Rachel Williams is the owner and print division manager at Ranch House Designs. Born and raised on the V8 Ranch, Rachel’s first interest in marketing came from working with her father, Jim Williams. She was always fascinated by the business side of their ranch, especially the international experiences, and decided to pursue a career in business and marketing.

Rachel attended Texas A&M University and earned her B.S. in 2001 in animal science, where she enjoyed working and studying under many national leaders such as Dr. John McNeill and Dr. Larry Boleman.

After graduation, Rachel left her Texas home for the opportunity to study under Dr. Harlan Ritchie and Dr. Dave Hawkins at Michigan State University. During her two years in East Lansing, she was a writer for the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, where several of her stories were picked up the AP. She worked on communications projects for the Dean of the College of Agriculture, the Department of Animal Science, and Michigan Cattleman’s Association. She also taught a weekly lab in advertising and public relations. Rachel loved her time as a Spartan, where she learned from national leaders and made lifelong friendships with fellow students who are now key leaders in the agriculture industry.

After completing her M.S., Rachel accepted a full-time position at Texas A&M University as marketing coordinator for the Department of Animal Science. This job allowed her to return home to Texas and coordinate the landmark “Century of Success” 100th Anniversary of Animal Science project. She created several successful communications campaigns for the Department of Animal Science and handled all the department's PR and media relations.

After two years in academia, Rachel had a strong desire to start her own business. She had been designing web sites for special clients as freelance projects, and decided to take the risk of leaving her full time job at Texas A&M to begin Ranch House Designs whole-heartedly.

Since then, Rachel has developed Ranch House Designs into the national leader in livestock advertising, and is now branching out to other industries as well. She expanded the agency to employ ten staff members. In the past four years, she has personally won over 20 national design awards from national and local advertising organizations. She also manages the international client base of Ranch House Designs which includes clients in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, South America and Central America.

Rachel is very active in volunteer projects and industry activities. Rachel is currently serving on the Public Relations Committee for the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and is a Director for the American Brahman Breeders Association where she volunteers as the youth advisory board chairman. She is also the publications coordinator for Texas CattleWomen and an active member of the Abell Street Church of Christ. She owns her own herd of registered Brahman and Shorthorn cattle and is very involved in the club calf industry as well.

Catherine Williams is the Vice President and Web Division Manager of Ranch House Designs. A Texas gulf coast native, Catherine was born and raised on the V8 Ranch, working daily on her family’s Brahman and Shorthorn cattle operation. From a young age, Catherine picked up many business skills such as management, finances and international trade. She wanted to find a career that would allow her to maintain her 6-generation ranch while using her creative talents.

With the help of her family, Catherine enjoyed one of the most successful junior Shorthorn show careers in the history of the breed. She won every major livestock show in the United States, and exhibited three back-to-back Junior National champion females (a feat never accomplished before). She also won numerous national showmanship, speaking, and leadership contests. Catherine then exhibited the Junior National champion female at the Brahman All American. After winning both of those breeds, she ventured into the Limousin breed, where she was a national finalist in the showmanship competition and won a division championship at their Junior Nationals.

Catherine chose Texas A&M University because of her strong family heritage and their excellent academic programs. At A&M, Catherine worked in the Department of Animal Science under two of her mentors, Dr. Chris Skaggs and Dr. Larry Boleman. She organized several Extension events and livestock judging contests and developed countless educational program materials.

While Catherine was still a student at A&M, her older sister decided to begin Ranch House Designs full time. At this time, Catherine left her position at A&M to come to Rachel’s aid and assist with RHD’s growing client base. Initially, Catherine handled logo design, business cards, and print design projects at Ranch House Designs. During this time she won back-to-back national competitions for best logo design.

After graduating, Catherine faced a dilemma that many young people face: get a “real job” or return to the family ranch. After weighing several different opportunities, Catherine felt that she was needed back on the ranch, and moved home in 2005 after earning her B.S. in animal science.

