Meet Patty Ward of Greenwood

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patty Ward

Hi Patty, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Six years ago I left my career as a teacher to work in our start up e-Commerce seed business, Sow Right Seeds. My husband and I had started the seed business about a year prior and we were still getting it off the ground. The business needed more time and attention and since we were not making a profit yet, he continued to work a full-time job that required some travel. I dove into learning how to grow and run a business. At this point, everything was new and challenging. I wore all the hats and they were ALL new to me like marketing, graphic design, product development, and fulfillment. We began with around 24 varieties of herbs and flowers and each year we have added more varieties. Now we offer over 400 varieties of seeds including a huge assortment of vegetables, microgreens, covercrops, flowers, and herbs. We were able to add employees to our team after the first couple years which was very exciting. This gave us space to grow our business. We have a seed shop fulfillment team and an e-commerce team. We also grow extensive gardens to test grow our seeds and use in our videos. The extra flowers and produce are a way to give to the local food pantries who rarely get fresh vegetables in their donations. It’s amazing to see what have taken place in our lives in the last 5 years.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth, not at all! There have been and still are opportunities, as I like to call them, to be solved. Such as, how to market a business and get people to go to your website and actually click buy. It’s a bigger hurdle than most realize. E-Commerce is constantly changing and you have to stay on your toes. With an e-Commerce business we have had to deal with the challenges of each platform that we sell on. This can be extremely frustrating and each platform is in constant change.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As an educator, my most rewarding moments involve teaching people how to plant a seed and grow food. It’s so miraculous to take something so small, like a seed and grow a head of lettuce or a delicious watermelon. I spend a lot of my time developing social media videos for our business and working in the garden. I find it rewarding to share information with others and help them be successful. I also enjoy teaching opportunities and speaking engagements where I can help others learn about seeds and gardening. I’m still helping others learn new skills

What was your favorite childhood memory?
I grew up on a farm in Idaho and my favorite memories involve all the things we did outside on the farm. Riding horses, growing a garden, planting flowers with my mom, raising bum lambs, and participating in 4-H. The simple lifestyle our parents gave us was the best way to learn skills and enjoy the world of plants and animals. I’m forever grateful for the humble lifestyle of growing up on a farm and I can’t single out one memory because it was our lifestyle of being outside and doing things on the farm together with my parents.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sowrightseeds.com
• Instagram: @sowrightseeds
• Facebook: Sow Right Seeds
• Youtube: @sowrightseeds