Deb grew up on an irrigated grain/cattle farm just outside Columbus, NE. (That farm is still in the family; her brothers farm it and her father still checks the cattle water tank every day.) It was on that farm that she learned how to start a siphon tube (for dirt ditches) and how to feed baby calves. In fact, it was the talent for using a bottle feeder that helped her pay for her first car in high school.

“Over the years I have tried different things career-wise,” she says, “but I ALWAYS kept coming back to agriculture.”

Today, Deb is an Account Manager for Verdesian Life Sciences, serving customers in northeast Nebraska. Before coming to Verdesian, she spent six years with DuPont Crop Protection in Omaha. She originally joined DuPont as a Sales Agronomist functioning in northeast Nebraska, southeast South Dakota and southwest Minnesota. She eventually became a Technical Sales Agronomist for northeast Nebraska. Deb also spent 13 years as a Territory Sales Lead with Syngenta in Yankton, SD, and three years as a Sales Lead Representative with Novozymes Biologicals in Omaha.

Her passions are many.

“I absolutely LOVE decorating homes and putting together fabrics, furniture, accessories, paint and rugs, to create an enjoyable and pleasing to the eye living space,” she says.

This love began as a youngster on the farm by making little playhouses in old corn cribs, for instance, with her sister. Today, her sister’s family owns three furniture stores. “This past year I fulfilled one of my bucket list dreams in that was to accompany them on a buying trip.”

Deb is also an avid reader and swimmer. (“Back in the day, nobody could hold their breath longer than me while swimming laps.”) She has worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor, particularly for young children.

She is also an active Harley-Davidson rider. Deb and her husband, Kelly, will soon be riding out to the Sturgis (SD) Bike Rally for the 21st year in a row.

But ask Deb her greatest accomplishments and the answer – or answers – is easy: her children and grandchildren.

“I am trying to teach my grandkids some of the same things I taught my children,” she says, “and one thing is to strive to be better than average at everything you attempt.”

To learn more about our Verdesian specialists, please visit https://vlsci.com/find-a-specialist .