Strong Women

Nicole Courtney Smith is the sixth generation of her family to ranch in Granite Station, California. Her family’s Kern County cow-calf operation, the Glenn Record Ranch, is tucked in the mountains northeast of Bakersfield, California. There, she lives and works with her family, including her parents Sarah and Jack Smith; brother, Jared; grandparents Karl and Glenda Johnson; and aunt and uncle Roselle and Matthew Wrenden. The ranch has been handed down through the women on her mother’s side of the family, and 23-year-old Smith is poised to perpetuate her family’s ranching traditions into the future. In the April 2017 issue of Western Horseman, Smith is featured in Women of the West. Here are five other questions we asked during our interview with her while driving on a rough, narrow road to the ranch. What women have had the most influence on you? I consider all of the women in my life—my grandma, my aunt and my mom—extremely tough. They have raised me to be a respectful, hard-working young lady and I appreciate that. My great-grandma Ginger was the apple of my eye. When I was growing up, no matter where we were or what we were doing she always had a York peppermint patty for me. She died in 2008 and I miss her, but my grandma is taking her place and always has food or candy for us. She makes sure we’re fed extremely well...more