Territory Sales Manager, Central Region

A few years after Tyler Schleich graduated from college, a recruiter alerted him to a job opportunity in the feed business. Tyler grew up on a farm with commercial beef and pork operations in Western Illinois, and he always had an interest in the feed business, especially for cattle.

But he only wanted to work for one feed company.

“I told the recruiter, ‘Unless this job is with Kent, I’m not interested,’” Tyler recalls. “I grew up feeding Kent, I believe in it, and I wasn’t going to work for anyone else.”

That was a little over six years ago, and Tyler has been selling Kent feed ever since – in the same area where he was born and raised. That gave him an advantage, he says, because he already knew many of the dealers and producers in his sales territory. Growing up, his dad and grandpa were regular customers at two nearby dealerships in Monmouth, Illinois, and Tyler was able to work with both when he first started with Kent.

“These were dealers who used to bid on my 4-H projects at the fairs,” he says. “And now I’m there, helping them with their feed products. It all came full circle in a way, which is neat.”

Tyler still has a cattle operation at his own farm, where he sells bulls, shows heifers and helps his five-year-old daughter with baby calves in the barn to get ready for the fair. It’s another connection with the dealers and producers he serves.

“I carry feed buckets every day, too,” he says. “I can relate to them because I’m going through the same challenges they are.”

While those relationships are important, Tyler says Kent’s reputation for quality is what makes the difference in his work every day. Customers appreciate that the company is family-owned, too.

“They know nothing is going to be sub-par in terms of quality,” he says. “That always comes first.”

Tyler lives in Monmouth, Illinois with his wife, Cassie and two young daughters, Scarlett and Sutton. They enjoy spending time on the farm, fishing, gardening, grilling out and swimming in the pool. Oh, and taking care of the cows.