Women in Agribusiness: Building a Stronger Future for Agriculture

Season 5: Episode 206
In this episode of North American Ag Spotlight podcast, Chrissy Wozniak sits down with Svitlana Synkovska, a global event management expert with two decades of experience in agribusiness. Svitlana has organized and marketed nearly 50 international events across 12 countries, bringing together key players in commodities trading, biofuels, and more. Now serving as the Portfolio Director for Women in Agribusiness (WIA), she shares her insights into how WIA fosters a thriving community of professional women through networking, career development, and collaboration.

Svitlana discusses the evolution of agribusiness events, highlighting the meticulous planning, market research, and industry relationships required to create impactful conferences. She emphasizes the Women in Agribusiness Summit, which has grown from 200 attendees in 2012 to over 1,100 professionals today, establishing itself as the premier event for women in agribusiness. The upcoming 2025 WIA Summit will focus on key industry topics, including ag commodities markets, U.S. trade policy, extreme weather impacts, consumer trends, and the role of AI in agriculture.

Throughout the conversation, Svitlana offers invaluable career advice for women looking to establish themselves in agribusiness, stressing the importance of networking, building authentic connections, and embracing industry associations. She also explores the biggest disruptors in agriculture today, from global trade shifts to technological innovations like biological pesticides and robotics.

Tune in to hear about the power of community, the future of agribusiness, and how the Women in Agribusiness Summit is shaping the industry. For more information, visit WomenInAg.com and follow them on social media.

📢 Don’t forget to subscribe to North American Ag Spotlight on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, Rumble, or Telegram! 

***
North American Ag is devoted to highlighting the people & companies in agriculture who impact our industry and help feed the world. Subscribe at https://northamericanag.com

Want to hear the stories of the ag brands you love and the ag brands you love to hate? Hear them at https://whatcolorisyourtractor.com

Don't just thank a farmer, pray for one too!

Subscribe to North American Ag at https://northamericanag.com

Transcript

00:00:06:24 - 00:00:35:23
Chrissy Wozniak
Hi, and welcome to North American Spotlight. I'm Chrissy Wozniak. For two decades, our guest has been at the forefront of global event management and agribusiness, organizing and marketing nearly 50 international events across 12 countries. She's also a respected columnist, journalist and speaker, having shared her expertise at over 150 international conferences. She's now portfolio director for Women in Agribusiness, an organization that's dedicated to building a strong community for professional women in the industry.

00:00:36:00 - 00:00:58:16
Chrissy Wozniak
Their mission is to provide opportunities for networking, career development, collaboration and its annual Women in Agribusiness Summit has become a premiere event for women in agribusiness. Today, we're going to discuss the evolution of agribusiness events, the role of women in shaping the industry, and what's ahead for women in agribusiness. From Park City, Utah, I'd like to welcome Svitlana Synkovska .

00:00:58:17 - 00:01:02:08
Chrissy Wozniak
Welcome, Lana, and thank you so much for being here.

00:01:02:10 - 00:01:07:01
Svitlana Synkovska 
Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure.

00:01:07:03 - 00:01:14:11
Chrissy Wozniak
So you have an impressive 20 year career in agriculture. What initially drew you to the industry?

00:01:14:13 - 00:01:36:15
Svitlana Synkovska 
Well, it was actually not my plan. I had a background in international economics, and it's one of the first job interviews I've done was an ad business media. And I was like, okay, like for business, why not? We'll just get something new from there. And it took me 15 years to stay in one company. And I made amazing career.

00:01:36:15 - 00:02:04:12
Svitlana Synkovska 
And what surprised me how much I could use my knowledge in that area in the business. So agriculture is extremely dynamic and essential industry, and it directly impacts global food security and has a lot of international trade element. So this is what drove me to every business. And I stayed there for 15 years. And I could nurture my passion for storytelling and industry insights and community building.

00:02:04:12 - 00:02:19:23
Svitlana Synkovska 
And in the end, I've evolved to become like event organizers. But I've been a journalist and editorial chair and doing a lot of different things across the whole, you know, agriculture, media production.

