A Time for Transformation by Taylor Bacon for the Red Angus Magazine Ecclesiastes 3:1 says, “To everything there is a season,” and as we have entered the new year, so starts the season of resolutions. The New Year is a time for fresh starts and new beginnings – many people set personal or professional goals during this time and even more vouch to take control of their physical and mental health. Perhaps no one in the beef industry is better suited to speak to the importance of physical, mental and emotional health, and their interdependence, than rancher and life coach, Kiah Twisselman Burchett. Burchett, a sixth-generation California cattle producer, started as a life coach after she shared her weight loss journey with others. Her goal is to empower others to create a physically, mentally and emotionally healthy life they love. During a keynote presentation at the National Red Angus Convention, Burchett shared an inspiring message about the transformation of not only her body but her mindset as well. Her transformation began with her “airplane moment” when she picked
up Rachel Hollis’s book, “Girl Wash Your Face” and read the entire book on her plane ride. Though nothing in the book was especially different than things she heard before, this time it was different. “People can tell us things that are helpful all the time but if you aren’t in a place to receive it, it just bounces off you,” Burchett said. At the time, Burchett was working for the Kentucky Beef Council and advocating the health benefits of incorporating beef into your diet while she wasn’t making the healthiest choices in her personal life. “I believed in the nutrition whole-heartedly, but at the same time, I felt like a hypocrite because I wasn’t exactly the vision of health,” Burchett said. The book was a wake-up call for her because it encouraged her to take ownership of her choices and mindset. “I realized I was placing blame on everything outside of me instead of
Kiah Twisselman Burchett inspired women during the the National Red Angus Convention with her personal story of grace, gratitude, grit and growth.
taking ownership,” Burchett said. “If it was my choices that got me to a place where I felt unfulfilled, unhappy, unhealthy and unsatisfied, then it has to be my choices that get me somewhere else.” Burchett’s change of thinking inspired her to lead a healthier lifestyle, losing more than 125 pounds in the process. She uses her weight as an example because it was prevalent in her life, but this mindset shift applies to any aspect of life from how women show up as mothers to how they show up on their farms or ranches. Along with her inspiring story, Burchett described the four G’s that guided her transformation and continue to help her through all her challenges – grace, gratitude, grit and growth. “We have grace for your humanness, gratitude for all that is already yours, Women can benefit from knowing their sisters in agriculture often face the same struggles and encouraged them to stand up for each other.
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RED ANGUS Magazine | January 2022
