Meet Lexus
Facility Manager
Lexus majored in Agribusiness Management and began her career at Cargill as a Supervisor Trainee. She recently accepted a Facility Manager position with Cargill Salt in White Marsh, Maryland. This marks her third business unit within Cargill, an insightful journey that has broadened her perspective as a leader. Prior to this role, she served as Operations Manager at Cargill Cotton in Haslet, Texas.
Across each role, her leadership approach has been rooted in servant leadership: developing people, removing barriers, and fostering inclusive environments that help move the needle toward greater parity in diversity and inclusion, while staying true to Cargill’s core values and putting people first.
How much did you know about Cargill prior to applying? If so, what was your perception of it as a place to work?
Great, Cargill came to campus, and built a relationship with the students. When I was deciding on where I wanted to work, one thing that really stood out to me about Cargill was that the recruiters would host resume building presentations, and everyone was welcomed even if you did not want to pursue a career with them. So, I felt like if a company cared enough about me to be successful in life overall not just for their gain, I wanted to work for them.
How has your internship challenged or prepared you for the next step in your career?
It was challenging work, with that and the employee interaction; it equipped me for the supervisor trainee role. Having to complete my tasks and the responsibility of ensuring all the employees were safe and productive gave me a solid foundation.
What would you say is the most valuable skill you learned in your time at Cargill?
Consistency and Communication. I learned everyone does not think like me, and everyone is not going to like me; but being able to communicate with others empathically and unbiased; following, and enforcing the rules being consistent with every employee has been the most valuable skills I learned over time.
How do you describe Cargill as both a company and employer to your friends and family?
Cargill is a good company because they take care of their employees. As an employee I love my job because I get to wear so many hats, I am an operations manager, but I am also a lead in university recruiting, a lead of the operations committee in the CASC CWN, and I get support from management. That is important to me because I get to add value to the corporation in ways that align with my own core values.
Have you been able to see the impact of your work/responsibilities?
Yes, from all the committees I have been involved in. Being a lead recruiter, I get to bring students into a business that will help their careers; but to have those students reach out to me for mentorship and guidance contributing to their success is the impact I am most proud of it. I am the same in my role as a manager helping my employees reach goals on the job and outside of it, I really try to pay it forward, and serve others.
When I was deciding on where I wanted to work, one thing that really stood out to me about Cargill was that the recruiters would host resume building presentations, and everyone was welcomed even if you did not want to pursue a career with them. So, I felt like if a company cared enough about me to be successful in life overall not just for their gain, I wanted to work for them.
Learn more about Lexus and her role at Cargill
