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Come on down and have a fun time with us as we talk with Julia Coffey from Seeds Trust about a range of topics, such as…
Helping to educate Backyard Gardeners in getting started in seed and seed saving.
Why plugging into your local community is important.
Why Seeds Trust is committed to helping to combat Disappearing Biodiversity
What you’ll find in Seeds Trust Newsletter
And finally, what you’ve been waiting for, just what is Julia’s favorite seed!
Thanks again to Julia and Seeds Trust for joining us on the show, and be sure to check them out at the links below. 🙂
Website – https://www.seedstrust.com/
Top Selling Product – https://www.seedstrust.com/seed-cans-buckets/bucket-of-seeds-high-altitude
Instagram (@seedstrust) – https://www.instagram.com/seedstrust/?hl=en
Facebook (@seedstrust) – https://www.facebook.com/seedstrust/
Transcription
Brian: What would you say you like best about your business in your industry as a whole?
Julia: Oh man, I like best that it matters.
Not everyone has that, as far as what they do in life. And I’m really, really lucky that I believe in seeds, I believe in their power to change the world for the better.
I believe in their capacity to connect human beings.
And I find that really fulfilling, in something that I do is my livelihood.
It’s a beautiful industry, and seed people are incredibly friendly and generous, and hardworking.
Podcast Intro: If you’re someone who refuses to go along to get along, if you question whether the status quo was good enough for you and your family.
If you want to leave this world better off than you found it and you consider independence a sacred thing.
You may be a prepper, a gardener, a homesteader, a survivalist, or a farmer or rancher, an environmentalist or a rugged outdoorsman.
We are here to celebrate you whether you’re looking to improve your maverick business or to find out more about the latest products and services available to the weekend rebel.
From selling chicken eggs online, to building up your food storage or collecting handmade soap.This show is for those who choose the road less traveled the road to self-reliance for those that are living a daring adventure, life off the grid.
Brian: Julia Coffey is co-owner and Director of Operations for Seeds Trust.
Handling the daily order fulfillment, inventory management, grower relations, sourcing logistics and graphic design duties. Julia apprenticed closely with seedsman Bill McDorman to learn the seed industry ropes.
After graduating from one of Bill’s first seed school programs, she moved down to Cornville, Arizona to run Seeds Trust with him, eventually purchasing the company and moving it home to Colorado in 2011.
With a decade of experience running the business, Julia is an extremely knowledgeable about growing for seed, seed storage and seed saving techniques.
She’s currently completing her Colorado State University Master Gardener certification, Julia Coffey, welcome to the Off The Grid Biz Podcast.
Julia: Great, thank you, it’s great to be here.
Brian: Besides what we heard from your bio, why don’t you tell us a little bit more about what it is that you do?
Julia: I started getting interested in seeds when I lived in France, when I graduated from college. And I was really impressed with some more sustainable models in everyday life over there that I didn’t see as much here.
I was super interested in what kind of sustainable agriculture projects was going on in Colorado where I’m from. And when I came home, I actually ended up finding Bill McDorman giving a seed talk in Lyons, Colorado.
I went to hear him and I was so inspired, I went up to him and I was like, hi, can I come apprentice with you, and go to your seed school?
He was like, sure, sure. He’s like, just ask Belle, who’s is Bills wife, and Belle was like well, let’s see here.
Cuz I was like, oh, and by the way I have no money.
And they’re like, oh yeah, sure we have scholarships.
She’s like, see what you can do and then hit me up.
So I was a big acapella nerd in college. So my acapella group helped me put on a concert, actually in Lyons. And that was a fundraiser to send me on down to seed school. And then the deal was, I would bring the knowledge back to the library in Lyons.
So that’s kind of like the start of how I got interested in seeds in the first place.
Brian: Oh, fabulous. What’s been the difference from just being involved and working in the company to actually purchasing it and owning it, and then running it from that point on?
