2027 Keynote Speaker

Jess Gamick O’Neal 

Session Title: Back in the Saddle: How I Found Healing, Hope & Resilience Through Horses, Music & Ranching

Synopsis: A keynote experience blending western soul, music, grit, humor, and hard-won hope.

Session Time: Thursday, January 28, 2027 – 11:15 AM – 12:15 PM

Biography: Jess Camilla O’Neal is an international award-winning singer-songwriter, bestselling author, speaker, and third-generation Wyoming rancher whose life has been shaped by extraordinary highs, devastating losses, and the decision to keep getting back in the saddle. At just 17, a life-altering accident changed the trajectory of her life and introduced her to resilience long before she had a word for it. At 27, she lost her father, another defining chapter that reshaped her understanding of grief, family, faith, and what it means to keep moving forward. Years later, Jess would face an even greater fight: a late-stage breast cancer diagnosis. Through treatment, surgeries, uncertainty, and recovery, the lessons she had learned through a lifetime of horses, ranching, music, loss, and starting over took on an entirely new meaning. Jess’s professional career is as remarkable as her personal journey. She has collaborated with artists including Reba, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Terri Clark, Don Edwards, and Aaron Watson, signed record deals in Nashville, London, and Los Angeles, and earned nominations for Best New Album of the Year, Best New Female Artist, and seven Best New Song of the Year nominations. She has also performed and spoken internationally while touring as a U.S. cultural ambassador. Today, Jess brings those worlds together on stage. Blending powerful storytelling, humor, hard-earned perspective, and live music, she speaks about resilience, grief, courage, healing, faith, and the strength found in getting back up when life knocks you down. Her message isn’t about pretending hard things don’t hurt. It’s about discovering that courage can coexist with fear – and that some of life’s hardest trails can lead us back to who we were meant to become. Rooted in the mountains and ranching traditions of Wyoming, Jess offers audiences something increasingly rare: a message of hope that has actually been lived. And sometimes, she brings her guitar along to tell the parts of the story that words alone can’t.

2027 Roundtable Speakers

Jonathon Henrichs, DVM

Session Title: Keeping Dude Horses Healthy from the Vet’s Perspective

Session Time: Wednesday, January 27, 2027 – 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM

Synopsis: Based on feedback from last year’s DRA convention, Dr. Henrichs will discuss horse health topics including vaccination, deworming, dental care, workload, diet, and more, followed by a Q&A session.

Biography: Jonathan Henrichs has worked as an equine veterinarian in southeastern Arizona since 2022. While in veterinary school at Washington State University, he was a Dude Ranch Foundation scholarship recipient. Prior to vet school, he spent five years working several different equine jobs across the country including as a wrangler at White Stallion Ranch. In 2026, he founded his own practice, Empire Equine Veterinary Services. He lives outside Tucson with his family and their many animals, including two mares, May and June.

Session: Hiring, Management and Culture Creation in Today’s Modern Era

Session Time: Wednesday, January 27, 2027 – 8:15 AM – 9:45 AM

Chase Averill – Averill’s Flathead Lake Lodge 

Biography: Chase Averill is the 3rd Generation at Flathead Lake Lodge. Growing up, Chase worked all aspects of the ranch, from wrangling to front office, the dish pit, grounds, waterfront, and more. After returning home from college, Chase and Kate spent a few kid-free years building and working in hospitality operations in both Jackson Hole and Seattle. Chase returned to the ranch in 2014 and took over as GM in 2017 and is now the owner. During the last 8 years, Chase has overseen large-scale facility improvements with a continued focus on maintaining and preserving the authentic soul and hospitality Flathead Lake Lodge is known for.

 

Doug Averill – Averill’s Flathead Lake Lodge 

Biography: Doug Averill, owns and operated Averill’s Ranch, Flathead Lake Lodge, est 1945 for 45 of its 80 years. Doug is the second generation which is now operated by the oldest son Chase. Doug recently started a new ranch with his second son Laine, located just 4 miles from the Lodge. This Ranch specializes in raising and training rope horses, cattle and agriculture. Averill’s Ranch has been selected in the top 2% hospitality business in America.

Doug has a degree in business finance/real estate law and a PHD in dude ranching! His wife Maureen of 43 years accompanied him in managing the ranch while raising Chase, Laine and daughter Quindee.

Cowboy and ranching has been Doug’s life and passion having growing up on the Dude Ranch and operating several large cattle, elk and bison ranches in Montana. Doug earned a place in Montana’s Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame for establishing Montana Rodeo Schools with World Champions and still teaches rodeo skills to kids. Other accolades include the National Dude Ranchers Hall of Fame and the military’s Patriots award, the highest civilian honor. Doug outfitted with his dad one of the first hunting outfitters in the Bob Marshal Wilderness. He enjoys sailing, fishing, restoring wagons, classic boats and historic vehicles and is a pilot.

Oliver Klingenstein – Darwin Ranch

Biography: Oliver Klingenstein has spent much of his life around horses, cattle, and the landscapes of the American West. For more than a decade, he has operated Darwin Ranch, a remote, off-grid guest ranch in Wyoming’s Gros Ventre Mountains. A graduate of Bowdoin College, where he studied History and Environmental Studies, Oliver is particularly interested in the history and future of working ranches in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. At Darwin, he oversees everything from training horses and land stewardship to infrastructure and guest operations, with a focus on preserving the ranch’s simple, historic, authentic character.

 

Gift Shop Panelist Speakers

Session Title: The Magic of the Dude Ranch Gift Shop Panelist

Session Time: Wednesday, January 27, 2027 – 1:30 PM – 2:30 PM

Barbara Varian – V6 Ranch 

Sally Kelsey – Nine Quarter Circle Ranch 

Tammy Yurich – Bar Lazy J Ranch 

 

Biography: Tammy Yurich came to work at Bar Lazy J as a kid’s wrangler in 1999 just looking for a fun summer job. She originally intended to each only stay for one season, but immediately fell in love with the horses, the land and the guests. She eventually met her husband Chad also working on the ranch and together they raised their three kids while managing various parts of the ranch program over the years. She now runs the day to day operations of the ranch as the General Manager and lives year round with her family helping care for the horses, the property and managing the staff and reservations.

 

 

 

 

Jewelry Judy

Biography: For 35 years, Jewelry Judy has helped dude ranches turn guest memories into timeless keepsakes. She’s provided exclusive, custom retail goods that guests take home to relive their Western adventure every single day, from branded deerskin gloves and rustic steel Christmas ornaments to artisan silver jewelry and traditional stampede strings. Judy also partners directly with ranches to elevate and reimagine their gift shop environments, turning retail spaces into unforgettable extensions of the ranch experience.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Speaker Proposal

If you are interested in speaking at our event in 2028, please send a biography, cost, proposed topic, and links to previous presentations by May 1, 2027, to Bryce Albright at [email protected].