Becca Mora: A Family Bond

The rodeo/ranch community has shaped Nutramax Territory Manager Becca Mora’s personal and professional life in countless ways.

Becca Mora grew up on a ranch and began competing in rodeo events as a teenager. Her parents competed in rodeo. Her husband competes in rodeo. Even her two children, Colt (11 years old) and Teal (9 years old), enjoy rodeo.

But the Moras are more than a rodeo family. They also run cattle on 4,300 acres in San Miguel, California. “This is where our heart lies,” said Mora, a territory manager for Nutramax. “This is where our kids learn the value of hard work, integrity and compassion. This is where the kids are being molded into good people. They are fixing fences, digging ditches, feeding cows, doctoring calves – things most kids don’t do at their age. The rodeo is just secondary to the ranch life. Competing allows them to show their skills, but the ranch life is what shapes them.”

Mora said she loves just about every aspect of the rodeo/ranch community. “The family bond it provides is amazing,” she said. “And that doesn’t stop with just our family. The community is a family. We all stick together, and we all help each other. We have friends all over the United States that we could call on if we needed help.”

Selflessness on display

Mora was born into the horse world and was put on her first horse at 18 months of age. She was raised on a ranch outside of Wheatland, California. It was truly an “off-the-grid” life, she said. “I grew up on a generator and a cell phone.”

Mora’s parents competed in equestrian events like cutting, but Mora herself didn’t start to rodeo until she was in high school. She competed in five out of six events on the same horse named Jessie and used her parents’ cutting horse for the sixth event.

“Jessie wasn’t the greatest at one event, but she was good at all of them, and she helped to shape the horse woman I am today,” Mora said. “She and I learned together and worked hard together.”

As Jessie aged, Mora saved her for the roping events, while a friend let Mora borrow another horse, Danny, who qualified for state finals in the pole bending category. “He went on to win me the championship at Silver State in Fallon, Nevada. Danny was incredible.”

During this time, Jessie was injured, so another friend let Mora borrow her family’s horse for the breakaway roping at state finals. Mora sees a similarity between the selflessness her friends showed her and the selflessness kids that compete in rodeo today display. “Kids push each other’s calves or steers that they are competing against, cheer when they do good and empathize when they do bad,” she said. “There are very few people out for themselves, and those that are usually get weeded out. We are all there for each other.”

Mora attended college at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, where she was able to compete on a horse named Foxy that she trained. “Foxy was amazing and had the biggest heart,” Mora said. Foxy and Mora went all the way to the college finals where they placed fourth nationally. Foxy was only 6 years old at the time.

In college, Becca also met her now husband, Cody Mora. Cody’s parents were stock contractors and owned West Coast Rodeo Company at the time. Becca and Cody traveled to all the amateur rodeos in California. In 2009, Foxy and Becca won the breakaway competition for California. That same year, Cody placed second in the state in the team roping with Foxy. “She was a true all-around horse,” said Becca. “Foxy is now 25 years old and living her best retired life in front of our house where I get to see her daily.”

A love for competition

The competitive fire that drove Mora to compete in high school and college still motivates her today. Indeed, it suits her well as a sales rep. “My favorite quote is from Jeff Hicks, ‘Be bold, but be humble.’ This applies to all aspects of life,” she said. “It sums up so much. Be bold in your life, sales career and rodeo career, but be humble about it. Work hard and keep your integrity. Just be a good person.”

In her role with Nutramax, Mora is responsible for managing customer relationships, educating veterinary clients on products and features, achieving sales targets, and keeping up with current sales and industry trends.

Mora started her career with Butler Animal Health on the distribution side in 2008. Butler then sold to Henry Schein. Mora was with the organization for six years before moving to MWI Animal Health in 2013. She worked there for 10 years.

“My distribution days were amazing, and I enjoyed working for both companies equally,” she said. “During my time in distribution I was able to monitor sales trends and identify new opportunities that allowed me to capitalize on growth opportunities, earning many sales awards, including rookie of the year for Butler. I was No. 1 in market share with several of my vendor partners, and top of our regional sales.”

Being able to work directly with vendors gave Mora a good idea on what life would be like with Nutramax. “I built great relationships in my territory during those 16 years, and I am blessed to call many of them my friends.”

Distribution partners are vital in her role at Nutramax. “They are truly on the front line and can give us so much information on what the customer is needing.”

The next generation

Mora still competes on occasion, usually only a few times a year at local ranch rodeos – Santa Barbara Fiesta Days, Paso Robles Sheriff’s Rodeo, Creston Rodeo, Parkfield Rodeo, and the Midstate Fair Rodeo. “The competition is tough around here and I don’t have the time to practice like these young kids do, but I have been able to hold my own,” she said. “I won the Midstate Fair Rodeo last April, which was fun because I am now just a mom competing against some salty girls.”

Her husband also continues to ride. Cody is a header and competes at the PRCA rodeos in California. “We have both taken a step back, however,” said Becca. “While Cody still trains rope horses and starts colts, we have both decided that this is our kids’ time to shine.”

Colt and Teal compete in local ranch rodeos, jackpots and different junior rodeo associations. On top of that, they play soccer, basketball and baseball, “so we have a busy schedule,” Mora said.

The kids practice rodeo after their sports about five to six nights a week. Each has already won their first all-around title saddles. Teal was 7 years old at the time and Colt was 10. Colt just qualified for the Junior High School State finals in the breakaway for District 7 on a horse named Rockstar. “He’s a horse that Colt stole from his mom,” Mora joked. “These kids have a passion for competition no matter what sport they are playing, but their love is rodeo.”

Indeed, the love they have for rodeo is the same love that contributed to who Mora is today. The value of hard work and the high level of integrity gained from years of competition has passed over to all aspects of her personal life and sales career.

Those in rodeo go through ups and downs just like any sport or career. “I roped bad at a rodeo once and was pretty upset,” Mora recounted. “Cody reminded me … ‘You have to learn how to lose before you can learn how to win.’” That insight has stuck with Mora for years and continues to be a source of motivation.

“The key is ‘how.’ The ‘how’ is our attitude,” Mora said. “How do we deal with and learn from missing a calf or losing a big sale? How do we react? That’s what’s most important.”