After being in the community for a year, Catherine suggested to open a branch office in Wharton, Texas to better serve the needs of the area. Catherine volunteered to lead this project for RHD, and in April 2007, officially opened the company’s second office. In June 2007, the Wharton office became the corporate headquarters and now employs two full time staff members and two part time staffers.

Catherine’s position with the company has evolved over time. What started as a position as a student worker has evolved to being the right-hand-woman of the company and someone who is involved in every major decision at RHD.

In 2007, Catherine was promoted to Vice President and Web Division Manger. In this position she is responsible for managing the over 275 web sites designed by RHD and also provides training and supervision to the 5 members of our web division. Catherine is a Adobe Dreamweaver specialist, with experience in XHTML, CSS, and Flash. She is responsible for all new web design projects and guides the technology development of RHD staff members. She is also exceptionally talented in Adobe Photoshop and often helps in the print division during busy times of the year. She has won 10 national design awards in both web and print over the past four years.

After a day’s work at the office, Catherine enjoys getting back on the ranch and relaxing. She is still very active in the Shorthorn breeding program at the ranch, where she assists with the daily activities and marketing. Her favorite times are those spent at livestock shows or sales with her friends in the cattle industry.

Catherine currently serves as the breeder chairman the American Shorthorn Historical Preservation Society, and volunteers as a member of the Junior Advisory Commitee for the American Shorthorn Association. She has served on a variety of committees for both the American Shorthorn Association and the American Brahman Breeders Association. Each summer, she coordinates the junior high class at the Abell Street Church of Christ Vacation Bible School.

Catherine Williams
Vice President
and Web Division Manager
catherine@ranchhousedesigns.com

Ashlei Cooper joined our firm in January 2008 as our sales and swine division manager and graphic designer. Her solid background in the livestock industry combined with her sales and marketing experience make her a valuable member of the RHD team.

Born and raised in Plains, Texas, Ashlei was part of one of the most dominating brother-sister swine duos in the history of Texas junior livestock programs. She and her older brother, Kelton Mason, exhibited overall champion market hogs at every major livestock show in Texas as well as several national competitions.

Joining our all-Aggie staff, Ashlei is a 2004 graduate of Texas A&M Univeristy where she majored in Animal Science. In Aggieland, she was one of the most active students in the Department of Animal Science. She was a member of the 2004 National Champion Livestock Judging Team, where she won numerous accolades and interacted with several key livestock breeders across the nation. She was also a four-year member of the Aggie REPS recruiting organization and Saddle and Sirloin Club (Block and Bridle).

While at A&M, Ashlei served as an intern at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. After graduation, she accepted a full time position at the Houston show as Assistant Director of Livestock Auctions. At HLSR, she worked with five volunteer committees as well as auction buyers and donors. In this high profile position she interacted with numerous volunteers, exhibitors, and auction buyers to promote the HLSR auctions that benefit youth programs.

In the summer of 2005, Ashlei and her husband, Aaron, moved to Lincoln, Nebraska while Aaron pursued his master’s degree in animal science from University of Lincoln-Nebraska and coach the UNL Livestock Judging Team. While in Nebraska, Ashlei worked for two years in retail sales, focusing on customer service and building relationships with her customers.

In winter 2007, the Cooper’s returned to Texas for Aaron to begin his doctorate program at Texas A&M University, studying under Dr. Jim Sanders in the animal breeding program. When we heard that Ashlei was moving back to Texas, we immediately began working to hire her as part of our team. Ashlei assists with sales and customer service, and also works as a graphic designer in both the print and web division.

She is also our swine industry representative, focusing on advertising and marketing programs for our swine industry and showpig clients.

As a huge supporter of livestock show programs and junior programs, you can usually find Ashlei at all the major stock shows in Texas and many nationwide shows.

