Introducing Andy Hruby and Joe Paulson, the newest Ag View Solutions team members

Shay

Foulk: Welcome back everyone to another episode of the Ag View Pitch. Today we have a couple special guests, Chris. Uh, we have Joe Paulson and Andy Ruby with us. And today's conversation is going to be around what's going on within the Ag View Solutions team, what the future of the business looks like here, and just to introduce these two wonderful guys that we have sitting here. So Chris, any, any introductory comments that you have on kind of why we wanted to put this episode out and what this means for listeners moving forward?

Chris

Barron: Yeah, for sure. I mean, the main thing we want to do is just kind of introduce the idea that As Ag View has grown, we want to make sure that we're bringing the best service, the best, you know, information and quality people and follow-up. When we start something and we're working with somebody, we want to make sure we have the capacity to follow up. We always talk about cross-training and everything when we're working with clients. And, you know, we're trying to do that also ourselves. You know, it's easy to tell people to do something, but you also need to do that stuff yourself. And so what you know, obviously Shay, you and I are trying to do is backfill ourselves and make sure we've got some depth and some, some new ideas and some additional people to kind of work with us. And so pretty excited about having Joe and Andy on board here with us.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, I think we'll start with Joe. Joe, if you would please give the listeners a background on kind of who you are, where you're located, and how long you've kind of been working with us on the Ag View side.

Joe

Paulson: Um, my name is Joe Paulson. I'm from, uh, Genoa, Illinois, and, uh, my, uh, my dad was looking for a spreadsheet back in 2016, and, uh, uh, that Chris had put out, and he emailed Chris, and they ended up talking on the phone quite a bit. And here, here we are a few years later, and, uh, Chris has helped my dad and I through an entire transition and I've been in Chris's, in one of his peer groups and been through TPAP. And so that's how long we've been working, working with Chris. I, we farm up here, we do custom, we do custom application, do a little, little bit of trucking and, you know, have a good grain, decent-sized grain farm operation and And that's how, that's how we got here.

Shay

Foulk: And you've been through many, many iterations of what I would say are the core competencies of Ag View Solutions. So, you know, the profit manager side, into transition planning, business structuring, collaboration to an extent, and have kind of seen the full gamut of services to include the peer groups then. And that's where you're jumping in with the team is taking on profit managers, taking on a peer group. And really, when, you know, for the listeners in particular, Chris was right when it was somewhat to backfill, but this is the next iteration of Ag View. And these are, you know, Joe and Andy are true trusted advisors that we know can do what Chris and I do, and do it differently and do it better in a lot of cases. So yeah, you've been through many iterations of that.

What's, what's kind of been your, you know, you've seen Ag View evolve here over the last 8 years, I guess it's been already. What's kind of been your outside and client view of how the business has changed and what you're looking forward to over the next several years of of working with the team here?

Joe

Paulson: Well, it's, it just continues to get more and more formalized and professional. And I hadn't really thought that I had basically been through all those different iterations of, you know, Ag View services, but I really have and have just really enjoyed not only that part of it, but the networking that is available within Ag View and the amazing people that are out there in agriculture and Ag View has done that. That's, that's one of the parts that have made me so excited about being a part of this is just this continuation of connecting with more and more people, in ag throughout the United States, all over, and getting to learn about operations. I, I just, I find the whole process fascinating, the business planning, the business structure, the transition planning, all the unique operations, and then the amazing people that are behind that.

And it's been, uh, just an absolute privilege to be able to become part of, to be able to become part of this. This movement?

Shay

Foulk: One thing that we've been doing here is a lot of cross-training. So I know yesterday you were with Chris all day in a client meeting. You've been to several of the peer groups, have participated in peer groups, and been around this for a long, long time. So want to give the listeners full confidence on that end. But also one of the biggest things that I see, Chris, and your comments here are welcome, experience. Has so much to do with the value that you can provide to clients and to provide with people that we're working with of, hey, I've seen that, or I've done that. And I know here's some things you should do, here's some things you shouldn't do. And so the experiences that you've had, Joe, I think give you a tremendous amount of credibility on— in addition to you live it, you breathe it, you do it.

And that's where I think a lot of that value comes in for Chris and I as historically the lead consultants here. That has added a lot of credibility on that end. Chris, you got any comments on that?

