See the latest Downtown News.
Cole Breeden, Breeden Shelter Insurance and Cole Breeden Fishing
I knew from the time I was six years old that I wanted to fish for a living.
We moved to Lebanon when I was five, because my mom took over the insurance agency. So I pretty much grew up here my whole life. I went to school here, then I went to Drury in Springfield for college. Haley and I lived there for two years after college, so we were in Springfield for about six years before moving back.
We met in college, we had some classes together at Drury. I was born in Wichita, then we moved to Colorado when I was about three, and then to Lebanon. Slowly, the rest of mom’s family migrated here too. It really became home for everybody.
I liked growing up here. I had a lot of friends. And after being in Springfield for six years, I realized I would never want to have grown up in a city that size. Being in a smaller community is just the best.
I was super involved in school. I played basketball, football, track, and fishing and was part of student council and all kinds of stuff. I think if you’re involved and do a lot, it’s great. Not everybody likes small towns, but maybe they weren’t plugged into things. I’ve always liked being involved.
Coming out of college, I knew I wanted to fish professionally. That was always the goal. I started trying to figure out how I could make that work. I looked for jobs that would let me travel or take long breaks, and nothing really worked great, except when your mom’s your boss and you can kind of do what you want.
From the time I was like six, seven, eight, I knew I wanted to fish professionally. I saw it on TV and that was it. My dad fished with me for fun, but he never did tournaments or anything. Watching it on TV is what really made me want to do it.
This year we had 18 tournaments on the schedule. Each one’s about a week long, so that’s 18 weeks, four and a half months on the road. With the baby coming, I’m probably skipping a fall series, so maybe 15 or 16 tournaments. But that’s still a lot.
You can make a good living at it, but it depends. If you don’t win money in the tournaments, you could end up in the negative. Entry fees and expenses add up quick.
But the guys who are successful get sponsorships and work those relationships hard. It’s definitely a full-time job.
It’s stressful, because fishing isn’t a sure thing. The rules help, but every lake and location is different. What works here in the Ozarks might not work somewhere else. So even if you apply everything you know, it still might not work out. I do better here because I know the area. But it’s not just fun fishing, it’s work.
Even so, I’d fish every day if I could. I still love it. Even doing it half the year, I’d do it every day if I could.
I was the first person from Lebanon to go to college for fishing. I got a scholarship to Drury, which I didn’t even know was a thing going in. It wasn’t a lot of money, but it was something. After I graduated, I was the assistant coach for the team for about three years. I’d travel with them, check into hotels, pay for meals, that kind of stuff. I’ve also captained boats for the high school team, done that a lot. And it’s cool to see the team growing. When I graduated, we had maybe six kids who really fished. Now there are a bunch. One tournament last year had eight teams, that’s sixteen kids.
Fishing as a sport is growing. Almost every high school has a team now. College teams are everywhere. When I was in high school, we’d have 250 boats in a tournament. Now the high school tournaments have over 350 sometimes.
I’ve learned that just like in any business or profession, the harder you work and the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Some of the best fishermen I know would be successful at anything. They’re smart and they work hard. It’s the same in fishing as it is anywhere, pick what you love and do it, and you’ll probably be successful.
I like working at Shelter too. I work with my mom downtown. We’re in the perfect spot. You can see the arches from our front door. We’re right next to Jude’s and all the shopping. It’s a great place to be.
Community is everything to us. After six years in Springfield, we realized how much we missed that feeling of knowing people and being known. Here, you can’t walk into a restaurant without seeing someone you know, and that’s what makes it feel like home. You’re not just anonymous, you’re part of something. Being involved in your community adds up to a better life. It helps your business, your relationships, your sense of purpose. Now that we’re raising a family here, we know how important that is. Our child is going to grow up surrounded by people who care, just like I did.
Even in the last year, downtown has changed a lot. When I started working with mom, I could get a front parking spot every time. Now the Railside lot is full every day. That’s a good thing. Downtown is still growing. I love being able to walk to get lunch or coffee, just take a break and get some fresh air. It’s a little community here.
I like insurance because it gives me a home base. It’s meaningful work. To work in insurance right, you really have to care about people. You try to help them in every area of their life. I really like that part of it.
Haley and I are excited about the baby. We’re four months along now, and we’ll find out the gender at the 20-week scan. We’ll be happy either way, but we do plan to eventually have a boy. We need a son to carry on the family name. I’m an only child, and my dad had a sister, so I’m the last Breeden in our line. Whatever our child wants to do, we’ll support them, just like our families supported us.
I think people sometimes underestimate how much a strong community matters. When we lived in Springfield, we didn’t really have that. Moving back here reminded us how important it is. I’ve talked to friends who left too, and we all say the same thing. After a while, you realize how much you miss what you had here. It’s not just about the place. It’s the people.
