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Deep-Rooted Interest

Brittney Selman enjoys everything FFA

Deep-Rooted Interest


July 2008

If you want to know who, exactly, Brittney Selman is, you first have to know this: There’s a secret to that smile – the one you can’t miss when she’s delivering a speech, leading a meeting or working in the fields – and it’s all about confidence. It’s the confidence that comes with success, whether it’s in school, FFA competitions, or in business. It’s the confidence of a winner, someone who’s learned what it takes, through years of practice, to achieve almost anything.

“I want to be a motivational speaker,” says Brittney, the 2008 valedictorian of Bear River High School in Garland, Utah, and newly elected state FFA secretary. “I’d like to be the kind of person who always comes to state convention and speaks at conferences. I love watching those guys. I’ve always listened, and it always makes me want to go and do better things, and be a better person, and I think it would be cool to try and do that for other people.”

Seem like a stretch? In Brittney’s case, definitely not.

“She’s so enthusiastic and interested in promoting FFA,” says Wes Burrell, Brittney’s advisor. “And she’s a great leader. She leads by example and never just tells people to do things. She’s very proactive, always taking the initiative to get things done.”

She’s also a great competitor. In 2007, Brittney won state in prepared public speaking. She also took high individual on a state champion farm business management team. This fall she’s headed to Utah State University, where she’ll major in agricultural communications and journalism.

Look for Brittney outside of school, and chances are you’ll find her at Zebra Gardens, a local company that cultivates hybrid irises with splashy, streaking colors. The unique flowers are given animal names – anything from “Chocolate Moose” to “Hippoz Tutu” – and are sold as bulbs. Brittney, who’s worked at Zebra Gardens since the age of 11, is the company’s field manager. She helps with the hybridizing through careful bee-like hand pollinating. She also leads tours and supervises other workers.

“I make sure they stay on task and that what they’re doing is correct,” Brittney explains. “If the irises aren’t planted right, or things aren’t done right, they won’t grow.”

Over the years she has found time for experimentation and has even started an iris garden of her own at home. Last October, she won a national FFA floriculture proficiency award for her work.

“I never thought of myself as competitive,” Brittney says. “When I started public speaking as a freshman, I was scared to death. I didn’t think I’d ever want to do it again. But my parents have always taught me, and FFA has always taught me, keep going and try again.”

That might explain Brittney’s success in yet another venture: sheep breeding.

“I have three rams and I rent them out to herd owners around Utah and Idaho,” explains Brittney. “They’re for producing show sheep.”

Brittney says her sheep breeding business is part of a growing niche market, and she hopes to add more rams to her flock.

With a father who grew up on a sheep ranch and four older siblings as former FFA members, Brittney has agriculture in her blood.

“They showed me what it was all about,” she says. “I tagged along everywhere they went.”

Now, she says, her parents and siblings are her strongest supporters.

“They’ve all been there whenever I’ve competed, and they’re always there whenever I need help. I want to make them all proud.”

Story by Chris Hayhurst
Photography by Brian McCord


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