All in the Family: Meet Third-Generation Fluker Vance Noland
May 13th 2019
Vance officially joined the family business in 2017 as Director of Business Development. In addition to his lifelong connection to the farm, he brings a finance degree and several years of experience in management and operations to our team. The future of Fluker Farms looks bright as the third generation starts to bring their talents to the table!
What is your current role at Fluker Farms?
As Director of Business Development, I look for any way possible to make Fluker's better. My role allows me to have a varied range of responsibilities, and that is one of my favorite things about what I do. What I focus on today may be completely different than what I do tomorrow or next week. Ultimately, I am responsible for ensuring operations run smoothly on a day-to-day basis. That could include working through personnel issues, identifying any inefficiencies in our processes/systems, researching new product offerings, and building/maintaining relationships with our business partners.
Tell us a little about your educational background and previous work experience.
I attended Central Private School and then graduated from LSU in 2013 with a degree in Finance. After college, I worked for US Armature as Shop Manager and later Operations Director. In 2017, I joined Fluker Farms in a Business Development role.
As a third-generation Fluker, tell us about your family history with the farm.
I was born and raised in Baton Rouge/Port Allen and have been involved with Fluker’s all of my life. My childhood summers consisted of watching movies in the conference room and gathering pecans from the trees lining the farm driveway. I remember spending holidays with “MiMi and Paw Paw Cricket” and taking baby pictures with cricket boxes. As far back as I can remember, the cricket farm has been a major part of my life, and I am grateful for the experiences and life lessons that it continues to teach me.
What do you like most about your job?
Whether it's my immediate family or our extended Fluker’s family, my favorite thing about what I do is being able to work directly with the people I care about. We have several 15, 20, and 25-year employees who watched me grow from a kid throwing rocks in the parking lot to a young professional contributing to our business team. My mom (Diane Fluker Noland), my sister (Karlie Noland McCaskill), and my uncle (David Fluker) sit on all sides of me each day, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.
What are you most excited about going forward?
I am most excited to see what Fluker’s will look like in five years. We are working on several exciting projects that I think will benefit various parts of our company in big way. Whether it’s creating new product offerings, improving the customer experience, or optimizing the work environment for our team members, we are never scared to say, “This could be better.” And then we get to work making it so.
Do you have a favorite quote?
"The only place success comes before work is in the dictionary." - Vince Lombardi
What are your hobbies and interest outside of work?
Being from South Louisiana, of course food and LSU sports are king! In my downtime, I am usually cooking, eating, and cheering for the Tigers.