As customer demographics — and how they do business — shift, and equipment technology evolves, the function and style of the traditional farm equipment dealership will likely change with them.

Anne Salemo and Kathryn Hesebeck have more in common than they first thought sitting down together in Johnson Tractor’s Janesville, Wis., store. Both women came into the farm equipment industry under the wings of their fathers into the family business and both are mothers in a male dominated business. Salemo, CEO of Charter Software, and Hesebeck, a third generation salesperson for Johnson Tractor, a 4-store Case IH dealership, discuss the advantages of being a woman in the dealership business and transitioning a business from one generation to the next.

In mid-April, Chris Frodel, Mid-State Equipment (John Deere) drove over from her store to meet in the conference room at Johnson Tractor (Case IH), Leo Johnson’s store. The length of Frodel’s drive on Highway 14 was a full 4 minutes. That’s how close these two dealerships are in the rich agricultural region of Janesville, Wis. Both are second-generation dealers with siblings as partners (Chris runs the business with her brother Bryan and father Curt Hanson, while Leo does the same with brother Eric) and steadily collected additional stores from small-operation origins. Frodel (44) and Johnson (62) also found a lot of similarities and values in their businesses as they dug in for a candid discussion and what the future may look like.

President, Johnson Tractor Inc. (2012 Dealership of the Year)

8 farm equipment executives share their greatest mistakes and the lessons ‘forged in the fire’ that they carry with them today.