We knew when Rebecca Brady first walked into the Insight Communications office in 2016 that she had an amazing product, and now, she’s run her business so well that she took home the annual 43North competition’s grand prize of $1 million!
“It is truly a great story of a woman with vision, passion, and determination,” says Founder & CEO of Insight, Sabina Ramsey.
Top Seedz’s win is a testament to the value and importance of developing a brand, a process in which Insight played a crucial role.
It was a very casual first meeting, and Rebecca and Sabina bonded over being two hard-working moms with international perspectives.
“I got this random request from an email,” Sabina said. “Maybe she reached out to me because we both had somewhat of an international background and were not raised and born here. I think we even rescheduled a couple of times.”
The initial conversations were mostly about packaging, Sabina said, but after digging a little bit deeper, the team at Insight realized that Rebecca really needed to talk through her brand and what she wanted to accomplish.
“We wanted her to understand the importance of creating a brand – not only the logo – but what she was going to stand for and she connected with that message,” Sabina said.
Sabina had just expanded her team, so it was a collaborative effort working on Top Seedz’s project, including three designers and a copywriter. Sabina herself was the executive creative director of the branding.
It was clear Brady had a passion for health and fitness, and her products – handmade seed crackers and roasted seeds – were a way to bring her passions to the local market.
“We really connected around healthy eating,” Sabina said. “With me coming from Sweden and her coming from New Zealand, we know that seeds are one of the most valuable things you can eat because of the nutrients.”
“She loved these crackers because she could see few healthy alternatives in the American food market at the time,” Sabina said. “We did initial research and investigated that topic. There was also a reason why she wanted to develop it, which was because she understood the importance of bringing nutrition to the body through a healthy alternative such as a seed.”
Sabina said Brady loved making her crackers because they were fueled with healthy energy and she wanted her family to get the nutrition they needed.
“Together with Rebecca, we explored a range of names and eventually landed on Top Seedz,” Sabina said.
The name was a play on the seeds themselves as well as the phrase “top seed” used in sports.
“We then simply also named Rebecca herself the Top Seed as we could see her dedication and the reach for excellence in her own active healthy lifestyle,” Sabina said.
After coming up with the name, the logo was established, and the initial packaging was designed by Insight, which Sabina called “extremely innovative.”
And Sabina and her team at Insight could wholeheartedly endorse Brady’s Top Seedz products, because they were some of the first to sample them.
“We enjoyed eating the crackers in our office,” Sabina said. “We were one of the first test groups. I remember bringing it home to my family and my family loved them. I think we even ate crackers we weren’t supposed to because they were so good.”
Insight also created Top Seedz’s first website, and encouraged Brady to sell online. And even though she wasn’t ready for that at that time, Top Seedz now offers online sales. You can order Top Seedz products here.
After Insight had helped Brady determine and start her brand by coming up with the name, designing the logo and the initial packaging, Brady went on her own path and spent a year or two going around to local stores to get her crackers into the local market.
Eventually, she got her products into stores like Whole Foods and Wegmans, where you can still purchase them. And now, hot on the heels of her 43North win, Brady and Top Seedz are poised for even more success on their mission to help people eat healthy to create positive change in the world.
The team at Insight is proud to have been part of Top Seedz’s story, especially at the crucial beginning stages. When all was said and done, Insight helped Rebecca develop Top Seedz’s name, tagline, packaging, logo and website.
“It has been beautiful to see her journey,” Sabina said. “Everything turned out good for her, and we’re really glad she is where she is.”
