More Than Muddy Paws: How One Oklahoma FFA Member Is Gaining Real-World Skills Through Her SAE
Hands-on experiences through FFA have helped Mikaela Yandell turn a lifelong passion for animals into real preparation for a future in veterinary medicine.
For Oklahoma FFA member Mikaela Yandell, pursuing her dream of working in veterinary sciences has always been a top priority. But when Yandell joined the FFA organization her freshman year of high school, she had no idea what was just around the corner: a creative Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) turned business venture that would allow her to have meaningful, hands-on experience with animals like she never could have imagined.
A current sophomore at Cashion High School, Yandell is the owner of Wash and Walk, a small, community-based washing and grooming service for dogs that merges animal care with FFA values. Wash and Walk acts as Yandell’s entrepreneurship SAE, while also giving her unique business experience. With washing sessions held in her local FFA chapter’s agriculture barn, Yandell is able to service community members with convenient animal care and grow her resume for her dream career. Through Wash and Walk, Yandell has learned responsibility, communication and time management while serving others—skills that align directly with her long-term career goals.
“I love dogs and wanted my SAE to be something I genuinely enjoyed,” Yandell said. “FFA helped me realize that I could take something I’ve always been passionate about and turn it into experience that prepares me for my future, with my long-term goal being to someday own a veterinary clinic for small animals.”
Potential customers text the number on Yandell’s mom’s Facebook flyer. She contacts them with follow-up questions regarding the dog’s breed, size and temperament. Then, she schedules a wash session, which usually lasts for just over an hour. Sessions typically include washing, grooming and brushing. Yandell goes the extra mile to keep the dogs she’s washing calm, and she often plays music in the background during her washing sessions.
“I think that it makes the dogs a little bit calmer, just having something going on in the background,” she admits. “Then I’ll usually talk them through the process of washing. I know they probably don’t understand me, but I hope they can sense I’m trying to help them.”
Wash and Walk thrives off of repeat customers and community involvement. Yandell’s after-school schedule allows her to wash two to six dogs a night, making $20 a wash.
Mikaela Yandell works with a dog during a Wash and Walk grooming session at her local FFA chapter’s agriculture barn.
One of the defining aspects of Wash and Walk is Yandell’s commitment to giving back. She pledges to donate 10% of the funds raised from each wash to the Kingfisher County Dog Shelter, in support of animals that haven’t found their forever homes.
Additionally, she fosters and is an example of how to care for animals and help her community. Serving alongside her mom, she chairs the annual Cashion Achievement Day Dog Show, where contestants enter their dogs in categories ranging from agility to best costume. “I think the dog show’s important because it shows the community how smart and intelligent dogs really are and how compassionate they can be,” Yandell says. “Every dog should have proper enrichment, proper love and care, and I think people seeing how others interact with their dogs and how their dogs interact with their environment could be really helpful to some who are maybe struggling to give their dogs the same thing.”
Looking ahead, Yandell’s goals for the future of Wash and Walk include growth and gaining more experience with a variety of breeds. “I just hope my business keeps expanding,” Yandell notes. “Honestly, my favorite part of Wash and Walk is that I get to see all the different kinds of dog breeds. It’s pretty cool.”
As she aspires to attend Oklahoma State University to pursue veterinary sciences, Yandell will carry the values she’s learning about animal care beyond her hometown of Cashion, Oklahoma, bringing them with her into college and beyond.
