Q&A with Brylee Johnson

On June 23, 2023, a new Miss Rodeo Texas was crowned in San Antonio. Brylee Johnson is a cowgirl through and through being raised in a rodeo family, on a ranch in Flatonia, Texas and with the values of ambition, authenticity, loyalty and passion. These are things that directly translate to her success in all aspects of life, particularly her devotion to the rodeo industry and the special needs community. She just recently began competing for rodeo queen titles, and she’ll compete for the biggest and most well known title of her career in December of 2023.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR FAMILY AND YOUR CHILDHOOD, AND HOW THE WAY YOU WERE RAISED HAS AFFECTED THE TRAJECTORY OF YOUR LIFE.

My dad was a professional steer wrestler from the time he was in high school up until about nine years ago; but I’m the oldest of four, so with all of us getting into sports and everything, it just wasn’t feasible for us to be gone every weekend. Growing up on the rodeo circuit though, we were at two to three rodeos a week. We would leave for a Thursday night rodeo, come home on Sunday, work and then do it all again. I loved watching my dad, but it was lots of watching; and because there were four of us, it wasn’t financially feasible for all of us to be rodeoing. I did do a few playdays when I was younger, but I always remember wanting to be the person carrying the American flag or on the drill team. As we got older, sports kind of took over for a little while; but about two years ago, my dad and we picked up team roping. Now that my brothers are getting older (16 and 14), they’re wanting to compete in steer wrestling like my dad did in high school and beyond. It’s a really good bonding experience for us. Sometimes in families, it’ll just be one kid; so for us all to do it together and for our dad to teach us things he’s taught himself over the years is really special. Both of my parents’ work ethic and their drive has definitely shaped me into the person I am today; and because of them, I’m very driven and goal-oriented.

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN COMPETING FOR RODEO ROYALTY TITLES? WHAT HAS THAT JOURNEY BEEN LIKE SO FAR?

I was at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo two years ago, and that’s where I met Bobbi Loran and learned about being a rodeo queen on the state level. I thought it was so cool and wanted to get involved right away. I’m very independent, and as we were driving home from Houston, I got on my phone, looked up the requirements and information on signing up and started reaching out to girls like Jordan Maldonado and Tianti Askey asking what I needed to do. They both said to get a coach, so I did that, went around and got sponsors to help pay for everything and then told my parents this is what I was planning on doing.

There is a rodeo the first or second week of May in

Jacksonville. I wasn’t sure if I was going to do that contest or not, because it was only about a week after I learned about it. But, I competed and actually ended up winning and getting to take that title to Texas. I was very grateful I didn’t win that year though, because I knew I wasn’t as prepared as I’d like to be; and I didn’t realize that would have been the end of the road for me as a rodeo queen.

From there though, I set my mind to it and worked hard for it. The next year, I won Sandhills, which was a really amazing opportunity, as they have a really big production and I got a lot of experience. When I came back to Texas this year, I ended up winning, and I credit my dedication to my parents instilling in me the character traits of being independent, hard-working and ambitious.

YOU’RE CURRENTLY A STUDENT, YOU WORK AND NOW YOU’RE MISS RODEO TEXAS. TELL ME ABOUT EVERYTHING YOU’RE DOING NOW AND WHAT YOU HOPE TO DO IN THE FUTURE.

I work for T&D Adventure Parks, which is in conjunction with the Hyatt out in Cedar Creek, Texas. We do trail rides, pony rides, shotgun shooting, archery, tomahawks, fishing and that kind of stuff. We also have miniature horses, miniature donkeys, goats, alpacas, pigs and longhorns. Last summer, my boss approached me with the project of saddlebreaking and training the longhorns; so the other part of my job is riding longhorns and doing wagon rides in the winter. They are super flexible with me; so now that I’m Miss Rodeo Texas, I’m able to just go back and help on super busy days.

It’s taken me a long time to narrow down what I want to do, but I pretty much combined the ambitions of both my parents. My mom has been a teacher for more than 20 years, and she was a special needs teacher for 18 years. I spent a lot of time in her classroom, so I just had this special place in my heart for spending time with individuals with special needs and disabilities. Then, I spent a lot of time around horses with my dad. So in most of my projects for my biomedical sciences degree, I’ve been devoted to learning more about the effects of equine therapy on children with special needs or just individuals in general with disabilities. That’s essentially what I want to do is be able to improve other people’s quality of life using something that I love so much and have a connection with.

BEING A RODEO QUEEN IS SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST LOOKING GOOD AND PRESENTING YOURSELF WELL. YOU’RE AN ADVOCATE FOR THE INDUSTRY AND GET TO SHARE THE WESTERN LIFESTYLE WITH OTHERS. WHAT DO YOU WANT OTHERS TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT YOU DO AS A RODEO QUEEN?

There is an aspect to it of being able to speak intelligently and being knowledgeable about what you’re promoting. It’s not just about the looks, or even the horsemanship. A lot of people just see us carry the flag or ride by and wave, but a lot of our job is to advocate and teach people about rodeo. Because we have such a big platform, we are able to speak up for the sport of rodeo and present facts about why rodeo is a good thing.

Now that I have the platform I have, I can reach more people and connect on a deeper level, especially with those individuals with special needs or disabilities. I really want to use my platform to continue my work with and support of those individuals. I hope to grow the rodeo community in that demographic.

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE MEMORIES AS A RODEO QUEEN OR JUST AS A COWGIRL IN GENERAL?

My family is blessed to have a nice piece of property with a pond on it, and one of my favorite things to do with my sister is take our horses down to the pond and go swim together. She even wanted me and her to swim our hoses in the pond for her graduation pictures, which was really sweet.

My favorite memories in the rodeo industry are just watching my dad and supporting him, and then also now seeing him support and teach my brothers. My brothers just recently jumped off horses for the first time, and seeing his reaction almost brought me to tears.

I remember the first time I walked out in my dress for the modeling portion at Jacksonville looking back at him, and he looked so proud of me. That really justified everything I was doing, because I made my parents proud doing what I love. For me, those things solidify that I’m in the right place at the right time and that this is what I’m supposed to be doing.

HOW DO YOU PLAN ON PREPARING FOR THE MISS RODEO AMERICA PAGEANT IN DECEMBER? WHAT ARE YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR YOURSELF, AND WHAT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED ABOUT?

The way it’s set up, Miss Rodeo Texas comes in so late, so there’s a lot of catching up to do. It can be very overwhelming, but I’m spending a lot of time studying and preparing so whenever I leave for Vegas, I’m not worried about if I’ve done enough. I want to be over prepared.

I have an awesome team behind me who is willing to help with anything and everything I need. I’ve been so blessed to have that; because when I get there, I won’t have those super close ties with other queens like some girls do.

I am super excited to get to design my chaps. That’s probably one thing that really stands out to me as something that will be so memorable. I also enjoy horsemanship and having the opportunity to showcase my abilities on a horse. But overall, I’m really excited about the relationships I’ll get to form with the other girls. I’ve already had a few other state girls reach out to me, and it’s all making me really excited to experience this thing that very few girls get to experience.