Experience - October 10, 2017

NOEM: I've lived in South Dakota my whole life. I grew up on a ranch by a little town called Hazel. My mom said I was quite a tomboy when I was growing up, she had to tie me up to comb my hair. And I adopted a lot of different animals but my passion was horses. My horses weren't just something to do they were my friends. And competed in rodeos, you know, families go and spend the weekend together, and it's a really special opportunity that I had the chance to partake in growing up.

Our family farm has been in the family for four generations. We grew corn and wheat and soybeans, but my dad also tried new crops all the time. He worked harder than anybody I know. He'd get up at 5:00 a.m., was the first one outside, he was the last one in the house at night. It was a wonderful way of life and that it was simple, but we also had at mom and dad who were raising their kids to know the value of working together and also working hard and a good lesson learned that can be applied to every day still.

You know one of the things that dad had consistently said to us as kids was that you don't just complain about things, you work and fix them and so decided that I should be a part of the solution. Ran for the state legislature when there was an opportunity and enjoyed working with other citizen legislators to create laws that really made South Dakota successful. I was very clear when I ran for Congress that I wasn't looking to make a career out of Washington DC- that I would go there work hard for South Dakota and then I was going to come home. And now I have the opportunity to do that. Everything I've been through in my life has given me an education. I have had to make tough decisions being the general manager of our farm and ranch. I've helped my mother manage her restaurant, I've started a hunting lodge from scratch, had employees depend on me to make good decisions so that I could make payroll that next week. So my executive experience is very unique and that's something that will only help me hit the ground running if I was honored enough to be the governor of South Dakota.

I'm running for governor because I'm pro-life, pro-second amendment, I believe that all of our small businesses and family businesses have an opportunity to be successful. I grew up with the dad that dreamed of all four of his kids being able to stay on his operation if they wanted to, and that's become my vision for South Dakota. I don't ever want someone to leave this state because they feel like they have to to make the wages that they want to make in order to provide for their family. We can do that here and I that with the right direction and a governor pointing the way that we can really reach those opportunities before us.

Well there's several things people probably don't know about me. I can't swim and I'm also apparently have over the years become of a very bad dancer. I thought I was good but apparently according to my children I do not have that gift, but other than that I can still ride horse, I can still shoot a gun, so you know what else do you need in the state of South Dakota.?