Youngest of four children, Pat Mann Phillips grew up on a farm and family ranch in Johnson County surrounded by cattle, pigs and horses, several of which she showed at local livestock competitions. "Anything I could put a halter on with four legs."

"My parents were farmers and ranchers. My dad was a county agent" before opening up an agricultural supply store.

So with that kind of background, when it came time to pick a career what did she choose? The oil and gas business, starting out as a landman and moving on to business development where she bought and sold properties, then labor negotiations — all before going out on her own as an independent energy consultant. It was a career that took her to many different locations.

But when she and her husband Tim Phillips moved to Houston that they decided to go all in on the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, joining it in 2001.

They began volunteering on committees in 2002 (she started on the Directions and Assistance Committee) and now 21 years later she has been elected the first ever female chairman of the board of directors for the HLSR now in its 91st year of existence. That's from among volunteer ranks that have grown to 35,000 a year.

"Once you get here you start learning about the other committees," Phillips said, adding that there are 110 different committees. "As you interact with those different committees you start learning more and as you spend more time out here you start learning more. The huge depth and breadth of the show is pretty incredible."

From that point she and her husband both joined Corral Club and did Special Children's which serves the special needs community, Little Rustlers, Top Hand Horse Show, then they helped to start the Junior Rodeo Committee which is a leadership development program for 17 to 20 year olds.  "They shadow the other committees so at the end of their term as a junior they have a great idea of where they might want to serve as an adult."

It's a hard-won honor achieved through countless committee assignments and she says she's still a little surprised that it's hers. Asked if she'd ever thought she'd be named the chairman of the board of directors when she started volunteering, she said:

"I could not have ever imagined in my life that this would be where I am today.  It shows that if you really love something if you're really really committed to its purpose and the mission and you're surrounded by 35,000 like-minded people with a big heart that all want to support our show and our mission, anything can happen.

"I have a very  supportive husband . He was the chairman of the Junior Rodeo Committee. So we both have drunk the Kool-Aid. Some people call it milk punch."

Although she says she never made it to the Houston show as a youngster in 4H, she knew it was the big time. And she wants others from around the globe to experience it. "I want it to be on everyone's bucket list."

As she rose through the massive ranks of volunteers she was elected to board of directors in 2012. In 2016 she became a vice president at the show for a three-year term starting in 2016. In 2019 she was elected to the executive committee where she'll remain as the chairman of the board of directors.

Why is this important?  In June 2017, I wrote a story about the HLSR's executive committee after discovering there were still no women on the organization's executive committee. It wasn't their turn yet.

Instead, it was an all white male club. Which when looking upon a photo of the group at the time, wasn't real inspirational if you were female or a person of color.

Back then I talked  with Joel Cowley who was the HLSR president and CEO who pointed out the gains women had been making in volunteer positions for the group, but that they still hadn't achieved the top tier. And he didn't know when they would.

"Historically you go back 30, 40, 50 years and our volunteer corps was largely made up of men. Those who volunteered 15 or more years with the show are 63 percent male," he said.

That is changing now, in fact it was changing back then, Cowley acknowledged.  And, in fact, it changed faster than Cowley had predicted with Phillips being named to the executive committee in 2019.

Phillips is very politic about all this.

"When I joined the show over 20 years ago, the volunteer work force was smaller and it was predominantly male. Because of our succession plan model, this was sort of a natural succession to me. The show rewards and elevates people based on their service and contributions made to the show.

"Fast forward to today after 20 years the show volunteer workforce has almost doubled. A lot of women have joined the show. Our demographics have totally changed. Women are just naturally rising in leadership roles because they have an interest, they have the time to commit to it, they’re starting to see a lot more women in that role."

"It's a true meritocracy. I feel like the show has done a good job as more women have joined the show of allowing them to have those opportunities. I have always said one of the great things about the show is we are inclusive not exclusive.

"I have never had more support from the show both from men and women that recognize that this is a good thing.  As long as you love this show and you support its mission you could do really well," she said. "We have more women on the board now we have more women chairmen." 

"The main thing is to focus on the pillars of our mission statement: that's making a connection with the community and agriculture and continuing to drive that commitment to education in the community with our programming but also our commitment to Texas youth. We have given over $575 million to the youth of Texas since our beginning. We're giving out scholarships right now."

"We try to learn and improve with each show. What I will be doing is working with the executive committee to help develop our long range strategic objectives, working with the CEO and his great staff.

"I want the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo to be this magnet to draw people to Houston," she said. "We have international days the first week of the show. We have probably close to 3,000 visitors who come in from all over the world for that week.

"I just want it to be on everybody’s bucket list."