🌾 Follow Tyler on: Facebook, Instagram, & LinkedIn

🌾 Check out Brands & Blazers

What if the things taking up your time, energy, and attention aren’t actually the things you’re called to do?

In this episode of Faithful Harvest, Angela sits down with Tyler Schuster to talk about following your calling, knowing when to pursue something—and when to let it go—and building a life around your values instead of simply saying yes to everything.

Tyler grew up on her family’s female-owned and operated cow-calf ranch in Brackettville, Texas. Today, she works with college students, hosts the podcast Basically Famous, and founded Brands and Blazers, a nonprofit providing professional attire and networking opportunities to students in need.

But beneath all of those accomplishments is a deeper conversation about purpose, faith, community, impact, and learning to recognize what God is asking you to pursue.

Tyler shares how she prays for God to “swing the door open or slam it shut,” why she believes action breeds clarity, and how one disappointing “no” eventually led her toward an opportunity she never could have planned herself.

She also shares practical wisdom for women who feel overwhelmed by too many commitments—including how to create a personal mission statement, identify your core values, build a personal “board of directors,” and become more intentional about what deserves your time and energy.

And at the heart of it all is Tyler’s reminder that impact isn't always measurable, calling doesn't always look obvious, and joy is something we get to choose.

In this episode, we talk about:

• How to recognize a calling and distinguish it from something you simply want
• Praying for God to open or close doors
• Why “no” can create new opportunities
• Preparing yourself for the doors you’re praying will open
• Measuring impact beyond numbers and statistics
• Building a community that speaks life into you
• Creating a personal board of directors
• Finding mentors and intentionally asking for their time
• Why every “yes” is also a “no” to something else
• Creating personal goals, values, and a mission statement
• Learning to say no when something doesn't align with your values
• Building a life that fits your priorities instead of making your life fit your job
• Choosing joy even when circumstances aren't perfect

A few things to think about after listening:

What are you saying “yes” to right now that is costing you something you actually value?

What are the things that consistently break your heart, align with your gifts, and fall within your sphere of influence?

And perhaps most importantly: Is the thing you're pursuing a “God thing” or a “you thing”?

Tyler's encouragement is simple: stay ready, follow the doors God opens, trust Him when He closes them, and choose joy along the way.

About Tyler Schuster

Tyler Schuster is passionate about empowering people to find their passions. She grew up on her family's cow-calf operation in Brackettville, Texas, and has a deep passion for agriculture and women in agriculture.

She is the founder of Brands and Blazers, a nonprofit that provides professional attire and networking opportunities to students, and the host of Basically Famous, a podcast highlighting careers in the agriculture and Western industries that people may not know exist.

Remember, don't get tired of doing good. You WILL reap a harvest if you do not give up. Galatians 6:9

🌾 Join the Yard Yaps Facebook Group

🌾 Follow Abbott Hay Co

🌾 Learn more about the Walk to Emmaus

What do you do when life in agriculture feels completely out of your control?

Between drought, volatile cattle markets, raising babies, managing a career, and navigating relationships, rural women carry a lot. In this episode of Faithful Harvest, Angela Scott sits down with Sidney Abbott—a farm wife, mother of two, feedlot research director, risk-management professional, and co-founder of Yard Yaps—to talk about how faith can anchor us when life feels chaotic.

Sidney shares what she has learned about motherhood, career, community, female friendships, and navigating the ups and downs of agriculture without allowing circumstances to dictate her peace.

One of the biggest lessons from their conversation?

Respond, don't react.

Whether you're dealing with a difficult relationship, a challenging business decision, a toddler meltdown, a volatile cattle market, or a season of drought, Sidney encourages us to pause, pray, seek wisdom, and respond instead of reacting from fear, anger, or frustration.

And for the rural woman who sometimes feels like she is carrying all the things? This conversation is a reminder that you were never meant to do it alone.

We cover the whole spectrum!

• What it's like to be a mother, farm wife, and career-driven woman in agriculture
• The importance of finding community as a rural woman
• Why women in agriculture need relationships with other women
• How Yard Yaps is creating opportunities and community for women in the cattle industry
• Navigating hurt and disappointment in female friendships
• Learning to respond instead of react
• Applying faith to business decisions, parenting, relationships, and agriculture
• Staying grounded when facing drought and volatile agricultural markets
• How motherhood changed Sidney's perspective and deepened her faith
• The power of simply praying over your day
• Why we need to turn to God before we reach our breaking point
• Building community even when you live in a tiny rural town

Sidney and her husband are first-generation farmers navigating drought and the challenges that come with an uncertain agricultural economy.

Instead of allowing those circumstances to paralyze them, Sidney talks about the importance of educating yourself, seeking out experts, using the resources available to you, and making adjustments when circumstances change.

Sometimes the answer isn't to make a drastic change. Sometimes it's simply time to adjust your sails.

As Sidney says, agriculture has a way of reminding us that seasons change. When things are good, prepare for the storm. When things are difficult, remember that brighter days can come.

And through it all, stay grounded in your faith.

Sidney opens up about the anxiety she felt when she first became a mother and wondered how she could continue progressing professionally while also being the mother she wanted to be.

Rather than choosing between motherhood and her career, she has experienced what she describes as a hybrid life—with supportive employers, a supportive husband, and a willingness to pray and trust God with her schedule.

Her encouragement for other career-driven mothers is simple:

Ask God to help you with your schedule.

You don't have to have the perfect plan before you bring it to Him.

Living in a community of roughly 200 people doesn't exactly make it easy to find your people.

There isn't necessarily a coffee shop, yoga studio, or gathering place where you can casually meet women in the same season of life.

Sidney and her co-founder, Diane Hayes, recognized that need and created Yard Yaps, a community designed to connect women across the cattle-feeding industry.

Whether you're a young mother on maternity leave, a woman working in a feedlot, an agricultural CEO, or simply someone interested in learning more about the industry, their goal is to create a place where women can learn, ask questions, network, and build relationships.

Near the end of the conversation, Sidney shares one of the simplest practices that has made the biggest difference in her life:

Praying over her schedule.

Instead of waiting until she is overwhelmed, she tries to begin her day by asking God for help with everything ahead.

It doesn't have to be complicated.

Sometimes it's simply:

"God, please help me get everywhere on time. Please help me get everything done today."

That simple prayer gives her a moment to pause, surrender her day, and create space to respond instead of react.

And perhaps that's something we could all use a little more of.

If Sidney's story encouraged you, be sure to connect with her and learn more about the work she's doing in agriculture and for women in the cattle industry.

Yard Yaps — A community for women in agriculture, with a particular focus on connecting women across the cattle-feeding industry.

Abbott Hay Co. — Follow along with Sidney and her husband's agricultural operation.

LinkedIn — Follow Sidney for more conversations about agriculture, risk management, cattle markets, and opportunities for women in the industry.

Questions to Think About

• Where am I reacting instead of responding?
• What situation in my life do I need to surrender to God?
• Am I trying to control something that is outside of my control?
• Who are the women I can turn to when I need encouragement or wisdom?
• Where could I be more intentional about building community?
• Am I waiting until I'm overwhelmed to ask God for help?
• What resources or people could help me grow in my agricultural business or career?
• What "storm" could I prepare for while things are going well?

You don't have to control every circumstance to live a grounded life.

You can pray.

You can seek wisdom.

You can educate yourself.

You can build community.

You can prepare for difficult seasons.

And when something unexpected comes your way, you can pause and choose to respond instead of react.

That's where faith meets everyday life.

And that's what Faithful Harvest is all about.