Chris

Barron: Yeah, absolutely. I think, you know, the key thing for bringing on additional people to be part of the Ag View team, I think, has to do with we want people that live it and breathe it too, just like you said. I mean, we want We want people that have been through it also, that have been through transition, that are in the process of doing a lot of the same things. For example, yesterday Joe and I were with a great family, and they had some of the same challenges that Joe had or that I had years ago too. And, and when you've lived it and you are currently living it, I think it gives you a lot more credibility. We're not just out there trying to to sell a service. We, we don't need to sell a service.

You know, we, we— it's just like Joe said, we want to network with people, we want to build relationships, we want to understand the operations, and we want to be a part of a successful team alongside with them. And I think that's really the key, and that's the differentiating, differentiating component that I think Ag View has, is, you know, we, we walk alongside you doing what you do, and we care, and we're going to be there with you for the long haul. And in any of those endeavors or challenges that you have, we're going to be right there with you.

Shay

Foulk: Before we get too far in here, speaking of experience and having lived through it, Andy Ruby, I'd have you take a minute to kind of introduce yourself. Same thing, where you're located, how long you've been working with the Ag View team, and then kind of what all you have going on in your operation there.

Andy

Hruby: Yeah, Andy Ruby, we're in Pleasant Lake, Indiana, real close to Michigan and Ohio line. Corn, soybeans, a little bit of wheat, alfalfa. We custom chop for dairy farms and have a Channel Seed dealership as well. I met Chris in 2018 at TPAP. He was presenting on collaboration and transition planning and just really intrigued on the collaboration piece. And in 2020, due to some unfortunate events for a neighboring farm, seen an opportunity for a few of us to go in and collaboratively work together. And that's when we started working with Chris and you, Shay. I think you guys were— you guys both came to that first meeting and helped us kind of draw that out and what it would look like and what proper steps needed to be taken. Kind of from there, the rest was history. It was, it was right into Profit Manager and utilizing some of the tools in there.

And, and that's when I would say I kind of had a passion for Profit Manager with equipment cost analysis and was really liking what the tool could do for us. Really eye-opening experience to, to the effects of efficiencies and equipment trades and things like that. So that part was really nice. We were fortunate enough to get involved in a peer group in 2021, and we're wrapping that peer group up. And I think Abby and I, my wife Abby and I, would definitely say that the peer group experience has changed our lives and has really helped us with a lot of things we had going on within our operation. And kind of being a backbone and a group there that said, hey, you know, from the outside looking in, here's some things that you guys should really address.

And, and, and kind of forces you to have some tough conversations that needed to happen, um, as you know, you had a group of people holding you responsible for some of that stuff. And, uh, yeah, that, that part's been great. Um, you know, they force you to do, do some uncomfortable things and have great outcomes that come out of it on the other side. So, you know, and that's because, because of that stuff, it's allowed me to, to start working more with Ag View. And as my roles have changed here on the farm, I have more time to do things like this. And, and I have said for a few years that I've, you know, I've fallen in love with the business of agriculture, not so much the tractor driving itself.

So, so with that, and with you guys, and, you know, needing help and the professionalism you bring and what you guys have done for our operation, I thought, well, I might as well pass that forward. And just, just the stuff you learn from talking with other farms and working with other farms, and you can bring back little things to your own operation is huge. So that's a lot of the why of, you know, a group helped us get to where we're at, we want to help other people get to where they want to go. So that's, that's been the biggest why.

Shay

Foulk: Two things that I want to add here. So the first one is, you know, both these guys, Joe and Andy, that listeners just heard, are very, very humble. And so I'll brag on them a little bit. The level of professionalism that they bring to their operations, the complexity of things that they have going on, how they navigated the situations that they've been through, has given Chris and I and the Ag View team full confidence that they're a great fit moving forward. And we don't take this lightly. It's not hiring somebody from a different consulting firm, which, you know, nothing wrong with that, but these are people that have lived and breathed our processes and that we really admire kind of how they've done that as well. So that's the first thing that I want to emphasize.

The second thing, Chris, that I think is cool on this is just listening to, listening and knowing these guys the differences in personalities and how you approach a subject. And, and we saw that even when I came onto the team here a number of years ago. I do things different than Chris. And moving forward, there's going to be clients and customers, current or future, that are going to— maybe, maybe Andy is a better fit to work with them than Shay, or maybe Joe is a better fit than than Chris. And so I just kind of wanted to make that point that if you're, if you're a current client that is listening and says, man, I really like how Joe or Andy approached that, maybe we want to work with them for a year or two.

