Switching from a traditional classroom to Texas Tech Online allowed Jessi Everett to complete her degree while building a professional rodeo career and her own media company.
Jessi Everett has never believed in choosing just one path.
At 21 years old, the Texas Tech University senior ranks among the top professional breakaway ropers in the world, competes simultaneously in collegiate and professional rodeos across multiple states, manages a growing portfolio of sponsorships and recently launched her own media strategy company. Through it all, she has stayed on track to graduate with an online Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from Texas Tech’s College of Media & Communication.
“For a long time, I thought I had to choose between rodeo and school,” Jessi said. “Texas Tech showed me I didn’t.”
Thanks to the flexibility of Texas Tech Online, Everett has not only finished her degree but she has built the foundation for a sustainable professional career in rodeo and business, proving that higher education doesn’t have to come at the expense of chasing big dreams.
Born on Horseback
Rodeo wasn’t something Jessi Everett discovered later in life – it’s where she started.
Her parents were deeply rooted in the western performance horse industry. Her father, Cody Bob Everett, competed as a team roper in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), while her mother, Shana Everett, spent a lifetime training cutting horses.
Jessi grew up surrounded by horses, arenas and trailers, beginning competition as soon as she could safely stay in the saddle.
“I want to say my first rodeo was when I was 3 or 5 -- somewhere in there,” Jessi said with a laugh. “If you can stay on a horse, you can do something.”
Her early competitive years included barrel racing, lead line events and goat ribbon pulling. Goat tying quickly became her favorite, laying the foundation for her transition into breakaway roping around age 7. Her parents moved intentionally, ensuring she developed correct fundamentals before adding speed and competition.
“That foundation mattered,” Jessi said. “They never rushed anything.”
Born in West Central Texas, Jessi later moved to the Permian Basin, where she competed year-round through high school. She qualified out of her Texas High School Rodeo Association region all four years, advanced to state each season and earned multiple appearances at the National High School Rodeo Finals. At 16, she also competed at the United Professional Rodeo Association (UPRA) finals, already balancing school with pro competition.
Finding Her People at Texas Tech
Texas Tech entered the picture almost by accident.
Friends from Jessi’s rodeo circuit were headed to Lubbock, and Texas Tech’s rodeo team hosted open jackpots – competitive events where student-athletes pay entry fees to compete for cash prizes, acting as an exception to traditional amateur status rules. The events provide extra training and income for rodeo athletes, with top finishers splitting the entry fee pot. These encounters, which allowed her to connect with student athletes and the coach, confirmed she had found her place with the Texas Tech Rodeo team.
“These are my people,” she remembered thinking.
Still, arriving on campus was overwhelming.
“I had been all over the world by that point, but it was still like, ‘Whoa, this is not my small-town high school,’” Jessi recalled, with wide eyes as if she was in the moment.
She initially enrolled as a kinesiology major with aspirations of becoming a chiropractor specializing in integrative therapies. She loved the sciences and thrived academically. Jessi thought that, perhaps, rodeo would help pay for school and then fade into the background.
A Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity
During her first year in college, Jessi’s rodeo career went from a trot to a full gallop. She wasn’t just competing at a high level, she was winning.
“That’s when I realized: you can only pursue something like this once,” she said. “Rodeo is one of the only sports where you can compete professionally and collegiately at the same time.”
After her first year, Jessi made the pivotal decision to fully pursue rodeo.
She spent the summer competing on the Canadian professional circuit, qualifying for the Canadian National Finals Rodeo at just 19 years old. By the time those finals arrived in October 2024, she had already transitioned to Texas Tech Online, allowing her to return to Canada and compete without interrupting her education.
There, she finished as the Reserve Canadian National Champion, marking her first major financial win and solidifying her belief that rodeo could become a career.
“That was the moment when it clicked,” Jessi said. “‘You can do this. You can actually build a life out of it.’”
Texas Tech’s rodeo coach, Swaize Lee, has witnessed firsthand Jessi’s exceptional talent and drive as a member of the rodeo team, consistently pushing herself to excel in the arena through skill, focus and determination.
