If it was easy, everyone would do it.

This girl right here was leaving her home in Bixby, OK to start a new life in Missoula, MT with her father. When they arrived, they set up their new home in a tent at the local KOA Campgrounds. The tent had holes in the bottom and when it would rain the tent would leak when she slept.

This isn’t the only time in her life when she would be homeless.

It didn’t get much better for her after her move back to Oklahoma. In fact, there was never a period in her life when she wasn’t worried about having enough food to eat, being evicted from her home, or having the electricity shut off. This was her ‘normal’.

Flash forward and she graduates high school. The future was bright for her and she was ready to create that stability in her life that she so desperately longed for. Then she became pregnant at 18 with her high school sweetheart and in her first year at the local junior college. The dreams, the plans she had for this new life, came crashing down around her. With no money for maternity clothes, she ended up going to a local Church closet and picking out some over-sized men’s jeans to accommodate her growing belly. She was on welfare; no surprise there.

It would be easy to write her off. Statistically speaking, the odds of her breaking the cycle she was in was slim to none.

Lucky for her she was never going to accept what was ‘expected’ of her. Instead, she would break every stereotype, statistic, or whatever box society wanted to put her in.

I don’t share this information to make you feel sorry for me. It’s the contrary. I am GRATEFUL for my journey. It was through the suffering that I learned empathy. I learned to value experiences instead of money. I learned to appreciate the little things in my life; and still do.

I hate throwing away food; because I know what its like to go hungry. I am a big tipper; I know what its like to have a slow night and worry about making enough to pay for my son’s inhaler. If you can understand my past, you can understand what drives me. This is my “why” and this is what keeps me fighting for my clients each day.

When I started The Mineral Advocate, I knew there was no going back. I was drawing the line in the sand and picking my side; the mineral owner instead of the oil & gas company.

I knew there would be resistance, copycats, and those who wanted to stop me.

I have spent my entire life as the underdog and now I fight for the underdog. To be their voice; their Advocate when dealing with oil & gas companies.

The other day I was doing some research online and found a deed from a mineral owner to a buyer. He paid $7,500 to this family. Three days later, that buyer turned around and flipped that deed to someone else for $67,000. Let that sink in for a moment. This is over an 800% profit this 'buyer' made. Some will say he worked for this profit. I guess that would depend on what you consider 'work'. The reality is that the 'buyer' knew what an end buyer would pay for this interest. More than likely, he already had the arrangement to sell this interest to the end buyer before he inked the deal with the mineral owner.

I think about what this family could have done had THEY received the $67,000. Could they have paid off their house? Maybe put their kids through college? Paid off their debt? This could have been the windfall they needed to prevent them living paycheck to paycheck. This is my why. I've heard some amazing stories from my clients about how their ancestors acquired their mineral interest. Winning them in a poker game was my all-time favorite. No matter how they received this interest; they all echo the same sentiment. The minerals have been a part of their lives forever and selling is a huge decision. They don't know who to trust. Maybe they had a bad experience with a Landman years ago. These 'Landmen' they reference are still very present in this business today. When word spreads that a company is being dishonest, they just go and start a new LLC and so on and so on.

Just so there isn't any confusion; I LOVE the oil & gas business! I have seen first hand the lives it changes and the benefits to the communities it serves. It's a beautiful thing to witness. I will never be anti oil & gas. I am, however, anti landmen/flippers who take advantage of mineral owners. If you agree, you are more than likely an end buyer who is tired of these 'buyers' selling you acreage at a huge profit. If you disagree, then you probably contribute to the problem in this industry.

I am not going anywhere. I am here to stay.

In case you are curious; yes, I did graduate from that junior college. I then went and got my B.A from the University of Central Oklahoma. That baby born out of wedlock to teen parents is now a senior in high school. He is a scholar athlete, an honors student, and just applied to UCLA. Oh, and he also just finished reading the New Testament; he finished the Old Testament 2 years ago. That high school sweetheart and I just celebrated 20 years together this year. We left Oklahoma and now live in beautiful southern California (work transfer with O&G). YOU control your destiny; no one else has that power.