Or, you know, if you're someone that's thinking, hey, you know, we definitely need to be working with Ag View on transition planning or collaboration, you know, these guys are great fits for that. And I just kind of wanted to to throw that out there, Chris, as we, as we have this conversation.

Chris

Barron: Yeah, I would tack on to that. I think, you know, it's come right back to what are your experiences, what have you lived through? And a lot of times it's what have you learned not to do? What are those one things? If you can, if you can eliminate a couple of mistakes in the processes that we do in agriculture anymore, we're dealing with so many dollars. And in, and more than the dollars, we're dealing with families, right? We're dealing with with people. Um, you know, you can get the money right, you can get the dollars and cents right, but can you get the people part right? And, and that's the other reason I think that, like you said, not to brag on these guys, but, you know, these guys, um, care. Not that other people don't care, but they have that passion for helping people.

And that's exactly what we're looking for, is, is, you know, that type of approach, because You know, we want to make sure that, like I said, we walk beside these people and we live it, breathe it, and truly understand what they're going through. And it's not, not from a textbook, it's, it's from real life.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, absolutely. Um, one, one thing I, I would add here, um, this will, this will kick out kind of after we've had a chance to talk with clients one-on-one. This is, this is something that we've been looking at for a long time. I mean, a couple of years, I would say, Chris, 2, 3 years. Yeah, we knew this was like a strategic growth for Ag View and these guys were a perfect fit. Another reason that this timing is good is tentatively we're recording this at the beginning of April. I am tentatively slotted for about a year-long deployment with my military obligations starting in June. And so for current clients that, that I've been working with individually, you now have a team of not just one person in Chris, but three people with Andy and Joe and Chris, and then plus the support staff that I want to make sure we have an introduction on here as well.

So, you know, I may or may not have access during that time period. You know, I'll be gone for that duration. It's kind of an undefined period of time right now. And then when I'm back, we'll get going business as normal. But we wanted to make sure that, you know, everybody listening to this, you guys will have the resources, the contact information to these guys. And, you know, they've graciously accepted of, you know, taking phone calls and being there as a team to work collaboratively on that. So I don't think I really had anything else to add there. Just wanted to make people aware of that. And if you have any questions, you can, you can reach out to either Chris or I directly. On that note, we would be remiss, you know, Chris and Alissa, obviously you guys are the initial Ag View team, the original, the OGs. You guys are kind of, kind of make the whole show run.

And then we've, you know, brought Hannah back into the team here this last year. The other reason it's a great fit for bringing Joe and Andy in is they both have awesome support team on their end as well. So Joe, if you could take a minute to also introduce Sarah, and then Andy, I'll have you do the same with Abby.

Joe

Paulson: So here, about 3 years ago, I started, uh, I hired, um, an office lady, uh, to help pay some bills. And that— she was a, she was a school teacher, was, uh, had a bachelor's in accounting, got a master's in teaching, taught for 11 years. And, uh, she was looking for a side hustle. So we started up and, uh, we got about 6 months into it and we started actually talking about maybe bringing her on full-time, you know, and transitioning outta teaching. And we were talking 2, 3 years and we got to about November of that first year. And she came to me one day and she said, I don't think I'm gonna make it to the end of the year. She says, what if I quit in, uh, at Christmas and I start full-time and I was like, yeah, let's, let's go. And she's been here 3 years full-time now. She's, um, she's not just an office lady. She's an executive assistant, uh, you know, CFO, uh, you know, HR.

She does everything. She's, uh, extremely capable within the office. And, uh, and she's also an Ag View associate. She's going to help lead peer groups, um, you know, alongside, alongside me. You know, there's, uh, the family we met with yesterday. I'm gonna, um, hook, hook the mother up with, uh, with, with, with Sarah to, uh, kind of show her what we're doing bookkeeping-wise to help out there. She's an amazing resource. Anybody's got any questions about farm office stuff, She's next level. And her name is Sarah Wareham.

Shay

Foulk: Yep. Awesome. So thank you for that. Andy?