“Her work ethic and commitment reflect a deep passion for the sport and a dedication to representing her team with pride,” Lee said. “We hope to see her in Casper, Wyoming, for the College National Finals Rodeo this June.”
Rodeo is Demanding, Education is Flexible
Jessi’s decision to move fully online to finish her degree wasn’t about convenience; it was about continuing to excel in both arenas.
Texas Tech Online made it possible to do school anywhere while maintaining the academic rigor she valued. Her classes were time-intensive and demanding, often completed on airplanes, in hotel rooms or while waiting to compete.
“There’s some perception that if you’re online, you’re not really doing school,” she said, also shaking her head. “That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
On her first day of this school year, Jessi was in Ellensburg, Washington, parked beside her horse trailer. She took her first-day-of-school photo with a backpack, sent it to her mom and headed to the arena that night.
The demands of Jessi’s schedule continued to multiply. During the current season, collegiate and professional rodeo events overlapped heavily, and sometimes, inconveniently.
In April alone, she drove to California for major pro rodeos, flew back to Texas for single-day collegiate competitions then returned immediately to California. Her horses were stationed in two states along with a network of family and friends who helped keep everything running.
“Texas Tech Online is the only reason this is possible,” she said emphatically. “There’s no other way I could compete at this level and finish my degree.”
Managing a Personal Brand
As Jessi climbed the world rodeo standings – finishing the season ranked 40th – media attention and sponsorship opportunities followed.
She learned quickly that athletes and brands were missing out on a lot of opportunities when it came to personal branding and social media.
“I had a really narrow vision of what my future needed to look like. Texas Tech helped open that up,” Jessi explained. “Performance is only part of it. Your image, your brand, your reputation are what keep sponsors with you.”
Jessi eventually changed majors to communication studies with an advertising minor, an adjustment driven as much by practicality as passion.
The shift was driven by her realization that she had an opportunity she could not pass up with professional rodeo. It was going to be very difficult to be a professional rodeo athlete and a full-time, on-campus student at the same time. She knew her education and rodeo were equal in terms of setting herself up for a successful future.
“Communications was offered as an online degree path that allowed me to still get a quality education that could apply in useful ways to my day-to-day life,” Jessi explained. “That being said, I had no idea just how applicable it would be and how much I would come to fall in love with it.”
That decision quickly proved critical.
Through her coursework, Jessi learned how to analyze contracts, negotiate sponsorship terms, interpret analytics and assertively articulate her value. That confidence has been a game changer.
Today, she manages partnerships with more than half a dozen brands, sponsorship agreements that vary from seasonal apparel and equipment to performance-based and monthly social media contracts – experience that would later inspire her newest undertaking.
Starting Something of Her Own
At the beginning of January, Jessi took another leap: launching Scorpion Consulting Services LLC, a media strategy company focused on helping professional rodeo athletes and brands grow their online presence and navigate an increasingly digital sponsorship landscape. Since many contracts now include social media performance requirements unrelated to competition results, athletes may be leaving money on the table.
“I wasn’t planning to launch until after graduation,” she said, chuckling softly to herself. “But the opportunity was there, and I knew I had to go for it. These athletes are incredible competitors. But without media strategy, they’re not getting the exposure sponsors expect.”
The response was immediate. Jessi signed her first clients within weeks, with several more expressing interest. She realized the job she was looking for didn’t really exist, so she created it.
Because Texas Tech Online equipped her with practical, applied knowledge, Jessi now runs her business from wherever rodeo takes her.
More Than a Degree
For Jessi, Texas Tech provided more than flexibility. It offered community. She spent enough time on campus to build relationships with professors and teammates, including those who later encouraged her to share her story.
“If you can, place yourself where you can still network,” she advises other online students. “That mattered so much for me and my success.”
Jessi knows it sounds cliche, but she believes wholeheartedly that there’s no reason online students can’t have it all.
“Texas Tech gave me that opportunity,” she said, becoming a little misty-eyed. “I’m sad to graduate because this chapter has been incredible. But it’s also set me up for everything that comes next.”
Find out more about Texas Tech Online undergraduate programs.