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Howdy!

It’s hard to believe that I have already been living in Indy for one whole month! Time sure does fly when you are having fun! Last week I had the bright idea that I would also post on my blog what I turned in to my supervisor in the format of a “weekly report.” Well…. A good friend informed me that she had no idea what I was talking about, so I will leave that part out this week! ;)

This week was one of my favorite weeks on the job so far. Monday, I spent my last “ride a-long” day with my Mentor, Jeff Cole. We visited 6 different fields for various service calls. The weather here in Indy jumped from 60 one week, to 90 the next, so needless to say… the corn was a little stressed (as were the farmers.) On a service call, our job is simply to visit and evaluate the field, and try to come up with a solution of what could possibly be wrong or how the plants were damaged. It could be anything to weather, chemical burn, or possibly even compaction in the soil due to large amounts of rain. This was a rather long (and HOT) day, but each and every day I spend in the field, I learn so so much.

On Tuesday morning, myself and the other intern (Zach) headed to Louisville, KY for the Central Mid-West District Meeting. We spent the next two and a half days here really learning a lot about our specific territory, as well as Dow AgroSciences in general. One extremely neat thing that I took away from this week was the Personal Talent Inventory (PTI) that we completed. When I say completed, I guess as an intern I should just say the PTI that was completed for me! I am guessing this was done by the four Sales Reps that I work with, in addition to my boss the District Sales Manager. If you are familiar with this, people just tell all the areas where they feel you are extremely good at, and maybe a few areas that you can “continue to develop these talents to become a real strength.” It is neat to see what everyone has to say about you, and definitely good to see areas where you could probably improve.

While I think this exercise would be somewhat difficult to complete with a large group, a group of co-workers, small class, or clubs and organizations would be the perfect opportunity for this. In fact, it was definitely a view on leadership that I have never taken part of until now.


On Thursday, Zach and I made the journey back to Indianapolis and included a few stops along the way. He needed to stop and meet with a grower to collect some Chlorophyll samples. Me on the other hand, I had to stop and meet a farmer…. Where I am pleased to say that I made my first official sale of the summer! The Manager at a Crop Production Services (CPS) location asked that I go and visit with this guy about possibly using Instinct on his fields. As you know, Instinct is one of the Nitrogen Stabilizer products that I am focusing on this summer. I must admit that it was a little bit awkward just walking into the field, sales sheets in hand, and start initially trying to make a sale. He initially told me that he would use the product for 20 acres…. Not sufficient for this chick! Seeing how he was already side-dressing (method of applying fertilizer where the Instinct would be mixed) I was able to get him to agree on 200 acres! Much better! This was a good feeling to be able to tell my boss that I sold him that amount of product. In addition to making a sale, I developed a great relationship with this particular individual and I know he will be a great person to work with throughout the rest of the summer as I follow up on the results of this product.

On Friday, I had somewhat of a “slower” day as I focused a lot of my efforts on setting me appointments for the following week. I am now completely on my own, so I am the boss of my own schedule from here on out. I expect to have between 30-40 different plots, so as you can imagine, this is going to keep me very busy. It is neat to be only an intern but have the large amount of responsibility that I have.

As each day passes, I continue to learn more and more about myself. I have learned how to be content spending a lot of time completely alone, I have gained an appreciation for small things such as having a washer and dryer in the home, and I have truly been reminded that in order to gain big, you also have to risk big.

Blessings,
Macy