Note for anyone picking this up on Monday or receiving the website email, I will be adding the information for Tuesday’s sessions on harnessing AI efficiently so you may want to check back.

Digital Media | Tips for Building Brand Affinity

I love building branding concepts across projects and companies because it really can help leave a lasting impression that grows with repetition over days, weeks and years. And the reality is for most of us, our ability to leverage it effectively also grows too.

Download a PDF of the Deck

Social Brands & Tools Mentioned:

Here are links to the brands mentions in the talk — please note, there are other social channels each person/brand is on as well.

• AlexisNikole aka BlackForager on TikTok and Instagram
• Adam Grant on Instagram, LinkedIn and X
• SubwayTakes on Instagram and TikTok
• HR TailorMade on Instagram and LinkedIn / Tiffany Slater

The tools that I mentioned have all continued to add new features all the time. I sign up for emails and podcasts that explain new elements in the event some are useful. Sometimes you realize you may be paying for two tools that do the same thing.

• Canva lets all of us do design work.
• Castmagic is my tool for turning audio & video into text. I’d appreciate your using my affiliate link for Castmagic.
• Descript is a great AI video editing tool for social video.

Efficiency Hacks: Harnessing AI

There is some interconnectivity between these too presentations, because having my own shop menas efficiency is always a goal.

Download the PDF of this deck.

Tools are similar to the previous presentation, but the depth of each was different.

• Perplexity.ai is my go to AI service
• Castmagic is my tool for turning audio & video into text. I’d appreciate your using my affiliate link for Castmagic.
• Descript is a great AI video editing tool for social video.
• Canva does quick simple photo editing.

That’s what we will discuss at my workshop during the National Agri-Marketing Association’s annual meeting. Here’s the description from the conference agenda:

Being an Ag Marketer Without an Ag Background — Whether you just got a new job landing you in agriculture or you have been here a while and find yourself lost in some conversations, this session is designed to build the foundational knowledge about agriculture and the farmers that provide the industry’s backbone. We’ll talk mindsets and topics as well as share some of the major watch outs that can cause customers to lose trust. Coming to the industry from an urban background, Janice Person stumbled through things for years before being Grounded in Ag and deciding this was the industry where she could make a living and a difference. She will share the framework she’s found successful, tips learned over the years & take questions.

The presentation is at 3:30 pm, Thursday, April 11, 2025.

The platform is tailored to meet the needs of anyone seeking a better understanding of agriculture starting with foundational topics, said Janice Person, Founder of Grounded in Ag and CEO of parent company Grounded Communications LLC.

“The goal of Grounded in Ag is to offer a new way for people to be more productive early in their tenure and help them avoid costly mistakes that jeopardize customer trust or, more importantly, their own credibility or that of their employer,” Person said, noting that the audiences for the platform primarily include professionals who serve agriculture organizations, in functional areas including marketing, communications, human resources, legal, regulatory and even finance.

“While we built the platform with those new to ag in mind, this also is an excellent resource for seasoned professionals who may be moving into a new sector of agriculture, or people in other industries who need to understand agriculture to better serve their customers and bottom line. The diversity of sources and topics is incredible – we have 40 plus experts offering more than 700 years of experience in ag teaching in these courses,” Person said.

Addressing an urgent need

Person is a veteran food and agriculture communicator and marketer with decades of experience working in agricultural media, agencies, as well as in corporate roles with both a small global company and a Fortune 500 corporation. Her work has ranged from marketing the intricacies of cotton seed to helping people interested in agriculture, but unfamiliar with it, understand today’s farming realities.

“Working in ag for decades, I have had countless conversations with people in agriculture about the challenges of helping people new to the industry get their footing,” Person said. “And even for people who are deep in one segment of ag, moving to another can mean an entire shift in vocabulary, key resources and a need to access the basics. Very few resources or organizations in the industry are addressing this need, and that’s a pain point for so many people I know.”

According to Person, the urgency to address this challenge is increasing for three primary reasons:

• Agriculture is growing exponentially more complex, especially as new technologies come online.
• The competition for talent is more intense than ever and the speed of technology is increasing, leading to the recruitment of more people without ag backgrounds to fill agriculture-centric or -critical roles.
• Many companies are challenged in finding ways to balance workload in light of trim staffing. This can result in a perception among younger hires, who prioritize learning and support, that they are being overlooked or undervalued. 

