Growing Our Future
Leadership is a Journey
In this episode of the "Growing Our Future Podcast," host Aaron Alejandro welcomes Neely Nelson, the Head of Public and Government Affairs, Strategy, and Citizenship for ExxonMobil. Aaron emphasizes the importance of nurturing the future by bringing on exceptional guests who share their time, expertise, and insights. Neely, being no stranger to the FFA and a prominent figure in agriculture and government affairs, joins the show to discuss her journey, gratitude, and leadership experience.
Aaron and Neely discuss the transformative power of FFA in shaping the lives of young individuals. Neely mentions the positive impact of FFA's leadership programs, such as the legislative lead program, which opens students' eyes to career possibilities in advocacy, trade associations, public relations, and government affairs.
Story Notes:
- Gratitude and Positivity
- The Power of Perspective and Positive Focus
- Embracing Opportunities and Staying Open-Minded
- The Value of Leadership Skills
Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org
In this episode of the "Growing Our Future Podcast," host Aaron Alejandro welcomes Neely Nelson, the Head of Public and Government Affairs, Strategy, and Citizenship for ExxonMobil. Aaron emphasizes the importance of nurturing the future by bringing on exceptional guests who share their time, expertise, and insights. Neely, being no stranger to the FFA and a prominent figure in agriculture and government affairs, joins the show to discuss her journey, gratitude, and leadership experience.
Aaron and Neely discuss the transformative power of FFA in shaping the lives of young individuals. Neely mentions the positive impact of FFA's leadership programs, such as the legislative lead program, which opens students' eyes to career possibilities in advocacy, trade associations, public relations, and government affairs.
Story Notes:
- Gratitude and Positivity
- The Power of Perspective and Positive Focus
- Embracing Opportunities and Staying Open-Minded
- The Value of Leadership Skills
Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast. In this show, the Texas FFA Foundation will take on a journey of exploration into agricultural science, education, leadership development and insights from subject matter experts and sponsors who provide the fuel to make dreams come true. Here is your host, Erin Alejandro.
Speaker 2:Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or whenever you may be tuning in to the Growing Our Future podcast, you know we just enjoyed bringing this podcast to all of our listeners, because the future is just that. We got to grow it, and you can't grow it without planting the right seeds. To help plant those seeds, we bring on these incredible guests, subject matter experts, who are willing to share their time, their talent, their testimony, their expertise, their insights, and today is no different. Today we have Neely Nelson. Neely is the head of Public and Government Affairs, strategy and Citizenship for ExxonMobil. Neely, thank you for joining us today.
Speaker 3:Thank you, erin, it's great to be here.
Speaker 2:Neely is no stranger to the FFA. We're going to talk about that. She grew up in an ag education household. She grew up in livestock production. We're going to talk about that a little bit. We're going to talk about the pathway to where she's at today. Neely, I like to start every podcast with one question, and that question is this what are you grateful for today?
Speaker 3:You have to start with the hard ones, right, erin, I've been very, very fortunate, I would say, especially after COVID, you really appreciate the health and safety that you and your family have. That's what I would say today.
Speaker 2:Family health and safety. I couldn't agree with you more. The thing is, if you get to watch in the news or you're shuffling through much too social media a lot of times, it's really easy to get a little negative, to get a little toxic. It is.
Speaker 3:Especially during COVID. I think it was so different for all of us. I actually rethought some of the people that I engaged with, because some folks could really get really brought down into a negative focus or viewing everything through a very negative lens. It was certainly a very tough time, but I think you have to look for the positive and find the opportunities and discomfort. I think we all reconnected with what was important to us and things that we took for granted, like our health and family time, are things that I think we reevaluate now and put a different level of emphasis and focus on or at least I know I did.
Speaker 2:I don't think there's any question. I think everything you just said I tell people. I guess in my lifetime, and probably yours, I cannot think of a single thing that impacted everybody that I ever knew. Everybody, everybody, was impacted by COVID in one way or the other. But I would say this about that In the world of agriculture, we're kind of used to it, whether it's a flood, a geopolitical, a market disruption, tornadoes, fires, you just learned to it. It's like you said, you got a choice. The choice is how are we going to address it To your point?
