I grew up on a farm in Arkansas – driving tractors and pickup trucks that were much too big for me, hauling hay, feeding baby calves and growing chickens for Tyson Foods. As a little girl living in rural America, the thought of one day working for some of the biggest global corporations and travelling around the world really didn’t even enter my imagination.
I went to the University of Arkansas, studied psychology, developed a particular interest in industrial psychology and eventually found my way to the doorsteps of Tyson Foods again — this time seeking a summer intern job simply to get a bit of work experience in an industrial environment. The only job going was a marketing internship. I didn’t have a clue what marketing was about, but decided to go for the job anyway — and much to my surprise they hired me. Perhaps no one else applied for the job. I never asked… didn’t really want to know.
As a farm girl, I hadn’t really appreciated the origins of these ‘chicken people’ – as far as I was concerned, they simply picked up our chickens and gave us some money. Then, as a young twenty-something intern, I walked the halls of the Tyson offices and quickly became acquainted with the remarkable story of a man named John Tyson who, with a pickup truck and a remarkable ambition, sparked the start of one of the most successful food companies in the world. That was the beginning of my appreciation that brands are much more than the marketing stuff that goes on – it’s also about the people behind those brands, the ones with the dreams and the desire that give great brands their leg-up in life.
I was fortunate enough to work under the leadership of John’s son, Don Tyson, during those early days of my marketing career. He led the company through a period of phenomenal growth and was a celebrity in his own right. Don passed away earlier this year, but his ‘no bad days’ philosophy will live on in the heart of this farm girl from Arkansas.
