“Bulloch Family Ranch” chronicles the dramatic everyday adventures of Julie and Rusty Bulloch, a fun-loving working class couple that juggles multiple jobs to make ends meet. Together, they are the proud “parents” of more than 25 kids. Only two, Amanda and Brodie, are biological. The rest are teens who have lived at the Bulloch Ranch during various times of dire need.
For almost two decades, the Ranch has served as a place where troubled teens are welcomed with open arms and given a chance to get back on the right track. Rusty and Julie are committed to giving all their “kids” a stable, caring, nurturing environment along with the tools they need to become productive adults.
I was able to talk with Rusty and Julie about the show, parenting, and more. “Bulloch Family Ranch” is an original series that is on the UP network on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET. Check out their Facebook page here!
Art Eddy: First off tell me a bit about the show and what viewers can expect when they tune in.
Rusty Bulloch: They can expect a little bit of everything. They can expect fun. They can expect a little bit of different drama, not in the made up kind. A little bit of football. A little bit of family. A whole lot of faith and a whole lot of friends.
Julie Bulloch: You see a gamut of emotions from happiness to tense, nervous, emotional to what everything in real life brings.
AE: What inspired you guys to make that commitment to help out these kids by bringing them into your home?
RB: We talked about this especially recently since the show is on UP (Network). There was never that moment. It was just something we started doing and just kept doing it. There was never a moment where we were like ‘Oh we need to do this full time.’ It was as if God just sent us one kid after another. It was just something that we kept doing.
JB: We had the emotional support of our two children, Amanda and Brodie. They were the ones that at times would say “Hey mom, dad we have to take this person in. They need us.’
AE: That is great to hear. It seems that Brodie and Amanda adjusted to this lifestyle and from what you said they are the ones who encourage this? That must make you feel good right?
JB: It sure does. To see your kids reach out and have the compassion and want to help others that are less fortunate or just need a helping hand to get straightened out in life. That just makes your heart swell with pride.
AE: Do you ever get overwhelmed with having 25 kids/young adults to take care of? Do you ever get to have your own down time?
RB: (Laughs) I don’t know we are still looking for that. Just recently we have gone 60 days of not having anybody live with us. I got to admit it was kind of nice. We got to do things that we never get to do, but it also got boring.
JB: We weren’t bored with each other. (Both laugh)
AE: What made you guys decide to do a TV show?
RB: When they first approached us we thought it would be kind of fun. We thought it would be neat, but it looks like it wasn’t going to happen. But then when we started filming, okay this stuff is real.
JB: Putting our life out there was a little scary at first. Knowing that UP TV has our best interest for our kids and the kids that live with us really lifted a burden off of us.
AE: What are some of the most fundamental things that you teach your kids?
JB: We try to teach them that material things are not important. We are not very materialist people. My favorite saying is time is something that you can give and it doesn’t cost anything. We try to teach a good work ethic and just to be honest and to succeed in life. Not to be a burden in society.
RB: One thing that I really push is responsibility. Every day you are going to make a decision that affects the rest of your life. Make it a positive decision. You would be surprised that one wrong decision could literally change everything from that day on. Take responsibility. Make a positive decisions and live your life. One of my favorite sayings is I would rather see a sermon than hear one any day. Live that sermon.
AE: What are the major differences in your opinion of growing up now to when you were growing up?
RB: As far as the kids go I think what I am seeing now is the lack of daddies. Anybody can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a daddy. That is the problem with the younger generation is that they don’t have the dad role model to teach them this stuff.
JB: There is so much emphasis put on material things. Having the latest smartphone, having the latest videogame. All these things are great, but they tend to take over young people’s time. They don’t know what it is like to go outside and enjoy nature and let the world entertain themselves. They have to have these electronics gadgets to be entertained or they will be bored. You do not want to say that you are bored on this ranch. There are weeds to pull. There are horse stalls to clean. There is never a reason to be bored.
AE: You have been married for nearly 30 years. How important is that show your kids how a marriage can be successful?
RB: I think the biggest thing we work on is that we are team. We don’t give 50/50. We give 100/100. If you don’t go into your marriage and stay in your marriage 100 percent you are going to lose a mother or lose a daddy. Although we don’t always agree. We may butt heads a little bit, but 15, 20 minutes later we are having fun again.
It is no problem for us to disagree. We just have to show them that you can disagree and still love each other. Treat each other with respect and be a team.