Speaker 2:A lot of people have addressed it in a very positive way. Some dealt with it a different way. We had to choose through our filter what do we want to hear and what do we want to engage with? A lot of truth to that. Well, thank you for sharing that. I agree with you. I love my family, love my country, love my freedoms, love my liberties, love the fact that at the end of the month I got a little bit of money left over. Maybe if I needed to help somebody else out, I could. I think there's a lot more to be grateful for than to be disappointed about.
Speaker 3:Absolutely.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing that. Okay, now you carry this incredible title. Obviously I've had a front row seat in your career. It's real easy for me to say well, I expected it. But for those people that didn't know how Neely got into this job, into this position, into this role, can you kind of walk us through what your career path looked like? And it did? It started in the Ag Education Home and it started in the FFA, but you're definitely somebody that we're proud to see succeed and I want you to take us on that journey of how you got to where you're at.
Speaker 3:Okay, great. Yeah, as you mentioned, erin grew up at the time. It was a rural area. It's not so rural anymore.
Speaker 3:My dad was an Ag Science teacher, so we grew up with cattle and livestock. I started in 4-H when I was eight or nine and so we started showing livestock, started doing some of their leadership programs, and it was something that we would do as a family. And then, you know, I'd always go along with dad as he would take his FFA teams to contest and, you know, be on the outside looking in, anxious to be able to speak the creed or do parliamentary procedure, because after school when he would have practices, I would sit in the back of the room and listen, and so it was something that I looked forward to. Obviously. When I got into high school, I joined the FFA. They didn't have junior FFA at the time. So I joined FFA and, you know, was involved in as many things as I could, from the leadership to the livestock activities. You know we knew a lot of Ag teachers and a lot of my friends obviously came from kind of FFA Ag backgrounds.
Speaker 3:I went to Tex-Tex, san Am, on an agriculture scholarship, majored in Ag development with an emphasis in journalism, was on the livestock judging team. So it did continue to a lot of those things that I had done. I was a state FFA officer so that first year I also did, you know, my dual FFA duties as state vice president. So it continued to stay with me and it was all of those leadership activities and the friends and networks. So when I got into A&M I was involved in a lot of different kind of Ag related activities or leadership programs, you know, continuing that. I graduated had the opportunity to be a part of the inaugural class of the George Bush School that's located there at Texas A&M. It was the first class tied to his presidential library, so had a chance to be a part of that. It was extremely fascinating because he would come back. He would bring former secretary of state Baker, other speakers in his son at the time George W was the governor of Texas, so he actually came and invested. So the interaction, you know, was really fascinating and built on all of those leadership activities that I had grown up doing.
Speaker 3:And then my in this area was environmental policy, so closely tied still to agriculture. I had done a couple of internships over the years. So at the time I was a legislative assistant for agriculture during a summer for Congressman Stenholm At the time. I also did an internship in the Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission that was the name at the time but in that regulatory agency, in the commissioner's office, so had a chance to look at how we regulate water rights and other aspects of that that also cross in, you know, from oil and gas to agriculture. And then when I graduated, I had the chance to join ExxonMobil in Baytown, which at the time was their largest manufacturing facility, joined and never looked back.
Speaker 3:I've had extremely fascinating career. I love the variety that it offers, the leadership foundation that I was given FFA I pull on that every day and while it's with oil and gas, there is such a close connection with in coexistence, particularly in Texas and New Mexico and many of the rural areas we've got oil and gas developments and so coexisting together is something that I think is important and you know it's one of the reasons that we've been a proud supporter of the Texas FFA science fair. There's a nice tie there. The focus on science, stem education is extremely important and so many folks miss that opportunity, you know, depending on where they are and the opportunities they have through their school programs, and so that's something that we're proud to be a part of.
Speaker 3:So, you know, when you look back you think did I think I was going to get here? You know you never have a roadmap or a vision, but it all seems very logical to me and it was really built on that strong foundation. You know, if I wouldn't have had that foundation it gave, provided the scholarships that allowed the opportunity to be a part of the Bush which one of those was additive and kind of brought me to where I am today, something I've enjoyed. My brother also was a state of FA officer, so you know he followed his own path, coming up through FFA as well. But I think we will all Hardly agree that that leadership foundation and that ability to network and engage with with others across the state is is invaluable.
