Life’s transitions can be challenging but rewarding
The agriculture industry is grappling with change, perhaps more than ever before, which is why it’s also more important than ever for farmers to understand how to successfully navigate transitions, both professional and personal.
Lesley Kelly has seen a lot of change throughout her career and she’s grateful for that, despite the fact that some of it came unwillingly.
After leaving the family farm in Watrous, Sask., she got a university degree in marketing and went to work in the corporate world. At that point, farming wasn’t on her radar, she says.
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But things changed when she and her husband were given the opportunity to become part of her family farm’s succession plan. Living in the big city with two young boys, the family saw the appeal of farm life.
However, in an early conversation with her dad about getting involved in the farm, he told her the business wasn’t in a financial position to support her as well as her husband and brother.
She remembers being disappointed at the time, but years later, when her dad was battling cancer and she was gearing up to take over his role on the farm, he brought up that conversation again.
“My dad said, ‘it wasn’t that there wasn’t a role for you. I wanted you to go out into the world and learn about yourself, and all your passions and what you love.’ And then he said, ‘I didn’t want you to feel like you had to fill my shoes.’ ”
Kelly realized that her father’s dream for her had come true.
In her time away from the farm, she had pursued many of her passions and interests: launching a snack food company using ingredients from the family farm, becoming a well-known social media influencer and advocate for the agriculture industry and helping launch the Do More Agriculture Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting mental health in farming.
She also realized that because she didn’t follow a straight line to her role on the farm, she was afforded the opportunity to clearly define her career and life goals and to pursue them on her own terms.
Although she’s now farming full-time, she remains focused on her goals and active in several of her other ventures.
She’s also taken on a role as a board director with the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission.
“My outlook in life is to help make a positive impact,” she says.
“I want to help the industry, I want to help other farmers and I want to help my farm. That’s led me to do these things.”
Unexpected journey
Evan Shout also didn’t follow a straight line in his career and credits that approach with taking him places he never expected.
Over a decade ago, he made the decision to sell the family farm, in which he was a stakeholder.
“It was family versus the farm,” says the father of two boys.
“I always chose family over the farm.”
He went on to pursue his certified public accountant designation and a career in the finance field. After working for major accounting firm MNP for many years, he decided to transition again, taking on his current role as chief financial officer at Hebert Grain Ventures (HGV), a 22,000-acre grain and oilseed operation in southeastern Saskatchewan.
More recently, Shout, along with his HGV partner, launched a farm coaching and consulting business, a diversification strategy from the original business.
Shout has discovered that he enjoys this new job most of all.
No matter what type of transition farmers are planning, Shout says that to be successful there are a few things to keep in mind.
A good first step is simply taking the time to make a plan and think through all the implications and possible outcomes.
Specifically, create a business plan, identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and ensure your current operations are optimized in terms of financials, operations and strategic management networks.
“It’s all theoretical and things might change, but it’s more about making sure you have a really strong business case before you go forward.”
Advisers can help with this, and farmers should be mindful to rely on expertise as needed, he says.
“Farmers are really good at farming. It’s really high risk to go into an industry you don’t know anything about instead of just leaving your money in an industry you’re really good at.”
He also says that defining what success looks like to you is a critical early step because it’s not necessarily always about retirement, financial goals or business growth.
For a lot of farmers these days, he says the goal is actually just having more time, for example, to spend with their spouse or to watch their kids’ hockey games.
“You don’t realize how many farms are working three to four thousand hours a year. And honestly, their definition of success isn’t growth. It’s actually slowing down.”
For Kelly, her definition of success was honouring her curiosity and gaining new experiences.
She says those experiences were invaluable because they guided her career journey and strengthened her ability to achieve goals and serve others.
For example, she says if she hadn’t launched the snack food company, she wouldn’t have become interested in blogging and connecting consumers and farmers.
Her experiences as an influencer exposed her to farmers across the country, which got her thinking more deeply about mental health issues in agriculture.
Her advice to other farmers thinking of transitioning to a new role is to honour their curiosity and be open to new experiences because the experience alone might be the most valuable part of any new venture.
“You never know where it might lead. And there are other ways to define success.”
Source: www.producer.com