(upbeat music) - Welcome to "A Shot of AG."

I'm your host, Rob Sharkey.

I'm a farmer.

There's a lot to agriculture.

It's not just farming, raising corn, soybean, livestock, all that stuff.

The opportunities in agriculture are definitely endless.

And today's guest is just proof of that.

Today, we're gonna be talking with Chandler James.

How you doing, Chandler?

- Good.

Thanks for having me.

- Were your parents fans of the show "Friends"?

- Oh, I knew the theme song when I was like five.

- Yeah.

- We always watched it.

- Chandler is not a name you hear very often.

- No, but I do get mistaken for a male most of the time.

- Yeah, it's been- - Yes.

- Yeah.

- The show "Friends" ruined it, but that's not technically where my name came from.

- What, is a family name?

- No, it was, my mom read the book, "The Prince of Tides."

- Oh.

- And- - [Rob] That's a movie with Robin Williams.

- Well.

Yeah, but I'd never seen it.

- Oh.

- So she read the- - How could you not see... All right, focus.

- (laughing) That's where the, that's where the name came from, she said, so.

"Friends" ruined it, but now I just say Chandler, like the show "Friends."

- Oh.

- Except for I'm a girl.

- Oh, okay.

- I make it easy.

- He was the, the least popular character.

- Oh, amazing.

- Maybe Phoebe was.

- Yeah, I love "Friends" for what it is, but I feel like I never really got into it.

- Well, you couldn't because the name ruined it for you.

- Technically, yeah.

- All right.

All right.

You were a digital marketing for our friends at Beck's, Beck's seed.

- Yes.

- Yeah.

But you don't live in Indiana.

- I don't.

I'm from like Champaign-Urbana, Illinois.

- Okay.

All right.

And go ahead.

I know this is bothering you that you haven't brought it up yet, but where did you go to school?

- Went to the University of Illinois.

Go Fighting Illini.

(bell dinging) Is that my, your cutoffs?

- Nobody knows what it is.

Yeah.

All right, so you're U of I and you're very proud of it.

- Absolutely.

- Yeah.

Okay.

You grew up on a farm though, right?

- I did.

So my dad farmed and I kind of grew up watching him farm.

And he farmed with his, you know, my uncle and his dad.

And we were really close to like Thomasboro-Rantoul area.

- [Rob] Okay.

And what kind of farm?

- [Chandler] Just corn and soybeans.

- Mm-hm.

So growing up, were you, like were you into it or just, I don't know?

- I think I was learning about it, but I never like fully understood.

We lived in town and I went to a K through eighth grade school.

So I wasn't like living like on the farm.

There wasn't like a farmhouse there.

But, you know, I did love my time with my dad in the combine.

And the special occasion, I got to ride the four-wheeler around the shop and that was always the highlight.

- [Rob] Ride or drive?

- You know, I drove it into the corn one time and I though my privileges were totally gonna be cut off but he let me do it again.

- Yeah, you probably acted, oh, I cost my dad so much money, and it's around like a, I don't know, 80 cents.

- Probably.

Yeah, it wasn't anything.

He was like, "Were you going too fast?"

"Yeah, obviously."

(both laughing) - Well, if nothing says a country farm girl like winning a county fair.

Was this last year you won?

- Yes.

So I actually, you know, it's not even mine.

I just, I picked it up on my way.

No.

- On eBay?

- Yeah.

(both laughing) Yeah.

So 2012 though.

So this is old.

You can call it an antique at this point.

- [Rob] What year did you say?

- [Chandler] 2012.

- [Rob] Ooh.

that's a long time ago.

This is a- - I know.

It show my age.

- I mean, okay, like every little girl's dream, right?

And you won it.

- Yeah.

- [Rob] Okay.

Did you pay the judges?

- [Chandler] Absolutely.

- Yeah, I would think so.

- That was the running joke.

- Will I offend you if I try this on?

- Absolutely not.

It might mess up your hair, but- - Do you put it like this or like- - I put it on top.

- Oh, I don't know.

I got a big- - There you go.