Speaker 2:Okay, we can stop there. That was good. No, I'm just kidding that, but you know nearly that right, there is exactly why enjoy doing these is because If people will just tune in and listen. It's not that I've got to ask you a specific question, it's just if you'll listen to somebody's story, if you'll listen to their testimony, there's an these incredible nuggets of gold and just in your story I picked up on several things, and it started very young for you, by the way. So congratulations, number one. You were paying attention. You said as you said, as Nathan ninth grader, you were looking at 4h and you was paying attention to what my dad was doing. I was watching the teams that were competing Heard, what you said there's a lot of wisdom there and you know it's like I tell my kids.
Speaker 2:I said you know, listen, life is like a cash cram. And they're like what do you mean? I said there's a lot of people don't even sign up, they don't even put their name on the list. And I said you got to be willing to pay attention, that there's a list and you got to put your name on there and then, when you get your name on there, you're going to have to show up and when you show up you're going to have to hustle. But if you catch it, that's when the real work starts and that's your career. That's what you've done. You were paying attention. You said I want to try that. I got to build my professional network.
Speaker 2:I love when you talked about building your professional network both in high school and in college and then, as you interned, you expanded that even more. And then, when you got to ExxonMobil, I love the fact that you said what's next? There's got to be another opportunity here. So it sounds like your whole life has been built on some very simple philosophies that when doing a career, you're going to have to do it, and I think that's a very simple philosophy. That when duplicated, they continue to work. Is that fair?
Speaker 3:Absolutely, and I think you know to your point I've been extremely blessed and you look back over your life and you think of all the opportunities you were giving and 100%. You know God had a vision in that my parents gave me a solid foundation. It was very fortunate. But you also have to make things happen because, to your point, you have to show up. You know you don't just compete and excel in a certain thing just because you sign your name on a list to be part of it. You have to be willing to work and to practice and to improve and to get back up when you fail. You know prioritize. You know today, you know we have my daughter's 13. And you know the technology influences that they have is so different from what they have and it's easy to let life pass you by as you're sitting on a device and you know, keep reminding her and she's very engaged in but that's, I think, so many of us sit there and then you know we look up. We've lost a whole year. We've lost an opportunity that we missed because we were engaging in something that was fun at the time but really didn't allow us to make an impact or for others to make an impact on us. And so I think sometimes we have to just kind of step back and think about what we really want from life and what you only get out of it, what you put into it. And you know, I think I'm a firm believer that you've got to show up, as you said, and want to be a part. And you know that was the thing I was, because I could sit there and watch these students. You know I could see their achievements. You know dad was an act teacher. We had a couple of other act teachers, mr Vols, you know, long time and, and they're hard workers that would work with the students. They'd be willing to do night practices after school, before practices. You know all of those things, but the kids have to show up for that too. And so you know there are so many champions out there, but everybody has to play a role together.
Speaker 3:And so I think that's one of the you know, the piece, key piece of advice is you know, don't do what's maybe fun or engaging at the time. I mean, ffa is absolutely fun, but you also have to put in the work. And so I think it's sometimes just stepping back. And what do you really want out of life and what do you really want as your opportunities? And those opportunities then open doors down the road and so you can't just look up and go.
Speaker 3:I wanted this great job but I wasn't willing to do the things along the way that allowed me to get there. And you know, if you want to go to college and find ways to engage, to get scholarships, if you want to find opportunities, look for internships. If you want to, you know, set up certain jobs. Then you work on certain degree paths. You know all of that is is a plan and it makes sense, but I think so many times again, life will pass you by and you look up and you go. I wish I would have focused on that two years ago, because now I'm out of time.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's no doubt that if you're not careful you'll miss an opportunity. That's why I said you got to be paying attention. When's when's the sign up? You know you got to be paying attention and again, you've said a lot of things here that I want to. I want to kind of flesh out, because it's really good stuff listening to you talk. Number one there are over 3000 high schools in the state of Texas. Everyone has got to graduate in class. That means that they're going to all graduate. They're all going to be out looking for a job, a scholarship or an opportunity.
