Growth Through the Grief

Building the Freezer Box (Dad & Brandon)

In our last post, I mentioned many of the incredible things that have happened this spring amidst our grief. As you know—and as I shared before—life is a grab bag of highs and lows, sometimes mixed together in the most unexpected ways.

Back in the fall of 2024, I came across some grant funding specifically for Wyoming. At the time, I had joined forces with a few other producers in the state who were exploring ways to get high-quality meats into schools. Although that path didn’t quite unfold the way we initially imagined, I ended up on an email chain that keeps me updated on various agricultural happenings in Wyoming—and all the amazing small businesses that make up our state.

One opportunity that came through that network was a grant for Wyoming producers, which included an educational course to complete as part of the application process. My first thought was simply: I’d love to take these classes and learn. The grant itself wasn’t even on my radar. But because the coursework would require a time commitment, I mentioned it to my husband—and he was fully on board. So I enrolled in the classes.

As I went through the course, my curiosity grew. I started attending Q&A sessions, gathering as much information as I could. While I had never applied for a grant before, I do have some background knowledge—I used to work at the Wyoming Department of Education, where I managed and monitored state grants. That experience gave me a foundational understanding of what I was getting into.

Both the Wyoming grant and the regional Rocky Mountain grant were due in March, just one week apart. Around the time I was working through the Wyoming grant, I also learned about the regional opportunity. That grant covered the Mountain West—five or six states—and I attended that Q&A session too. The funding threshold was significantly higher, which caught my attention. There were so many things we wanted to build into our business, and this could help bring those ideas to life.

Finishing Touches Inside

But let’s be honest—running a business, raising two small kids, and applying for two grants back-to-back felt like an astronomical task.

I sat with it. I prayed on it. I slept on it.

Then I decided: I’m going to do it anyway.

So I carved out the time and applied for both. For the regional Rocky Mountain grant, we focused on a transit vehicle and a branded wrap—part of our bigger dream to offer a direct-to-door meat delivery service, similar to the old-fashioned dairy drop-offs, but with high-quality meat. We’ve also been aggregating other like-minded producers under our brand to create access to ethical, high-welfare proteins—from pasture-raised pork to grass-fed lamb to organic, non-GMO-fed chicken and even seafood.

This transit vehicle would allow us to bring all these incredible products to your doorstep—products from partners who share our standards for animal welfare, pasture access, nutrition, and stewardship. We want our consumers to know that what’s on their plate lived its very best life.

The following week, I turned around and submitted the Wyoming grant application. This one focused on label redesign—a full rebrand to reflect the expansion of our business and to create something visually competitive for potential store placement, food co-ops, and farm stands. We also included plans to install wireless internet at our shop (which houses all of our freezers), along with smart freezer technology that would track internal temperatures and alert us directly on our phones. This addition was essential to ensure food safety and inventory integrity as we scale.

Then, life gave us another one of those mixed moments.

If you remember from my last update, my father-in-law had gone in on a Monday to learn whether his treatment was working. By Tuesday, we received the heartbreaking news that it wasn’t. That same day, I got the notification that we had been awarded both grants—not just one.

The pride. The joy. The grief. It was all there at once.

Slater Hall, Tim West Memorial

To add to the emotional week, my parents had driven out from Ohio to help with another major project: the installation of our walk-in freezer—a project we’ve been working on since fall. My dad, an incredibly skilled electrician, came to help oversee construction of the freezer box, run all the electrical wiring, and coordinate with the HVAC team. He led the charge while I managed the whirlwind of business, grants, and family loss.

In many ways, I couldn’t have done it without him. My dad brought it all together and helped us move one more piece forward in this business we’re building—not just for ourselves, but for our community.

And by the end of that same week, the freezer was up and running. Product was moved in. And I stood at the funeral home, overseeing my father-in-law’s memorial, with joy and sorrow woven tightly together.

It’s been such a turbulent couple of years. As we’ve watched my father-in-law’s health decline, we’ve simultaneously taken bold steps to grow this business. And I am so proud—of this small little business we started, of how it has grown, and of where I dream of taking it in five years… ten years.

The excitement I feel when I talk about what we do—and what we hope to do—for you, our customer, is hard to put into words. The joy we feel knowing we bring high-quality, ethically raised food from our pasture to your plate… it’s everything.

These may seem like small milestones to the corporate world, but to our family, they are monumental. They are dreams born on the back of late nights, long drives, hard choices, and even harder seasons. And they’re coming to fruition just as we step into this year’s farmers market season.

I sit at my computer now, and I see a folder titled West Cattle Company Goals. This year, I get to cross off not just “walk-in freezer” from that list—but two other goals I didn’t even know I’d be reaching for: applying for and receiving two grants. I challenged myself. I hoped for the best. And somehow, we got here.

Thank you for tuning in. Thank you for following our story. And thank you—truly—for being part of the West Cattle Company family.