00:02:20:00 - 00:02:29:01
Chrissy Wozniak
Amazing. And so what's been the the most rewarding part of your work in event management and and marketing within agribusiness?

00:02:29:03 - 00:02:50:10
Svitlana Synkovska 
I always say that put an event together so I could put a huge, big puzzle. You know, and if you're in puzzles, you know the vibe, you know this energy when you just put an end in the end, when you see everything ready, it looks like something whole, something good, something impressive for me. I do like people. I'm very like person to person, you know, individual.

00:02:50:10 - 00:03:17:10
Svitlana Synkovska 
I'm very communicative. But I also like the idea of creating the platform where people meet their, you know, they exchange information, they get deals, they negotiate. So one of the defining things in doing big events is then you feel that you make change in the industry, that you could do something big for, for trade, for, for women in agribusiness.

00:03:17:10 - 00:03:33:14
Svitlana Synkovska 
So I think the company of this human to human factor and feeling like I could contribute into making big shift in industry or in the movement or in the community. This is what I like the most about the whole events business.

00:03:33:16 - 00:03:57:24
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. That's amazing. And so organizing these events, you know, is kind of like a giant wedding. And I know Michelle has explained it like that before. And anybody that's organized a wedding knows how crazy it is. But it's like a wedding that last five days with thousands and thousands of people. So what are some of these biggest challenges in managing these large scale ag conferences and and really, how do you overcome them?

00:03:58:01 - 00:04:24:18
Svitlana Synkovska 
Well, like multiple layers of course. I big believer in planning. Planning is nothing. Planning is everything. So a quote of I think it was this and how we're saying that. So I do believe that you need to plan the process very precisely from the very beginning and following in. Second of all, of course, it's, people, it's you need to have an amazing team because events are every hour where you need to rely on everyone functions very heavily.

00:04:24:23 - 00:04:52:17
Svitlana Synkovska 
And it's very important to have a team of professionals and from a organizational point of view, because every event, even in agriculture, is extremely unique, because it has its unique mission and different audience. So first you need to know and to learn your audience very well. It's a lot of research which is invisible for delegates, but believe me, we do a lot of research behind before, during, and after the event because I always say all our decisions should be data driven.

00:04:52:23 - 00:05:30:16
Svitlana Synkovska 
Whenever we make decisions about the network and the content, everything should be measured and everything should be based on research and data. So I think having the background in marketing and in media, in journalism, I'm very much believe that to provide this amazing experience, you need to know your audience, you need to learn, and you need to do your best to, to give them that, product, that event they really want from the point of view of networking, from the point of view of market content and from the point of view on this, I call it invisible.

00:05:30:18 - 00:05:47:09
Svitlana Synkovska 
While fact this secret sauce of all event, this atmosphere. Because this is something you're not always good measure or touch, but you feel it when you're on this event. And this is what makes people to return and to be back to this event again and again.

00:05:47:11 - 00:06:09:06
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. And I've been attending this event for, for many years now. And and yeah, like you said, it is something you want to go back to. It's something that is, I would say the one of the biggest pluses is there's no fluff. It's really down to business and there's things happening all the time. There's choices depending on your interest.

00:06:09:08 - 00:06:27:17
Chrissy Wozniak
It's not like you're sitting there bored ever during this conference. And it's really become the premier event for women in agriculture, in agribusiness. So how has it evolved over the years? How did you get to this place? I know you're new within the company, but you know, what have you learned?

00:06:27:19 - 00:06:50:19
Svitlana Synkovska 
Yes. It's amazing because it's definitely an unique event with huge legacy. For last, it was launched in 2012 and it was the first of its kind networking and knowledge sharing events. And it started from a group of 200 people and now we had last year 1100 people, and we expect it to grow. And what is unique about this event?

00:06:50:19 - 00:07:15:11
Svitlana Synkovska 
It's not just a conference, it's a community. It's a network. It combines multiple elements, including membership. So you can become a member. You could get access to our newsletter. So you could be part of our meet ups across the different regions of the United States between the conferences. It also includes a couple of fantastic elements like student scholarships.

