West Coast Seeds
West Coast Seeds is a family-owned, BC-based purveyor of premium seeds and garden supplies, beloved by home growers and market gardeners across Canada for its commitment to organic practices, seed quality, and gardening education.
THE GOAL
When the COVID-19 pandemic sparked an unprecedented surge in home gardening, West Coast Seeds found itself at a genuine inflection point. The demand was real, but it was also external. The question wasn't how to grow; it was how to build an organization capable of sustaining and extending that growth long after the wave passed.
Elizabeth joined as Fractional Marketing Manager with a clear mandate: develop and implement a comprehensive marketing plan, build a performance-based marketing team, and ensure the brand emerged from the moment stronger, sharper, and better equipped for what came next.
THE WORK
Elizabeth led a comprehensive rebrand in partnership with Partners + Hawes, overseeing agency vetting and selection, managing the full creative process from strategy and positioning through visual identity development, and rolling out the resulting brand across all marketing channels, platforms, and touchpoints. The rebrand honoured the brand's heritage while repositioning West Coast Seeds to engage a new generation of growers.Alongside the rebrand, Elizabeth managed the editorial direction of the annual Growing Guide, a free, nationally distributed catalogue that has been a cornerstone of the West Coast Seeds brand since 1983. Demand for the printed edition consistently outpaced supply, with a waitlist running each year, a quiet but telling measure of the loyalty and anticipation the brand commanded.
Elizabeth led the internal marketing team throughout her four-year engagement, directing workflows and execution while mentoring team members toward greater ownership and leadership. She participated in management and strategic planning to ensure marketing remained tightly aligned with overall business goals, and oversaw budget management across all marketing initiatives.
THE RESULTS
By the time Elizabeth's engagement concluded, West Coast Seeds had what it didn't have at the start: a brand built to outlast the moment, a performance-based marketing organization with the systems and people to run independently, and a team that had grown into its own leadership capacity.
Most tellingly, Elizabeth spent four years mentoring and developing her successor until he was ready to take over the function entirely. That transition, planned, deliberate, and successful, is perhaps the clearest measure of the work. The goal was never to be indispensable. It was to leave the organization stronger than she found it.
TESTIMONIAL
"Elizabeth took the time to truly understand our business and our customer base, becoming a fully integrated member of the team in the process. Her strategic guidance had a direct impact on our sales growth and gave us a clear path to achieving our goals."
— Aarons Saks, President, West Coast Seeds
Are you interested in learning how Elizabeth can support your next marketing initiative?
Book a complimentary discovery call today.