“I grew up around rodeo and in rodeo,” Tatum said. “Both of my parents rode. My grandparents rodeoed. My great grandpa actually is from Oregon, and he was a stock contractor for 40 plus years. So rodeo has just been in my family for a very long time, and that's all I've ever wanted to do.”

Tatum’s main event is calf roping, something he found a knack for as a little kid.

“I have worked at ropein' calves, well, really, my whole life, but extremely hard for the last five or six years,” he said.

Tatum is still in the PRCA but is shooting for the National Finals Rodeo. He’s well on his way with placements in the 2023 Junior World Finals Championship, the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo, making the top 25 in the PRCA | RAM World Standings and ranking fifth on 2023’s Rookie of the Year list.

In 2024, Tatum ranked in the top two for eight out of 12 of his competitions.

IUOE 701 came to sponsor him when Business Manager James Anderson struck up a conversation with Tatum’s dad at a local rodeo.

“I was very blessed that 701 sponsored me, and I got to hang out with [James Anderson] at Sisters, Oregon this year, and really get to know him there and sit down with him and his wife and just a great guy,” Tatum said. “I'm really blessed that I got 701 to be able to sponsor me and do everything that they do for me.”

Life on the rodeo circuit is hard, and the expenses rack up quickly.

“Being a professional rodeo athlete and being sponsored means a lot,” Tatum said. “It helps us get up and down the road and pay for expensive diesel and everything else. It means a lot to have 701 sponsor me."

Tatum said he’s equally happy to share 701’s mission.

“It’s a really cool attribute to them, everything that they do for the community,” he said. “Everything that they do for young people is a really, really cool aspect of the [union], and it means a lot that they took a liking to me and sponsored me.”

Sponsorships for athletes like Tatum help keep a dying industry alive and in turn helps the community's rodeos visit.

“Rodeo brings a lot, a lot of money into the community,” Tatum said. “From people from the outside, either spectators coming to watch or contestants. Some bring their whole families to watch and hang out. I think it's quite awesome how rodeo works. It brings everybody really close together.”