Meet Perdue Associate Connie Savage In Our "Pull Up A Chair" Series

Tell us a little about yourself.

I was born and raised in Delmarva with my parents and one older brother. Some of my best memories growing up were spending time with my grandparents and traveling with them. My maternal grandmother would load all her grandkids into her station wagon and take us on adventures. I believe my love of travel comes from those experiences. I also loved visiting my paternal grandparents’ farm picking strawberries and swinging on the tire swing. I believe learning how to appreciate the simple things in life has helped me throughout my lifetime.

What is your role at Perdue?

I’ve been with Perdue for over 21 years. I have worked in multiple accounting and finance roles while at Perdue and my current role is Assistant Controller. My job is to assist with ensuring financial reporting accuracy and maintaining appropriate controls for financial reporting. I work across many different functions and companies within Perdue to collaborate on finance-related activities. By collaborating with so many internal business partners, I’ve learned more and more about the company from an operational perspective.

What is your WHY and how does it relate to your role?

Since I had my first child, my WHY has been to be the best role model to my children. Actions speak louder than words and I want to model behavior for them instead of just telling them what to do. I want to demonstrate to them that achieving your goals is possible no matter your background, circumstances, or setbacks. My children have been able to see me achieve my goals through perseverance and hard work. I’ve carried that over into my roles at Perdue, including my current role. I want my actions to speak louder than my words and to continue to strive to accomplish company goals along with personal career goals.

How did you develop your career and what is one of your proudest moments?

My career was developed through a willingness to try new positions in various areas of the company.

One of my proudest moments was last year when I won the Beth Harris Team Player Award, which made me realize the network of working relationships that have been built through my years at Perdue. It’s always a goal to earn the respect of your managers, but it’s another level of honor to earn the respect of your peers.

Tell us about a risk you’ve taken that turned out to be a good thing.

A risk that I took that turned out to be a good thing was applying to work at Perdue 21 years ago. At that time, I worked at a job that was five minutes from my house with flexible hours and four weeks of vacation, which worked out great for raising an autistic child. My logical thought process would tell me to stay at the safe job, which works well for my family and me, but my instinct would tell me there was something better for me and I was drawn to Perdue. I would also say that many people were saying at the time that “they heard” Perdue was a tough place to work because of long hours and hard work. A lot of people around me, family and friends, questioned if I should leave my “safe” job to come work here. I followed my instinct and it has been a good thing. I have worked hard but have also been able to maintain a good work-life balance, which has allowed me to really be involved at work and at home.????

Tell us something about yourself that would be a surprise to most?

My husband and I have become empty nesters quickly over the past couple of years. To help explain, I should add our first two children are 10 years apart and our last two children are 15 months apart. My older son, who is autistic, lives on his own with a great support team and my two daughters are away at college.

What would you tell 16-year-old Connie?

Perseverance is going to be the key to achieving your goals. You will have setbacks in life, but you will be able to overcome each setback and come out stronger if you use your setbacks as learning opportunities. Keep going because there will be people that come across your path that will need to hear your story to stay encouraged and to stay on their journey.