Knowing “where you are at” is one of the most valuable lessons Brian Arnold learned when he was a member of the livestock judging team at Black Hawk College East Campus.
“Dan Hoge taught us the value of understanding situationally where you’re at, how to respond, how you’re going to communicate with others and how to be cognizant of the circumstances around you,” Arnold says. “He often discussed transitioning from college judging to stepping into the show ring. He always said its important to be aware of where you’re at, to know who the audience is, and to make sure your message and how you describe the livestock fit to the situation you’re stepping into.”
As senior product manager of direct fed microbials at United Animal Health, Arnold says he still uses that skill today in his career.
Customers Deserve Our Best
“United Animal Health always encourages us to be endlessly curious,” he says. “I’ve always wanted to just dig in and learn more. To a fault, I can jump into things and immerse myself to learn something new. When Mr. John Swisher founded the company, he focused on providing service and science-backed products to customers. Our job is to bring our customers the best products, and if we can’t do that, we don’t deserve the business.”
He spends a lot of time thinking about what’s next in the industry and travels internationally on behalf of the company to explore opportunities and engage with customers. One of the global trends he sees is more emphasis on the pork eating experience.
“Segments of consumers, particularly outside the U.S., put more emphasis on the eating experience,” Arnold says. “Within those markets, there may be some private label branding opportunities that we see some of the largest producers pursuing with label indicators of ‘fed probiotics’ or their stance on antibiotic usage or housing or production.”
From Every Angle
Charlie Hild, a swine key account manager at United, says Arnold is good at helping him see things from different perspectives.
“Every time I call to pick his brain or seek some help, he always challenges me to approach an account or project from a different angle, which I really appreciate,” Hild says.
Arnold credits his dad to teaching him how to look at situations from all the angles.
“Growing up, I spent a lot of time alongside my dad on our farm,” he says. “We had very humble roots and were small farmers. There were a lot of financial struggles when I was a kid. One thing I give my dad a lot of credit for is his ability to always find a way.”
When you grow up in that type of environment, Arnold says you learn how to figure things out and make things work. He credits his creativity in solving problems to his mom. However, he acknowledges he’s been surrounded by many people over the years who’ve helped him learn how to think outside of the box with a clear head.
“I probably didn’t always recognize as a kid that my dad is extremely steady,” he says. “We had a small commercial sow herd. I remember standing in a pen of pigs with my dad one day. We were having a problem with tail biting. He said, ‘There’s probably just one little thing different about that pig and all the others just ganged up on it.’”
That’s all his dad had to say, but Arnold says he knew exactly what his dad meant in that moment.
“He’s a man of few words, but he always looks for the good in others,” Arnold says. “I want to emulate that for our family.”
What Matters Most
He’s had a lot of opportunities to put the skills he learned from his parents to work professionally and personally. Arnold will never forget the day when he walked out of a meeting at the National Swine Registry office to see his wife Molly standing in the hallway. With tears streaming from her eyes, she broke the news that the doctors had found a lump.
Shortly after that, she was diagnosed with cancer.
“There’s a lot of unknowns when you get handed a diagnosis like that,” Arnold says. “A million questions flood your mind. What’s this going to look like? How are we going to pay for this? Is she going to make it? What happens if she doesn’t?”
At the time, they had one young son. Molly was especially worried about how cancer treatments would impact their son’s life.
“One of the things that she was really scared of as she started to go through treatments was ‘What if he doesn’t recognize me when I lose my hair?’ It finally got to the point where she just asked me, ‘Would you be willing to shave my head? I can’t sit here and do this anymore.’”
Arnold will never forget how their son responded to his mother in that moment.
“He just walked in after I shaved off her hair, hugged her and kissed her head,” Arnold says. “There were so many little moments like that as I look back along our journey where you knew that God was there working through it all.”
Authenticity in a Social Media World
Arnold also discovered the importance of the people in his circle and how fortunate his family was to have so much support from friends from all facets of life.
“You don’t realize how much people mean to you until you go through something like that,” he says. “Fortunately, we were able to get to the other side of that cancer diagnosis. Since then, there’s been some additional health challenges with both of our boys.”
Although the unknowns of those health challenges can be very scary, Arnold says those challenges continue to teach their family valuable lessons about authenticity, trust and the importance of community.
“I think it’s easy, particularly for people active on social media, to portray a very polished, perfect image. I think people can see through that,” Arnold says. “The ability to be real and vulnerable is very much needed. It’s okay to say, ‘I don’t know. I’m not sure. I’m scared.’ Those are things people need to be more upfront about, me included. That’s not always easy for me to do, but I think people are hungry for that authenticity.”
Arnold shares more on The PORK Podcast. You can watch it here on YouTube or listen anywhere podcasts are found.