Ashlei Cooper
Sales and Swine Division Manager
Graphic Designer
ashlei@ranchhousedesigns.com

In 2007, Tricia Potts joined the RHD staff as our project manager and local business representative.

Tricia earned her Bachelor’s in Agricultural Journalism from Texas A&M University. After graduating from Texas A&M, Tricia moved to the Rio Grande Valley where she worked for 6 years as the Community Development Director of the McAllen Chamber of Commerce. In this position she coordinated all major community events including publicity, media relations and volunteer efforts.

Since 1994, Tricia has been a columnist and reporter for the Wharton Journal Spectator and East Bernard Express newspapers. From 1995-2000, she covered agricultural issues/personalities and special features in the Wharton County area. Later, she became a weekly columnist for the East Bernard express and a feature writer.

In 2007, Tricia left her position with the newspaper for a new opportunity here at Ranch House Designs. She brings a wealth of experience in the communications industry and plays a huge role in the expansion of RHD in our local community. Her broad variety of experiences make her perfect to assist local businesses with their advertising and communications needs.

Tricia is also a member of our Web Division, where she works on many new web site development projects. She handles most of the content organization and photos for new web sites and works with clients to publish their information online in an efficient and eye-appealing manner. She is experienced in the Adobe Creative Suite 3, including Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and InDesign. She is able to work with CSS and XHTML. During our busy print production times of year, Tricia also works on sale catalogs and newsletter designs.

Tricia lives in East Bernard, Texas with her husband and four children. She is a member of the Holy Cross Catholic Church, where she regularly volunteers in various capacities, and a member of the East Bernard Elementary PTO, Brahma Athletic Boosters Club and East Bernard Little League.

Tricia Potts
Project Manager
and Local Business Representative
tricia@ranchhousedesigns.com

Luann Williams is the office manager of Ranch House Designs. Though she began "officially" working at RHD in 2007, she has been a big part of the agency since 1999. As Rachel and Catherine's mom, she was one of the first people who encouraged us to create Ranch House Designs and has always been there to lend a hand where-ever she could.

Luann earned her degree in medical records and quickly rose to the top of her profession. She advanced to being the medial records supervisor at one of the largest hospitals in Bryan, Texas while her husband Jim was finishing up his degree at Texas A&M. When they moved back to the ranch, she became the office manager for the V8 Ranch, a position she has held for nearly 30 years. In this position she handles registrations, sales, and customer service for the Brahman and Shorthorn ranch. This career has given Luann tremendous experience in business and customer service. She is very comfortable negotiating deals, handling contracts, and submitting bids and proposals. She has spent years working with the public, including many international clients, and knows what it takes to make a business succeed.

At RHD, Luann provides supervision to the web division where she is our quality control manager. She monitors all web updates completed by the web division (approximately 300/month) for accuracy and turnaround time. She also manages the mailing list for Ranch House Designs and several of our clients. Luann also assists with business decisions and accounting at RHD.

During typical days at RHD, Luann assists customers with booking new projects and web sites, proofing, and getting approvals on projects. Many of our clients enjoy discussing their advertising with Luann because she has experience from both sides of the table...she knows what it's like to be a rancher trying to place an ad, and she knows the design side of it too. During sale catalog seasons, Luann also assists in sale catalog preparation, layout, and proofing.

In addition to working at RHD, Luann still manages the office for V8 Ranch and V8 Shorthorns. She is an active member of the Abell Street Church of Christ and a huge fan of Texas Aggie Football, Texas Aggie Basketball, and Astros Baseball.

luann williams
Office Manager
Web Division Quality Control
Mailing List Manager
luann@ranchhousedesigns.com

Luke Neumayr joined the RHD team in May 2007 as a web site assistant and graphic design assistant. Born and raised in the Hoosier State, Luke is a valuable asset to our team and brings the Midwest experience and Angus background to our company.