Speaker 2:So for the young people that are listening, my question to you is what is your competitive edge? What separates you from your peers? Because somebody's, like Nealey's, paying attention and they're looking for the talent pool. They're looking who's going to fill these roles in this company, who's going to fill the roles in this organization? So what skill set are you developing that gives you a competitive edge and can give you a leg up against the competition? And I think, if you listen to what Nealey said, she was always paying attention to, how do I improve myself? What can I learn from my peers, you know, when I see them excel, how can I duplicate that when I see them stumble. How can I avoid that? But I heard those things loud and clear as you told your story, nealey.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I wanted to share, because I think, as a Nealey is also a member of the Texas FFA Foundation Board of Directors Nealey, one of the things that y'all supported is our lead program and our legislative lead program, and I think one of the things I found this very interesting I don't know if you remember this or if I shared it with y'all, but when we did the very first legislative lead program and the legislative lead is where we bring students and teachers to the Texas Capitol and we put them through a two-day seminar on how to become a trusted advisor to their elected officials Somebody that people lean on, lean into, want to know their opinion about things. But it's because they trust them. But in that, nealey, I was surprised that one of the kids and their critiques, one of their number one takeaways I could not believe this was, they said we did not realize there was a career there. We did not know that we could go into advocacy, into a trade association, into a company's public relations and governmental affairs. They did not know that that existed. Now I don't know where we lost that along the way because, like you, I knew that existed back in my day in Ag, science and FFA. But I think you're right I think we've got these distractions today that sometimes we're not always paying attention to those opportunities to sign up but at least by the Foundation Board and y'all supporting that project at least we were able to bring that to the kids.
Speaker 2:But in your role, what does a government affairs, public and government affairs and strategy and citizenship job look like? What do you do?
Speaker 3:Well, and there's a lot of variety to the job, and I think that's one of the reasons I love it is that no two days are alike. At the end of the day, everything that we're doing is trying to advance the reputation of the company and enable our ability to operate, so it has a lot of components. You know, I look back and you talked about competitive advantage. You know, I would say you know, willingness, I think, is the key thing. I think there's so many times, you know, we'll even have candidates that we interview, and you know I hear this from folks that work at other places, and you know, I think, so many times people say, well, I only want to do this, I'm only. This is what my vision of something is, and I think sometimes, to your point, we don't know what's out there till we actually see it. So I think that openness and that willingness to try something, to get your your you know feet on the ground, to get a grounding, be exposed to different things, because over time, that's how you determine what you're better at than other things, what you have a passion for versus other things. You know, my internships were all fantastic, but the thing that they helped me do the most was they eliminated career opportunities for me because I knew after doing an internship that wouldn't be necessarily the right fit for me. It's a great learning, wouldn't have replaced it, but that helped me then focus a different direction. And you know, we always say when folks are coming in they should be interviewing us as much as we're interviewing them. Finding that fit is going to be important, but sometimes you don't know what that fit is until you've had, you know, a chance to try some different things. And so you know every day is different.
Speaker 3:A lot of what I do is focused on leadership, so it's working with our teams, helping our leaders, you know, develop their goals and a strategy so that their teams know what they're working toward. You know advancing the business objectives, but a lot of that really is leadership focused. And so you know, I think I go back again. It's one of those things that you take for granted, because everybody has that leadership experience when you're coming up through FFA and then you go out to campuses for recruiting or you go and you interview candidates or just folks that you come in contact with and you know, I know that it's the lost art of writing, I think you know, but the thank you notes that I get from the ambassadors every year at the FFA convention are far better than most thank you notes I will get from a senior graduating somewhere, because people just don't focus on, you know, writing and that engagement, that personal touch, and that's something that we get enough of, a that's just automatic. And that poise and that confidence, that ability to communicate, you know we'll judge, I'll judge the science fair and kids that are sophomores, juniors, and you'll go, wow, they're more impressive than these folks that I just met on the college campus that are graduating, because it's a level of focus and engagement that they put in, they put in the work.
Speaker 3:And you know we're very fortunate to have act science teachers who want to make a difference. You know, in many of our communities you have, you know there's certainly a lot of additional demands on teachers and a shortage of teachers as we go through. And so having those teachers that will put in the time and help you, you know that's something to take advantage of so that you actually can build on a solid foundation. And so you know I'm rambling a little bit, but those are some things that you know when you think back. All of those things are things that I pull and let as levers and what I do on a day to day basis. And you don't realize how fortunate we are until you engage with others and you realize what we have in FFA is extremely special. You know it's special when you're in it, but when you step out, that's when you really appreciate the difference maker.