00:07:15:11 - 00:07:53:23
Svitlana Synkovska 
We have this amazing opportunity for students, for young female leaders to become a part of the conference. Do get this membership opportunities to got this inspiration, to got this push from the industry. It's not many events far and that is something unique. Plus, I really proud for us to have on this Demeter award, because it's really amazing that you could, vote and you could actually nominate some amazing females, you know, and with the help of advisory board, we go for the very creative process of selection and the whole this award is about celebrating successful women and of a business.

00:07:53:23 - 00:08:11:19
Svitlana Synkovska 
It's it's really it's important to have this like, you know, industry Oscar for females because we need we need all the praise and they need all the attention. And you know, we need to applaud them because it's it's it's amazing. Women have fantastic careers in agribusiness. So we want to tell their stories. We want to share their stories.

00:08:11:19 - 00:08:32:10
Svitlana Synkovska 
So want to give them a stage and share a couple of words of wisdom with like young, young ladies who are in the conference room. So I think this combination of who was on the top of the industry for the beginning, the cross, the whole value chain from farmers to food industry, these all ingredients make this event extremely complex.

00:08:32:10 - 00:08:38:19
Svitlana Synkovska 
But this complexity gives you this unique, absolutely mind blowing experience.

00:08:38:21 - 00:08:53:02
Chrissy Wozniak
Right? Yeah. Great description. And and what themes, key themes it well will be the 2025 summit. What will you be focusing on and what can we look forward to?

00:08:53:03 - 00:09:12:14
Svitlana Synkovska 
It's very important for this event to still to be jousting on the top of the market, because it's a content driven, and we put a lot of attention to create and to pick the best topic and the best speakers, because this is like two important ingredients. It should be good topic and should be amazing. The best you can get speakers.

00:09:12:14 - 00:09:37:24
Svitlana Synkovska 
So this year, on the top of the traditional personal development topics, we added some important elements like commodities, markets, updates. We see all what's going on in the market with wheat, corn, soybeans, all these big agricultural commodities markets. We will tell about them from the main stage. Also, we have a big focus this year on topics like trade and tariffs.

00:09:38:04 - 00:10:06:10
Svitlana Synkovska 
Of course, because just like a year, this topic is not the one everywhere. Also, we want to focus on whether, from the point of view of this extreme weather events and how they impact and how they influence and how what should be the whole, risk management behind. And we will try to show this on the panel from what point of view of farmer on companies who provide solution to to understand to weather impact on yields from insurance companies.

00:10:06:10 - 00:10:31:06
Svitlana Synkovska 
So we whenever we have a topic, we will try to show this topic from the point of view of different segments of of business across the whole value chain class. We will talk about very important topics we will have about the shift and big change in the consumer behavior about the food. And we will have amazing speaker, Shannon Lee from Grabber Research talking about that.

00:10:31:08 - 00:11:02:19
Svitlana Synkovska 
Also, we will have a good traditional, farmers panel, which is already like a very traditional big element. Plus, we will mention sustainable aviation fuel and how it's impact feedstocks and commodities market and the whole agriculture and of course, something big and interesting is I and how people across the whole value chain of agriculture could use AI to improve their business and to get all the benefits from this new big things coming our way and transit Van Cetera.

00:11:02:19 - 00:11:24:17
Svitlana Synkovska 
So stay tuned. We already about to and I think we have a jam on the website, but without release. First six seven speakers for the next couple of weeks and it will be a lot of big names of the industry. So stay tuned. And believe me, this year agenda will be mind blowing and you will have the best topic and the most influential speakers, right?

00:11:24:17 - 00:11:45:16
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah, that that's great. There's a lot of meat in there for sure. Yeah. And one thing that strikes me when I'm there at the conference is the the number of young women, women in their 20s that are just starting out their careers. What advice do you give to women looking to establish themselves in agribusiness, or even transition into some leadership roles?

00:11:45:18 - 00:12:13:23
Svitlana Synkovska 
First of all, you need to understand that agribusiness is an enclosure. It's a very relationship driven business. It's expertise is hard, work is important, but it still is very important to have the proper network, to have the group of people supporting you and rooting for you, and your ability to build this relationship and connection with different people in the industry is one of the key qualities you need to succeed in the business.

