Until recently, Dan and Lacey were two corporate professionals that never thought they'd spend the majority of their time outdoors - feeding, fencing, fixing and fatigued. But they're happier than they've ever been, filled with a sense of passion and a commitment to something they believe is crucial.

 

Lacey grew up in small-town East Texas with a lifelong love of animals and the outdoors.  She worked her way through Texas A&M and went on to lead HR initiatives at start-up tech companies in Austin.  

 

Dan grew up in rural Central Texas and studied at Texas A&M before spending years in commercial banking and wealth management. He retired in 2022.

 

Dan started raising cattle alongside his dad, Dr. Tom "Doc" Connolly, from an early age. What began as an excuse to drive trucks and tractors around the back roads of Caldwell County turned into lessons that matter a great deal today. Doc handed Dan full responsibility for the ranch in his thirties, and Dan did his best to keep things running while juggling work, family, music, and — in his words — "sometimes being an idiot." He ran things the way he'd seen it done: opening gates for cattle to graze wherever they wanted, spraying the fertilizer and weed killer that conventional hay and monocrop pastures called for, and sending trailer loads of calves to auction each year for less than fair market value. As we like to say around here, "the math never mathed." Combined with a cancer diagnosis and time to think during quarantine, there was a lot of uncertainty on the ranch as recently as 2021.

​

After a lot of discussion, research, and soul-searching, Lacey and Dan decided to leave corporate life behind. The transition hasn't been easy, but they're now fully dedicated to Doc's Green Earth — and they've found a shared sense of purpose neither had felt before.