- Is this how you do it?

- That's beautiful.

It's beautiful.

- I think it looks good.

- It's very sparkly and- - That's so awkward.

(both laughing) - But I mean, I was one of the youngest Champaign County Fair queens.

- How old?

- So I was 16.

- Oh.

- Yeah.

And so the age range is 16 to 21.

- Yeah?

- Yeah, so- - I bet you those older girls hated you.

- I was just the fun, young, had no idea what was going on, but like loved to be there.

- [Rob] Why'd you win though?

- I think, one of the judges told me.

They said, you know, "Your, like, authenticity, like, helped you stand out."

Because there was a large group of girls that were competing, and I had no intention of winning or like this is like my end goal.

It was just something fun to do.

The director was my cheerleading coach at the time.

And, you know, Melanie just encouraged, "You know, try something different.

If you don't love it, you don't have to do it again."

And, you know, it ended up being a really amazing opportunity, which is where I learned how to speak and do interviews and like learned more about agriculture and be involved in my local Farm Bureau.

So this is like a cool thing to bring, to share because it's Illinois State Fair Week.

- So the judges said to you, "You were unique, plus you're my niece, so that's why you won."

- Absolutely.

You can grease the palms of anybody when you live in Champaign County.

- Damn right, you can.

(both laughing) But you didn't go all honey boo-boo after this?

- It was a one and done.

So every Fair queen goes to the Illinois State Fair Queen Pageant.

And that's in January.

And that was like my second, you know, pageant.

But again, it was- - [Rob] There's no way at 16 you're going to win that.

- I mean, it's so much more work and time and effort than I was aware.

I was a senior in high school.

- Well, you're dealing with gals that are honey boo-boo, right?

This is all they wanna do.

- There were some that, you know, did more pageants than others, and there were some that this was a title or something.

But I mean, you're competing against like ladies that are speaking in college and going through so much more life experience.

It is hard to compete when you're that young.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Well, that's cool.

I mean, it's got to be a great memory.

- [Chandler] Incredible.

Yeah.

- Do you ever still wear it?

- Around the house when I'm doing the dishes.

I just try to remind everybody- - You're lying 'cause this thing has been not ironed for quite a while.

- (laughs) You don't wear the sash, that gets in the way, but the crown.

- Yeah, I suppose.

- You know, it's like Cinderella.

- That thing's a little tight on the noggin.

Maybe I just have a big head, but.

They're heavier than, I guess because I was just like picking up the stuff like I buy, you know, my daughter and the plastic ones.

- Oh yeah.

This is- - That's not real diamonds though.

- I don't think so, but it did leave a dent in my head.

Because you would start in the Fair barns at like, you know, eight o'clock in the morning when the Fair started and it would leave like a little dent.

- Okay.

- And that's how heavy it is.

The memories.

(laughs) - All right.

How long you been married?

- Three years.

I should know that.

Going on three.

No, three years.

- Yeah, I would hope so.

Three years.

- That's really bad.

It's just been such a loving, happy marriage.

Like you don't have to count the years.

It's just so great.

- It's not what he was saying.

Where'd you meet him?

- Connor and I went to like rival high schools.

So he was, he went- - Is he the jerk?

- The jock.

- Oh, that too.

- Big into football.

- Okay.

- But yeah, Connor and I, we kind of met each other in passing growing up.

- Oh, just like you were seeing him there in his shoulder pads and- - [Chandler] Really just hooked me.

- Hey, hey.

- Yeah.

You know?

How could you not?

(both laughing) Did you see him when he walked in?

- Oh, yeah.

He's a handsome man.

Yeah, little angel starts singing and that.

- He'll love that.

- He should be wearing a crown, honestly.

- I married him for his looks.

- So did my wife.

(both laughing) - She appreciates this conversation.

- She's got seeing problems too.

Okay, focus on what we're talking about.

So what is a digital marketing?

What is that for a job?

- I think it's like still evolving, because digital and marketing are still like ever-changing.