Person said she started thinking about the knowledge gap and possible ways to address it years ago as a friend sought training help. But the challenge was daunting, so the conversation went no further.

Creating a solution

With the need and challenge clearly defined, Person and her team began building the solution. The team consulted farmers, food marketers, experts in adult learning, HR and hiring personnel, academics and other professionals to define the scope. From there, the team created a syllabus, recruited an advisory board and got to work interviewing dozens of farmers and other experts from around the U.S. to inform lessons and courses. The advisory board has been engaged and tracking the project, offering critical feedback and credibility to the platform and the quality of content it offers.

The platform includes easy-to-follow videos (most ranging from 5-20 minutes in length) augmented with a full range of curated, vetted links to resources online that can add more depth to the understanding of a given topic. In addition, downloadable PDFs are available to provide additional information and for future reference. Because applying this information to their current organization is so critical, there are other PDFs provide areas of inquiry for the employees to dig into what impacts their segment most and why. All of this coursework is paired with a community that lets people interact with peers and stay current on real-time industry developments.

The first wave of content and training consists of 10 hours of programming anchored by the following lessons and individual modules:

• Ag 101 covers the basics of the industry through three modules:
  • Getting to Know Farmers
  • The Business of Agriculture
  • Agriculture & Sustainability
• Focus on Crops provides content specific to crop production with two modules:
  • Growing Crops for Food, Feed, Fiber and Fuel
  • Crops Under Attack, Challenges Faced
• Focus on Livestock provides content specific to livestock production with two modules:
  • Raising Livestock
  • Animal Care

The second wave of training, slated for release by the fall of 2024, will consist of an additional 10 hours of crop- and livestock-focused programming, including:

• Five courses on corn, cotton, soybeans, specialty crops and wheat; and
• Four courses on beef, dairy, pork and poultry.

People interested in the program, can get a free preview of Grounded in Ag by opting in on the site. The preview provides the “What do people get wrong? Learn from the mistakes of others.” lessons from the Ag 101 course that provides pointers from eight of the experts involved in phase 1 programming. There is a special pricing offer of 20 percent off any of the course during the introductory weeks – by using the code “launch” at checkout.

Person said future lessons and modules are being considered and will be developed based on feedback from users, an assessment of unmet industry needs and other factors.

“Just as agriculture evolves in a never-ending way, the tools to support adult learning and understanding of this dynamic sector will also need to evolve,” she said.

About Grounded in Ag

Grounded in Ag is an interactive, on-demand platform of courses providing timeless information that builds the basic framework of understanding for agriculture – farmers, the business and industry, sustainability – as well as the ability to immerse into crops and livestock more deeply.

About Grounded Communications

Grounded Communications, LLC is a communications firm based in St. Louis, Missouri, that places the focus on connected food and farm. The company works with a range of clients on communications strategy as well as offering speaking and training services.

© 2024 Grounded Communications LLC.

Grounded in Ag? is a trademark of Grounded Communications LLC.

The company has grown and changed a lot in the year of a pandemic. Working with an entrepreneur is no doubt different from some of the other opportunities out there. The intern at Grounded Communications has a chance to develop skills, insights and experiences that will add to the career foundation for the intern as well as build additional depth to programs, proposals and content Grounded Communications, LLC offers (through the Grounded by the Farm podcast, our Grounded and Rising training and community and other sites). 

This is a chance to learn from the ground up, not only learning processes and procedures but in some cases shape them for a company that is innovating.  

Intern Duties and Responsibilities

The intern for Grounded Communications will work remotely with the Grounded team across the various efforts the company has underway. There are a range of projects and some will be developed working with the intern once hired. They will be centered around social media and content creation.

Some of the tasks include

• Create and schedule Instagram and Facebook posts to engage individuals who love food but may not have agricultural knowledge or experience. 
• Explore cool new ways to draw ears and eyes to Grounded by the Farm. 
• Update and post supervised social media and website content; respond to web correspondence, social media. posts, and emails.
• Write and edit blog posts for GroundedbytheFarm.com/blog.
• Work with team members on training materials for GroundedandRising.com.

