Creating, Sculpting and Serving
In Isaiah 64:8 it says, “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.”
On a trip to Israel, Nicky Tiffany was talking to founder of Elevate Ag – Arman Miller, about his vision, “I told him, ‘This is not a matter of whether you want to or not. It’s a matter of you have to do this. No one else is doing this. If you know something and know the earth can be regenerated this way and if you really believe this – you have to. I will help you. Let’s figure out how to market this vision and make it work.’”
Long before Tiffany began helping tell the story of Elevate Ag and its solutions for farmers and ranchers, she was graduating college. She had carefully met with her advisor to ensure she had all her courses. Then, an oversight turned into an opportunity, “I was graduating college and getting married within two months. During the final exit interview with my advisor, they said I still had nine credit hours. I said, ‘No, I don’t. That was not my plan!’”
But it was indeed the plan and it turned out to unfold a series of leaps of faith that have not ceased to this day, “One of the classes I needed was an art class. So, I took pottery and really fell in love with it that summer. I think they started us out with a little bud vase. As I got better, I was able to get my own wheel and then I started making bowls and coffee cups. I saw shaping pottery as a reflection of sharing my own messages.”
While she loved pottery, working with clay took a backseat after Tiffany married her husband, Shawn and life began to unfold. Still, God was sculpting their lives. Today, the couple celebrates five children ages 14, 12, 10, 8 and 6. Tiffany had grown up in Dodge City and lived in the country, but not a farm, “We showed horses competitively and nationally – it was nearly equivalent to ‘Olympic-type’ training, year-round. I did not participate in high school activities other than the orchestra. Showing was my sport. I went into college with the goal to be a veterinarian, but chemistry kicked my butt. I decided on the Animal Science Business Option degree with marketing as a minor. That’s where Shawn and I met.”
The role of mom and everything under the sun, is difficult to define when one is juggling the duties of life in rural areas, “‘What’s your profession?’ I would get tired of that question. It can be difficult to answer as a mom. Then, about the time Shawn and his brother Shane got into the feed yard business, there was a big push in the beef industry to learn advocacy. I started down that path and realized I really loved it. Social media was just taking off too and I fell in love with the idea of advocacy and finally had an answer to that question – I was a storyteller.”
“In the beginning, I did not feel what I had to say mattered,” Tiffany said about the time leading up to her increased promotion of agriculture. “I loved watching others and elevating other people. Then, kind of by default, Shawn and Shane became ‘poster kids’ for the feedlot industry. At the time, that segment of the industry didn’t have good publicity. We went into our business with the idea that we had nothing to hide. It became easy to promote that way.”
Tiffany continues to unfold her dreams of helping others by continuing to hone-up her skills, “I met Arman right after college and that was my first job, working for him at Wildcat Feeds. I was in sales and I had such a hard time cold calling. I was always taught you don’t bother a man when he is working. I would start every conversation with, ‘I am sorry to bother you but . . .’.
Now Tiffany enjoys helping support the Elevate Ag mission, by envisioning the story behind their products on the website and more. She encourages other moms to feel confident about their skills being used to support businesses they believe in too, “Women don’t give themselves enough credit. They don’t consider the business skills they possess, like negotiating. We negotiate all day as mothers. We do all sorts of things like that! We just don’t label them that way and we should.”
The Tiffany family has also enjoyed many trips to the Holy Land as well as balancing their businesses and education of their children, “We took our first trip to Israel in 2016. The thing that struck me the most while I was there was the hospitality and storytelling. We had all five kids with us and had prepared the best we could. I had not traveled out of the country and the kids had never flown.”
“When we landed, we had not quite an hour drive to the hotel. When we got there, I did not know how things were going to go as we had no adjoining rooms and the kids were 10 and under. It was overwhelming figuring out who was going to go into each room,” she recalled. “Then a woman wearing a hijab came in and was trying to be as helpful as she could. We could not speak to each other and she was trying to move beds around and show me where people could go. Then, the stress hit me all of a sudden – I just threw up my hands and said, ‘Stop!’ That is so not me. I just sat down and cried. Then she left the room.”
“Later on, I had to go back downstairs, and she was standing at the front desk and I started apologizing. She just grabbed me and hugged me. I thought to myself, that’s what’s missing here (in the United States). She was not looking at me as some American, Christian woman any differently. But I realized I had felt differently about her. It was certainly not what I expected and everywhere I went, we had those positive experiences shaping our visit,” she said adamantly.
“In the Middle East, you are served tea or coffee in little cups, that way you have to ask for more,” Tiffany went on about the hospitality they experienced at every turn.
“One of the last stories I will tell is one our friend told us. He is our guide when we go. He is a retired general and fought in the Six-Day War and Yom Kippur War. One of the things he explained to me that I thought was unbelievable is they are encouraging pregnant women outside of Israel’s borders to have their babies in the hospital. These women don’t even have a choice and typically have to have a baby at home because there are not enough hospitals. When these women go back home, they are the ones changing the culture in their families,” she said.
Changing culture for the better continued with friendships and vision on the home front too. Miller's travels to the Holy Land with the Tiffanys is when the conversation that opened this story occurred. That is now the mission of service unfolding in the pursuits of Elevate Ag. Tiffany's role was to begin helping tell the story. Miller continued to recruit more like minds and hearts and the chapters unfold to this day.
They are unfolding in brick and mortar too by Tiffany’s “potter’s hands” on Main Street in their community, “When COVID hit, it made me realize our communities are really only surface level. We don’t do things truly together anymore. That, combined with my time in the Holy Land, just really spoke to me that I can make a difference and create a place where people can come together in celebration, share their stories, build jobs together, and grieve together.”
This dream in action is unfolding in a historic building the Tiffanys are renovating with heart, hands, mind, and soul, “I heard a building, one of my favorites in town, was actually for sale and they didn’t want much at all. I dug a little deeper and the owners of the building were one of the landmark families of the community. The mother who sold the building to us said, ‘If I hold onto these things the way we have in the past, the community will not grow, and my grandkids will have nothing to come home to.’ She ended up being willing to sell two properties for us to renovate.”
“I have done Bible studies about hospitality, but I wasn’t practicing it the way I dreamed of,” Tiffany relayed, explaining the intent of the project. “I always asked myself, ‘Who will drive 20 miles to have lunch with us after church?’ Living in the country, I never felt in a position to be hospitable because I was not in contact with people as much. That sparked the idea that I could serve people. That was the light bulb moment with the event center that I could host things for other people. If someone is getting married, I can help set the tables. You know, all those mundane things, I can help do for people. That led to more research and exploration of what event centers could look like and how small communities could use them for more than just weddings.”
Lumber prices may be up dramatically, and the work may have doubled with two buildings, but spirits are high she said in closing, “Shawn and I have always done hard things, many times the hard way. That’s just how we’ve always been. This is exciting and thrilling and gives not only our family a deeper connection to our community – it also lets others experience connections as well. I am beginning to value stories and experiences a lot more and I love to create. We are done with the early growing phase of our family – now it’s time to cultivate and enjoy those moments and serve.”
You can follow Nicky at: www.facebook.com/messageinamudcup/ and see the fruits of her labor behind the scenes at www.elevateag.com