Ben Schow has had an entrepreneurial spirit and drive since he was young, which led him to create the brand known as “The Barn” in high school. It seemed a natural progression to major in agribusiness in college, but getting to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s (UNL) Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship Program was another story.
“I’d always thought I was going to be a cowboy at the University of Wyoming because they have a great agribusiness program,” Ben told WLJ. “My mom, who works in corporate America, met David Lambe (chief learning officer at Engler) at a conference right after my senior year and she said, ‘Ben, I really think you should check out this entrepreneurship program.’”
Ben’s mom, Cheryl, went to UNL and convinced Ben to talk with the folks at Engler. Ben met with Tom Field, the program director, and explained to Field that he wasn’t exactly sure what he wanted to do or whether to continue his family’s business.
Ben said he told Field he wanted to attend the University of Wyoming and Tom looked him in the eye and told him, “You belong here.”
“So, I sat back in my chair and thought, ‘I’d better listen to this guy,’” Ben said. “It sounds like he knows what he is doing—and that paved the route for me to go to Lincoln.”
Beginnings of a brand
It was the family business and Ben telling his mom that he wanted to be an entrepreneur that led to his creation of the brand for The Barn.
The Schow family has been in the panhandle of Nebraska in Paxton for several generations. Schow Auction Service was started by Ben’s grandparents, Dean and Leah, in the 1960s, selling real estate, farm equipment, personal property and livestock. Dean also worked for Ogallala Livestock with his son and Ben’s father, Kyle, and Ben’s uncle, Kevin. Today, the family still runs Schow Auction and Kyle is a licensed real estate agent and owns Schow Realty, Inc.
In high school, Ben renovated the hay loft in his family’s barn on their acreage and turned it into a hangout for him and his friends. Ben had “The Barn” hats made for his buddies as a joke, and wearing them around town created a buzz of people wanting to know what The Barn was and “wanting to come out and see the place.”
When Ben arrived at UNL, the brand really saw its growth, as his friends also moved to Lincoln for school. Being in the Alpha Gamma Sigma fraternity on East Campus, everybody wanted to know what The Barn was, and once they heard the story, they wanted a piece of it—so more and more hats were made.
“It wasn’t unusual to walk around campus and see a few Barn hats on the way to class,” Ben said. “People loved the story. I had countless interactions with those who wanted to host events or come and experience the atmosphere of a party in ‘The Barn.’”
Engler Agribusiness program
Ben said he never considered the brand a legitimate business and didn’t enter the Engler program with the intention of developing the brand.
The Engler Agribusiness Entrepreneurship program at UNL is designed to provide community-based learning to help students build their own enterprises in an environment that encourages collaboration through entrepreneurship.
The program was founded by Paul Engler, a native of Bassett, NE, who bought 100 head of cattle at auction at the age of 12. Expecting to get punished by his father, Engler instead received a handshake and the message that his father was proud of him. Engler attended UNL and went on to establish Cactus Feeders, one of the largest cattle-feeding operations in the U.S.
Engler believed that to succeed you should “have a fire in your belly,” and his story was the foundation for the program’s entrepreneurial model.
“The Engler philosophy means empowering students to be independent and create something meaningful,” according to the Engler Field Guide. Their mission statement reads: “Engler exists to embolden our people on the courageous pursuit of their purpose through the art and practice of entrepreneurship.”
The school has six pillars: aspire, build, passion, grit, courage and partner. Engler students work together, collaboratively sharing their knowledge and developing their skills and endeavors in a guild mindset.
The program is offered as either a 12-unit or 18-unit minor option with four mandatory courses and several electives available. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Ben was not fully involved with the program and taking classes and attending in-person until his junior year.
Ben said the curriculum is very different from the traditional classroom learning style. He first took The Engler Mindset, taught by Field, which develops students’ mindsets of doing something for themselves and the community and how to make something work. The second required course, Venture Laboratory, is where each team is given $50 to start the incubation of their idea. The next class is Enterprise Development I, where Ben said, “You get into the weeds” of your idea and see if it can develop into something feasible. The last required course is Enterprise Development II, where students develop the financials of their business plan, talk with investors, and look for capital to start their ideas.
Ben said he took elective courses such as Negotiations, Entrepreneurship Peaks and Valleys, Time and Commitment Management, and his favorite class related to his background, Family Business. Ben said the Family Business course allows students to examine the family dynamic and identify if family members are open to new ideas and change.
Planning for the future
Ben said he took the experience of hosting The Barn social gatherings and creating a business to intern at Nebraska Land Days in North Platte, NE, along with various concert venues in Lincoln. Ben said some event planning opportunities are becoming available right now and he would like to have his own concert venue or event center someday.
“I’ve tried to do a lot of different things and I think as long as you keep trying, it is not a failure,” Ben said. “It’s been a learning process for me. The best thing I got out of the Engler program is don’t be afraid of failure.” His favorite quote is “I never fail, I either win, or I learn.”
Ben won the 2023 “Fire in the Belly Award” from the program, and Ben said it was extremely humbling because the award represents “that passion and that drive to do something for yourself and those around you.”
In addition to not being afraid of failure, Ben said the Engler program also afforded him the opportunity for networking and the people he has met have been incredible, including million-dollar business owners and entrepreneurs, CEOs, governors, mentors and “some of the smartest and hardest-working people I’ve ever met.” Ben said the mentors he met through the program have been invaluable, and those relationships continue after students complete the program.
Ben said some of his classmates returned to their family operations to diversify, innovate and continue the legacy. Others have started their own businesses, such as LS Lures, a fishing lure company, and Casual Cattle Conversations Podcast, a podcast started by Shaye Koester to help producers.
Ben said he is helping the family business and getting his real estate license, but he is hoping to find something to combine all his passions and be an entrepreneur who wears many different hats. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
