It wasn’t an easy path – nor was it a straight path, says Merck Animal Health’s Rika Jolie. When Jolie packed up her bags and left her entire world behind in Belgium to follow her dream to study in the U.S., it was a big risk.
“I didn’t know what was on the other end, but I was curious,” Jolie says. “Life is a journey – there will be hurdles, but don’t let those hurdles stop you. I had my share of setbacks, but I never let those setbacks stop me and send me packing up my bags to go back home.”
After receiving her DVM from the University of Ghent in Belgium, she flew overseas to Michigan State University where she completed her swine medicine residency and master’s degree before moving on to pursue a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin – Madison and MBA from the University of Athabasca in Canada, while working in corporate roles.
“I have had a lot of people who believed in me and helped me get where I am right now. Even on the days when I didn’t believe in myself, they kept on believing,” Jolie says. “All of my mentors taught me about the swine industry, but they also inspired me with respect to critical thinking and science.”
She also is grateful to have parents who have supported her from the very beginning, encouraging her to go to veterinary school at a time when females were the minority in the profession.
“Despite the fact that I left the country, which was not very pleasant for them, they’ve always supported that decision and are always there to help me celebrate my successes in my career,” she says.
For those who know Jolie well, it’s not her proficiency in five languages or the number of titles behind her name that make her such a stand-out in her field. It’s the passion and drive she brings every day in her career that make her so successful in her role as executive director for global swine marketing at Merck Animal Health.
She shares her views on the industry, leadership strategy and what she’s learned along the way.
Rika Jolie says it’s important to “live in the moment.” Photo by Rika Jolie.
Q. What is your why?
A. At Merck Animal Health, we develop products to keep animals healthy. Our tagline is “the science of healthier animals.” We stand behind the science and believe in using science to develop better products and better offerings for animals and our customers. We want to keep the food chain healthy as well as our best friends – our pets.
Q. Describe a typical day on the job for you.
A. Considering that I lead a global team, the world is truly our customer. Before the pandemic, I was traveling between 50% to 75% of my time internationally to meet with colleagues and customers. When COVID-19 struck, we found ourselves in a virtual office trying to fulfill the needs of our colleagues in the market through a virtual environment. Today my typical day involves a lot of calls and video discussions at a range of times to accommodate the various time zones. My day is basically filled with meetings to discuss strategy, marketing and education of customers.
Q. How does your company help and work with its customers?
A. I think we do a really good job of listening to the customer and working very closely with the customer to help fulfill their needs. Sometimes we have larger customers that come to us, not necessarily with a disease problem, but because they want to be educated, along with their teams, on reproduction or ventilation on the farm. We help them establish programs and provide experts to advise them. If we don’t have experts in a certain area on our team, we pull them in from externally. It’s not always about product directly, it’s about educating the customer and their teams to get them on the right track to eliminate problems.
Q. How has the business changed since you started?
A. We used to be focused on providing a solution for disease, but I think we have gone further now, especially with the introduction of technology. Merck Animal Health has a heavy stake in technology now. Swine is not part of it yet, but it’s in the works. We want to offer a full solution – introducing technology that can help producers be more efficient in day-to-day activities and more understanding about what happens to their animals. This could be better recognition of disease, production efficiency with their animals, health status with respect to treatments and vaccine administration and more. We want to help them discover tools for that, but also drive it further to have those tools available to help the end consumer have a better understanding of where their pork chops come from. That’s the shift that has to happen. That discussion now goes beyond disease and the evolution of technology to how can the industry benefit from that technology?
Q. What concerns do you have about the swine industry?
A. With swine, you never know what the next disease will be. There is always a concern that hangs there. Currently, there is a major focus on African swine fever (ASF). I’ve been around long enough in the industry that I remember when it was an issue limited to a small number of markets. But now that disease has spread, and we can no longer say it can’t happen in our backyard. Anything can happen. ASF has proven that to all of us. That is one of my major concerns for the industry. What is the new disease? Will we be prepared for it? How can we prepare ourselves?
