When Markus Doering chose an apprenticeship studying insurance law in his native Germany, he never would have guessed that years later he’ d be teaching children how to identify worms in Cullman.
But that’ s what happens when someone from Göttingen falls in love with an Alabama girl on vacation in Croatia.
Doering is the assistant director at the North Alabama Agriplex, a job that allows him to manage spreadsheets and fundraise, but also to create curriculum for visitors and“ fun raise.”
In Germany, graduates choose a path for continuing education in either academics or vocations which lead to their eventual careers. Doering considered graphic design, but accepted a three-year apprenticeship in public health insurance law because it provided the best chance for a better job.
At the end of his apprenticeship, the company did offer him a job, but the only option was as a salesman. After a while, his supervisor recognized he was tech savvy, and asked him to take on a software project at the headquarters in Hamburg. The eightmonth project stretched to three years, then he went back to sales.
He started studying business in the evenings and earned the equivalent of a bachelor’ s degree in business administration.
His journey to the States started with a chance meeting with Casey Grier while both were vacationing in the northwestern area of the Balkan Peninsula in 2013. Though their travel tours soon ended, they believed it was just the beginning.“ We knew we had to see each other again,” he said. An opportunity arose with his company to teach health insurance law to the apprentices, but by then he’ d met the lovely American and the contract would have kept him in Germany longer than his heart would allow.
It wasn’ t long after their whirlwind romance in Croatia before he flew to the United States to visit Grier in her hometown. They endured a long distance relationship of several years, then married in a Florida ceremony overlooking the Gulf of Mexico in 2016.
Unfortunately, Doering couldn’ t stay without a Green Card, which allows permanent residency in the US. It took a year for his application to be approved and he was more than ready to begin his life in Alabama with his bride.
He made the move officially in February 2018 and the couple now have a 6-year-old son, Alexander.
“ People who know the Agriplex, love the Agriplex. We’ re one of the best kept secrets in Cullman.”
— MARKUS DOERING
“ I left my family and friends, and quit my job and came to the States,” he said.
He searched for employment, but found few employers who needed someone fluent in German insurance law. Casey Doering knew Rachel Dawsey from church and Dawsey, the Agriplex’ s director, needed someone who could write grants.“ I said,‘ What are grants?’” He was unfamiliar with the process of writing requests for funding, but with his education, background and attention to detail, he quickly learned the process. He secured a $ 22,000 grant for solar panels for the non-profit and then created a curriculum about solar energy for visitors to Agriplex.
He started doing the bookkeeping as well, then expanded his responsibilities to financial manager, IT specialist and educator. Now he’ s assistant director.
When there’ s a need at the Agriplex, he fills it, whether it’ s rustling cows, leading tours, teaching open-fire cooking or studying worms.
“ We needed someone teaching the kids about worms, so I became a specialist on worms,” he said.
Doering keeps a snake near his desk— his wife won’ t allow it at their home— and often takes his laptop outside to bask in the sun and listen to the chickens while he calculates numbers. He loves his job.“ It fits my personality 100 percent,” he said. One of his challenges is to expand interest in Agriplex, which serves to cultivate a community passionate about preserving the agricultural heritage of the state and growing a sustainable future through its classes and programs aimed at all ages.“ People who know the Agriplex, love the Agriplex,” he said. Doering hopes to get the word out to the rest of the community.“ We’ re one of the best kept secrets in Cullman,” he said.
Markus Doering surveys the then under construction community hub.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THE AGRIPLEX
PROFILE 2026 | 25