Northern Nevada native Carrie Ann Sattler has been coming to the Reno Rodeo since she was a young girl. “We used to sit in grandstand one, which you know were the 'cheap seats,'" Sattler says. “I was so in love with being in the sun. I just love being in the sun, anyway. So I laugh when people are like, ‘Oh, I want to be in the shaded arena.' That's not my favorite spot. But my mom had bought me some pink cowgirl boots and somebody from the news channel, I was so little and cute, wanted to interview me and I absolutely refused. And now my mom jokes that you can't get the microphone away from me.”

Sattler’s love for the Reno Rodeo and Northern Nevada community has only grown throughout years. The moment she turned 18, she started volunteering at the rodeo as a wrangler, before accepting an invitation to become a member two years later. Seventeen years later, Sattler was voted in as the first female president in Reno Rodeo history! She has served as the committee's Sponsors Chair for the last seven years along with her full-time job as the Peppermill Reno’s Regional Sales Director.

Photo courtesy of Reno Rodeo.

“I think I've always wanted to make the biggest impact I could with the skills I have,” Sattler says. "Over the years, having all the relationships and connections throughout the PRCA and our community at large and just our members and volunteers, I feel like it's a really great opportunity for me to use all those connections and further advancement of the association.”

She will serve as the rodeo’s second Vice President in 2022 and first Vice President in 2023 before taking over as President in 2024. “To be able to make history that's so meaningful at a time where it's even more meaningful than ever," she says. "It's really inspiring, both to me and to the community at large. It's moving.”

As the Women’s Professional Rodeo Association continues to grow, the Reno Rodeo added Women’s Breakaway Roping to their slate of PRCA events at this year’s shows along with Barrel Racing, the premier rodeo event for female riders.

While Sattler is breaking barriers in the rodeo community, not only does she want to inspire other women but men as well to go out and do something they are passionate about. "I want to inspire men and women to do great things and do things that match their heart song," she says. “This definitely matches mine, and I know that there's been many people before me that have sat in this position and wanted to do the same thing. So I'll just do everything I can to make that positive impact the same way that they have.”