Sheep Industry News January 2023

The Last Word KYLE PARTAIN Sheep Industry News Editor

ASI Adds to Office Staff

T he ASI office staff is a small group with surprisingly diverse backgrounds and interests. Some of you might remember that Christa Rochford spent her early years performing with her family in a circus, while Zahrah Khan was born in Pakistan and then grew up in Idaho. Peter Orwick and Rita Samuelson both came off large, Western sheep ranches to find their way into leadership roles in the industry. I've spent more than 20 years covering rodeo after starting my career as a sportswriter. Our wide-ranging group has added some members that I'd like to introduce.

Administrative Assistant Chris Jones joined the staff in the fall of 2021 and attended his first ASI Annual Convention last year in San Diego. Chris holds a bachelor's degree in theater from the University of Northern Colorado. He moved to Los Angeles after college to play in a band and audition for various television and movie roles. But after four years there he decided to move back to Colorado to be near family. Performing – whether it be on stage, on camera, singing or playing guitar – has always been his passion. But music and expanding his VHS video collection take up most of his free time these days. Chris is a real-life wedding singer. His side gig involves playing for an international company that hires local musicians and pairs them together for parties, weddings and corporate events. Summer is his busy sea son as weddings make up a large chunk of his performance schedule. Married to an actress, Lynzee, who performs in local theater and teaches chil dren's acting classes, Chris took a page from the sheep producer playbook and got an "off-farm" job to provide the family with a steady paycheck and benefits. He came

to ASI after working in a similar administrative role with a local parks and recreation district. The most recent addition to our staff is Communications Assistant Parand Rezaei. A native of Iran, Parand spent the last few years in Lubbock, Texas, where she earned a master's degree in communication studies from Texas Tech University. While she'll handle a variety of communications and administrative duties, we brought Parand on board for her skills in graphic design and social media. I often joke with people that I'm not a photographer, I'm a writer who takes pictures. The same goes with design. I'm not a design er, I'm a writer who designs things. We believe Parand has a real eye for design, and I'm sure you'll start to notice her influence in the magazine, association publications and on social media in the months to come. In fact, she's already researching ideas for a complete overhaul of the magazine's design later this year.

"One of the most notable characteristics of us as Iranians is our thirst for knowledge," Parand said. "Iran is most famous for being the birthplace of the Persian empire. It has one of the richest heritages of art history and culture, including paintings, pottery, calligraphy, sculpture, metalworking and music. All of the great backgrounds and histories of my country made me want to study art." Parand completed a bachelor's degree in graphic design in Iran before emigrating to the United States. She's been a regular visitor to the country, however, spending summer vacations here since 2009. She completed the move from Lubbock to Denver in mid-November and is looking forward to meeting people from all segments of the American sheep industry during this month's ASI Annual Convention. Since she's about half my age, it seems appropriate that we assign her to the Young Entrepreneurs in Fort Worth.

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