Beck's journey to growing self-confidence and getting out of her own way

Beck: “I don't think anyone is comfortable with being uncomfortable, but certainly what I try to live by now, if those opportunities come up, and they make you nervously excited, they're the ones you should be grabbing hold of!

I think and that's what I've certainly been trying to lean into in the last 10 years.

Yeah, I mean, there's so many opportunities in Ag, and I think if you're standing back and you're not putting yourself out there, then you're going to miss some of these opportunities. So it's really putting your hand up, I guess.

I've said this to you before Oli, back in the day, I was really wondering, ‘Well, why do we need to highlight Women in Ag?’

And I say that being very brutally honest, ‘Why do we need to highlight Women in Ag?’ Why can't it just be people in ag, or humans of ag as the case may be?

But I really do think that there's a need to do that. Women do face a lot of challenges, family home pressures etc.

And I know, this can be the same for males, but just that self-confidence issue, like the lack of confidence that I see in a lot of women in the industry. I think that's a real challenge.

And certainly, that's been to be honest, that's been my biggest roadblock.

In my career, I've been my biggest roadblock, that lack of self-confidence.

And I do see that and I think it's really great to highlight women through programs and give them the opportunity to improve their self confidence, and put themselves out there for others to see.”

Oli: How did you improve your self-confidence?

Beck: Yeah, it's really tough when people ask me this now, how do you improve self-confidence?

And someone said, fake it till you make it that didn't really resonate with me.

I think it's just it's been a long journey, to be honest, and I know that the 20-year-olds listening to this probably don't want to hear that, they probably want a silver bullet answer. But it is a long journey.

There is a little bit of fake it till you make it don't get me wrong, But, networks are really key. Having those people like you say, to cheer you on, and I have got a great group of people, both within the company and also outside the company that will really do that.

But yeah, there's no key to it, you know, reading, putting yourself out there into uncomfortable situations, eventually, they'll become slightly more comfortable. You know, those networking events, it's all really key, but it just takes some time.

There's no silver bullet to increasing your self-confidence. I don't believe others might have a different opinion on that.”

Find Beck’s full story on the Humans of Agriculture podcast on your favourite podcast platform or via the link below.

Rebecca (Beck) Underwood, is currently the National Sustainability Field Manager for Nutrien Ag Solutions, and a  Director for Landcare Australia. Rebecca started her career as an agronomist in central west NSW and has since held various senior commercial agribusiness roles, including as the National Seed Manager for Nutrien.