#WomeninAg Profile: Molly Grotjan, Supply Chain Management Specialist for John Deere

Molly Grotjan credits her time at Purdue University for preparing her for a prosperous career in agriculture. She graduated in May 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in agribusiness and currently works as a Supply Chain Management Specialist for John Deere in Georgia – a role she attained thanks to completing a successful internship with the company as an undergrad.

Molly grew up in a family with a diversified farm in southeastern South Dakota and was a 10-year 4-H member in Boone County, Indiana, which she says, “really ignited my passion for agriculture.” While she initially thought she’d go into ag policy or law, Molly switched directions to pursue a degree in agribusiness and hasn’t looked back.

Molly sat down with Land Values to talk about the importance of internships, joining student organizations and why getting used to being uncomfortable is an important part of life.

Land Values (LV): You recently graduated with a degree in agribusiness. Why did that degree field interest you?

Molly Grotjan (MG): Originally, I came to Purdue, I really wanted to have a career in agricultural policy, advocating for farmers and growers out in Washington, D.C., or with state legislatures. At the time, Purdue did not have that degree choice so agribusiness was the next best step for me. My agribusiness curriculum gave me a really holistic approach to business marketing, financial management, consumers, understanding the industry holistically about agriculture and about food production. And now, being in the industry daily, I see that it also taught me a lot about being strategic in understanding strategy and the different types of choices and tradeoffs that producers or growers or agribusinesses make to serve farmers or their customers long term.

LV: What do you do at John Deere now?  What’s your day to day is like?

MG: I serve as a supply management specialist, supporting our compact utility tractor line in Augusta, Georgia. My role manages the experimental procurement of all parts to support our robust new product development process. So that’s working in coordination with our contract utility engineers and our supply management buyers each day to get parts on order and I work closely and collaboratively with our suppliers. The best part is that working in a production unit has different challenges every single day, so no day looks the same and requires a lot of collaboration and connection between cross-functional stakeholders to ensure that the tractors roll off the line when they’re supposed to and projects happen on time.

LV: Why are internships important to participate in while you’re still in college?

MG: Internships really provide real world experience and give interns the taste of working in a corporate or professional environment. They teach you a lot about how to leverage the types of skills and experiences you learn or work through while in your degree before going out and putting them to use in Corporate America or another professional environment. The thing that sticks out to me about pursuing an internship is that it’s an opportunity to solidify or find your passion. It’s also an opportunity to find something that maybe you don’t want to do long term. The internship experience is really all about development, understanding and growing of your skills. And the best part about it is that, if you perform well and do well and you like the organization, it can really set you up for a great full-time opportunity when you graduate.

LV: Did you take on other internships besides the one at John Deere?

MG: After my freshman year, I interned in Washington, D.C., with House Agriculture Committee Member Congressman Jim Baird. I worked on the House Agriculture Committee Farm Bill, and it was a great learning experience. In 2020, I completed an internship with Corteva Agriscience and learned how to evaluate growers and worked on product-use guides to improve those and our trade stewardship website. I had really great internships and roles both in the public and private sector and then wanted to experience John Deere and it ended up being a really good fit for me from a culture perspective. I really can stand behind the mission of our organization and what we’re doing as it relates to delivering autonomous vehicles and electric vehicles to ensure our customers can continue to do their jobs in the best way that they know how to.

LV: What type of student organizations were you involved with and what ones would you recommend?

MG: I was involved with quite a bit at Purdue, and I would recommend them all. I was involved with the College of Agriculture and served as the College of Agriculture Ambassador and on the Purdue Ag Week Task Force. Both of those really taught me a lot about advocating for agriculture. I also served as the president of the Purdue Foundation Student Board and the Purdue Grand Prix Foundation. I was involved with Old Masters and Rising Professionals and I served on the Student Life Student Advisory Board. I like to say I’m a steadfast boilermaker. I’m really grateful for my time at Purdue because it really developed my skills in working with others.

LV: Do you have any advice for other students who are pursuing careers in agriculture, maybe something you wish someone had told you now that you’re in the field?

MG: “Get comfortable being uncomfortable. I really learned to embrace, early on in college, putting myself out there, meeting with people that were very different than me or walking up to someone I didn’t know to say hello or start a conversation. These are the types of situations and challenges that arise in regular life, but, in my opinion, it’s your attitude and how you react to it that sets you up successfully and differently than others. Purdue really taught me to embrace the uncomfortableness of certain challenges or opportunities, which prepared me for the corporate world.”