An Interview with
TYSON DURFEY
Rodeo Life: Why is it important to you to wear pink to raise awareness for
Breast Cancer Tesng and Research What sparked this passion
Tyson Durfey: I’ve been doing this for so long now it’s the people that come up to
me and tell me their story and tell me that I gave them inspiraon. Originally,
I had done it for my stepmother. At the me, she was going through some
cancer scares. Right before I was heading to the Canadian Finals, they came
back from the doctors and she’s prey bummed out and she said, “I’ve got two
grapefruit-sized tumors surrounding my ovaries.” I was racking my brain trying to
think of ways to li her spirits to ust make her feel beer. I went to her and said,
“what if I wore pink all ten rounds of the NFR and all six rounds at the Canadian
Finals and it’ll ust be between me and you – kind of like my private dedicaon
to li your spirits.” It was really easy for me back then because I didn’t have any
sponsors, I could literally change a shirt and I was ready to go at the nals. That’s
what started it – I did it for her. I pledged to her that I would donate ten percent
of the money that I won to Susan . Komen.
Aer the NFR, I wasn’t going to wear the pink shirt anymore. But during the
rst two rodeos in the new season, I had a lot of people come up to me
wondering why I wasn’t wearing it they expressed to me how it lied their
spirits and helped them. It le me feeling that there’s something about this.
If I can help people with this, maybe it’s what I am meant to do – and that was
eleven years ago.
RL: Between compeng, your businesses and your two daughters, how do you
nd a healthy balance What is your secret to a strong, lasng marriage What
advice do you have for someone uggling professional and family commitments
TD: There are four things: Create habits that serve you, have rituals, keep a
schedule and do everything out of love.
Anything that doesn’t serve what you want for your future maybe has to go
whether it’s drinking or playing extra golf. I’m not saying that you can’t have fun
too, but the fun things that I do include my family. Everything that we do brings
us closer together. A lot of people work away from home and I am very blessed
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