Intern Requirements and Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Enrolled in an accredited university/college program studying communications or a related field.
• Self-directed and able to work independently.
• Energetic and eager to tackle new projects and ideas.
• Use of communications computer programs & platforms, including WordPress, iMovie, Canva, Audacity.
• Must be at least 18 years of age (hopefully we will be able to work out a field experience).
• Have computer access & stable internet.
• Ability to work 20-30 hours a week.
• Preference given for people who also have a passion for food.

What This Opportunity Offers

• Real-world experience from a woman-owned company that appreciates diversity.
• Working regularly with me (Janice Person, the company’s founder). I have had a deep career background in communications and PR for agencies, publications and Fortune 500 companies. You can check out my background on LinkedIn. 
• Clips for future employment. 
• Ability to work remotely.
• Opportunity to discover new approaches to communications and see direct impacts from your work.
• The ability to fail hard as long as we keep finding ways to fail forward.
• The intern will be a paid contractor with a monthly stipend based on 20-30 hours per week expectations. 
• Willing to work with students on the potential to qualify for credit within their university programs. 
• Depending on location / mobility, I would love to find the right opportunity to meet up IRL for a podcast interview, conference or something!

About the Company — Grounded Communications, LLC is a small business based in St. Louis, Misouri focused on communications offering clients strategic counsel, training and public speaking services as well as content creation. The company bridges the farm and food communities doing work with both publics. There are a couple of primary on-going projects including the Grounded by the Farm podcast (and the accompanying website GroundedbytheFarm.com,) Grounded and Rising community and training effort.

Applications are being accepted via this form through March 27, 2021. All applicants will receive an initial reply by April 8, 2021. 

Grounded and Rising is the brainchild of Janice Person, one of the industry’s most active advocates. According to her, the divide has grown in 2020, and she wants to help reverse that trend. 

“The change that is underway in cities due to a combination of generational change and from people slowing down this past year is significant and offers both challenges and opportunities for agriculture,” Person explains. 

“Living in the midst of all that change, my head was spinning at first. I looked for research, data and opinions to try and understand it all. I started talking with peers, friends and more. It took a while to get grounded and I immediately remembered how hard it is keeping up with the cotton crop when there’s none planted nearby. It’s nearly impossible to keep a finger on the pulse without time and proximity. And yet agriculture needs to understand all of this and think about whether and how paths may shift,” she says. 

Grounded and Rising is a new community that helps streamline access to people and information as societal change is underway. With the rapidity of change happening, hearing directly from people who are in the midst of this flux will enable those in agriculture to better understand and determine what pivots they may need to make. Grounded and Rising offers regular connectivity on this via live sessions, online classes, workshops, and a community, as well as training on communications and online tools.

Few individuals have the unique perspective that comes from standing on the bridge between rural and urban, food and farm. Person grew up in cities and didn’t find agriculture until adulthood. She’s been immersed in it ever since. She started Grounded Communications, LLC when she left Bayer/Monsanto. While at the companies, she developed and initiated the online consumer and agriculture outreach efforts that led to her speaking at SXSW and for groups like the San Francisco Professional Food Society as well as dozens of agricultural conferences. She’s been active in and recognized for her work in the Ag Relations Council and National AgriMarketing Association and was one of the founders of the pioneering AgChat Foundation.  

Details about membership options are available at https://www.groundedandrising.com/join-grounded-community. 

Grounded Communications, LLC is a communications firm based in St. Louis, Missouri that places the focus on connected food and farm. The company works with a range of clients on communications strategy as well as offering speaking and training services. 

While the discussion was geared toward Tim and others considering how to pursue public speaking as a business, the conversation provides a lot of insight into the way Janice approaches work as a speaker.

Hear as she talks about:

• Launching her own company that includes public speaking (both in person and in the growing area of virtual speaking) and a range of other communications services.
• Some of the ways that shift from in-person to virtual changed audience engagement and how she’s worked with clients to find innovative ways to boost impact.
• Think through some of the questions that organizers can answer that will help fine-tune talks, help insure you deliver over and above. Also be sure you can, when possible, have a chance to meet and talk to some attendees once you get on-site, even if it only briefly over a meal.

