KENDRA'S BEST BEGINS HERE
“When you’re open to new experiences, you have a well-rounded view of the world and how to be successful.”
For Kendra, those new experiences meant moving to new locations in order to grow her career with Richardson International. Being open to taking on new roles in different places means she has a wealth of experiences to draw on to help her – and her team – be successful.
Why Richardson
While completing her agribusiness degree at the University of Saskatchewan, Kendra learned about Richardson and its Agribusiness Development Program at a career fair. It was during her interview with Richardson that her perspective changed. Kendra mentioned she was hesitant about moving and was given some advice, “Don’t start where you’re going to end.”
Understanding that getting out of her comfort zone would help her grow, Kendra moved to take a position as an agribusiness assistant in the Agribusiness Development Program.
“I wouldn’t be the person I am today without that little push to expand my horizons.”
Four locations, four positions, and seven years later, Kendra is now the manager of the Richardson Pioneer location in Hussar, Alberta. Throughout her time in the Agribusiness Development program, Kendra learned about many aspects of Richardson’s business, including crop inputs, agronomy, merchandising, and grain operations. She even spent a week at Richardson’s head office in Winnipeg and the divisional office in Regina.
“There was a lot more to Richardson than just the elevator I was currently working at,” explained Kendra. “I was exposed to a lot of pieces of the puzzle.”
Now in her role as Location Manager, all those pieces are important as Kendra oversees a team that sells crop inputs, provides agronomy services, and purchases grain.
Skills in Action
With her job requiring a wide range of skills, Kendra is thankful for the experiences she had through the Agribusiness Development Program.
“Moving out of post-secondary, I didn’t feel like it was the time of my life to be specialized.”
Kendra took university courses in ag economics, finance, accounting, and marketing – all areas she relies on when talking with growers, whether it’s about marketing their grain, trying new crop protection products, or the credit application process. Science courses like biology, chemistry, biochemistry, and plant science were useful. Kendra also recommends a course like rhetorical communications to learn how to speak publicly in a professional environment.
Over her career with Richardson, Kendra has improved her communication, teamwork, negotiation, and problem solving skills.
Making an Impact
As she’s developed her skills, Kendra knows the success she’s had in her career is due to her willingness to seize opportunities.
“On a personal front, I became a lot more independent,” said Kendra. “On a professional front, it developed my career. It might take 20 years to get the experiences I gained in two years from working at different locations.”
Moving to take new roles also helped Kendra learn about different crops and establish new relationships with different growers and colleagues – one of her favourite parts about the job.
“At Richardson, we have such a developed network of resources. There are so many that come with vast experiences you can learn from.”
Also knowing that Richardson is working to feed the world, shipping grain to global markets, “It’s pretty cool to be a part of that,” Kendra said.
Word of Advice
When asked why students should consider Richardson, Kendra explained:
“Agriculture has an ocean of opportunities and Richardson is a company that is integrated so you can explore that ocean with one company.”
