Meet the team: Paul Thomas
Meet the TELUS Agriculture team members who are helping our customers create a more sustainable food future. Today, we profile Paul Thomas, a senior business development manager based in Herefordshire, England.
Paul shares what drew him to work in the industry, the best career advice he’s received and his hidden talents.
Tell us about yourself. I’m an agronomist with a passion for sustainable farming and technological advancement. I grew up on a small farm in rural South Africa and always enjoyed the work ethic, community spirit and farm-based lifestyle. I previously worked for Bayer and Syngenta and ran my own business for 10 years, before returning to agriculture. I’ve been with the Muddy Boots team for over five years and was drawn to working for a family-owned business with loyal employees, great working environment and excellent reputation on-farm. Outside of work, I’m family focused, enjoy travelling and the outdoors, motor racing and sport.
What’s your role at TELUS Agriculture? As part of the Muddy Boots team, I’m responsible for building the global footprint of the farm-facing side of the business, managing strategic accounts and identifying strategic alliances and new directions for farm technology with possible integration into the Greenlight Farm Management tool.
What does a typical work day look like for you? As travel is now restricted, I am mostly office bound, spending 40% of my time on video calls with new prospect clients or partners, 30% with team members, 20% prospecting new clients and research into territory opportunities and 10% general administrative work.
What inspires you to come to work every day? The best part is working with the agronomy and farming communities where you meet the nicest people who will engage and share their ideas and experience.
What's the best career advice you received? Develop internationally transferable skill sets early on, and look beyond what you currently can imagine.
Do you have any skills or talents that people don’t know about? Demolitions explosives and firearms background, avid Petrol head interested in 4x4, hot rods and high power cars, enthusiastic property refurbisher, able to tackle home restoration from basic building work through to rewiring and plumbing.
What's a fun fact people don't know about you? I was an explosives/demolition qualified officer in the Royal Engineers in the South African Army. During my service in the 1980s, I detected and removed several anti-tank and anti-person landmines in Namibia during combat situations. In those days we had no protective gear and wore standard uniform only.
What's your favorite food? Steak.
Learn more about Paul and Muddy Boots by TELUS Agriculture solutions for farm-to-food traceability and supply chain management solutions.