But for me in my role at Beck's, you know, I work a lot in email, paid digital strategy, working on, you know, any social media support if our social media manager needs it, and just kind of looking at all of the things that we're trying to use, whether it's email, paid digital, social media, all the things.

- So years ago, you would have like some of the biggest of the big companies, like, you know, Deere.

They would have one social media person and they would run a social media for everything.

Now, I mean, these companies or some of them have a TikTok person, a Facebook person, and that, so you do get involved in the social media some?

- Yeah, I try to just lend a hand for our social media manager because she still is a one-man band covering all of our channels.

- She does- - Really?

- She's a rock star at what she does.

And if I can ever lend a hand or be of support in any way, I always try to make sure Kate knows it.

- Oh, it's Kate.

- [Chandler] Kate.

You know Kate.

- I do know Kate.

Is lovely.

Lovely, Kate.

- Incredible.

Kate.

Okay.

(both chuckling) Why work for Beck's?

- You know, I have been through so much in my, like, career with agriculture, and one thing that I always appreciated is their authenticity.

And it's been a dream to be able to be a part of a marketing team that does such a great job at telling the story.

- Well, I mean, it's a, I don't know, I don't wanna get too off a kelter here, but it's a family we enjoy working with.

- Absolutely.

- I mean, that family is a company, they're so sincere.

And who they are, you know, as like a personality is who they are when you meet them in real life too.

- Absolutely.

- Yeah.

Plus, I don't know, I love working with companies that aren't afraid to embrace faith too as well.

- Yeah, and it bleeds into everything that we do.

Whether we're working, you know, together as a team or a big company, if we're putting on Becknology Days, like you can just feel that people are there for all the right reasons.

- That's why I'm surprised that they would hire you because you cuss like a sailor.

- I don't know where I learned it either.

It's bad.

But not today on this lovely, you know, show.

I keep that to myself.

- We should just have them like every third word just beep.

(both laughing) - And then they'll know, like, why did they even air that?

(both laughing) - Beck's would be calling you.

- I'd be fired.

(both laughing) - Okay, you are a farm girl.

Did you always want to do something in agriculture?

- You know, I think agriculture sort of found me.

So, you know, I did the Fair queen thing and I met so many amazing people and I was working with the Farm Bureau and different organizations, and I just was like, is there a place for me here?

So I went to the U of I, I went to Parkland College, which is also in Champaign.

It's a junior college.

- [Rob] Okay.

(bell dinging) - Juco.

Is that Juco?

- What were you studying in college?

- I studied ag leadership education.

And then I stayed and I got a masters in agriculture production.

- Oh.

Like producing crops and stuff?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

So I kind of like tailored my master's program to fit all the things that were changing back in 2018.

So I worked with like drones and technology and crop efficiency and tried to figure out what was going to be the most knowledge that I could extract for the degree.

- That's really dumb.

But what did you, what did you wanna do?

- I initially, this is funny, I initially though I wanted to be an agronomist.

- Oh, good Lord.

- Yeah.

(both laughing) - I- - Wait, wait.

So for your people at home.

Agronomist, nobody knows what they do.

Really, there's, yeah, you look at plants, but that's it.

Everyone's like agronomists, are you in sales?

Are you in production?

Nobody knows.

So everybody just calls themself an agronomist.

The only thing that all agronomists have is like a half-ton white truck.

- Right.

And boots and a shovel in the back.

- That's what you wanted.

- Yeah.

- Is a half-ton truck.

- I just wanted to drive around.

I wanted to look at fields.

I wanted to be outside.

But whether it's a good day or a bad day, I feel like the agronomists still got the phone calls.

And I was like, I'm so happy.

I'm a ray of sunshine.

I cannot be taking on everybody's bad days.

- A ray of sunshine.

All right.

Was Beck's your first job?

- No.

So I started with an agriculture technology company that was bought out by Nutrien way back when, and I was their marketing intern.

- Okay.

Gotcha.

So growing up on a farm, unfortunately, you lost your dad in, what, 2016?

- Yes.

Yes.

- Okay.

And tell me how that changed everything.