00:12:13:23 - 00:12:37:20
Svitlana Synkovska 
So I think it's very much about being proactive. It's on the whole, wide conference experience. It's about just push people to all multiple layers of networking. So if I could give advice to myself when I was 21 years old, I would say, don't be shy. Just talk to people, talk to everyone. Events, any kind of professional gathering.

00:12:37:20 - 00:13:07:05
Svitlana Synkovska 
Use every second. Use every minute of it. One more advice I would give it. I was always doing being like young, professional and now become a member of any industry association you could become. And this is what I'm keep on doing, maybe like higher level, because these opportunities you could put into your CV, you could get any opportunities for scholarships for communication, etc., etc. because industry associations on multiple levels, it's a perfect entry level to get connected and to know what's going on.

00:13:07:05 - 00:13:30:21
Svitlana Synkovska 
So don't underestimate that opportunity. Second one, it's I think it's a very basic communication tool. Before start and connection, ask how it can help whatever you need. Anyone think about what I can do to do this person, how they can help. And sometimes life gives you many situation that you could give someone an advice. You can introduce someone to anyone.

00:13:30:21 - 00:14:03:18
Svitlana Synkovska 
So the whole communication don't have to be transactional. It should be like very sincere desire to be helpful to people and people feel it. And the third thing, it's social media. Because especially for young people, they are much better, you know, crafting all that new magic stuff for social media. We have a lot of examples of quite young agribusiness influencers, industry leaders who became famous and build their personal branding, brand on social media.

00:14:03:18 - 00:14:27:17
Svitlana Synkovska 
So LinkedIn, TikTok, even you could be like famous agricultural professional on TikTok. So don't underestimate these huge new tools and use all of that and just be brave and be be interactive. Now they have much more opportunities than us. 20 years ago. You know. Yeah. So yeah, it's amazing timing for networking. Definitely.

00:14:27:17 - 00:14:41:00
Chrissy Wozniak
Oh yeah. Excellent advice. Yeah. And be brave I love that I love it. So from your experience in agribusiness events in journalism, what are some of the biggest disruptors and agriculture today that you're seeing?

00:14:41:02 - 00:14:59:07
Svitlana Synkovska 
Oh, we live actually first of all every business is quite dynamic business. It's never boring. Maybe it was one of the reason what I stage in every business, because every 12 months you have harvest, you have new marketing season and things changing completely, especially from the global point of view. You have good harvest somewhere, that harvest somewhere else.

00:14:59:07 - 00:15:28:06
Svitlana Synkovska 
You have so many factors and it's all changing every marketing year. So that makes it a business very dynamic, a little bit crazy but never boring. But we see so many new things going on. We have a huge increase of the role of the geopolitics and starting from the conflict and Black Sea in 2022, when we seen this huge disruption of supply, also key food commodities, and we see so many things going on related to that.

00:15:28:08 - 00:15:54:03
Svitlana Synkovska 
We see now a new wave of trade wars. And it's just the beginning because we already see that such a huge players like you, the United States, Canada, China, Mexico are involved and it definitely will have a huge effect on the global picture because what is cool and dangerous about agriculture, it's so much connected. It's all such a global business.

00:15:54:03 - 00:16:16:10
Svitlana Synkovska 
So whatever is going on in one part of the world, from agriculture point of view impacts the whole landscape. So my expectation we might have a great increase of Brazilian exports. We might see the increase of Australian exports to China again because of what's going on. But we definitely will have a big shift in all the trade flows of the key commodities.

00:16:16:11 - 00:16:17:23
Svitlana Synkovska 
Right?

00:16:18:00 - 00:16:47:17
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah, yeah, I definitely agree with you there. And also I know my audience especially is definitely industry interested in innovation. Agtech AI. And I know that the summit always covers that as well. And as you were mentioning before. So with AI and Agtech really transforming our industry, transforming every industry, but also very much in agriculture, what innovations are you most excited about as we move forward?

00:16:47:19 - 00:17:13:03
Svitlana Synkovska 
Well, first of all, I would like to tell you that we just got confirmed one legendary person in its business panel, Warren, if you know, you know. So she will be a moderator of all the innovation panels. And she's like the best person to tell about all this new technologies. Me specifically. I'm a big supporter and I'm a big believer in biological pesticides.