Speaker 2:By the way, gosh Nealey, you just said a bunch right there. So one of the things that you talked about is exactly what this podcast is about. If you want to know what the future is, grow it All those skills that we planted saying the creed, all of those skills we planted doing parliamentary procedure, that you know, public speaking, problem solving you know what do I do? Where's the bailing wire? Where's the duct tape? You know like, all of those things lend themselves later in life to folks like you who are looking for folks to fill jobs. And the fact that you notice it, you said it, you said I notice those things, I don't know. I think that's pretty impressive.
Speaker 2:You guys supported the Foundation Board of Directors. You know, another project that I took to the board years ago was a research project, and I just had this idea that kids that enter high school like science and are involved in FFA will finish high school at a higher rate, go to college at a higher rate, have access to more scholarships than their peers, finish college at a higher rate or less troublesome in high school than their peers. Anyway, we just had an idea and we researched it and guess what? We found out we were right? Well, nealey, we just redid that research and I'll be bringing it to the board, but once again, it validated everything that you just shared, that we know that our kids, or FFA kids, are outperforming their peers, and I believe it's all of these little things that we've planted in their life that not only do they cultivate some of those while they're in high school, some of them cultivate them in college, but, to your point, a lot of times you don't even realize how valuable it is until you start your career path.
Speaker 3:I often laugh.
Speaker 3:But you know, parliamentary procedure was something that was very important to my dad. So again, I'd watched the teams compete and so knew that backwards and forwards before went in as the freshman year and when we had a team and actually went on to nationals in parliamentary procedure. But that was so important and you don't realize how important it is till the first time you attend a community meeting and they can't figure out how to advance emotion and everybody's moving things but nobody knows how to second something or to amend it or to make a change. And you know it's one of the things you kind of cringe. You want to help them out but you know you don't recognize those basic skills that really are part of kind of moving society forward. Until you're actually engaged in that and you realize, wow, what we were learning as freshmen in high school are something that you know adults who've been in these community organizations for 15 years have not been able to figure out. And again, it's something that is an opportunity that we're given in addition to what we learn in the classroom.
Speaker 2:So, naly, you know my story. I'm a kid from Dallas. I got placed at Boys Ranch. I'm a green hand, I'm a freshman at Boys Ranch and they put me on the parliamentary procedure team. I had no idea what I was doing. My gosh, what do you mean? I get to learn how to argue. You know you go through that. Well, fast forward.
Speaker 2:Years later 1988, I'm the district director for a member of the United States Congress. I'm 23 years old. I don't know what he was thinking. I didn't know who FICA was, I didn't know what escrow was. And here I am, the gatekeeper to a member of Congress in 37 counties. But I thought, you know, I've still got to improve myself.
Speaker 2:So I joined the largest civic club in my community. I joined the downtown rotary club. I used my professional networking skills to build networks. But then they told me about this program called Leadership, which tall falls, and they said you got to go through these leadership programs to learn about your community. I said sign me up. So in that process we went through a program called board development, how to become an effective board member. And here I am, 23 years old, not from this community, but I'm in the room with all the community, somebody's the legislators and the business owners and all and we're going to do board training. Really, exactly to your point. I'll watch these people fumble around and I'm sitting there trying to bite my tongue. Going. I learned more about how to run a meeting as a freshman Texas pain handle than what y'all represent as community leaders. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Well, and when you think about it, where would they have gotten that?
Speaker 3:training, right, you know when you think about it and we have it at our fingertips. It's all you know. It's kind of that whole thing. The world is your oyster when you're in FFA. The opportunities are there. It's finding out what you want to take advantage of and you've got four years to do it. So that's.
Speaker 3:What was fantastic is you could do something that first year, compete out of it or continue to compete in it. But you try that. You try something else and to your point, farm skills. You know chapter. I even learned how to, you know, change oil on a tractor. I couldn't probably remember exactly how to do it now, but at the time that farm skill was great. You know when dad was doing something out in the past year.
