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Alumni Spotlight: Marji Guyler-Alaniz


Passionate is a word that describes our July Alum of the Month, Marji Guyler-Alaniz, perfectly.  Marji has dedicated herself to making a difference in the agriculture industry. She has her own business called FarmHer where she focuses on women in agriculture. She photographs women farmers and ranchers and shares the images in an effort to update the image of agriculture. She wants to show women to the world through her beautiful images of them at work.

“My goal is to capture the beauty in the everyday and my style is to show who these women are through subtleties. Subtleties that show these are women and portray that they are agriculture. Too often in our world, the beauty of a woman; of an image, is judged by a face. These are beautiful women, doing beautiful work and my goal is to bring an appreciation to what they do,” Guyler-Alaniz said.

She also sells FarmHer and RanchHer merchandise both online and at various events and fairs. She speaks about FarmHer and shares the photos in a traveling display at events around the country.

While Guyler-Alaniz was in 4-H, she was mostly involved in sewing, but participated in photography and showing her cat as well.

“My favorite memory was wearing the clothes that I made in the 4-H fashion show at our Polk County Fair,” Guyler-Alaniz said.

She did a big project every year with her mom and it taught her a lot.

“Though I did not realize it at the time, 4-H had a big impact on my life! Though my photography skills were just starting in 4-H, it gave me the diving board to jump in and explore.” Guyler-Alaniz said. “That was really a start to my photography driven career.”

Marji keeps herself involved with 4-H as an adult by working with National 4-H on a new co-branded line of 4-H and FarmHer shirts. She was able to be a part of this program due to her status as a 4-H alum. A percent of each sale goes to 4-H!

Check out her clothing at http://www.4-hmall.org/Category/marji-creative-apparel.aspx.

Thank you Marji for your continued support of Iowa 4-H!

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