NSW Farmers CEO Annabel Johnson admits every day is challenging with a young baby but that she would take it over no rain in a drought any day.
As the newly appointed head of the peak advocacy group and as its first female CEO, Ms Johnson reflected on her journey to the role in front of a large crowd for the Farm Writers' Association's first Agribuzz event of 2024, which NAB Regional and Agri Banking hosted in Sydney on Thursday.
Her address focused on three critical aspects she said had been important in her life and career: resilience, patience, and support.
Growing up on a farm outside of Young, Ms Johnson learned the true meaning of resilience.
"The millennium drought struck hard in our district, for the state, the country, and for my family," she said.
"At that time, we were moving through a business transition; we had just gone through an extensive succession process and we weren't in the best state to be heading into a drought.
"It was the worst possible time.
"I remember feeding the cows and the sheep with my parents and carting water.
"And I saw how hard my parents worked and their resilience to work through a really difficult situation."
Ms Johnson shared her successes and some of what she termed her "failures" also.
Ms Johnson admitted she didn't get the first job she applied for with NSW Farmers.
"I applied for a policy role, and I was really confident, but then I got an email saying, "Thanks, but no thanks'. I was devastated.
"It also hurt when I couldn't get a job for the first six months after leaving university. I went to interview after the interview and got rejection upon rejection.
"But it did teach me that I knew that when I did get an opportunity, that I was going to make the most of it and work as hard as I could
"So resilience got me through and motivated me early in my career."
Ms Johnson said she received valuable advice to focus on skills rather than job titles.
She worked with her managers to develop the skills that worked for the business and her career progression.
"I looked at opportunities I wanted to take up, looked at what they were looking for, and then thought about how to achieve that," she said.
"Being patient is hard, but I recommend just doing it and focusing on your skills."
Ms Johnson highlighted the importance of a supportive group of friends and family.
"No one gets through a drought by themselves - we all have a team, and they're all critical to our success," she said.
"Networks are also really important - the people I rely on as sounding boards when coming up against issues.
"And mentors are really important.
"I've worked with small organisations that generally haven't had a formal mentor program, but I have watched people in meetings and how they operate or in the office and then worked on learning from them."
Ms Johnson closed by talking about the most challenging decision she had made, when in May 2023, with a newborn baby and three months into her maternity leave, she found out the NSW Farmers CEO had resigned.
"Was my first reaction patience, resilience, and looking at my support networks? No," she said.
"It was not the best time, but I just said 'yes' and worked out the details later.
"I had no childcare lined up. I had to fill five days of someone looking after my daughter, but it was possible because of my support networks.
"Every day is challenging with a young baby, no matter what job you're doing, but I would take it over no rain in a drought any day."