Luke hails from New Richmond, Indiana, which is a small town famous for the filming of the movie “Hoosiers.” In fact, the post office in his hometown still says Hickory, Indiana. Luke’s family is very active in this local farming community, and his mother is the former mayor of their hometown.

While growing up, Luke was an avid Angus showman and exhibited several champions on a statewide level. His experiences with “The Business Breed” helped give him a solid foundation for a career in the agriculture industry. Currently, Luke serves as an an executive board member of the Indiana Junior Beef Cattle Association, the group that hosts the Hoosier Beef Congress each winter. As a junior exhibitor, Luke was very involved in the National Junior Angus Association, most recently serving as the 2006 National Junior Angus Show Junior Chairman. In his junior show days, he also represented the state of Indiana in the prestigious National Junior Angus Showmanship Contest.

After high school, Luke was highly recruited by several national livestock judging junior college programs. He chose to attend Butler Community College in El Dorado, Kansas on a livestock judging scholarship. Here, Luke enjoyed a very successful junior college judging experience and was selected as a member of the “All American” Junior College Livestock Judging Team in 2007. While at Butler, Luke also completed training in Adobe InDesign and Adobe Photoshop.

In July 2007, Luke was promoted to Advanced Web Designer and Graphic Designer. He spent the summer working at our corporate headquarters where he worked on all types of projects from the ground-up to better learn the in’s and out’s of the company. During this time he completed certification in XHTML, and CSS. He also completed training in our print division including advertising design, pre-press activities, and project fulfillment. In September 2007, he completed training in Flash.

Luke is currently a junior animal science major at Texas A&M University, where he is a member of the 2008 Livestock Judging Team. This spring, he had the distinct honor of being awarded the 1st Place High Individual at the National Western and Fort Worth Stock Show Intercollegiate Livestock Judging Contests. After graduation, Luke aspires to build a career in the beef industry, either in veterinary medicine or ranch management.

luke neumayr
Advanced Web Designer
and Graphic Assistant
updates@ranchhousedesigns.com

Kacey VanDeaver is our longest-running staff member at Ranch House Designs (besides Rachel and Catherine). Since joining our staff in 2005, Kacey has seen the business grow from the ground up, and has been extremely valuable in adjusting to the changes and demands that have increased in her two years with the company.

Born and raised in Bogota, Texas, Kacey grew up enjoying the amazing lifestyle of a small community and a great family. Her father was a former ag-science instructor and later became the school principal. As a youngster, Kacey exhibited swine and was very active in FFA programs. Her senior year of high school, Kacey was elected as a State Officer for the Texas FFA Association. She spent a year serving the Texas FFA membership by traveling state-wide to motivate and encourage other FFA members.

When moving to College Station as a freshman in college, Kacey began looking for a job in the local area that still involved agriculture. Choosing to work off-campus, she answered our job posting on the “Jobs for Aggies” web site. Before we even met Kacey, we knew she was someone that we wanted on the RHD team. Her combination of FFA experience and academic excellence made her stand out from the others. Kacey accepted our offer as an office assistant in September 2005 and began her experience here at RHD.

In January 2006, Kacey was promoted to a Web Design Assistant. She completed training in Adobe GoLive and began as our single staff member in the web division. Over the course of her employment, Kacey has also provided guidance and support to new employees in the web division. In May 2007, Kacey was promoted to Advanced Web Site Designer. She is certified in advanced web updating techniques including Dreamweaver, XHTML, CSS and Flash.

Kacey is currently a junior Agricultural Economics / Speech Communications major at Texas A&M University. In 2006, Kacey was named a finalist for the prestigious Texas A&M University Student Worker of the Year award. She is very active on-campus as a member of the College of Agriculture Student Council, Breakaway Christian group, and several student organizations.

Kacey Vandeaver
Advanced Web Designer
updates@ranchhousedesigns.com

Jessica Hobbs joined our staff in May 2007 as an office assistant at our Wharton office. When opening our new office in Wharton, we needed a part-time employee who could help manage our office and provide customer service support. Jessica came highly recommended from a local church member and we instantly knew that Jessica was someone special!