As well, the industry is changing and consolidating. The survivability of the smaller producer is at risk. That is a major shift and concern. Will there still be room for those smaller producers, or will we move 100% to a fully consolidated industry which has challenges too? Finally, I’m concerned about the greater voice of the consumer in regard to policy, welfare and environmental sustainability. We are probably lagging a little behind Europe where those voices are already much stronger. That’s a continued worry for the industry – how will that impact us in being able to efficiently deliver pork to our consumer and still feed the world?
Q. What are the greatest opportunities in the swine industry today?
A. To be honest, this is still a very exciting environment that we’re in and there is a lot of opportunity for swine producers. To me, the biggest opportunity is technology. The question is, what is the right technology for the producer? What is their biggest need? What is their biggest problem that they are going to try and solve through technology? And then, is it applicable on the farm? Will it be cost effective for them to switch over to some of these technologies that help them track disease or inventory better? It’s one thing to have technology, it’s another to bring in the wrong technology. I am a big fan of technology, but I always give a disclaimer: technology needs to be additive – we still have to look at our animals. We have to walk through the facility and make sure we connect with and understand the animals. We can’t forget that.
Q. What do you enjoy most about your job?
A. I have a dream job. I can start off the day with a certain goal in mind, but by the end of the day, I may have finished a totally different goal. I really like the people and the cultures. I enjoy the diversity of the role as well as the opportunity to work with people to help get them ready for whatever is next for them. Working with the customers, listening to them and when it all works out right, feeling good that you were able to help somebody solve a problem is what I enjoy most about my job.
Q. What is something that keeps you motivated in your job?
A. There is an exciting generation coming and I can learn from them as much as they can learn from me. I think it’s interesting to have younger team members on the team and to be able to recognize the ones that have the talent and passion to be successful and to help them get there. I believe in the good of people and what they stand for. I want to help them make their dreams come true.
Q. What is your business philosophy?
A. People are the key to success in any business. It’s about working with our people and making sure they have a chance to develop and that we respectfully work with each other. I think that’s important and transfers into how we work with and relate to customers.
Q. What will the business look like 20 years from now?
A. The animal health industry, science and technology are evolving. We can assume there will be more technologies available to develop solutions faster, to respond more quickly to needs than what we can now. We have long regulatory processes that slow us down. Hopefully in 20 years that will be different. We have one product, Sequivity, that offers more flexibility because it’s more tailor-made. In the future, will there be more opportunities for that type of approach in the industry? That’s one thing I’d be looking at. Hopefully we won’t have too many new diseases – in the end, it’s all about the impact of technology on both us and the swine producers we work with.
Q. If you could go back and do something differently, what would it be and why?
A. I would tell my younger self to be patient with the process. You’re on a path, but you’re not locked into the path. You need time to develop, to learn, to gain confidence – it all comes with different life experiences. Eventually you will get there, and you will earn that confidence and respect from people as long as you keep on learning, show a willingness to learn and stay curious about what’s ahead. I think the younger me didn’t quite realize that.
Q. What advice do you have for someone who might like to do what you do someday?
A. You own your decisions for your career. Only you understand the whys behind that. People may try to give you advice and you can listen to it, but you don’t always have to take it. In the end, you understand why you made a certain decision, and that is what’s important. Stay true to yourself, remain compassionate and be empathetic toward the people you work with.
Q. How do you think the threat of ASF will impact the future of the U.S. pork industry?
A. That’s the million-dollar question. Can we keep it out? When ASF comes in, it’s anyone’s guess about what the true impact will be. Are we well prepared? Maybe some are better prepared than others. We’ve learned it just takes one small slip, and it can lead to a major disaster. What is that small slip? It’s the question we don’t have an answer for. It’s the disease with no solution and it may still be many years before there’s a solution. ASF has made us more humble. It reminds us we aren’t in control, and we can’t solve every problem. We must continue to be vigilant and do everything we can to prevent it from entering.
More from Farm Journal’s PORK:
PORK Perspectives: A Minute with Milan Hruby
PORK Perspectives: A Minute with Pat Joyce
PORK Perspectives: A Minute with Kent Bang
PORK Perspectives: A Minute with John Waddell
PORK Perspectives is a recurring column that provides business and leadership strategy tips from some of the pork industry’s finest. Opinions expressed in this column are the opinions of Pat Joyce and do not represent the opinions of Farm Journal’s PORK. Watch for future columns featuring advice and insights from more of the pork industry’s leaders.
