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CHERYL MORLEY:
DOING WHAT SHE LOVES
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By
Christine Imbs
Cheryl Morley loves to laugh.
“My favorite quote is by W. H. Auden. It reads, ‘Among those
whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator. But
among those whom I love I can. All of them make me laugh.’ And
it’s true,” she says. “I love surrounding myself with people
who make me laugh."
It comes as no surprise then that she also loves making others
laugh. In fact, when she was president of Monsanto's Animal
Agricultural Group, she devised a competition to bolster team
camaraderie that became a much anticipated event.
“This is a business where we’re constantly developing and launching
new products, so everyone was pretty high strung and stressed
out. I wanted to find something that would break things up a
bit and allow everyone to let loose,” she explains. “So we began
a competition between the dairy and swine divisions.”
The competition involved each team dressing up its mascot—Judy,
a life-size cow mannequin representing the dairy division and
U-Gene, the swine division’s pig mannequin.
“We’d dress them up for each season. Opening day for the Cardinals
was really interesting. You can only imagine what St. Patrick’s
Day was like,” she says. “And it was fun watching these people
with incredible educations and Ph.D.s deciding how to dress
up a cow. It was great. And I really appreciate Monsanto letting
me be a little out there.”
Being “out there” has served both Morley and Monsanto well.
During her six-year tenure as president, the Animal Agricultural
division saw the dairy business sales more than double and profits
increase by 120 percent. What’s more, the swine genetics business
which was losing money became a profitable division.
Today, as Monsanto’s Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy,
Morley heads global strategy, which includes mergers and acquisitions,
divestitures and long-range planning. It’s a position and a
field she never once thought she’d find herself in.
“I’ve had a diverse, but interesting series of jobs in my career.
I worked in public accounting, finance, future planning, consumer
products and ran a series of Monsanto’s businesses. Now I’m
in agriculture doing global strategy,” she says. “It’s an amazing
position to be in.”
Morley first became involved with Monsanto back in the 1980s
when the company bought G.D. Searle. Morley was working for
its food company, NutraSweet, at the time. A native of Chicago,
she was pretty happy living in her hometown and with her career
path. Then her husband, who also worked for Monsanto, was transferred
to St. Louis and much to her chagrin, Morley became a “trailing
spouse.”
“I admit I wasn’t very happy about it. But I grew to love it.
St. Louis is a treasure. And agriculture has turned out to be
the most interesting and exciting industry to be involved with.
It goes from seeds and farmers up to politicians and the WTO.
It’s fascinating. I don’t think a day goes by where I don’t
learn something.”
Of course, Morley admits being a woman in a predominantly male
industry like agriculture hasn’t been easy. Still, she says
she never doubted that she would be successful.
“I’ve had some really great male mentors, and working for Monsanto
has been perfect for me. They’ve given me a lot of coaching
and opportunities,” she says. “But I won’t lie. It’s hard.”
Morley, who is very committed to mentoring young women, says
she tells them not to get hung up because their field may be
male-driven.
“A lot of businesses are male-driven and it’s probably going
to be that way for awhile,” she says. “But I tell them to just
do what you love and work for a company you love with the same
values. If you don’t do that, your chances of being successful
are extremely diminished. I feel very lucky to have found the
right company. Believe me, it makes a huge difference.”
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TalkingPOINTS
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BORN:
Chicago, Ill.
FAMILY: Husband, Dave;
son, Alex; daughter Samantha
EDUCATION: BSBA from
University of Arizona
BIGGEST ACCOMPLISHMENT:
Balancing work and family.
IF YOU COULD DO ANYTHING ELSE:
Teach at the college level.
FAVORITE BOOK: “Prince
of Tides” by Pat Conroy
FAVORITE MUSIC: Country
HOBBIES: Golf and fishing.
FAVORITE TRAVEL DESTINATION:
Kiawah Island outside of Charleston, South Carolina
SECRET DREAM: To go
fly fishing in Patagonia with her husband.
THOUGHTS ON ST. LOUIS:
It’s a best kept secret; a fun combination of Midwestern
and Southern values.
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