Speaker 3:So you know it's really interesting in the public speaking alone, the extent speaking, the ability to think on your feet, to pull from questions. You know again, that all adds to that poison presence that you present when you're engaging with others and people will make a snap, you know, impression of you and you know I love the quote is you know I cannot hear what you say because your actions speak so loudly. And you know, I think we only get that minute to make a first impression, to make that contact. You know, as you're going in for that job interview and there's, you know, 100 other candidates competing against you, what makes you stand out, what makes you different, and you know and that's your leadership story. Right, and in FFA you learn to tell your leadership story and you know it's something that you don't think about until you realize that other people really never had that opportunity. Are a champion to help them find their own way.
Speaker 2:Okay, I'm writing this down. That might be the name of this podcast, by the way, is Tell?
Speaker 1:Your.
Speaker 2:Leadership Story. So you know that right there, people that know me know that there's. I'm always saying live your brand, Live your brand. One of our board members, one of your colleagues, is Cleo Franklin, and Cleo was telling me about his grandfather and his grandfather told him. He said, cleo. He said never speak on the obvious and he said don't ever forget game, recognizes game. Now the reason.
Speaker 2:I say that is because you're in a leadership role at ExxonMobil. But you've very, very clearly articulated that when you're out scouting and you're looking around, you can recognize game.
Speaker 3:You know, and authenticity is so important to me and again I think it came from kind of that FFA foundation is that you would see folks that you know were presenting a certain way. Are they that way when they're engaging with you individually? You know that authenticity is part of your personal brand to your point, and so I continue and I think that's one of the things that we forget that leadership is a journey. So I'm still growing and learning. We had a meeting and I, you know, put to get up kind of my leadership development plan for the team. As we're talking through, and there are things that I will still work on, there are things that I'll emphasize their expectations that teams can expect from me as their leader, and we kind of outline those and talk through.
Speaker 3:But I think it's, you know, I think so many of us think it's a you know we get there and we're done. It's a continual journey and you're continuing to refine that leadership story and what leadership means to you and for the team that you're engaging with. Everyone needs to know what to expect from their leaders and that goes both ways. And so you know it's interesting because it's one of those things that I'll never stop growing and I think we recognize that as we come through FFA that it is that continual evolution. But I think with all of the additional detractions we kind of think, okay, well, I've got that, you only have it as good as you practice it. And you know, and we did, we lost a lot of that in COVID when we were more isolated or we were engaging only via Zoom. And you know, it's only now, after a year that we're really out there, that you start to realize what all we lost and that muscle memory goes away a little bit until you exercise it again. And leadership is one of those things I like that.
Speaker 2:You know it's funny. When we went through COVID I told somebody I do not mind, I would not use this. This is just me personally. I would not use the term socially distant. So I told people I don't mind being physically distant, but I'm going to refuse to be socially distant Absolutely. We're going to try to use technology or phone or something to maintain some type of relationship, some type of communication.
Speaker 3:And relationships are so important.
Speaker 2:I was on a call with some kids from across the United States and a young lady from North Carolina. She asked me. She said, mr Alejandro, she says my dad's a preacher. And she said do you think that when COVID is over with, do you think we will go back to gathering as a congregation?
Speaker 3:And I said yeah.
Speaker 2:I said I think I can answer that question quickly, accurately and pretty much with some insight. And she said well, how do you know? And I said, well, my 50 plus years on this earth, I said I've never seen birds not flock, dogs not pack, fish not school cattle not graze together. I said, everything that I've ever seen in this world is, by design, relational. And I said, yes, we're smart enough to know that right now we got to be taking precaution, but, trust me, when it's over with, we will go back to doing what we do, and that is to be in relationship. But, to your point, I think we're still kind of working on that rhythm of finding it, but I think we will overcome that and I do believe we'll get back to what we were designed for. And we weren't designed to be the lone ranger. We were designed to work with others because you know, just like you know, none of us is as strong as all of us, absolutely, so we got to work together. Okay, nealey, how many states in the United States have you been to?
Speaker 3:Oh, I would say almost all. I don't. I couldn't guess by number right now, but maybe there's four, maybe that I haven't.
Speaker 2:How many countries have you been to?
Speaker 3:At one point I counted my passport. So it's been a while. I would say 25, 30 plus.
Speaker 2:So here's this this, this professional here, who came from an FFA program outside of the Houston area. Now you've been in all four states, 27 countries. I'd say you've seen a few things.
