FFA Champions

Melissa Gaither
Director of Corporate Purchasing
Darling International, Inc.
 

The decision to enroll in agricultural education was a life-changing choice for Melissa Schulz Gaither, and one she’d make again.

Her decision came when Kent Boggs, now Oklahoma FFA’s executive secretary, was a new agricultural education teacher at Elgin High School. He visited the Schulz family to recruit the eighth-grader to join FFA.

“I can still picture it,” Boggs said. “They were surprised a teacher would come visit. We talked about what a good place they had for a Supervised Agricultural Experience project, and I left there pretty confident she would enroll.”

Although her mother wanted her to enroll in home economics, Gaither chose to don a blue corduroy jacket and recruited her friends to join, too.

“FFA taught me to learn from others’ strengths,” said the former Elgin FFA chapter officer and 1984-85 Oklahoma FFA Secretary. “The friendly competitive nature of FFA activities has proven to be a strength in business.”

            FFA allowed Gaither to develop friendships with peers across Oklahoma. Now, developing business relationships is one of Gaither’s major responsibilities as an employee of Darling International Inc. in Dallas, where she has worked since graduating with an agricultural economics degree from Oklahoma State University.

Gaither started in Darling’s marketing department in 1989, working on a domestic product account and expanding her responsibilities to international commodity marketing. Now, as director of corporate purchasing, she manages her firm’s largest expenditure — the purchase of natural gas — and other critical supply areas.

Gaither’s job has kept her connected to agriculture, as Darling provides food industry rendering, recycling and recovery solutions through 44 U.S. facilities, converting animal and food waste to commercial goods such as protein meals, tallow and yellow grease. Her position allows her to incorporate skills she learned through agricultural education and FFA.

            “My public speaking training really allowed me to enhance my people skills, which was a big plus for sales and marketing-type careers,” she said.

            However, public speaking was not an area Gaither originally planned to pursue.

            “Mr. Boggs was the one who always pushed us to do more than we thought we could achieve,” she said. “He basically made me learn the FFA Creed and give it in front of the class. I thought I was going to die … then I had to represent Elgin FFA in the FFA Creed Speaking contest. I was the shyest one in the whole Greenhand class that year and was competing in public speaking!”

            Gaither’s other FFA activities included competing on the chapter’s parliamentary procedure team, selling sausage, building “the famous haunted house at the school Halloween carnival,” and, of course, showing sheep.

“My favorite memory is of washing sheep with my dad in the middle of January to get ready for a livestock show,” she said. “Everyone was freezing, especially the sheep, and not thinking anything about it, like ‘this is what everyone does in the middle of January.’”

Boggs said Gaither was one the rare students who could balance everything with a smile on her face.

“Melissa was always on fire and succeeded at whatever she did,” he said. “She was very positive, and she never complained about being busy.”

In addition to her FFA activities, Gaither also played basketball, ran track, served on the Elgin Student Council, and was president of her senior class. But her FFA public speaking skills were a key to her career success.

            “From the very beginning, public speaking gave me the confidence for interviewing that is so critical to getting the job,” she said. “And now, after 18 years with Darling International Inc., my greatest strength is my ability to build strong business relationships. FFA definitely taught me the importance of working with and competing against all kinds of people.”

            Gaither’s life includes more than her work. She married Alan Wayne Gaither in 1996, and the couple has two boys: Cameron Jackson Gaither, 8, and Logan Pierce Gaither, 4.  An Oklahoma FFA Champion in all aspects, this mother and career woman has advice for today’s FFA members:

“Try every activity FFA has to offer. The challenge of something new is the greatest confidence builder. You will be so surprised of your capabilities, and you never know what might ‘stick.’”