Julia: Well, wow, there have been a lot of things that have been different.
Honestly, one of the biggest things that I’ve had to cultivate as a better sense of self discipline, I got a lot of energy and inspiration from Bill as my mentor, and the people that I was lucky enough to work with when I was apprenticing with him, before I bought the company.
And I was really thriving with learning so much about seeds and about growing and about the seed industry. But once I was on my own, it was incredible. I felt amazing. But I did lose a little bit of that collaborative feeling and sort of the the human touch and inspiration of why seeds were important to me, if that makes sense.
So one of the biggest challenges was staying connected to the seed world, as I was trying to do my own thing running this business by myself. So yeah, honestly, it felt a little bit lonely initially. So that was the biggest change.
Brian: Absolutely. And can you tell us a little more for people that don’t know what Seeds Trust is?
Julia: Seeds Trust is a regional seed company and essentially, we exist to combat disappearing biodiversity, so we encourage people to save their own seeds, and contribute to diversity out there.
Like, even if you’re just saving a few items that you are selecting for, and they adapt to your tastes, and your specific region and your than just your backyard. We’re stronger for that. So we’re all about regional strengths, trying to diversify our seed supply, and hard to grow areas.
Brian: Oh, excellent.
And how do you go about doing that?
How do you get the word out about this, and what’s your main way of getting contact with people initially?
Julia: So we are a mail order seed company, as most seed companies are, actually. And I’m really lucky, because Seeds Trust was founded in 1987, so it’s as old as I am.
It already had foundation of customers.
What I have done, as I’ve taken over the company in the past 10 years, is try to transition into more technology forward types of communication ways, you know, some of the social media stuff, trying to cultivate visually stuff that’s appealing for folks on Instagram, and Facebook.
We have a great newsletter we send out and a lot of folks sign up for that. So we do have a large readership for our newsletters. That’s huge for us.
Another thing that we’ve done is, we’ve hosted and participated in educational events.
So I teach seed saving classes, so that I can talk to people about not only the techniques, but different ways to source, how to just give it a go and be excited about it.
We’ve partnered up with a lot of a lot of folks on the front range so far, since just actually moved to Grand Junction last year. so we’re now on the western slope. And we’re diving into the community here as well.
We do a lot of community outreach, and try and get people excited about growing and saving seed.
Brian: Where are you finding most new customers that when you’re getting in contact with with people brand new nowadays? Where are you finding that that happens most of the time?
Julia: Well, there are two different answers, I have to that one is post-COVID, and one’s pre-COVID. A lot of our new customers were coming from events and promo that we did with discounts if you signed up for our newsletter, and we got a huge boost in folks signing up for the newsletter.
A lot of its SEO to just simple, like search capacity stuff. So we do high altitude mainly.
So that’s a big search point for seeds just we’ve gotten our SEO pretty tight, but then post-COVID. Seeds were in such demand last year, it was not until we got an influx of a whole bunch of new customers because they weren’t finding what they’re looking for at their normal sources.
The main thing that we’re up to now is trying to keep all those new customers happy supplies, the seeds expired, or just trying to keep them around.
It was just worldly circumstances that brought a lot of new customers more than we’ve ever seen in one go last season.
Brian: Well, that’s great, and talking more about that, or digging in a little bit deeper.
How else has the whole COVID situation for those of you listening, we’re recording this in March of 2021, we’ve gone through a full year of the covid 19 pandemic. So how else has this affected you and your company?
Julia: Well, it’s been invigorating, because our message is even more important, it’s even more essential that we’re prepared. You know, we don’t really engage too much in like scare tactics and whatnot.
And I try and keep the messages really light because the “doom and gloom” about where we are genetically with our seed supply is precarious, to say the least.
So it has been scary to see such like frantic purchasing, and such grab and go styles because people are feeling it like, yeah, we do need to be prepared.
Okay, how do I start a garden?
What do we need to grow?