Speaker 3:I have, you know, and just to show you, I mean we always traveled for livestock shows across the southern states and you know we had done our leadership conferences in DC. But I didn't have a passport when I joined ExxonMobil and my first international assignment was in Columbia and South America, and so it was, you know country, come to town, I had to go get my passport. I had to get all of that figured out and then it became normal. So I felt like I had not been sheltered and we had had exposure. But I had.
Speaker 3:My walls were still within the United States, and so I've been very fortunate to have the opportunity to travel to a bunch of these countries, met fantastic folks, seen different cultures. You know makes you appreciate what you have. It makes you appreciate, you know, the vastness and interconnectedness of all of it too, and so very fortunate. But yeah, you know there were. It wasn't like it was an automatic and oh yeah, I'll just do this. It was like, okay, now I got to get my house in order to figure out how to get a visa, how to work through all that, because that was that was new for me at the time.
Speaker 2:All right. Well, let's translate that, based on what you've seen and I mean obviously those of us that know you we trust you. What is it that Zieg Ziggler says? He says if, if they know you, they'll listen to you, but if they trust you, they'll do business with you. So we trust you. So, in all your experiences and all that you've seen, are there opportunities out there? If I'm a kid and I'm listening right now, you know I hear a lot of gloom and doom. Neely, are there any opportunities when I get out of high school or there any opportunities when I get out of college? What do you see, both domestically and globally, that you could shed light on?
Speaker 3:Absolutely. You know, I think when we came out of COVID there were a lot of folks that were laid off and then we started to come out of that bubble and then, of course, there's been a lot of tech layoffs that were announced, but there are always opportunity and there will be industries that will thrive more than others at different times. And so, again, it's that openness and, I think, it's understanding what your fundamental skills and interests are, because on paper I would have thought agriculture was the only industry. Then I realized only gas actually crosses over a lot, and those same skills that I could use in an agriculture I could also use in this industry. And so, again, it was a door that wouldn't have been obvious to me. But when someone highlighted the opportunity, I could easily find the synergies.
Speaker 3:And I think, again, if you know yourself and you know what your strengths are, you know what your passion is, you're willing to be challenged, you're willing to try new opportunities, I think you have a ton of opportunity.
Speaker 3:But I think if you limit yourself to a certain field or to a certain geography, I think that's when you start bringing in kind of the guardrails that really narrow your path. And so I would say, regardless of where in the world you want to operate, you can have international exposure from a US based company. You don't necessarily have to have the international based role to have an international assignment. We tell many of our colleagues that same kind of thing understanding those skills. If you love variety, if you love interaction with folks, if you're better behind a computer, know those things and then look for jobs that have those base skills, allow yourself to enhance those skills, then you can always go back into the industry. That may have been your number one choice. But you may actually be surprised that it's the passion of what you're doing and being able to leverage the skills that you're strong at that. At the end of the day it doesn't necessarily matter what field it in, as long as you're able to make a difference.
Speaker 2:You know who I think of when you said that. I mean, she is my go-to, exactly for what you just said. You never know where you may find a career, and that is Dr Temple Grandin. Because Temple was not in the cattle business, she was not in the agricultural business, but because she was open and she was paying attention, she was exposed to it and because she was, she found her career. And look at what you've done. You've found a career. I mean, you got, like I said, you got to sign up and you got to pay attention and you did all those things. And that's why we're so proud when we get to watch your career unfold, because we're like this is how you're supposed to do it, right here.
Speaker 3:I appreciate that and I, you know I've loved being a part of the foundation board because that also again makes sure I maintain that connectedness to FFA. And you know we also have a place in the country with forces and the cattle on the property, and so again, it's also that that's where I get grounded. So sometimes, stepping away from the day to day, weekends, holidays, that's where you'll find us, Because to me I always say it's my great perspective changer, and so many of us are fortunate to be to grow up in a rural area. You see it every day. Others of us have to move to a city to find what works for us and so you miss that. But finding that ability to connect back with that natural foundation that you had is one of the things that I love. So looking forward to doing that as we go near the holidays, because you come back refreshed, recharged and you're reminded of what's really important in life.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't have the horses and the cattle and all that, but I do love my outdoor time. I'm a big, you know, wildlife management person and I call that my mental health time because, absolutely like you said, just to get out there, the fresh air, the quiet, to watch the sunrise and the sun sets and see God paint those sunrises and sunsets, it's just pretty special. So well, naly, thank you so much. We covered a lot of ground. You did, you did great.
