3 Post-it Note Quotes from a 23-year-old Dairyman

Words hold wisdom. And if you’re like me, when a good inspirational quote comes your way, you can’t help but write it down on a post-it note. 

When I interviewed Reese Burnett for Uplevel Dairy Podcast Episode #22: Coming Back to the Family Business, this young dairyman dropped wisdom beyond his 23 years during our conversation, including these three quotes that I could not pass up adding to my post-it note collection:

“Average goes broke.” At Burnett Dairy, status quo is not the goal. The same is true at home. “My whole family uses this one. We use it in the business but it applies to our personal lives too.” 

“You’re not rich until you have something money can’t buy.”

When asked to define his vision of success, that was Reese’s response. He explained, “What that means to me is having a healthy relationship with God, my wife and my kids someday.”

“The biggest enemy of great is good.”

Reese credits his uncle Jay Burnett with this one. It’s the mantra that despises complacency and drove this family to grow their first-generation dairy to 6,200 cows. Reese acknowledges his family for their forward-thinking, saying, “They knew that 3,000 cows wasn't going to be sustainable for our family long term … stemming from that is the new expansion project that we've done in the last few years and … just having that mindset that we want to keep growing and want to be an elite dairy producer is really exciting and really attractive to come back to.”

So how does a 23-year-old look at his family business and personal life with such a level of maturity and groundedness? Reese answered that question when asked what thought leaders he follows: 

“The first one is Jesus Christ and the Bible. I know that God has a plan for me and wants me to walk the straight and narrow,” he states, “and then the second one would be my dad [Jeff Burnett]. He's been a very good example of what it looks like to be a Christian father, husband and farmer.”

Well, there you have it, friends. Go ahead and add these to your own post-it note collection.

This podcast episode is sponsored by Dairy Specialists.