Julie Woods: From Turf to Tech

Name: Julie Woods

Preferred Pronouns: She/Her

Hometown & Current Town: Pittsburgh, PA

Graduation Year: BS 2012

Major & Minor: Turfgrass Science; Minor in Agribusiness Management

Current Professional Title: HCM Account Executive

Name of Employer: Paylocity

Brief Description of Your Role: I am in a sales position selling our HCM technology. Paylocity is a technology company and our software is everything you need to run your business. This includes the whole employee lifecycle, from recruiting and onboarding to off-cycling, as well as benefits administration, headcount planning, compensation, performance management, and more. We have a culture piece that includes recognition and rewards, as well as communications platforms. It’s basically the whole package rolled into one, so a business doesn’t need to have multiple software programs to run their business.

Why did you choose Penn State?

My sister attended Penn State and I may have been brainwashed. Once I visited her, it was a no-brainer for me. I got into Penn State Altoona and did a year there before transitioning to the University Park campus.

What inspired you to pursue your degree?

I originally wanted to go into business, and I was on a trip to see the colleges at Penn State. It was a very hot day and my Dad encouraged me to go into the College of Ag Sciences to get out of the heat and hear what they had to say.

The dean of the college at the time, Bruce McPheron, spoke and he seemed down-to-earth and cool. After we left, we were going to head to a presentation in another college, and I told my Dad that I thought I needed to major in something in the College of Ag Sciences. Everyone seemed so down-to-earth, invested in what they were doing, and passionate. My parents, who never pictured me sitting behind a desk all day, thought this was a good choice.

We looked at the majors. I always loved sports and loved being outside, so I decided to try turfgrass science. The summer after my first year, I did an internship at a golf course and then the rest of my time as a student at Penn State I worked for the Beaver Stadium Grounds Crew. I also interned with the Pittsburgh Steelers for two years. I realized early on that I didn't want to work in golf but found I wanted to work on the sports side.

What clubs, organizations, or leadership roles were you involved in?

When I was at Altoona, I was in the Ag Club. When I transferred, I joined Kappa Delta sorority. That kept me very busy. I was the Director of Community Service. I was really involved in THON through the sorority and danced my senior year while also being the chair for our THON committee.

Can you walk through your career path starting in turf and moving into technology sales?

I first worked at a 24-field complex right outside of Washington, D.C., called the Maryland SoccerPlex, which was so much fun. I was an assistant manager there and the people I worked with were on the forefront of grass varieties. We were always trying new things. Our fields were constantly in use, so we were always trying to make things work to ensure a good playing surface.

My director became well-connected with a company called Sod Solutions. They would tell us about new grass varieties and connect us with farms growing those varieties. We installed some of these new grasses and had good success with them. I got to visit a couple of the sod farms and it was really eye-opening to see what they were working on. Eventually, there was a position at Sod Solutions and they offered it to me.

Sod Solutions owns the rights to the patents and trademarks of various grass varieties. They work with universities and private breeders and research the best grasses. Once they got one that was well tested, they would license sod farms around the country to grow it. Every time a square foot is cut from a licensed variety, Sod Solutions gets paid a royalty and those royalties go back into marketing to the end user like sports field managers, golf course superintendents, landscape architects, retail outlets, and others. I ran their retail and landscape programs in Florida. I ended up traveling all over the country. It was a great job in my 20s as I got to travel everywhere and meet a lot of different people in the industry. Eventually, I had an opportunity to grow Sod Solutions' northern market, so I got to move closer to home.

I then moved on to a position with my former director at the SoccerPlex who had started his own business focused on field safety. We had a lot of new technology to determine whether a field was safe for athletes.

Eventually, I realized I was ready to move into the next phase of my life and wanted to start a family back home in Pittsburgh. I didn't want to travel anymore so I started looking at other industries. I knew I had the skills to build relationships, build a network, and talk to different types of people and organizations, so I focused my search on sales positions. I spent two years at ADP and then moved to Paylocity. It's a growing company with a great company culture.  

Can you highlight the internships you had as a student?

I worked at Chartiers Country Club my first summer and it was awesome. It was eye-opening how much goes on behind the scenes to make a golf course as beautiful as it is. The industry is doing a good job today of showing what goes into this work, but it wasn't always like that.

As part of the Beaver Stadium Grounds Crew, the students have all kinds of different jobs and you get to experience a wide variety, which is great.

For my internship with the Steelers, a fellow turfgrass alumnus made the introduction for me and I was able to intern there for two years. The sports turf manager there at the time let me do everything. I was mowing, airifying fields, spraying, fixing irrigation. I learned so much from him and the experience.

All of these positions really prepared me to work at the SoccerPlex because we were doing everything there ourselves.

What is a favorite Penn State memory?

Sitting around the table with everyone who worked at Beaver Stadium. The conversations were hysterical and the topics so widespread. The employees taught us everything we know and we spent so much time together. I’m still friends with all of them to this day. We have this great bond.

What are one or two of your proudest accomplishments in which your Penn State education played a role?

I did a lot with my sorority with philanthropy. Once I was at Sod Solutions, I decided to help one of the school districts in Florida. Their field really needed a renovation. I worked with a sod farmer to get a donation of sprigs. Then we worked with a local landscaper to do the work, and we put together a team of volunteers to help install. A couple of months later, the kids were playing on this field. It felt good to give back to the community with what I do.

What collegiate advice or professional development tip would you give to a current student?

If you want to do something, don't let anyone tell you that you can't. I was a female coming through a male-dominated industry and I had a lot of people telling me not to do certain jobs. Brush it off and do what you have your mind set on doing. At the end of the day, it's your life and about what you want. Keep your head down and do what you truly want to do.

Why are you proud to be a Penn State Ag Sciences alum?

It's the best. We're one of a kind. The backbone of Penn State is ag. To be able to have a degree from the college that started it all is really cool. I've met so many people within the ag industry around the country. People often just assume we're a state school but I always correct them that we're a land-grant institution. People don’t know what that is or what it means. It's really cool to share why Penn State exists and how ag played a role in that.