00:17:13:03 - 00:17:37:24
Svitlana Synkovska 
In all that now happening in Europe, due to farm to fork program when they trying to cut the use of chemical pesticides. We see this trend is happening in some other countries like Egypt, Brazil. So it's definitely a lot of innovation here in the United States with, new kind of, new technologies on new kind of not chemical, but extremely efficient, inputs.

00:17:37:24 - 00:18:00:03
Svitlana Synkovska 
So this is something we need to, to check and to watch. And we will definitely give some, you know, stage to these topics. Once again, it's robotics. It's the whole reputation of agriculture. It's a big topic. Once again, it's a lot of pros and cons, but it's something we need to watch. What's going on decarbonization and all these, sustainability practices.

00:18:00:03 - 00:18:42:03
Svitlana Synkovska 
But from the point of view of using software, using technology which is using smart technologies to use degree culture much more efficient from the sustainability point of view. So it's a huge scale of topics mentioned and weather and all the technologies to with the space, data and how the AI helps to process that all space data and analyze this data, and to make this decision making data for farmers based off all the information about whether you definitely will have a we will have a weather panel where we'll try to to discuss this topic from the point of view of data and of users.

00:18:42:05 - 00:19:13:10
Svitlana Synkovska 
So the innovation, a huge there like the changing the shift in the landscape of agriculture. But there is still some of them are much more easy to implement and some is some just a future. Comments. So we need to watch what's going on. But there's definitely there is a big demand for innovations. And when we were crafting our innovations and investment panels, we want not only to tell a story of technology, we want to tell the story of the people behind it or the business of the company, because this is what makes it appealing.

00:19:13:10 - 00:19:28:15
Svitlana Synkovska 
Not just, you know, technology from scientific point of view, it should be. It's always a story of the people, of creator or the visionary behind this idea. So this is what we try, how we try to put it on our agenda.

00:19:28:17 - 00:19:52:11
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah. Yeah. That's that's incredible. And and so you mentioned earlier about the importance of networking, collaboration, leadership. Why is networking so essential for career growth in agribusiness. And I know summit also really focuses on networking as well. And then also what strategies have you found to really build these relationships?

00:19:52:13 - 00:20:18:03
Svitlana Synkovska 
Well, we definitely put a lot of parallels. It was insane to see for me when I first was analyzing the structure of this event. From a point of view of professional event organizer, we have more than 20 different kind of networking events for three days. It's unbelievably intense. It's own side, it off side, it's organized by sponsors is it's for different audiences.

00:20:18:09 - 00:20:43:03
Svitlana Synkovska 
Something for students, something for them makes it for everyone. Morning yoga, so many different layers and so many different types of networking activities. So it means like you will get so many fantastic new connections. So we as organizers, we create this opportunity for you to get connected to different people in different situations, in quiet yoga and loud mixers.

00:20:43:03 - 00:21:12:00
Svitlana Synkovska 
So it gives so many opportunities. You just need delegates, just need to use those opportunities and just, you know, be open and to be adventurous and just, you know, to, to to to move in the flow because we will create all this flow for these communications just to go between people. Why networking is important. I think for me, as someone who traveled more than 50 countries and who has this big network of people because the whole world, it's such a power.

00:21:12:00 - 00:21:42:05
Svitlana Synkovska 
It's whatever's going on in your professional private life you like. I see this huge tribe supporting you. It's like belonging. It's such an important feeling for me, and especially in such an international or like very human related business and agriculture. It's a power, it's a huge asset. It's a huge advantage because all you, if you try to find a new job or you just want to to get this access to some funding and investment.

00:21:42:07 - 00:22:08:11
Svitlana Synkovska 
There are so many situation with connections, connections, connections. It's like your question to literally every request. You can have it for your career and your private and professional life. So I do believe that we are tribe creatures. I do believe that even if you are introverted, you need to develop it in you. And maybe not everyone could have like hundreds of friends and hundreds of connections, but it's more about quality.