- Yeah, so I was still in college at the time.

I was 20 years old and, you know, at that age, you're just still learning so much about yourself, about your life.

And that's kind of what prompted me to stay and get my master's degree.

I wasn't sure what life after that looked like.

And I was able to stay and I got to stay home and be with my mom a little bit longer and work through that program.

And, you know, I think my, like, passion for ag grew even more because I learned more about the farm because my brother ended up, you know, taking over.

And as your first year in a combine, just being thrown into that, it was just such a strong appreciation for him and what he was able to do.

And then I found my place, which was number one, grain truck driver.

So I would up- - Truck or cart?

- Truck.

- Oh, okay.

- I hauled into the elevator and- - Okay, well, okay.

All right.

- Yeah.

- So this is the thing.

So tell me, the first time that you took that truck into the elevator, was anybody with you or did you have to figure it out on your own?

- Oh, somebody was absolutely with me.

- They'd have to be.

- Have to be.

- Yeah.

Because you don't know all the nuances.

- No even a little bit.

- And if you don't know 'em, you'll never live it down.

- And I have been one of those that has had to back up off the scale, turn around, go through another lane, like- - Oh, you must not be very good.

- Not, I mean, everybody has to make a mistake, and then you learn.

- I never have.

- No, never.

So, you know, I learned and just got better throughout the years.

And now it's, now it's fun.

Used to, my heart would race and I'd be so scared, but now I enjoy it.

- But you're a girl.

You can't flirt with a scale girl like all the other old dudes.

- No, it's not the same.

But they still do give you the candy and the cookies.

And, you know, if I was ever just really having a day, I just broke the crown out, you know?

Then everybody's really paying attention.

(both laughing) - So your brother takes over the farm.

- Yes.

- After your dad.

And then you and your husband help?

- Yeah, so my husband, Connor, never was really involved with agriculture.

Had no idea until we were married.

And we really needed some help and threw him into the grain cart and he just took off.

- Oh, you gave him the cart job.

- Yeah, don't look at me.

I am not taking CB orders from my brother, just not.

I love him, which is not gonna work.

- That is a tough, yeah.

So does he enjoy it?

- [Chandler] Connor loves it.

- Yeah?

- Yeah, loves it.

- Well, I gotta imagine your brother is very appreciative too.

- Yeah, Garrett's phenomenal at all the things that he does.

And he works full-time and, you know, manages the farm full-time.

And, you know, I think you just, it really does take a village.

- Okay.

- To get it done.

(Rob laughing) - Sometimes my village doesn't work well with me.

- Sometimes my village doesn't answer the phone.

And it's okay too.

(both laughing) - So how often do you get a help on the farm?

- I do whatever I can, like whenever I can.

So we recently welcomed a little baby boy to our family.

So, you know, my availability and time has changed, but my commitment to being able to run and get cheeseburgers if somebody's hungry or pick up a part or grab something is always there.

- Yeah, it's a tough time in life with small kids because, you know, as someone who now sort of, we're one year away from being empty nesters, I mean, you got to take every moment there you can 'cause you're gonna regret when you don't.

But yeah, very, very cool.

- Yeah.

- You say opportunities in ag are endless.

- Very.

- Endless.

What do you mean by that?

- I think the people that are in ag have such like warm hearts and welcoming spirits that they really do want people to succeed.

And I mean, I think I've traveled and been able to be a part of so many different groups that it really has brought me endless opportunities to meet new people and experience new things in places.

- What do you tell, let's keep it female, right?

You got a younger, a female, let's say just in college now.

Wants to do something in ag, but just doesn't know what to do.

And it kind of scares some people off.

What do you tell her?

- I would definitely say, you know, job shadows were the biggest part of me figuring out that I enjoyed marketing, honestly.

And I think I did probably five or six of them just trying to figure out like, what do you do all day?

What does your day look like?

And everybody said how different their days were.

And that was, you know, attractive to me.

So, you know, really take the opportunities to job shadow people and take advantage of.

People want to help you succeed and figure out where you fit.

And that's the best way to, best way to do it.

