Her Story
About Donna
I've been in the financial services commodities field for 48 years, starting when I was just 17 years old. I didn't go to college - instead, I was fortunate to be taught and mentored by the grandfathers of the business. My top mentor was George Siegel, and I worked for him for 35 years. I've known him since I was 17, and he gave me tremendous opportunities to work with people who were the top in the industries. They mentored me, taught me, and put up with me, and these are people I still know today if they're still alive. As a Senior Risk Management Consultant, I work with grain, livestock, and cotton producers to manage price risk for their production. I hold licenses with the National Futures Association, including Series 3 for commodity trading and Series 30 for commodity branch office. I'm on SiriusXM once a week on a program called Commodity Wrap, where we talk about what's happened in the markets that day. I also have a newsletter and a podcast that I publish daily, which is heard on the allagnews.com Farm Radio Network. At this stage of my career, I'm more about lifting others up who are coming along in the business. We have a group of interns at our office, and I'll take them to farm shows and teach them what I do, how I interact with customers, and how I trade - trying to pay it back and train up the next generation.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Donna
01What do you attribute your success to?
I attribute my success to my passion and love for what I do, and for the relationships that I'm able to build with the people that give me the privilege of working with them. It's all about relationship. I've been fortunate to work in this industry for 48 years, and being in the industry for as long as I have been is what I would say is my most notable professional achievement. The relationships I've built and maintained throughout my career have been the foundation of everything I've accomplished.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
The best career advice I ever received was to show up and show up at your best. This simple but powerful guidance has stayed with me throughout my 48 years in the industry and has been a guiding principle in how I approach my work every day.
03What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
I think the biggest opportunities come with the fact that markets are extremely volatile, world events are extremely volatile, and everybody's affected by it, whether you think so or not. And that gives a call for doing what we do. If you're in production agriculture, or you're an end user, you need to be actively managing risk, even more so in this day and age. The volatility creates the need for the risk management services we provide.
04What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
My values start with faith, which is first. After that, I would say honesty, integrity, commitment, perseverance, drive, and sometimes tenacity. These values guide everything I do, both professionally and personally, and have been the foundation of my 48-year career in this industry.
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