00:22:08:13 - 00:22:28:09
Svitlana Synkovska 
I do believe you need to build quality connections, so it's once again about meeting people. Think about how can help you. I always ask a lot of questions about people. I always remember a lot of details about people because I like genuinely and interested into people. I remember the horoscope sign, the color of their eyes just like I had, like my funny way of interacting.

00:22:28:09 - 00:22:49:11
Svitlana Synkovska 
But I do believe that as soon as you will understand how important to build it and you will see the value and you will, you should like it and it means that this business is definitely will make you thrive and you will be this connection. And once again, be patient. Don't think that if you're just jumping in the business, you will have like a lot of it's a process.

00:22:49:11 - 00:23:12:19
Svitlana Synkovska 
It it takes time. Just be patient. Don't events. Go to our events in Orlando and just step by step, build your tribe. Feel your supporters and you know, get your connections and people which will support you. And it was a phrase on the LinkedIn, surround yourself with the people who will speak your name in the room full of opportunities.

00:23:12:21 - 00:23:35:05
Svitlana Synkovska 
So this is something I'm like, wow, this is amazing. This is definitely something which I could identify you networking from a quality point of view. So my advice is don't also just chase for quantity, but also think about quality of your networking and how you could enrich and make yourself at the quality network. Member.

00:23:35:07 - 00:23:56:05
Chrissy Wozniak
Yeah, that's it. I love what you're saying. And you actually gave me goosebumps a couple of times because I couldn't agree with you more in, you know, my 20 year career in agriculture and agribusiness. There have been so many times like, you know, people kind of think networking and they think it's cold and it's business. And, you know, we're going to make a business that kind of that yucky, right?

00:23:56:10 - 00:24:15:22
Chrissy Wozniak
Well, in my experience of building this network, like you said, you know, this huge network, there's been times in my life where things are going bad and I get phone calls from all across the country, you know, and all across North America, where you realize that this industry, it does care and it is relationship based. And there are so many incredible people.

00:24:15:24 - 00:24:28:11
Chrissy Wozniak
And, and even if, you know, I think the career advancement and all of that is actually a byproduct of this amazing family we get to be a part of. So thank you for that answer. That was excellent.

00:24:28:13 - 00:24:31:06
Svitlana Synkovska 
Thank you so much. Thank you for seeing.

00:24:31:08 - 00:24:36:20
Chrissy Wozniak
And so where can people find out more about the Women and Agribusiness Summit?

00:24:36:22 - 00:24:59:10
Svitlana Synkovska 
Well, we have our website women in ABC.com. So please, you know, visit it and you could subscribe to our newsletters and you could follow them on social media. We have very active LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook where literally everywhere. And yeah, I think maybe you will be able to put like a link so I could just show like they do.

00:24:59:16 - 00:25:20:00
Svitlana Synkovska 
Yes, normally obviously you know YouTubers. So if people just follow our updates and we already have a agenda quite early with not like speakers, but already you could plan your trip because we put all the timing for main sessions and topics, so you could plan that very much early. That's why I think it's amazing because me, myself, I like to plan things in advance.

00:25:20:00 - 00:25:31:12
Svitlana Synkovska 
So for someone like me, you definitely would find it very helpful to visit our website and to find some important information about the event. It's already there, so hope to see you in Orlando!

00:25:31:14 - 00:25:36:22
Chrissy Wozniak
Amazing! Well thank you Lana so much. I can't wait to meet you in person this fall.

00:25:36:24 - 00:25:39:08
Svitlana Synkovska 
Thank you. Thank you so much.

00:25:39:10 - 00:25:57:10
Chrissy Wozniak
Yes, and thanks to all who are watching or listening. If you want to learn more, the links are provided in the show notes. Don't forget to subscribe to North American Tech Spotlight on Spotify, Apple, Amazon listen notes or, if you prefer, video, you can find us at Rumble or Telegram channels. We're really wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you like the episode, I would love it if you shared it.

00:25:57:12 - 00:25:58:18
Chrissy Wozniak
Have a great day!

00:25:58:20 - 00:26:01:00
Svitlana Synkovska 
Thank you. Have a great day guys