Samuel Cossio was born in Zacatecas, Mexico on a cattle ranch where he learned to work cattle alongside his dad. He moved to California in 1996, and in 1999 moved up to Washington state where he began his career in the cattle industry. Through his first employer he earned the opportunity of feedlot operations through promotions. He started on the maintenance crew, then the cattle processing crew and eventually moved to feeding, doctoring, shipping and receiving, and riding pens. By 2001, he was elevated to cattle supervisor and in 2002, he was an assistant manager at a 12,000 head feedlot. By 2004, he was promoted to general manager. Over a 20-year career in feedlot operations and management, he gained a wealth of knowledge and experience in team building and management all while helping the company grow to a one-time capacity of 90,000 head with three finishing yards and four backgrounding lots.

 

Through this career spanning all levels of experience within cattle feeding, he’s developed strong expertise in operations and management. Early on, he knew how to get good results on paper, but felt his teams were not performing to their true potential. When Sam shifted more of his focus to investing in the people working at all levels of the business, true success followed. Over time Sam developed an intentional approach and key ways to invest in employee development. From implementing strong onboarding processes, to offering language skills and financial literacy support, Sam has proven that company culture matters and it can be improved to reach operations goals and better employee performance and retention. Through this professional and personal experience, he has developed a replicable management approach he offers to clients around the country as a passionate consultant. Crews of Sam’s experienced cattle processing crews serve several feeding operations in the pacific northwest to ease staffing challenges and deliver experienced, professional cattle handling services. In 2021, Sam officially launched his company Back To Basics, to make a positive impact and help as many cattle businesses as possible strive for better through their management and operations challenges. Back to Basics specializes in providing cattle processing crews, skilled labor for feedlots, as well as leadership consulting services.