You and only you are the author of your life’s story. Only you can know what values, morals and ethics define who you are. Don’t get caught up in the rat race of life and forget who you are and what you believe in. IF you believe in something the stand for it, even if you stand alone.
As a part of my series about “Grit: The Most Overlooked Ingredient of Success” I had the pleasure of interviewing Miss Abigail Rich
In June of 2019, we had the pleasure of interviewing Miss Rich about her career as a model, actress and author. But not only does Miss Abigail do all of this but, she also owns and operates the 168,000 acre Twisted R Ranch, where she breeds, raises and trains award winning show Cattle.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Can you tell us a story about what events have drawn you to this specific career path
It is an honor to visit with y’all again. I am sure y’all know I was born and raised in the great state of Texas. Which means I am a country girl through and through. I loves animal and I have always had a love for cows. When I was a teenager, I would skip school to go out in my neighbors pastures, spending all day brushing and feeding their cattle. I could train them to do things that no one else could so, I guess I found my true calling. I knew then that I wanted to someday have my own ranch and raise cattle and to put them in shows. I love my career as a International Model and it has been very good to me. I have modeled with some of the world best brands, like Victoria’s Secret, Playboy International, L’oreal, Ford motors and many more but, spending time with cows has always been my happy place.
Can you share your story about “Grit and Success”? First can you tell us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your journey?
In 2015 I was assaulted and it hit me really hard. To this day, I still have nightmares about it. The assault left me in a very dark depressed state of mind eventually leading the to a point when I attempted to take my own life. It was then that I was reminded of my love to cows and my dream of being a cattle rancher. At that point I realized it was time for me to chase my dream or it would never become my reality.
Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?
Honestly, from my Mama. She had a real heart to heart talk with me and reminded me that I am a Texan. We have grit in our blood and we don’t give up, no matter what. She told me that I am not alone and as horrible as what happened to is; she will be with me every step. It was a tough for me to try to stay focused and to move forward as what happened will never go away. My Mama reminded me of the times when I was in my teens, and would get upset and go spend times with the neighbors cattle. It always made my day better. She asked me what I wanted to do in the future when I was done being a Professional Model. I told her that I wanted to find happiness again, to stop crying. The next day my Mama, my little sister Amy Jo, my 2 big brothers Michael & Brian and my Cousin came home with 2 purebred registered Angus for me to start a new chapter in my life, my drive to find my happiness.
So how did Grit lead to your eventual success? How did Grit turn things around?
With a new chapter of my life starting; I started working with my new babies who I named Faith & Atlas. I wanted to see if I could train them to do things to a level that has never been done. I was successful beyond my wildest expectations and found that if I stayed focused on my dreams and goals the pain that I suffered was not the forefront of my thoughts. Yes, the hurt is still there and the nightmares that will never go away but, I have learned to stay focused on the task at hand and strive for my dreams to come true.
Based on your experience, can you share 5 pieces of advice about how one can develop Grit? (Please share a story or example for each)
1) Reach out to your family, your Mama, Daddy, Brothers, Sister who ever you are close to. Get a different perspective on how to move forward.
2) Get yourself together. Find your dream and make it come true. Try not to focus on the bad things in life. No matter where you live in this great big world, there will always be bad. You have to concentrate on the good.
3) STAY FOCUSED!!!!!! Keep your eye on where you are trying to go. Believe in yourself and you will be amazed at the results that you can achieve.
4) Don’t look at failure as a setback or a struggle. There is an upside to failure, as it can (if you let it) motivate you to redouble your efforts or try a different approach.
5) You and only you are the author of your life’s story. Only you can know what values, morals and ethics define who you are. Don’t get caught up in the rat race of life and forget who you are and what you believe in. IF you believe in something the stand for it, even if you stand alone.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped you when things were tough? Can you share a story about that?
My Mama is that person for me. Without her, I would not be here and I would have never found happiness. She has always been there for me and while she can’t take the pain of what happened away, she can and does point me in the direction to find my happiness. My herd has grown and I have over 100 trained, show cows that I have shown all over the United States and Canada always taking the award for the top category. My cows are now also booked to be in several movies to be filmed.
How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?
I have added inspirational speaking to the list of things that I do. I have talked to audiences of 10 to over 400 people. I share the good, bad and the ugly parts of life and always remind others that IF I can get through what I went through then they can get through their dark times too.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
In 2016, I completed writing my life story and it was published the same year. The title is Invisibly Broken and it sold over 60,000 copies in the first month worldwide. Now my life story has been written into a short film and a screenplay for a feature film. Stay tuned there is so much more coming.
What advice would you give to other executives or founders to help their employees to thrive?
Remember, these folks who go to work for you each and every day have good days and bad days. They have dreams and ambitions. They are part of your team, your work family, treat them as you would want to be treated if the shoes were reversed. Show them that they matter and that you care.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
In the business world, Government decisions or just neighbor relations it is common to look at new ideas or programs and say or think is it legal? I do not believe in looking at it that way, because something that may be legal to do still may not be the right thing to do. I offer this idea; Look at new ideas, or decisions and before you make that decision decide if it is the right thing to do. Put on the other person’s shoes, try to see their viewpoints.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
Don’t get caught up in the rat race of life and forget who you are and what you believe in. IF you believe in something then stand by for it, even if you stand alone.
How can our readers follow you on social media?
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GlamModelAbby Twitter for my Ranch: https://twitter.com/Twisted_R_Ranch
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/glammodelabby/ Instagram for my ranch: https://www.instagram.com/twisted_r_ranch/
My ranch webpage: https://twistedrranch.com/
Thank you so much for joining us. This was very inspirational.
Abigail Rich of Twisted R Ranch: Five Ways To Develop More ‘Grit’ was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