And I think it’s a really great time to think about that. It’s a perfect time to engage folks about how we can all contribute a little bit better, to being more sustainable and more prepared.
Brian: No, that’s fabulous. And you had mentioned your newsletter. Tell us a little bit more about what people would find in your newsletter.
Julia: Well, we can give people a heads up if there’s any local events that we’re putting on, or participating in.
Seeds Trust has a wide array of sourcing. So we grow a lot of our own seeds. We have growers in the Rocky Mountain regions and on the western slope. And so we’re always having new varieties come in, and we’re trying to feature more of our local growers.
So we give folks a heads up on what’s new, what’s limited, what’s going on. And we try to give people kind of a slice of life of seeds. Tips on when to plant how to plant.
It’s lighthearted, but it’s pretty information dense.
Brian: All right.
Who would you say is your ideal customer?
Julia: Definitely, backyard gardeners, anyone who is even interested in starting a plant from seed or who has even garden with starts before really, actually, it’s quite fun to start with the seed, grow it out and circle all the way back around to seed.
But it’s fun, it’s like really completing that circle.
We have the skill set to do it, we have tons of information to share about how to do it.
The backyard gardeners who want to jump into a project, they want to know more to like it’s fun to talk to them. They’re curious about how to start from seed, how to save seed.
All in all, it’s a really positive interaction with someone out there in the world who’s attempting something really important. Actually, it’s kind of funny how important seed saving is. It doesn’t seem like it, but it’s essential.
Brian: Absolutely. And you have, it’s funny, you keep going back to this this idea of of getting the information out and educating people.
Do you feel like that’s a whole nother level to what it is that Seeds Trust does?
Julia: Oh, yeah, absolutely.
If we’re going to grow, then we need to be incorporating even more educational outreach to folks. If we’re doing it right, then fewer customers come back to purchase from us.
And more of them save the seeds that they purchase already, because they’re all open pollinated anyway. But seed saving, it takes money, it can get quite complicated.
There are ways to start in really basic manners that are acceptable to most people. But there’s a whole world of seed saving knowledge that, yeah, easier to expand more through seed just because that’s, you know, it’s our backbone.
Brian: What would you say is your top selling product at Seeds Trust?
Julia: Our top selling product is definitely our High Altitude Bucket.
It comes with a seed saving booklet, and 32 different packets of seeds for a basic, productive garden at high altitudes.
So they’re all short season varieties and they have short days to maturity. They are your tried and true. So you can get a really nutritious, well balanced garden.
You wouldn’t have to save your seeds, but the book went inside. So they’re an awesome gift. They’re a great starter garden product. People love those.
Brian: Fabulous.
Commercial: Okay, let’s take a break from that conversation. I wanted to bring up a question for you, during these crazy times, do you feel like your business is indestructible? Most people don’t?
And if not, the real question is why?
And what can you do to make it as indestructible as possible?
Well, that’s the basis of my new book, 9 Ways to Amazon-Proof Your Business.
Let me talk about what we discussed in the third chapter.
The third way for you to Amazon proof your business, which is be different.
In the third chapter, I go into, really, how do you put yourself out there and be seen as unique, where you really don’t even have competition. And there’s ways of doing this. In fact, I talk about two specific books that you should go out and get.
And these are difficult books to read.
These are fun books, books that will inspire you and give you creative juices necessary to be able to really stand out and be different, you don’t have to be wacky, you don’t have to be outrageous, but you do have to appear different. And if you can appear different from everyone else out there, not only will you not have the competition of amazon.com, you won’t have any competition.
But I also have eight other ways to Amazon proof your business, basically the idea of making it competition proof to even someone as big as Amazon.com.
So if you’d like to get your hands on a free copy of my book, go to AmazonProofBook.com sign up and you will get a free copy and get the chance to purchase a physical copy of it for a special price. And now let’s get back to our show.
Brian: That’s really cool.