I won’t lie. I expected to get several qualified candidates but I was shocked by the number of students with amazing credentials who applied. And as I touched base with them, I realized several of them had internships locked up early and yet the pandemic meant travel and finances were so complicated. That’s why I decided to try a flexible contractor role where my intern will work remotely.

The selection process was hard…. so many qualified people. I would love to have hired more of them! And if you are interested in having a communications intern for the summer, PLEASE let me know. I’d be glad to point a few your way.

Meet Abby Durheim

As I considered all the candidates, Abigail “Abby” Durheim clearly rose to the top based on skills, interest and experience.  She grew up in the suburbs of DC so she gets the city mindset I am so many of our audience have. But she also gets farming. She is a senior in agricultural and environmental communications at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. And has worked for several educational and livestock programs doing communications.

Abby brings her personal passion for photography and has been thoughtful about building the Instagram following for her photography and I hope that shows as you look at our social media channels, especially the Grounded by the Farm Instagram account. She’s also going to help move some content previously written to the site too.

New Challenges for Us All

It isn’t the internship I had envisioned when I opened JPlovesCOTTON LLC for business in September. And no doubt it wasn’t the way Abby expected to spend the summer either, but now, more than ever people have been looking closer at the foods they buy and serve. Doing more through the Grounded by the Farm channels will hopefully meet some of the piqued interest!

The summer starts today (Monday, May 18th) and we would really appreciate your checking us out & pointing others our way! Here are four ways you can help raise the visibility of Grounded by the Farm:

• Subscribe & listen to the podcast — We make it easy! We are (hopefully) everywhere you listen. Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and lots more!
• Please take a few minutes to subscribe to the website — We’ve been adding written posts here — background on farmers we interview, recipes for ingredients some of the farmers produce and other content to build on previous or future episodes. You need to give us your email address and confirm it.
• Follow our social media channels — If you use Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube, please follow & share about us on those channels!
• Talk to family & friends about us! And let them know how to do all the things too!

As always, we love hearing from you whether it is through commenting or the contact form here or social media. Got ideas? Questions? Please share!

Interns offer new perspectives as well as incredible energy for learning. This is a chance to learn from the ground up not only learning processes and procedures but in some cases help setting them for a new company. 

Intern Duties and Responsibilities

• Assist in developing a social sharing system that provides for growth and development. 
• Focus on Instagram and Facebook audiences.
• Create posts that engage individuals who love food but may not have agricultural knowledge or experience. 
• Set a scheduling cadence for resharing posts. 
• Explore cool new ways to draw ears and eyes to Grounded by the Farm. 
• Update and post supervised social media and website content; respond to web correspondence, social media. posts, and emails.
• Write and edit blog posts for GroundedbytheFarm.com/blog.
• Edit audio interviews to enhance clarity and impact. 

Intern Requirements and Qualifications

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Self-directed and able to work without supervision.
• Energetic and eager to tackle new projects and ideas.
• High school degree or equivalent; must be enrolled in an accredited university/college program to receive credit.
• Use of communications computer programs & platforms, including WordPress, iMovie, Canva, Audacity.
• Must be 18 years of age (hopefully we will be able to work out a field experience).
• Have computer & access to stable internet access.
• Ability to work 20-35 hours a week.

What This Opportunity Offers

• Real-world experience from someone with a diverse career background in communications and PR for agencies, publications and Fortune 500 companies. You can check out my background on LinkedIn. 
• Clips for future employment. 
• Flexibility to work from your preferred location.
• Ability to discover new approaches to communications.
• The ability to fail hard as long as we keep finding ways to fail forward.
• The intern will be a paid contractor with hours varying based on skill levels, etc. 
• Will investigate the potential to qualify for credit depending on university programs. 
• Depending on how the coming months shape up, I would love to find the right opportunity to meet up IRL for a podcast interview, conference or something! 

About the Company — JPlovesCOTTON LLC is a small business focused on communications offering clients strategic counsel, training and public speaking services as well as content creation. The company is behind the Grounded by the Farm podcast, the accompanying website GroundedbytheFarm.com, HundredPercentCotton.com and JPlovesLIFE.com  I am Janice Person, CEO and Founder, also the only employee and I am based in St. Louis, MO.

Applications are being accepted via this form through April 15, 2020, everyone who submits a resume will hear back from me by April 22.