By: Abbie Waller ’21
Shelby Stripling ‘16 found her agribusiness degree to be versatile post-graduation. Right out of college, she earned her Texas Real Estate License and started a position at Coldwell Banker Richard Ellis, a commercial real estate firm. Most recently, she began working with Chase Energy Services.
Stripling started in an administrative role and worked her way up to serving as a cooperative assistant for the president of the company. As a cooperative assistant, she performed a variety of tasks, including event coordination, customer relations, advertising and marketing and oversight of social media activity across all platforms. Additionally, she helped with legislative research, formal external correspondence, management of executive expense reports, travel coordination and schedule maintenance.
During her time with CES, she assisted part-time in the fundraising department for the former New Mexico congressional campaign, Claire Chase for Congress. The role consisted of assistance with fundraising duties including campaign donor appreciation, attending and aiding the facilitation of fundraising events and coordinating candidate meetings with county representatives.
Q: What made you decide to work for the companies you have worked for?
A: I wanted a corporate role with an environment where I thought I could really grow and learn about the business world and something that I felt like I could advance in. I wanted to broaden my knowledge of corporate day-to-day.
Q: What made you want to pursue an agribusiness degree at Texas A&M?
A: I transferred my sophomore year to TAMU, and I originally had my sights set on the business school. However, I had too many hours to transfer into it, so I did some research on the agribusiness program. It was the best decision I ever made. It afforded me the opportunity to blend business classes with extra economic courses, along with a focus in an incredibly important industry-agriculture. Not to mention I met some really great people in ag— the best people on campus.
Q: What would you tell current students who are pursuing a degree in agribusiness at Texas A&M?
A: Don’t hold back from what you are passionate about. Do your best to blend your interests with your goals to create a career that is fulfilling to you and don’t settle. Really go for what makes you happy in your career.