Here’s an interesting question. If you could change one thing about your business or your industry as a whole what would it be?
Julia: That’s hard because I feel like as a business owner, I am changing things all the time for it to be better.
So it’s funny like this, this question almost seems like if a genie came down, and you know, could grant me a wish, because all the other stuff, I guess I wish that people valued seeds a little bit more than they do.
That would be wonderful.
And I wish that it was more so incorporated into the curriculum of our use. I would love to see that in schools more, more and more. Seed saving, not just growing like all of it.
Brian: Yeah, makes sense.
What would you say you like best about your business, in your industry as a whole?
Julia: Oh, man, I like best that it matters.
Not everyone has that as far as what they do in life, and I’m really, really lucky that I believe in seeds, I believe in their power to change the world for the better. I believe in the capacity to connect human beings.
And I find that really fulfilling in something that I do is my livelihood. So I feel lucky, like really, really lucky. It’s just, it’s a beautiful industry.
And seed people are incredibly friendly and generous, and hardworking.
They’re awesome.
Brian: How about your life previous to Seeds Trust, what took you in this direction?
Did you always see yourself in a position like this, or how did that all come about?
Julia: Oh, absolutely not. I had no idea seed companies even existed as like, way up until I graduated, I was just, I started doing local performance. And when I was doing journalism, and I ended up majoring in linguistics and French, I’ve always felt sort of compelled to engage in my environment in a way that that made a better, I feel like a sort of a crusader in a way, like always having some kind of mission.
And this one, just really stuck, when I looked around.
Now I was living in France, I wasn’t well, it seems to be an inherent value that this culture places on not only more localized items, but like values, the history of how they eat and how they cultivate food and their agricultural systems.
I just, I’ve always been searching for meaning. And I just really got lucky. Like, I don’t know how, I just stumbled upon it.
Brian: Fell in your lap. That’s great. Fabulous.
So if we were to talk again, like a year from now, and we were to look back over what had happened over the last 12 months, what would have had to have happen for you to feel happy with your progress concerning your business and your in your personal life?
Julia: I would want to have kept as many customers as possible, happy and thriving, I would like to have hired more staff to have a collaborative friendly atmosphere of teamwork in the studio.
And then I would like to be spending less time in the studio and more time consulting with customers who have questions about their gardens, and how to plant seeds.
So I’d really like to grow that way in the next 12 months.
Brian: Awesome.
What are the obstacles standing in your way from getting there?
Julia: The obstacle would be balancing all of the day to day responsibilities and the seasonal changes, or the changes that are going to happen in the coming seasons.
You know, because order fulfillment it now and then we’re going to be growing our seeds and then processing our seeds, doing all our inventory stuff.
Yeah. And I can’t get lazy over here. (laughs)
Brian: That’s important.
What advice would you have to other people that are looking into owning a business like Seeds Trust, they’re looking to either either purchase one successful one like you have, or to jump in from scratch?
What advice would you have?
Julia: Oh, my advice would definitely be plugging to your community.
Because there are so many people who do complimentary things that can help everyone’s business grow. And I would also encourage small steps that are solid, because you can’t get from point A to point C without being like, be patient.
Take the steps that are necessary and do them in a sustainable manner. Like each step is a step.
So incremental, sustainable and connect with other people who have similar passions because you’re happy and you’re feeling good and you realize is that what you’re doing?
I think that translates really well to business success.
Brian: That’s really well said. That connection point is so important and especially doing it at a local level, more important now than ever.
Out of all the questions I asked, Is there anything I did not ask you that you’d like to answer?
Julia: Um, yeah, what’s my favorite seed?
Brian: What is your favorite seed?
Julia: I love, Calendula Seed.
So calendula is a flower you can plant in your garden that’s great for it’s a different Kenyan plants will help breeding beneficial insects and ward off non beneficial ones.
So it looks sort of like a marigold. But the crazy thing is the calendula seed actually looks like an octopus tentacle currently, and has little suckers on it is wild. It’s like sci-fi.
