It’s interesting because not every farm works the same way and you get a feel for how each farm runs."

Lisa Koladich considers herself “one of the token city kids” of the 2014 crop unit on Lakeland College’s Student-Managed Farm – Powered by New Holland (SMF). The crop technology alumna grew up in Sherwood Park, Alta., and was inspired to seek an agricultural career by weekends spent at her grandparents’ farm.

That outsider perspective gave her an edge that she still employs today in her career as a regional account manager for Nutrien Ag Solutions.

“Most of the students came from farming backgrounds,” Koladich says, recalling her role as assistant general manager of her SMF unit. Each year, the second-year crop SMF students are charged with managing the farm with guidance from faculty, making decisions on harvest and field management, marketing and seeding in the spring.

“The students would come to meetings saying things like, ‘my family does things this way,’ or ‘my dad does it that way.’ I would listen and learn. In my job now, I go in just as open-minded. I really listen to how each producer runs their own business before giving them my opinion. A lot of it is understanding your customer and how they run their own business.”

Lakeland did more for Koladich than help her develop that open-minded philosophy. Her work-integrated learning experience gave her the edge she needed to start her career before she even graduated.

“I was hired to work at Richardson Pioneer in Lamont,” she recalls, adding Lakeland’s 2013 campus career fair was where she met recruiters and handed out her resumé. “I wrote my last exam in April, had the weekend to move out of the dorms, and started my first day of work on the Monday.”

She worked there as the crop input manager for five years before spending three and a half as a territory manager for Farmer’s Business Network. Now, she is a regional account manager at Nutrien, a role she enjoys.

“I’m on the road a lot,” Koladich says. “I have my own list of customers and support them with their crop input needs, like fertilizer, seeds or chemicals. I also help other sales staff too, jumping into the truck with them to go on farm calls.”

She enjoys those aspects of the job, saying, “It’s interesting because not every farm works the same way and you get a feel for how each farm runs. I’m selling the same product year over year, but every day is different because I’m dealing with different people.”

Interacting with people is an essential part of the job, and Koladich says, “College definitely helped me get where I am, but it’s also about my people skills and how I carry myself that helped me get into this role. I can’t believe I’ve already been working for 10 years. It’s been good. I’m happy I chose the industry I’m in and Lakeland definitely set me up for success.”