Jessica attended Wharton High School, the 4A high school in the town where our corporate headquarters is located. Jessica was an honor student in the top 10% of a highly-competitive class. After beginning her job as office assistant, we quickly saw Jessica’s skill level in Microsoft Office, organization, multi-tasking, and customer service. One of Jessica's most important jobs at RHD includes maintaining the photo database at RHD and assisting with sire service management.

As the friendly voice who often greets customers on the phone, Jessica assists clients with customer service issues including booking ads, proofing ads, and completing ad approvals. She also handles the domain name registration and web hosting set up for all of our web division accounts.

In September 2007, Jessica joined our web division and completed Dreamweaver and Photoshop training. In March 2008, she completed training and certification in advanced web design updating procedures. She frequently assists clients with posting of online sale catalogs, photos and text.

Jessica is a freshman at Wharton County Junior College and has plans to transfer to Texas A&M University in the fall of 2009. She is an active member of the Iago Federated Church.

jessica hobbs
Office Assistant
Photo Database Manager
Advanced Web Designer
jessica@ranchhousedesigns.com

Audrey Fain joined our staff in November 2007 as a web division student worker. As our Wharton headquarter office began to expand, we began looking for someone to help with the needs of our web division. We have known Audrey and her family for several years as fellow members of the Abell Street Church of Christ. Many people in the community recommended Audrey as a great addition to our team because of her exceptional computer skills and dependable, responsible personality.

At RHD, Audrey assists the web division by providing in-house support to our advanced web designers. She helps manage files and helps organize materials for new web sites. She also provides assistance for site re-designs by organizing and gathering materials from clients. She has exceptional computer skills and a positive attitude. Audrey also handles the search engine optimization for all of our 300 web site clients.

Audrey was born in Raleigh, North Carolina and later moved to Wharton, Texas, where she has lived her entire life. Her kind and sincere personality make her someone who everyone in the community loves to be around. When not working on her academics, Audrey loves being involved at the Abell Street Church of Christ. She is a very active member of their youth group and serves as a teacher of Children’s Bible Hour each Sunday and a teacher’s assistant at Vacation Bible each summer. She also enjoys attending the Camp Bandina Christian Youth Camp each summer in Bandera, Texas.

Audrey Fain
Web Design Assistant
wharton@ranchhousedesigns.com

Emily Forgason joined our staff in August 2007 as an advertising assistant and web design assistant at our headquarters. To meet the growing demands of our new office, Emily works on a part-time basis and works with a variety of advertising and web updating projects.

Emily was born and raised on the J.D. Hudgins Ranch in Hungerford, Texas. We have known Emily her entire life, since we are second cousins (Emily’s grandfather Richard and our grandmother Mollie are brother and sister). Along with her family, she works on the Forgason Cattle Company division of the JDH ranch, where she is active in the daily ranch work and show cattle management.

One of Emily’s biggest hobbies is showing and working with Brahman cattle. She has a very successful show career including recently exhibiting the 2007 Reserve National Champion Brahman female. She is also a very talented showman and is one of the most knowledgeable young Brahman breeders in the nation. Emily has been able to learn many useful marketing and business skills from her involvement in the cattle industry. Like Rachel and Catherine, she enjoys the international aspect of the Brahman cattle business and has already traveled to Australia to learn more about the Brahman breed there.

Emily has a personality that naturally makes people want to be her friend. She’s ambitious, motivated, and works hard. We always enjoy when Emily works at our office because she brings many fresh ideas to our creative network and helps keep up in the “know” with what is trendy and popular with the young livestock exhibitors.

By learning from her grandparents and parents, just like Rachel and Catherine, Emily brings many talents and skills to our group, and we value her as a part of our team.

Emily Forgason
Web Design Assistant
wharton@ranchhousedesigns.com