Now, as the first female CEO of Land O’Lakes — and the first openly gay female CEO in the Fortune 500 list of largest US companies — Ford remembers a conversation with her mother years ago that taught her that “while we may not have everything, we have enough, and given what we have, much was expected of us.”
“She said, ‘Do you understand what is expected of you? Do you understand how much you have? Don’t disappoint,’ and I was like, ‘I’ve gotta work hard to not disappoint,'” Ford says.
Ford has a vision for Land O’Lakes. She wants to transform people’s perceptions of the butter and cream company and refocus attention on the efforts it’s making in the ag-tech space.
“My vision is to continue to invest in technology,” she says. “You have to have agility. E-commerce and e-business and technology is disrupting all industries, including agriculture, and there’s an opportunity when you have an insight-driven, technology-focused company, as I believe Land O’ Lakes is.”
