HAVING grown up on a mixed cropping and livestock farm at Arthur River, Sophie Wooldridge had always shown a love for farming but despite her upbringing, she never knew just where it could take her career-wise and how many opportunities there were.
It was when she went away to boarding school at Methodist Ladies' College in Perth that she knew she preferred being at home on the farm, particularly having anything to do with sheep or animals.
"I might be alone in this, but I loved doing sheep work," Ms Wooldridge said.
"Winter was always the best time of year because that meant more pet lambs to add to my individually-named flock."
She enjoyed economics at school and law seemed like a good option, so heading to university she merged them together as a double degree.
It wasn't long until law proved to be less fun than she thought, so a Bachelor of Commerce it was and Ms Wooldridge was lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship to study at Bond University on Queensland's Gold Coast.
It meant she could get her degree done faster with trimesters and after two years, she graduated and returned to WA.
"At university the push was to go into a corporate career, so I assumed I'd end up doing something along those lines," Ms Wooldridge said.
"It wasn't until I did an internship at a finance company that I realised how unique the agriculture industry is.
"The relationships just weren't as strong as the ones I'd seen around the kitchen table with agricultural company representatives on the farm - so that's when I knew I wanted to come back."
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Having graduated university at 19, Ms Wooldridge was still a bit unsure of what she wanted to do, so she went back home and worked on the farm for a few months.
Eventually she saw an ad for a graduate grain marketing role with Planfarm and while she didn't really know what it involved, she was excited for the opportunity to work with farmers.
"The commerce degree came in handy with understanding markets, but knowing how to use Excel was probably the most useful skill I picked up from uni," she said.
"I worked my way up to having my own clients and loved working with them and the close relationships that we formed.
"The role also meant that I could work from Narrogin and travel around WA, which was great."
After four years with Planfarm, Ms Wooldridge was approached by National Australia Bank which was looking for people with Financial Adviser Standards and Ethics Authority qualifications.
She took on a role in the Perth CBD in the bank's markets team, working in interest rate sales and stayed there for about a year.
However, Ms Wooldridge missed the grains industry, so when she heard a job had come up at AWB, it was a no-brainer to head back to agriculture.
Since September last year, she had worked as the Albany and Esperance territory manager for AWB/Cargill.
Her role involves accumulating grain from growers in WA and reporting cropping conditions to the trading team in Melbourne.
"I love that I can chat to growers throughout the season and hear how their crops are progressing," Ms Wooldridge said.
"Plus it's great to be able to get out of the office and meet with growers on their farms."
On top of her role at AWB, Ms Wooldrdige is also a committee member for AgConnect WA, joining the group for young people in agriculture earlier this year.
Having learned a lot from various speakers at networking events, she wanted to help bring that same knowledge and inspiration to other people in the industry.
"I have been lucky to have had a great network of support throughout my career and I wanted to be part of a group who facilitates this for other young people," she said.
"AgConnect is a great way to meet like-minded young people in ag and other industry professionals."
Long term, Ms Wooldridge's dream is to have a small farm to run while continuing her work in the grains industry.
It's an ambitious goal, but she is lucky that her current role is quite flexible, so it is just a matter of saving the pennies.
She's also lucky that she's found an industry she's passionate about and what's to be a part of.
"It is such a close-knit industry and people are willing to go out of their way to help you out," Ms Wooldridge said.
"I've been blessed with some great mentors who are all passionate about their work and the industry and have dedicated a lot of time to encouraging me."
Ms Wooldridge knows what a great world agriculture is to be a part of and the wide range of opportunities which are available, so she encourages people to give it a go if they're not sure what they want to do.
"Get your foot in the door," she said.
"Whether it be an internship, harvest casual or graduate role and say yes to opportunities and work the details out later.
"I've found people in the industry are always happy to share knowledge, so don't be afraid to pick up the phone."
