Chris Reynolds is experiencing a full-circle moment in his new role as Nutrien’s executive vice-president & president of potash.
“My paternal grandfather was a mill superintendent at an underground mine in Australia, and my maternal grandfather was a farmer, so to be leading the potash business unit brings together the mining and agricultural sides of my family,” says Reynolds. “Growing up, my family and I spent a lot of time on the farm during school vacations, so I think that’s where I developed my love of agriculture.”
Pursuing his passion, Reynolds achieved a degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of New England in Armidale, a small country town located in Northern New South Wales, Australia. Straight out of school he began working in the fertilizer industry, landing a position at Agrow Australia in Sydney. At the time, Agrow Australia was a representative for a number of global fertilizer producers, including one of Nutrien’s legacy companies, and Canpotex, one of the world’s largest distributors of potash.
“It was really that connection that gave me the opportunity to move from Sydney to Chicago in 2003 and join Nutrien,” Reynolds explains. “At the time, it was going to be a two-year secondment, and the plan was to return to Australia, but here we are almost 20 years later.”
From sales to potash
Reynolds got his start at Nutrien in international sales and also gained experience in industrial and agricultural sales over the years. In 2012, he was named vice-president of fertilizer sales and continued that role post-merger in 2018. Later that same year, he became the senior vice-president of sales, and most recently served as interim co-chair of the potash business unit.
“While my previous roles have been focused largely on sales and marketing, I’ve also had the opportunity to sit on the leadership teams for both NPK business units, which has given me more appreciation for the production side of the business,” says Reynolds. “I’m embracing this as a learning opportunity to better get to know the potash sites, understand their challenges and how I can support them.”
In terms of priorities for the potash business unit, Reynolds maintains safety as number one.
“Safety is incredibly important at Nutrien. It’s a mantra I’ll be keeping up and supporting unequivocally,” he says. “Our second focus is our ability to safely ramp up production to meet demand. The world is turning to sources of potash that are more reliable and sustainable, and that’s obviously Saskatchewan, so we play a big part in that.”
Always open to opportunities
When making the move from Australia to the United States back in 2003, it was because of a piece of advice that Reynolds received early on in his career: always be open to opportunities.
“When my wife and I moved to the U.S., it was for a job at a new company in a new country where we didn’t have any family or friends, but when opportunities like that come up, you just have to embrace them,” he says. “No opportunity comes without risks, so you’ve got to have a positive and open mindset. I’m so appreciative of receiving that advice because if we hadn’t taken the opportunity to move to the U.S., things would obviously look a lot different than they do today.”
Reynolds is looking forward to embracing another new adventure as his family prepares to relocate from Chicago to Saskatchewan, Canada for his new position where he’ll be leaning into the learning and leadership opportunities the role presents.
