After receiving four phone calls in the same day asking if she knew of someone who could work on a ranch, Jessie Jarvis envisioned an agricultural employment website.

In 2021, the southeastern Idaho rancher launched Of The West, a job platform for agriculture and western industries helping both employers and job seekers.

“Whatever I do, my goal is to bring the people of the West together to strengthen our workforce and ensure that American agriculture and all aspects of our beloved western industries are alive and well,” said Jarvis, the third generation working on her family’s Rafter T Ranch near King Hill.

The family raises both black angus and red angus cattle, as well as alfalfa and silage corn. They also run a small feedlot where they background their own cattle.

“Our ranch is the heart of who I am and the reason behind why I am so very passionate about agriculture,” she said.

Of The West was just the beginning of Jarvis implementing ways to help people in agriculture. Since then she has established other platforms involving innovative leadership and education.

She hosts a podcast, Leaders of the West, focusing on “embracing innovation while preserving and honoring the heritage of our industry. Agriculture has always evolved — but our roots still matter. Progress is necessary, but tradition is what keeps us grounded.”

Jarvis encourages innovation yet said she understands hesitancy.

“It’s not because we’re unwilling, but because in this industry, the stakes are so high. Livelihoods depend on every decision and there’s a deep respect for the ways that have worked for generations.”

Her latest platform, Schools Of The West, guides those seeking education to bolster their job options. The directory, launching later this year, will list two-year and four-year institutions, master’s, graduate, and doctoral programs, as well as trade schools, certification programs and continuing education opportunities.

Jarvis recalls how she embraced innovation and education after moving back to the family ranch in 2011.

She brainstormed about innovative ways to continue developing the print and digital communication skills she had honed while working as the Idaho Cattle Association’s communications director for two years. She juggled her ranch work with freelancing for ag and western publications and also wrote for and produced agriculture and western fashion publications.

During the COVID pandemic, she wanted to connect consumers with ranchers and compiled a state-by-state list at her website jessiejarvis.com of where to buy beef. She also educated herself about starting social media platforms.

To educate readers about food production, she launched her Instagram, @mrsjjarv. She credits her honesty about the joys and frustrations of ranch life with garnering 56,000 followers. When wildfires damaged their range, they debated selling their cattle or using virtual fencing, choosing the latter. She also shared living with her Type 1 diabetes and her reliance on a 72-hour insulin pump.

“I’ve had plenty of days where I’ve felt exhausted, frustrated and have wished T1D wasn’t part of my life. But I keep moving forward.”

Recently, Of The West has grown to the point that she hired a team to run it.

“They’re great and definitely keep the ship sailing when I have to put on my rancher hat. I typically focus on the ranch in the fall and spring, when we’re in our busiest seasons. Then in the winter and summer, when things have slowed down a bit, I’m a lot less present in the day-to-day operations.”

Jarvis said she is a lifelong learner and innovator.

“Of The West has really made me aware of the saying, ‘What got you here, won’t get you there.’ With our business we’re always figuring out what is next when it comes to technology, how we can make our user experience better, what we can be doing to bring stronger candidates to those open jobs.

“We constantly need to refine and evolve, because if we don’t, we likely aren’t serving our customers to the best of our ability. It has definitely caused me to become more of a strategic risk taker, and much more of a forward thinker when it comes to how we’re going to keep up with ‘what’s next’ in the world of agriculture, our users, and technology as a whole.”

Western Innovator

Jessie Jarvis

Title: Founder of ag employment website, Of The West, podcast Leaders of the West, and education directory platform Schools of the West;

Education: Bachelor of Arts in business administration from The College of Idaho, 2011;

Family: Husband Justin, son Jhett, and daughter Jaxyn;

Motto: “Keep moving forward,” chronicled through her Instagram, @mrsjjarv, and website jessiejarvis.com