Lisa BoydCompany Director and daughter of the founder
I am Famous around the office for:
My insatiable appetite
Background:
Although there had never been any talk of me joining the family business in my formative years, I began working for Seasol part time in 1992 selling Seasol and Earthcare products on commission to Victorian vegetable and fruit farmers. My intrinsic interest in organic farming and food in general inspired me to learn about horticulture and I soon found that there were many similarities between plant nutrition and human nutrition (in a previous life, I was a Naturopath).
In the early days my focus was entirely on ‘technical sales’, obtaining trial data from as many different crops and soil types as possible. I worked with farmers from lots of different industries across Australia (and some overseas) and found recurrent themes in the anecdotal and field trial reports in terms of soil and plant health. In the days when farmers would drive past on their tractors and simply glance over their shoulder to see if the Seasol/Earthcare treated rows looked any different, I would have to encourage them to walk the paddock with me… and literally feel the difference in the soil structure of the treated sections. I guess you could say that I worked my way to the top quite literally from the ground up.
In 1997 Seasol assumed control of the retail market – up until that time it had been retailed with limited success by wholesale distributors. I was able to use my apprenticeship in commercial horticulture to give the retailers and horticultural media a compelling story as to why Seasol would benefit the home garden market and for the first time, Seasol was backed with a moderate advertising and promotional campaign. Five years later Seasol was starting to gain traction as a mainstream product for the home garden market.
My passion and interest in large scale commercial food crops remains and I have since implemented an extensive R&D plan to further explore the economic benefits and mode of action of Seasol on a wide variety of fruit and vegetables farms. Research into Seasol’s role in broadacre farming like wheat and legumes has also begun.
It is my ten year goal to make Seasol one of the top five seaweed manufacturers in the world and to see our products being used on the majority of the largest commercial farms in the country.
I didn’t start out as a Business Woman, I started my professional life in health and nutrition with a desire to help people… so the people part of this business is extremely important to me. I strive to create a fun, egalitarian workplace where everyone is heard, everyone has a say, and everyone gets to share in the Company success.