At the Oklahoma Youth Expo, Oklahoma Farm Reporter Maci Carter had the chance to visit with Lacey Dale Gracia and talk about this year’s “This One’s for The Girls” event put on by Diamond Hats. Gracia, who is now with Diamond Hats, was previously the Marketing Manager for Express Ranches.
This year’s theme centered around Bees, as girls were encouraged to “Bee Kind,” “Bee Thankful,” “Bee Present,” “Be Professional,” Bee Yourself,” “Bee Informed,” and “Be Polite.” Over 300 girls attended the event filled with positive messaging and energy.
“It was the dream born in my heart that I visited with Mr. Bob Funk about in the early days of Diamond Hats when we were sitting at the National Finals Rodeo women’s luncheon,” Gracia said. “I said, “I really want to go home and impact girls, give them a couple of hours to escape out of the barn where they are working alongside the boys, and as hard as the boys, and just give them an impactful party experience where they are reminded that they are girls, and they can come sparkle,’”
At the event, Gracia said attendees had the chance to visit different themed booths to engage in fun activities and learn lifelong skills.
The keynote speaker was Stacy James, who Gracia said has made a tremendous impact on her personal growth and career.
“We were humbly blessed for her to come join us this year,” Gracia said. “She is a world-renowned national leader and speaker. I have sat at her feet at Mary Kay Cosmetics for the last 18 years of my career, and she helped me grow as a leader, and I just wanted to share that gift with these young ladies.”
While the primary target audience for “This One’s for The Girls” is an OYE exhibitor, Gracia said the event is open to the entire state of Oklahoma.
“Any young lady and mom that want to come are welcome, and that also brings people to OYE to experience OYE and showcase an amazing event that we have here,” Gracia said.
Click here for the full schedule for the 2024 OYE. The Oklahoma Farm Report team will be snapping pictures from start to finish- and you can see them as we add them to our Flickr album for 2024- available here. If you want to look back to the 2023 OYE- click here for our pictures from last year’s event.
Our coverage of the 2024 Oklahoma Youth Expo is sponsored by Hilliary Communications. More than 60 years ago, the Hilliary Family acquired a small telephone company in rural southwest Oklahoma. Now in its third generation, the company has grown from a single exchange with just 100 access lines covering 22 square miles to now serving more than 19,000 customers in 22 counties throughout Oklahoma & Texas. The company also offers IP television service and internet speeds up to 1 Gig. Click here to learn more about Hilliary Communications.