Speaker 3:I love talking about the FFA and I love chatting with you. So thank you, Aaron, for asking me and for the opportunity to engage.
Speaker 2:Well, once again, folks, this is why I enjoy doing these podcasts, because everybody's got a story. Everybody's got it. Everybody's listening to this has a story. Not everybody's willing to share their story, but when you share your story, there's going to be somebody that's going to hear it, that needed to hear that at that particular time. And there's somebody right now sitting in a class somewhere and saying you know, I can really relate to what Ms Nelson said. I can really relate to her journey and maybe I am on the right path and maybe I need a little bit more open to possibilities.
Speaker 2:By the way, talking about that, neely, I talked to the state officers the other day and I told them I do want y'all to be open minded. Please be open minded. Just don't be so open minded. Your brain falls out. So, because I'm like you, I want to. I mean, I'm the ag guy, but yet I take corporate guests to eat sushi and sashimi. You know, I want people to be open to go to theater and to, you know, go to a road experience thing that might not be in your wheelhouse, because I think that's how you learn. Plus, it gives you something to talk about. It gives you a new, another communication tool.
Speaker 2:Right so anyway, neely, thank you, thank you. Thank you for joining us. Any last words of wisdom you want to share?
Speaker 3:I would. I would just say you know your leadership story is yet to be written. You hold the pen and so encourage you to think about what that means to you and what you want to be long term, the impact that you want to make, the impressions you want to leave and then figure out how to get there. And it may be a story that has a few winding roads, but you write the story so you can certainly get to the end point. So I wish, I wish all of our students the best as they write their leadership story.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you for that, and we also, neely, will tell you too that you don't get there. Students. You're like we said earlier. You're not the lone ranger. You got to have coaches and mentors a long way, and those ag teachers do a good job of doing that Absolutely.
Speaker 2:And I am a fan of the ag teachers from Katie, texas. I remember them in 1985 when I was state FFA president, and then I had the pleasure to work with them, to work with Gerald Young, and I can tell you, whenever they chronicle the history of the Texas FFA which I hope they do someday I think what they're going to find is you're going to be a very critical benchmark in the history of Texas FFA, and that benchmark was when Gerald Young was hired at the ag teachers association, because the collaboration between Gerald, tom Maynard and myself created some of the most significant changes in Texas team ag ed which are still growing to this day. So, neely, thank you for sharing your dad with us as well. Absolutely.
Speaker 3:He's got a passion, like you do, and the passion together you got. You all, as you said, made great changes that students are benefiting from today and really impactful, and you know folks that believe in leadership as a mission, and so thank you for that you know love what I do.
Speaker 2:So with that you get one last question. Every interview wraps up with a fun question, so here's the fun question what's the best concert you've ever been to?
Speaker 3:Oh, my goodness, this is going to be hard. So we go to, you know, the Houston rodeo, so we see almost all the performance every year, but I'm going to go with one that's kind of out on the skirts of country for King and country, which is a Christian group, but have a foundation and country and some of what they sing was phenomenal the instruments and the. It was just a show from start to finish and so it was really fascinating. But certainly you can't you don't forget the concerts with George Drayd or Garth Brooks. Those are all fantastic as well.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, Well, King and country, the little drummer boy. How good is that, right? So absolutely.
Speaker 3:It's the instruments that'll get you every time.
Speaker 2:That's great, all right. Well, folks, thank you for joining us for today's podcast. We appreciate you stopping by, and you know Abraham Lincoln said he said the philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next. Now think about that. What we do today is what our city state countries going to look like tomorrow. Well, if we want to know what the future is, we got to grow it. Well, how do you grow it? You got to plant the right seeds, you got to nurture them, you got to harvest them and then you got to feed other people. And that's what growing our future podcast is all about. It's planting seeds of greatness. So that, in the words of that, that all saying, the essence of leadership is to plant trees under whose shade you may never sit. So nearly hopefully, today we planted some trees. So thank you for joining us and until we catch everybody again down the road, everybody be safe, be encouraging and go out and do something great. Thank you.
Speaker 1:We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the growing, our future podcast. This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen agricultural science education so students can develop their potential for personal growth, career success and leadership in a global marketplace. Learn more at mytexasffaorg.