Kimberly Ratcliff

Meet Kimberly Ratcliff

With a wide smile to match her wide-brimmed cowboy hat, Kimberly Ratcliff embodies the tenacious, can-do spirit for which Texans are best known. Kimberly wears many hats—rancher, entrepreneur, community advocate, and doting daughter. Building upon the dreams of her father, Wesley, Kimberly is bolstering a bold family legacy and encouraging families in her East Texas community to do the same.

Wesley’s lifelong love of the land has played a pivotal role in shaping who Kimberly has become. He grew up working on his uncles’ farms and baling hay to pay for his tuition at Prairie View A&M. His degree in physics then led him to NASA, where he was part of the team of aeronautical engineers who landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon.

Following a successful career at NASA and beyond, Wesley and the family returned to Texas from New York and bought some land. After a few years, Wesley was eager to find a more profitable operation and in 2002 found a special piece of land and a turnkey operation.

“Even while my dad built a rewarding career, he was always yearning for a piece of land to call home,” recalled Kimberly. He purchased the sprawling 2,500-acre Caney Creek Ranch near Oakwood in 2002, a turnkey deal that included ranch equipment and cattle.

As Wesley began working on the new ranch operation, Kimberly remained in New York to attend Long Island University. She majored in marketing and computer science, and she landed a promising internship at Bloomberg Financial that led to a full-time marketing position.

But after several years, Kimberly felt a strong pull back to Texas. “I was working with commodity traders on Wall Street, and there was a big disconnect between what was happening in the New York-based markets and the commodity producers on the ground, like my dad,” recalled Kimberly. “That disconnect led me to leave Bloomberg in 2007 and return to Texas.”

Kimberly enrolled in the rigorous Ranch Management Program at Texas Christian University and much to her surprise, became the first African American to complete the program. After graduating, she was ready to tackle her biggest challenge yet, one that has become her bigger purpose. For the last 17 years, she and Wesley have worked hand-in-glove to manage and scale the ranch. With Kimberly’s business acumen and mind for marketing, she has helped turn the ranch into a diverse and profitable business with global possibilities.

“When I came home, my dad’s friends were either going back to their family land or buying land with retirement money, and they wanted me to help them get started. Kimberly helped create an agricultural co-op to provide a way for local producers to connect, share resources, and collaborate in the field and beyond. This ultimately led her to establish Ratcliff Premium Meats, which sells high quality ranch-direct beef from their ranch and local producers.

“We started with one little ice chest at the farmers market, and now we have thousands of customers per month from families who shop our website or the farmers market, as well as wholesale to restaurants, hotels and chefs nationwide,” said Kimberly. Andrew Zimmern’s popular Family Dinner TV series on Magnolia Network recently featured Kimberly and Ratcliff Premium Meats, providing a big boost for business. “After the Family Dinner episode aired, our online business exploded.” Kimberly’s two older brothers, Dwayne and Ben, have even jumped in to help with the business, making it a truly family affair.

As Kimberly seeks to build a legacy for her family and her community, she knows that sustainable agricultural practices will ensure the longevity of that legacy. “I have a deep appreciation for the land, and our family’s focus on sustainable farming practices doesn’t simply protect the earth; it allows us to keep this ranch going for future generations. Multigenerational ranch families like mine are the backbone to our food supply and vital to our future. My goal is to look down on this ranch in 100 years and see my family still running it.” That’s why Kimberly agreed to be a Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation ambassador, where she hopes to share her story and inspire others to appreciate the wildness of Texas, the vastness of our Texas spirit, and why we should be inspired to conserve it.

Alongside her work to build her business and steward the land under her care, Kimberly also maintains an active presence in the agricultural arena. She currently serves on Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s prestigious Private Lands Advisory Committee, the Governor’s Commission for Women, and many other prominent committees. Through her newly established Ratcliff Community Base Organization (CBO), she is actively helping more families in her community establish their own legacies. The nonprofit assists Black producers and local youth with sustainable agricultural practices through education and minimizing barriers, including funding acquisition hurdles.

“It is extremely important to my entire family to give back to those around us,” said Kimberly. “We know that generational success starts and ends with helping others, and we are on a mission to make a difference for today and tomorrow.”