
“For me decompressing is a lot of different things and, honestly, a lot of the time, when I have custom orders, those are super stressful. Or when I am building for a show and on a time frame, that is stressful. But when I can go out to the shop and just make something that has been on my mind because I want too - that’s a way for me to blow off some steam and enjoy actually creating,” says Catie. “Otherwise the same as anyone, spending time outside with my animals. Whatever you have to do to take care of your mental health is super important. That is something that people don’t realize a lot is that small business owners are people too. Sometimes we have to take a break and do things for our mental health because we answer questions all the time - they come in at all hours of the day - and sometimes they get taken personally.”
It’s okay to set your phone down and just step away for a moment to enjoy life and unplug. Something that Catie has been wanting to make for a couple years is her own squash blossom and, despite being a few months late of her 30th birthday, she got it completed.
“Right now I am working on simpler fabricating projects that I am enjoying making. I am doing some engraving,” says Catie, who is heading out to a class in Kansas to learn sculpting for rings and such there for a week. Learning something new and honing her current skillset is always important.
Being Authentic on Social Media
“People just want to know who you are and, you know, give them a taste of who you are and what you like. Chances are they like what you like or inspirational quotes… or talk about things that happen to me that day,” says Catie. “They go through the same things that I do.”
Catie also claims that she’s not “Instagram famous” despite the fact that she has 31.8 thousand followers on her account. But she puts forward who she is on social media and people are either going to follow you and love you for it and those that don’t - they aren’t her people.
It definitely seems that on TikTok and Instagram Reel that anything western life related is extremely popular on these short form films. Katie shares about how people really connect over animals in the western lifestyle and these are all people that just really want to know about the western lifestyle. It all creates exposure, which is huge!
Supporting Kershner Custom Silver
“I am kind of taking some [holiday orders] and I am not advertising on it. We are getting close to Christmas and I like to spend the holidays with family,” says Catie who is focusing on the Bruno Cowboy Christmas show in November. “I am prepping for that and the silver items that are leftover after that will be up on my website and I’ll announce that so that people can order those for Christmas. After that, it’s just engaging with me on social media … it costs nothing! That’s how I get seen - share it!”
All of that online engagement, sharing of small businesses, following them and supporting them - this is so important for all businesses that are small. Especially with what is going on with the shipping industry right now, being able to support small businesses that have everything on hand in their homes and shops that are ready to ship to you - it’s great to support them during this season. The meaning of Christmas is so much more than gifts, but if you can give back to your community or small businesses rather than supporting corporates is a great thing.
People want to buy local beef and support local right now - don’t be afraid to put what you have out there as an option for people to support and purchase this year. The community is being brought back into our world and this is the year to do it and get better.
2021 Class of COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30
“Straight up panic,” was Catie’s response when she found out that she had made the 2021 COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30 class. She had felt the pressure because it was her last year to potentially get the award as she was turning 30 this year! “I had it on my calendar and then, I don’t remember how I found out - I think I texted you [Katie], that I had found out that they had sent out letters.”
“When I got the letter that said I was in, I stared bawling,” says Catie with a laugh. “I told you to go check your mailbox.”
Attending the COWGIRL Magazine Event
“It was truly an honor. It was so much fun, I got to make my mom and sister with me and we were all just in awe of everything that they did for us. Not just the 30 ladies that got nominated and accepted… but also their families - Gosh! They just spoiled the heck out of us!” Says Catie. “I just can’t even believe what all they did for us. To be able to go down there and meet everybody was so cool and there is so many people that I still talk too!”
In fact, Catie saw three gals from the 30 Under 30 program in Pendleton at her booth and got to chat with them. “It’s an opportunity to make friends with people outside of your comfort zone. You and I knew each other so that was our comfort zone and going out and meeting new people, was outside of my comfort zone.”
A self-proclaimed introverted-extrovert, it was a great opportunity to meet these amazing ladies and sponsors. “I still can’t get over how it was!”
Mentors That Helped Shape Your Career and Yourself
“I have been attending Pendleton CattleBarons for several years,” says Catie. “Amy Raymond was actually the one that reached out to me and really wanted me to become involved and I was … not comfortable yet with who I was as a silversmith. She befriended me and wanted to be my friend and I have no idea why!'“
Amy has been a huge mentor for Catie for a long time and then Jill with the Classy Trailer came onto the Cattle Barons and started teaching classes at Art of the Cowgirl with Amy, they started a group chat. They talk daily from life to silversmithing and anything else under the sun. No matter what questions she has, Catie can always ask them for their opinion and show her plan for their advice.
While all three do very similar things, they are very different in their styles and excel at different levels but it’s community over competition. Catie knows that they have her back and will help her with anything without feeling threatened by her or vice versa. As far as the silversmith world, they are HUGE people to have on her side and they do that for anybody as truly giving people that want to see everyone succeed.
Advice For Young Women in Western Industries
“Keep trudging. I started out not good, I didn’t pick it up fast, I didn’t make money immediately,” says Catie. “Truth be told, you really suck [when you start], and you need to practice. Honestly, that is one of the most humbling things. Now it’s a God-given talent and I feel like I have a knack for it but I’m 11 years in!”
Not a talent or a business that was built overnight - kudos to those that can - so for everyone that’s not the exception, it takes a lot of practice. It will be hard and not be fun all of the time. You will shed tears and occasionally blood, and that’s okay. You might singe an eyebrow - you’ll be alright! There are ups and downs in life in general so if you have a goal that you are passionate about - just keep doing it.
Put your best foot forward and if you want to be a COWGIRL Magazine 30 Under 30 - spend some time on your application. Do it! If you want to do a business, just take that first step and continue to keep stepping and don’t give up.
“One foot in front of the other. Take a step that you can take, don’t over step it, and just keep on keeping!”