Life & Work with Jaylene Scott

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaylene Scott.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up on a small ranch in Northern California. We raised cattle, sheep, and always had horses around to rope and rodeo on. My passion for everything ranching, agriculture, and Western lifestyle developed naturally. In some ways my childhood was very neat, and in some ways it was very challenging. Growing up on a ranch teaches you things you wouldn’t learn anywhere else and gives you a different view of the world. My photography/writing journey started in high school with a teacher willing to nurture a spark. High school was a hard time for me, my parents had gotten divorced right before it started and my family was very chaotic. My photography teacher would let me, and other students, take photography equipment to local events to shoot for our classes and the school newspaper. I would go and shoot local rodeos throughout the area and this created an outlet for me to be creative and get out of my head. I was the stereotypical perfectionist, type-A eldest daughter. Photography and writing gave me a freedom I had never had before and allowed me to step outside the pressure and perfectionism. This new passion led me to buying my first Canon camera the summer after my senior year of college.

The summer after my senior year, someone who was like an older brother to me committed suicide and then in the fall of my sophomore year of college I lost someone who I considered a Grandpa and it rocked my world. Also, during this time my family was falling apart and things were very shaky. I was going to UC Davis with the hopes of going to vet school. The pressure of everything going on with family, school, and grief from losing two people I was very close with, weighed heavily on me. I was fighting depression and looking back probably a degree of alcoholism. Due to my family also going through so much, no one saw how much I was struggling. I am very good at being the person who shows up for everyone else while my whole world is burning down. All the struggles during this time hit me hard and changed my life path. I decided instead of going to vet school, to go to work for a meat company. When I started with this company I was doing a lot of marketing, social media work as an intern along with some writing and customer service work. During this time, I was still doing photography on the side, it was just something that brought me joy and allowed me to help friends and family.

Working at the meat company taught me a lot and I had a lot of positive experiences in the 10 years I was there. I was blessed to work with some amazing people, and I don’t want what I am about to say to taint the positive experiences I had, the great relationships I built, and the things I learned. When you grow up with childhood trauma you tend to find situations that mirror those childhood experiences. Corporate America was where I located those situations. I was an overachieving, people pleaser who took too much on, didn’t know how to value herself, or how to set healthy boundaries and struggled with communication/ relationships. Throughout time those things manifested in some ugly ways. That job led me to a leadership position in Colorado. I took on a project my second year as a manager, I thought would fast-track my career. Instead, it gave me a crippling case of anxiety and a severe case of burnout. To the point, I mentally checked out. Luckily that hopeless feeling pushed me to start working on myself and growing in my faith. I started working hard on myself in the fall of 2019 and with the help of a personal coach and numerous other people I switched to a job I love in ranching in 2022.

That job has given me a beautiful spot to heal and a space for self-reflection. In the summer of 2023, I went on a therapy retreat which was one of the most beautiful, safe experiences I have ever had the opportunity to participate in. Unfortunately, I made a poor decision to go back into the toxic environment I was trying to heal from immediately after the retreat and it led to an emotional breakdown. In many ways that breakdown was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. It gave me clarity on a lot of my personal behaviors that were holding me back. I had toyed with the idea of starting a business for years but never made any progress, I had numbed out with alcohol for a long time, and I quit drinking, I had been extremely obese, and I started taking my health more seriously. I didn’t value or take care of myself, and it showed throughout my life. That retreat and the following breakdown flipped my life upside down but in a good way. That experience showed me I’m not the only one dealing with these types of mental and emotional issues and it gave me perspective on how I want to show up in the world. Phew, now that we have gotten through all the deep and heavy stuff let’s talk about the fun stuff. I think God used those hurdles to plant the seed for me to be able to help others. To help others feel seen and heard in their walks. To help them know that there is a light on the other side and that they can challenge the status quo. To let them know that it is perfectly acceptable to think differently from society and step out there and make moves to change it. These life experiences gave me the insight and the passion to help those who are going through the same thing learn to show up and advocate for themselves. The Ranchy Redhead Media Co is just getting started but I am excited to see how God uses my gifts and this business to help others.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been anything but a smooth road, but I think when you want to build something beautiful you must learn to find beauty in the struggles. I shared some of the mental health struggles and loss in the previous question and I think the cool thing I have learned in my faith journey is God turns those times of struggle and hardship into blessings that help us grow into the person he has called us to be. I grew up being more comfortable around men because my Dad was my most stable parent. I think that has allowed me to walk into male dominated environments as a woman with the strength and toughness to navigate being there. The trauma I went through as a child and young adult drastically altered the way I saw things. In some ways that has been a huge benefit, in some ways I have had to do a lot of work to rewire my brain on how I interact with other people especially in professional settings. Learning to communicate more effectively and manage my emotions has been a game changer for me and will always be something I work on. One of the biggest struggles I am overcoming is my anxiety and learning how to be more secure in myself and what I want. There is a lot of power in working through these struggles because it allows you to operate at a higher level in any aspect of your life

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a photographer, writer and working on getting a podcast started. I specialize in Western lifestyle photography (Portraits, Rodeo, etc), my writing has been focused on personal development and some of the interviews I have done that have led to the idea for my podcast revolve around women in the agriculture telling their stories and challenging the status quo. I specialize in helping people see things or themselves from a new perspective and I think that is something you can see throughout my work. I am most proud of getting an article published in Biz Catalyst two years ago. It was an amazing experience to see my writing connect to so many people. It’s also been neat to see my photography in Range Magazine. I think my ability to connect to people from all walks of life and see them in a different light sets me apart from others. I love watching people relax and come alive, whether it be in a photoshoot or an interview.

Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
I love this question because I think it’s so powerful to think of the people who helped you get to where you are today. It also gives you the incentive to carry on this gift by mentoring the next generation. I want to start with my dad, we might butt heads like crazy but he was the OG in believing I could do more and accomplish my dreams. My Grandma Elsie passed away earlier this fall, and she was the other fiery redhead in the family. She taught me so much about loving other people and walking with God. She loved me unconditionally and believed in me no matter what turns in life I took, and she played a huge role in who I am today. The Late Dr. Paul Miller gave me so much passion and inspiration for working with animals and helping horses. In high school I had Mr. Prusko, the infamous photography teacher who probably doesn’t even realize he sparked something in a young kid. Also, my Ag teachers, Mr. Sampson and Mr. Brown, I gave them a lot of grey hair, but they pushed me to get out of my hometown and go to UC Davis. Dana Van Liew played a huge role as a mentor in my life. He mentored me during one of the darkest four-year periods of my life and he never let me give up. He worked on my thinking and gave me perspective and life skills that have carried me a long way. Mark Dumdi and Shane Mackenzie played a huge role in my development during my corporate time. Kevin Wetherby with Save the Cowboy, helped me to find God and grow as an early Christian. Tracy and Craig Carr have been like second parents to me since I moved to Colorado and have helped me grow as a cowgirl and as a human. Wade Shoemaker is the greatest vet on the planet and has helped me tremendously with my mindset and working on my dreams. I have the best friends a girl could ever ask for. My friends have always pushed me and supported me on my adventures. I’d also like to give a huge shoutout to my personal coach Wendy Watson-Hallowell. She transformed my life and gave me my power back. I’m missing a bunch of people with this question, I probably could write a dissertation on the people who have helped me grow into who I am today. I think this is a great reflection we should all take- because as hard as the journey is, we didn’t get here alone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://theranchyredheadmediaco.pixieset.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ranchyredheadmediaco/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ranchyredheadmediaco
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaylene-scott-2930009a

Image Credits
Bryley Kroeger Kohlton Anderson Megan Guntermann