Her Story
About Lucy
Lucy Bacon is a junior at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she is pursuing a double major in food science and agricultural leadership and community engagement. Having grown up on a beef cattle farm, she has long been passionate about remaining in agriculture and helping rural communities, particularly by supporting school nutrition programs for elementary and high school students. She is currently completing a quality assurance internship with Simmons Foods, a poultry production company supplying chicken to Chick-fil-A, and aspires to work in research and development while also engaging with the policy side of food science. Lucy is a member of the Institute of Food Technology. She emphasizes the importance of showing up consistently and putting people first in her work, guided by her faith and a desire to help others.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Lucy
01What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Some of the best advice I've ever been given is to continue to show up. Continue to show up on the hard days, on the fun days, on the 3:30 a.m. wake-up call days, and on the 9pm late night days, continue to show up. Show up with your back. Do your best, of course. And continue to put that work in. Put the reps in.
02What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Know that they are not alone. This is absolutely a male-dominated field, but women are such a large part, and play such large parts in agriculture. They make it... they're the reason... they're the cogs in the overall machine that helped make it tick and turn, so they are very much not alone. Keep showing up, like I said, keep working. It is hard sometimes... but continue... reach out to your peers, reach out to other women in agriculture, connect. That connection, I think, is what helps drive the increase in women in agriculture.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Of course, my faith absolutely ties into everything that I do, but along with that, it very much ties into the focus on why I feel like I am on this earth, and that is to help people, love people, and help them. I feel like my purpose on this earth overall is to love God, love his people, so I think that is my purpose. Overall, I just put people first, I guess.
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