like many couples, there are things we have in common and things where we differ.

John and Emily Barnes are native North Carolinians.

We were both raised on small farms in North Carolina, and we both grew up showing livestock.

Agriculture was not the primary source of income for either of our families, and currently, none of our family members are involved in cattle production or commercial agriculture. one could say we were both the black sheep of our families!

We met over cattle, and growing a cattle herd of our own has been a dream since the beginning of us.

If we lack anything in the generational farming aspect, we make up for it in self-started passion for what we do.

John

John was raised in Wilson County, NC. He grew up showing many species of livestock in 4-H, including cattle, hogs, lambs, goats, and turkeys. John competed in livestock judging competitions in 4-H, which sparked his interest in livestock evaluation. He was especially interested in beef cattle. In pursuit of his dreams, John went to college in Kansas at Butler community college and Kansas State University, competing on their collegiate livestock judging teams while earning undergraduate degrees. John was a member of the Reserve National Championship Livestock Judging team at Kansas State. In line with his entrepreneurial spirit, he completed post-graduate studies and earned an MBA.

John has sought jobs to build a beef-focused resume. His entire adult life has been spent further learning about beef cattle and beef. He has managed purebred cattle farms, worked in the corporate office for a beef packing company, and has worked for an international company that specializes in breeding cattle.

Emily

Emily was raised in Guilford County, NC. She grew up raising cattle & sheep and showing Angus heifers through the National Junior Angus Association. Emily’s home farm was suburban, and this led to a double life — one of farm chores and muck boots, and another of a more traditional city life like classical violin recitals and tennis lessons. Emily was the valedictorian of her suburban high school and went to NC State University on a full scholarship through the Park Scholars program. While at NCSU, Emily was Miss American Angus for a year - the national Angus cattle queen, studied beef and sheep production abroad in New Zealand, and graduated as a valedictorian. Emily pursued postgraduate studies at UNC in pharmacy school and earned a doctorate. During grad school, Emily continued to fuel her beef cattle passions, and whenever she could carve out time to add in beef education or experience, she jumped at the chance. She was a consumer education intern for Certified Angus Beef and also worked on artificial insemination projects on several Angus ranches in Kansas.

After a few job relocations, we moved back to NC in 2016.

We decided that if we wanted to wait for the perfect time to start building a farm, we might end up waiting forever. We formed Bravo Cattle, our seedstock company under which we market breeding stock.

Over time and from conversations with our friends and family, we learned that the average person loves agriculture - they may not understand it, but they want to know more about where their food comes from and who it comes from. We continually tossed around the idea of selling our beef, weighing the challenges and hurdles we’d need to overcome to do it right. We started Bravo Steaks in 2019, and we’re proud to offer dry aged beef and Berkshire pork from our farm to you and your family.