- Yeah.

Well, I mean, that's great advice.

You know, ag can be intimidating for a young person because it's still mainly, it's still mainly male, still mainly older.

And I mean, did you ever feel the intimidation?

- I've had numerous accounts of just these ugly, weird, awkward conversations.

And, you know, even through all of that, you know, you learned a lesson.

I learned a lesson of, you know, maybe I approach a conversation this way if somebody's frustrated or, oh, I can let that roll off my back a little bit.

And I think it's always a little bit intimidating, but you just figure out how to hold your ground a little bit more.

- I was interviewing the Becks, Scott Beck's sons, right?

- Oh yeah.

- And I asked him a question I'm gonna ask you right now.

What's your favorite sin?

- Oh, man.

- Yeah.

- Initially, what came to mind was caffeine because I haven't had my third coffee yet.

- That's not a sin.

That's such a weird answer- - But it is.

- "Oh, it's caffeine."

- Caffeine.

- "Caffeine's my sin."

You should have seen the look on their faces, 'cause they are- - That's a good answer though.

- I know.

Because they're so hard, they're like you, they're so hard to stump that I just wanted to stump them with something.

- What would you, yeah.

PG though.

- Right, but sin's a sin, right?

- They're all bad.

- Yeah.

- Everything's bad for you.

- Yeah, mine is pride, 'cause I'm just too proud of agriculture.

(laughs) - Yeah, that.

You knew that one.

- Yeah.

Well, I've had time.

(both laughing) I have lost my dad as well on a farm, and I'll never forget that first year.

You know, and I've been farming on my own for, I don't know, you know, four or five years.

I'll never forget just the complete feeling of being lost, right?

Because all of a sudden, all that knowledge is gone.

I could always go and ask him stuff.

It's like, "Have you ever seen this?"

Now I couldn't do that anymore.

You think that was the same in your family?

- Oh, absolutely.

I mean, my dad was a solid record keeper and my mom, you know, supported the books and trying to figure out where things were and took that on.

I mean, she hadn't done any of that.

And if dad hadn't have been so organized and, you know, really paid attention to all the things and handled the accounts and stuff, you know, I don't think we would've been in the same position.

And there's not a lot of farms that, you know, can sustain that, especially right now the way the economy is.

So it's an unfortunate, horrible blessing that, you know, dad was organized.

But yeah, it is so hard to lose that knowledge.

- Yeah, that's, as you were saying, I'm thinking my kids are screwed.

(laughs) - Everything's written on a notebook in the drawer.

- This is all up here.

Yeah.

I know where that number is somewhere.

(laughs) - Yeah.

And that's the hardest thing.

You have to like either write things down or keep track.

And I think ag technology the way it's gone is such a big deal because you have a solid record keeping machine that's like always turning.

- So if you had to do it all over again, that you think you would go the same route into marketing, what you ended up in marketing?

- Absolutely.

Yeah, I don't think I would change a thing.

I think I really found my niche that fits- - Niche, by the way.

- Niche?

- [Rob] Niche.

Yeah.

- No, it's totally niche.

- It's my damn show.

It's niche.

- Oh, okay.

I'm so sorry.

I found my niche in digital marketing.

I felt like I could really figure out a plan that put, you know, social media and email or website, all of the pieces together and figure out a really cool puzzle to promote something.

- Yeah.

It's difficult, I would imagine, because the speed at what stuff is changing.

I mean, if you worked in ag in the '80s and '90s, even in the, I would say up to like 2015 maybe?

- [Chandler] Oh, yeah.

- Honestly, kind of stayed the same.

And now it's accelerating at an accelerating rate.

- Absolutely.

- How do you keep up with that?

- I don't know.

I think the hardest, the best thing that I've always been able to do for myself is step back and look at what things have done.

And I think you always have to be like analyzing and looking at performance of your campaigns.

And if you don't step back and look at things from a big picture view, you're doing yourself a disservice because you don't know how the channels are gonna evolve or the messages needs to change.

Or if you tweak this one image with this ad, you can change your performance.

