The breathtaking views of Guanajuato, Mexico, weren’t easy to leave behind, but Ma Merced Yebra knew her children deserved better than what she could provide them there. Although her husband went to the U.S. often to find work, he never saved enough to help his family back in Mexico. One day she decided to take a chance on a new life in the U.S., leaving behind her roots and venturing into the unknown with her four young children.
“We didn’t have a lot growing up,” says Alma Valdez, her youngest daughter. “We were very poor. We lived in a house made of cardboard and metal sheets. We struggled a lot. My mother’s decision to leave her home in Guanajuato to come to the U.S. changed my life completely.”
This journey led them to DeKalb, Ill. At the age of 8, Valdez turned all her focus to learning English — fast. Unfortunately, very few teachers knew Spanish at the time, so it made it difficult for her to learn.
“I guess that’s where I started learning to not give up, to always try to see the best in people and to learn from everyone,” she adds.
With time, she picked up English and found herself translating for her family. Her mom took a job at a pig farm. When Valdez turned 18, she started working at the farm with her mother as a part-time power washer a few days each week. Not long after that, she began translating educational materials from English into Spanish to help other employees. Valdez says that’s how she learned how to castrate, how to care for sows, how to heat check and more.
She kept saying yes to new opportunities. She worked her way up the ranks and found herself in a manager role, taking care of the barn and the crew. Valdez moved to Minnesota to gain even more experience. A couple years later, a local veterinarian approached her to apply for a job back in DeKalb at Johnson Farms.
Her inspiring journey moving up from power washing farrowing rooms to managing a sow farm makes Valdez a barn hero in the eyes of everyone who works with her, says Cole Johnson, co-owner of Johnson Farms.
“She has a unique ability to earn credibility with people,” he adds. “When it comes to leading a crew in the barn, she’s been where they are. She will never ask anyone to do something she has not already done or is willing to jump in and try alongside them.”
THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT SPOTS
When Valdez went to work for Johnson Farms a few years ago, she admits it was a little overwhelming at first.
“There was a lot of work to be done,” Valdez explains. “But that’s also what made it exciting.”
She says learning how to use new technologies at the farm such as e-tagging and electronic sow feeding made her job even more interesting. She was also eager to help get the farm more organized and build a more cohesive team.
“I think the frustrating part was not being able to be in all the places that I wanted to be in the short amount of time that I had throughout the day. As soon as I’d fix something in one spot, another area needed my attention,” Valdez adds.
The never-ending to-do list is one of the many reasons Valdez initially worked for three weeks straight before taking a day off.
“People see she doesn’t take many days off, even though I urge her to do so,” Johnson says. “You can’t come in and just be a dictator, especially when you’re asking people to make a lot of changes. Alma’s understanding that you need to have credibility with people before you can lead them is unique.”
Valdez says this was an intentional decision because she believes leadership requires an understanding of the people you are leading.
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