FRESH OFF THE FARM -
Freeways & Gravel Roads and Lessons Learned Along the Way
It was just 10 years ago that a typical girl from small town North Dakota graduated from NDSU and set out into the world. With a degree in hand and framed diploma...it was easy to believe I would follow the career path dictated by the words on the piece of paper...."Agricultural Education & Extension." My first resume held all the appropriate buzz words and my first job was in the field of agriculture...and things all made sense in the world as I knew it.
Now many of you are already imagining me as a Vo-Ag Teacher or County Agent. My career path is pretty much a straight line, that still makes sense based on what my diploma says, but it isn't what I could have expected or dreamed....and let's just say, it's been more of a freeway...rather than the gravel road I grew up on.
My first job out of college was the Member Services Director for the North Dakota Grain Growers. I visited with growers all over ND, planned meetings and wrote newsletters. This job was a good fit for my background and at the same time I began working on my master's degree in business. When I completed my master's degree I decided I needed to pursue other job opportunities and I landed in Grand Forks as the Marketing Director for the Red River Valley Potato Growers.
Now here's where things start getting complicated, and I started learning some important career lessons. Career Lesson #1 - Don't Judge A Job By It's Location. As I'm sure many of you can understand...any true blooded Bison has no business in Sioux Country. Well....this Bison did end up in Sioux Country and little did I know...I was approaching the onramp to the freeway that would become my career path.
As a girl growing up in North Dakota...I didn't think much about fruits and vegetables or where the salad bowl was. North Dakota was about wheat and barley...we grew the grains that made beer and pasta for the world. Now in my job at the Potato Growers, agriculture was still part of my life, but it did not occur to me my role in the fruit and vegetable industry. Career Lesson #2 - Learn all there is to know about the business you engage yourself in. So I set out learning about potatoes, and developing a marketing plan to do so. I subscribed to the periodicals, I networked, I talked to everyone, I asked questions and I attended my first trade show where I was surrounded by 30,000 people involved in agriculture....but devoted to fruits and vegetables. It was in that first moment at that trade show that I realized just how big my world could be and it wasn't just about potatoes or North Dakota agriculture. I was now surrounded by the likes of Sunkist, Dole, Fresh Express and more...these were my competition, these were my peers.
Since my career world was now a bigger playing field...and I was beginning to understand what I needed to do....I quickly realized I needed more experience fast. It was time to find resources and mentors to learn from. Career Lesson #3 - Surround yourself with talented mentors you respect. Over the next three years I traveled throughout the U.S., Mexico and Canada promoting Red River Valley potatoes to major U.S. retailers and learning the ins and outs of the U.S. produce business.
Well, it seems Career Lesson #2 & #3 had paid off and after 3 years in Grand Forks, I received a recruitment call for a position in McAllen, TX to serve as Executive Director of the Texas Citrus Marketing Association. Quickly I had to remind myself of Career Lesson #1 and decide that maybe the Mexican border town of McAllen might not be so bad....at least it wasn't Grand Forks.
As I packed up the U-Haul and made the 2000 mile trip to McAllen, TX I had nearly a week to start making notes of everything I needed to do when I got there. I of course was only 26 years old and I was going to be a manager. I was going to set the marketing direction for a multi million dollar organization and lead its future. By the time I got there...I was on the career freeway....sometimes speeding and passing others, other times careening wildly out of control as I assumed this leadership roll. It was during this job that I had major wins, heart breaking failures and many, many lessons in strength and leadership. Career Lesson #4 - Work as long and hard as it takes to get the job done...others will notice and you will be rewarded.
During my time at TexaSweet I traveled all over the U.S. met world class chefs, talked with top retailers, worked with food photographers and advertising agencies, visited with national media and more. It was like a dream job...but now I wanted more. I wanted to move from the non-profit world to the private sector. I wanted to value my success by the return on investment it made so I went to work for a grower-shipper-importer. Now, the girl from small town North Dakota was fully engaged with daily buying and selling of products and plenty of exchanges with Mexican growers that I didn't understand well and I hoped what I was getting was what I asked for. Just 4 years earlier I didn't even know what a mango was...now I was buying and selling them and educating others. This was a job that taught me much about my self, and about the world of corporate business values....not everything is as it appears and ethics should be taught in every unviersity in every discipline. Career Lesson #5 - Know what your personal values are and what you can compromise...and what you will not.
At the end of a very long year and the closure of the company I worked for, a job offer in Milwaukee pointed me back north. The job was not all I wanted it to be...but I needed a little mental break and the ability to recharge my batteries. After a few months, it was clear that the job would not fulfill me and I was fully recharged and a new job came along and it was easy to see that all career lessons #1-5 were all in line. Today I am the Director of Marketing for an independent business and marketing consulting company that specializes in produce. Every day my job is different and I am challenged. Our main client is a franchise licensee of Disney Consumer Products. Today I oversee marketing for a company called Imagination Farms that is bringing the Disney Garden brand to life on fresh fruits and produce to help encourage increased consumption of fruits and vegetables among children. I work with Disney to develop new packaging and marketing materials in addition to consumer messaging and promotions on our website and other marketing venues. I also work with our other clients to help them develop business strategy plans, recruit new employees, launch new products or develop new business leads.
Today I often wear more business suits than blue jeans...but I still meet with farmers and see their fields which are always on gravel roads whether its orchards in Texas, strawberries in California, tomatoes in Florida or green beans in North Carolina...I proud of the hard work and pride that starts at the end of gravel roads. I'm happy to report that a gravel road in small town North Dakota put me on a highway to NDSU and eventually a freeway to a career path that provides great personal and professional rewards. Career Lesson #6 - An education provides you with the resources and opportunities to make choices in your life.
Regardless of your upbringing in the city or the country. Regardless of your degree whether in nutrition or education, marketing or merchandising...chances are you might cross paths with people that took their education and advanced with the unique opportunities that opened up before them.
Melinda Goodman serves as the Director of Marketing for Golden Sun Marketing and Imagination Farms. She graduated from NDSU in 1997 with a degree in agriculture education and extension and has a master's degree in management from University of Mary in Bismarck, ND. Goodman was named in the Top 40 Under 40 in the Produce Industry in 2005. She makes her home in Whitefish Bay, WI.