It’s awesome.
Brian: So will that grow just about anywhere?
Julia: That’ll grow just about anywhere, Yeah.
Brian: Yeah. Very cool. Very cool.
What can the listener do who’s interested and wants to find out more about seeds trust?
Julia: Well, they can certainly visit our website, which is SeedsTrust.com.
We have a lot of information on the website, like a lot.
And people are always welcome to directly email me.
So I’m at J****@seedstrust.com.
And I love chatting with people and talking about their garden talking about seeds.
Brian: Yeah, I love it that you’re so plugged in with your customer base, and that you’re open to be able to be reached out to a lot.
A lot of owners don’t, they either don’t have that desire, and they don’t have that connection initially with their people. So that’s really fabulous that you’re doing that.
This has been a great conversation Julia, thanks so much for being on the Off The Grid Biz Podcast.
Julia: Thanks for having me. It’s been awesome.
Brian’s Closing Thoughts: Wow, it is really great talking with Julia Coffey.
There was a couple things that I caught from the conversation. These are useful ideas that you can use in your own business.
I love Julia’s attitude of being just straight to the point, no nonsense. She just knows her stuff. She knows what she’s talking about and she doesn’t add a whole lot of fluff to it.
It’s just really straightforward.
She obviously knows enough about her business, you listen to all the different things that she does, that I was reading about in the very beginning of the handling daily order fulfillment and inventory management.
And her talking about spending a lot of time with customers. That’s all huge.
Well, she is definitely running the show there and that’s great.
I love how she mentioned her ideal customers being backyard gardeners.
And a lot of people being very focused on high altitude seeds, then dealing with that region. And her talking about being a regional Seed Company and having a real focus in saving seeds.
This is such a very specific area and at the same time, look at how well she’s done during the covid 19 pandemic.
Because Seeds Trust is such a specific company, and plays to such a specific field of person. That’s really important.
Don’t downplay the power of having a niche. Because when there’s times when people aren’t paying attention to it, yeah, you may have a tougher time. But when people are paying attention, you’re one of the only games in town, not that she’s the only one that’s involved with seed saving, or in offering seeds by mail, or doing all the things she’s discussing.
But the way they do it is different from everybody else. And they’re able to stand out and she’s been able to reap the rewards, which is really great.
Another thing I wanted to point out, is just her overall passion, her passion for this and her belief that it’s bigger than just a nine to five job or just a business that she happens to own.
This is something that is changing lives and making a difference from her perspective. That’s important. That’s so important that you have that if you aren’t involved in something that has that you should search that out.
Because it could make such a big difference in your life.
You could hear it in her voice in what she’s discussing.
And the final thing I wanted to point out is, as I mentioned during the conversation, that focus on education and information, having an information side of your business is so huge. Not only in terms of marketing, because that gives you the ability to have content marketing across the board, online and so forth.
But also being able to have something that you might even possibly be able to produce a product out of the information and the contacts. And knowing that world of seed saving, the reasons why the process of it, and how you go about doing all that.
Just the knowledge that Julia has, can be passed on, and is a product unto itself.
It’s really exciting seeing what Seeds Trust’s has done, and with Julia is a co-owner.
It’s really great. I can’t wait to see what they end up doing.
Outro: Join us again on the next Off The Grid Biz Podcast brought to you by the team at BrianJPombo.com, helping successful but overworked entrepreneurs, transform their companies into dream assets.
That’s BrianJPombo.com.
If you or someone you know would like to be a guest on The Off The Grid Biz Podcast, offthegridbiz.com/contact. Those who appear on the show do not necessarily endorse my beliefs, suggestions, or advice or any of the services provided by our sponsor.
Our theme music is Cold Sun by Dell. Our executive producer and head researcher is Sean E Douglas. I’m Brian Pombo and until next time, I wish you peace, freedom, and success.