Andy

Hruby: Yeah, so my wife Abby is a, is a full-time crop insurance adjuster. And when we kind of looked at this opportunity, she really wanted to help and get involved also. I'd say the peer groups is for sure her passion. And so being able to help other families and farms with, with that process. She's really looking forward to— she helps on the farm quite a bit with accounts payable and receivable and just data entry stuff and kind of helping keep me organized for the most part. So that's, that's been the big benefit she's brought to our operation and, and how she helps keep things organized and help other producers as we move forward.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, I would say, you know, beside every good man is an amazing woman. And for this group, that holds to be very true. So we're excited to have Abby and Sarah as associates on the team as well. And just thank you guys for that overview. As we, as we wrap up here, Chris, I'm not sure if there's anything else that we really wanted to make sure that we were emphasizing. Any, any final thoughts on your end, Chris?

Chris

Barron: My only couple of comments is, first of all, I think you and I are pretty lucky to have our support teams too, between Alyssa and Hannah, and just want to shout out to them because they, they back us up hugely. With that said, the other thing I'd like to say is, you know, with, with an expanded team like this, we can really walk beside people and help. I would encourage people to reach out. I mean, a lot of times we we tell people to give us a call or give a text. And on this morning, I got two different text messages with what maybe seemed like an important— well, it was an important question from a couple of different people. And we can get right back to people, whether it's a text message or just a brief phone call and stuff, and a lot of times keep the process moving of whatever it is that you're trying to do.

And so I just would encourage people to reach out and not feel like they're bugging us if they need to. They got a question or need something, we can only help if we know that there's a need as people work through processes. And so I just want to make sure we get that out there too. And, and thank you for, for your service and what you do too, Shay. We appreciate that.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah. The comment that I would say on Profit Manager too, that I didn't emphasize is Joe and Andy know Profit Manager inside out. Upside down and backwards. And so, uh, one of the roles that I had kind of taken over was taking over the profit manager onboarding, and we've streamlined that tremendously, uh, from the purchase to the receipt of the customer. And then, uh, you know, any new profit manager purchases will, will be assigned to either Joe or Andy as they come in, uh, just Chris, based on kind of your capacity currently. And so Anybody that, you know, whether you're currently working with Profit Manager and are looking for updates or looking for guidance on that, that'll be Joe and Andy and/or Chris based on availability. But any new clients for sure will go to either Joe or Andy.

And, you know, Joe, we always joke with people, you know, people take Profit Manager and they like put it on steroids. And so we want to keep to the basics for new customers and new clients. But these guys have done some pretty awesome things for their operations within it. And will be a phenomenal resource there. Joe, I want to give each of you guys a couple of minutes here, just in closing thoughts that you want to make sure that the listeners of this, current clients, future clients, get it, get an opportunity to hear and know who you guys are. So any, any closing comments on your end? We'll start with Joe.

Joe

Paulson: I'm just very excited to be part of the team. And, you know, I'm, I'm here to help, especially You know, uh, just can't thank you enough for your service, Shay, and your sacrifice, your family's sacrifice. And, uh, it was a perfect time to come in and help backfill while you're serving our country. And, uh, you know, I'm just excited to be here and meet more new people and help where I can.

Shay

Foulk: Awesome. Thanks, Joe. Andy?

Andy

Hruby: Yeah, I just want to say, reach out if you need help, even if you don't know what you need help with. I think that's how the whole journey started with me was, you know, it's like, man, I think this could be an opportunity. I need help, but I don't know what help I need. So I think that's important for a lot of people to know that is, is just call and there's, there's no dumb questions. Just start talking through the scenario and we can kind of put you in touch with the right person on the team to help and experience that the team has. So yeah, just reach out. We're here to help. That's why the Ag View team's growing, is so we can help more people. And yeah, kind of echo what everybody else said too, Shay, is thanks for your service and commitment to the country.

Shay

Foulk: Yeah, thanks, guys. The closing thought I have here is, you know, Ag View's outlook, to Andy's point, is helping people and businesses thrive. And so you might be doing real good right now and, you know, hitting on all cylinders, but we have a lot of people call us up and just say, hey, we, we like what you're doing. We want you to be part of our team to tell us what we can do better. You know, tell us where the, where the gaps are. What holes do we have in our operation? How do we get to that next level in our operation and in our business? And bringing Joe and Andy on board is the clear next step to provide that success and, and to help us better serve you as clients. So with that being said, gentlemen, thank you so much for the time. We are thrilled to work with you guys.

And, uh, thank you everyone for listening to another episode of the Ag View Pitch, and we will catch you next time.