Meat+Poultry - April 2020 - 60

COVER STORY

In 2016, Simpson decided to retire from
PAACO, which opened a new door and challenge for Kaster to consider. She had helped
host a number of PAACO trainings at Smithfield
through the years which gave her a good understanding of PAACO's mission, but still, leaving
the pork industry, which she had worked in for
almost 25 years, was a leap of faith.
"When the role came open, I thought these
things don't come open very often," Kaster
said. "I took a look at the job and knew it was
something I could do, and I would enjoy.

"I always
tell students
that I mentor,
'you don't
have to know
everything,
but you should
be one of
the hardest
workers.'"
- COLLETTE KASTER

"I took a big leap going from industry into
not-for-profit and association management.
But the main reason I did it was because I
knew opportunities like that don't come up
that often. And where I was in the stage of my
career, I knew it was the best time to take on
something new. I said to myself, 'If you're going
to do this, now is the time.'
"I'm an extrovert, I'm a networking person,
I love meeting people - that was not the problem. The problem was leaving a company that
I liked and a job that I loved. Leaving a job of
working with huge teams in a really big role to
take on a tiny role with zero support.
"The first day I walked in this office I
thought, 'I have to set up my own computer
and phone and buy my own printer. I have to
be IT, HR and accounting.' I had to learn all of
those roles. I like learning new things, so that
was fine. But in the first couple of months I did
ask myself, 'What have I done?'"

Despite the challenges that the new notfor-profit association role presented, Kaster
has never regretted her decision to make the
leap out of pork production and into animal
handling auditing. She took a piece of her own
advice that she offers people she mentors - she
got out of her "silo."
At the beginning of 2019, when AMSA was
searching for its new CEO, Kaster jumped out
of her silo once again and pursued her addon career.
"When you think about having the combination of having the business background, the
association management background, the technical background and industry contacts from
working in the industry for so many years, I
thought I could bring a pretty unique combination to the organization," she said.
She interviewed with the AMSA board in
March 2019 and was given a one-year trial of taking on the role of AMSA CEO while maintaining
her executive director position with PAACO.
"One of my favorite things to do is to seek
synergy," she said. "So, this combination of
working for both PAACO and AMSA works
really well because that synergy already exists
between the two organizations. People are
recognizing that we as an industry are stronger
when we have a unified voice or similar goals."
Working to set and achieve these goals
Kaster works side by side with Deidrea
Mabry, chief operating officer at AMSA, and at
PAACO, Dakota Thomas, training coordinator,
and Marjorie Jones, administrative assistant.
"What I really love doing is managing teams
of people," she said. "Having successful organizations involves having a really good leadership team within those groups. Both of these
groups have great teams."
So far, Kaster thinks the one-year trial of
the dual career is going well. She manages
her 80/20 time split out of an office in Kearney
and travels to meetings, trainings and industry
events around the country representing both
organizations. She continues to rise to new
challenges and has no regrets.
"What I have always told people who have
asked me about what I did is tell them you
have to ask yourself, 'Would I be more disappointed if I didn't do it, or if I stayed put?'" she
said. "I just knew in my heart if I didn't try this,
I would regret it. It was the perfect time in my
life and my career to give it a try."

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