So I think there's a solid truth to always analyzing what's happening.

- Yeah, you say you can't control what happens, but you can control how you react.

- Yes.

- I think that is an amazing statement because so many things that happened wrong, of it can be figured out, but what you can't figure out is, (chuckles) Rob blew his top when it happened and now you can't get back from that.

I mean, is that what you mean by that?

- Yes.

I think there's just, I am guilty of it to this day that I, you know, maybe will be a little bit more excited about a situation than I needed to be (laughs) or I remember.

But at least you can, my mom always said like, you can't, "There's things you can't come back from."

And my mom said that as I was growing up, "These are things that you can't come back from."

So when you, you know, go off the rails or you, you know, lose your cool, people, you know, end up remembering that.

And sometimes it's stuff you can't come back from.

- My mom would say, "You can't put the toothpaste back in a tube."

And then I went and got the tube and I like put some on there and then I like did it where it took the air out and then I put it so it sucked it back in.

- I'm sure she super appreciated that.

- She didn't see the humor or the lesson in that, yeah.

- I feel for your mom growing up.

- You know a lot of people do.

- I understand.

- Yeah.

How old's your kid?

- He's 10 months.

- Oh my gosh.

How are you even here?

- I literally just run on caffeine, I think.

- So at 10 months, they're mobile?

- Yeah, he can crawl.

He's very fast and he like will put his head down and (giggles) like laugh.

- Can he do the steps yet?

- Like, yeah, he'll go up the steps.

Going down, not, not so cool.

- We had, I can't remember which, I can't remember which kid it was, but they would turn backwards and they would go to... It'd freak me out every time, but they were just- - Solid.

- Yeah.

Has being a mom, has that changed you?

- Absolutely.

And I felt like it never, I was like, "Oh, I'm gonna be the same."

No.

Completely wrong.

Different person.

But I think the, like, goals and drive of my career and my family are still there.

- Don't you lie on this.

- Okay.

- Are you a helicopter mom?

- Yeah, probably.

- Yeah.

I knew it.

I knew it.

- I am a, I don't know, helicopter is strong.

Maybe, like, maybe you could use, like, drone.

Like one of those DGI Airs that's like, just kind of in the background- - Get in the chopper.

Helicopter mom.

- Drone mom.

Maybe, like, subtle.

- You could call it what you want.

I think we've already- - Over here flying.

And he's over there doing his thing, and I'm like, "Please don't eat that."

- Well, first of all, it's first kid, right?

And it's 10 months.

- You have to be.

- Of course you're a helicopter mom.

- It's 'cause you care.

If I didn't care, I'd be like, ugh, enjoy.

No, I want you to grow up.

I want you to see tomorrow.

Don't eat whatever dirt is on the floor, please.

- Just let me know when you're done.

(Chandler laughing) Good?

- I'm fine.

- Okay.

Where can people find you online?

- LinkedIn.

You can use my LinkedIn or Beck's Hybrids.

Our website or our social media pages.

You never know where I'm gonna pop up.

- Chandler James on LinkedIn.

Nerds use that, LinkedIn.

- They do?

- Yeah.

- Thank you.

But it's like the professional Facebook.

So it's, you know, it's like your highlight reel.

- She's just resting my case.

(both laughing) I'm on it, and it annoys me because the people that use it know, it's like the one thing where they can find people.

People ask me something on there, I feel like I got to answer it, so.

- Absolutely.

Well, and then you know who's looking at you.

- That I... Okay, we gotta go.

(chuckles) Today we've been talking with Chandler Janes from Urbana, Illinois.

Chandler, it's been a pleasure to meet you.

We got an interview for the "XM Show."

And, yeah, we're gonna be out at Becknology Days, working together.

So I'm looking forward to it.

Thank you for coming on the show.

You are a benefit, not just to Beck's, but definitely to agriculture as well.

So thank you.

- Thank you, Rob.

- Yep.

Everybody else, we'll catch you next time.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to explore more of our local content.

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We can't wait to see you next time on "A Shot of AG."

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