John developed his auctioneering skills from his uncle, A.J. “Jack” Campbell. A.J. was one of the premiere horse auctioneers and pedigree men in the country. John also credits Jerry Keffeler for technique and understanding buyers and Jake Norton for developing his huge personality behind the microphone.
Jerry Keffeler and Ray Winter hired John in 1981, not as an auctioneer, but as a full-time field representative. Keffeler would let John sell some tack at the monthly horse sale and then slowly worked into the bi-monthly hog and sheep sale. John’s big break came when Dodge City’s auctioneer, Jerry Anglin was laid up. Ray Winter called and said “Be in Dodge City Wednesday morning. You’re going to auctioneer.” The sale manager, Jack Steinmetz, was the King and had a persona and image bigger than life. John’s aggressive style and salesmanship immediately appealed to Steinmetz. Ray would call John during breaks saying “Jack likes you, he really likes you, keep going.” John had passed the Cowboy Jack test. As word got out about John’s high energy salesmanship, and over the top animation and enthusiasm, he became in high demand, as he would sell over 20 county fairs a year and was the lead auctioneer for several years at the Colorado State Fair.
In 1985, John married his wife, Valerie. They met in November of 1984 and he was so sure she was the one, that he proposed in January and married in May. They are blessed with two children Marissa Struthers (Jerod) and Collin Ray Campbell. They also have two grandchildren, Shania Struthers and Austin Struthers. Having celebrated their 40th anniversary, she’s “still the one”.
In the first year of John’s employment, Winter Livestock in La Junta moved to the top of the states’ cattle auction receipts and has remained #1 for 43 consecutive years. John became General Manager in 1990 and added seasonal load lot Monday calf sales to handle the increased volume and special Friday Stock Cow sales. In 1998, La Junta started rebuilding the entire yard and the facility became the industries finest. That same year, Winter Livestock and John were honored as the nation’s top promotor by the North American Limousin Foundation. In 2000, Winter Livestock added video sales to reach consignors out of La Junta’s trade area. John traveled from Miniot, N.D. to Texas, and from the Utah border to Arkansas filming cattle.
In 2020, John hired Kenneth Lewis to manage Winter Livestock’s day-to-day operations and to run the ring. John continues to work every day for Winter Livestock through order buying cattle, managing the companies outside cattle, visiting customers, and videoing cattle.
For several years, John’s YouTube and Facebook weekly market report and commentary had several hundred thousand follows registering as many as 600,000 views. His always humorous, to the point, conservative commentary spoke volumes about rural America’s value system and lifestyle. John’s colorful and sometimes harsh assessment of the situation gained him the reputation across the U.S., Canada, Europe and even Australia as the guy that would “tell it like it is.”
John’s management style is almost exclusively centered around customer service. “Over 80% of a customer’s decision making process on big ticket items is based on emotion. You cannot control the market, the weather, commodities or the buyers. But you have complete control over customer service. Management’s goal should be to make an ambassador out of every customer.”
“Winter Livestock is my life and my life’s work. To satisfy a customer is not enough. Overwhelm them with personal service and sincere gratitude and you will have a friend and customer for life.”