Leadership and Routes to Success with Courtenay Wolfe, CEO, FBSciences
Leadership and Routes to Success with Courtenay Wolfe, CEO, FBSciences
FBSciences has charted an upward trajectory since pivoting to a more commercial focus from 2016, when Courtenay Wolfe became CEO and Chairman.
New AG Internationals Editor-in-Chief Luke Hutson sat down with Wolfe – virtually, of course – to find out about her career path, discuss her views on leadership, and the commonalities across different industries. She’s an advocate of being prepared, not letting fear drive decision-making, and when given the shot. Taking it.
One shouldn’t make a drama out of a crisis, but what about a career?
In many ways, Courtenay Wolfe, CEO and Chair of FBSciences has managed to do just that.
“Some say luck is the combination of preparation and opportunity, and sometimes that opportunity comes in the form of a crisis.”
And they don’t come much bigger than the financial crisis of 2008, although 2020 might give it a run.
At the height of the financial crisis of 2018, only days after the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers, Wolfe became CEO of Salida Capital, a billion-dollar asset management firm reeling in the middle of the crisis. She was a female in her mid-30s in a peer group of mainly males in their 60s.
“In times of extreme stress or uncertainty, many people freeze, they become paralysed with indecision, because in that situation no decision is easy or comfortable. But you have to keep moving, you have to be decisive.”
Rather than run away, she chose to take on the challenge head on. This was her shot. And she took it.
Salida went on to make a miraculous recovery, scooping up global performance awards on the road to recovery. Since Salida, Wolfe has continued to take on pivotal leadership roles in companies where change was essential to survive or necessary to thrive. “I’ve built up a wealth of experience in effective change management and transformational leadership,” she adds.
Working across industries
Turning to FBSciences, Wolfe had been an investor and active board member of the company since 2009. “In 2016, FBSciences needed to do a pivot. It’s always been a science-first company with a strong proven performance, but it needed a pivot towards commercialisation.”
In late 2016, Wolfe was asked to take the helm as CEO and Chair. As well as asset management, the early part of her career was spent in technology, notably as head of Dell Canada’s e-commerce business.
Having worked across finance, technology and agriculture is something that Wolfe views as an asset in her career.
“I feel blessed to be involved in different industries and companies. It’s been a fast track to seeing what success looks like. I’ve been a leader, advisor and director. I’ve seen on a fast-forward basis the successes and failures, different companies at different stages. It’s a good portfolio of experience to draw from.”
Food for thought
Did she always want to work in agriculture?
In 2010, long before taking on the CEO role at FBSciences, Wolfe set up a foundation on agricultural sustainability and food security.
“It’s always been a passion of mine. No other sector parallels in terms of the potential to promote food security, nutrition, human development, combat our current climate crisis and drive sustainable economic growth.”
FBSciences is also working towards those goals. “We’re a market leader in the innovation and commercialisation of biologicals, both biostimulants and biopecticides, to improve overall plant health and nutrition. Our Why is harnessing the power of nature, using sustainable, renewable materials to transform agriculture and food production globally.
There’s a huge spotlight on sustainability,” continues Wolfe. “There are 3 pillars– social, such as food security, economic, and environmental. We have a positive impact in all these areas.”
And it’s been good for business too. Since Wolfe took the helm, FBSciences has become profitable and is growing at an annual CAGR of 40%. While continuing to innovate and maintain a science-based approach, with well over 1500 independent and university studies validating its strong performance in the field, the company is approaching a milestone of $100 million in commercial success and its products can be found around the globe in North America, Asia, Europe, South America, India and Australia.
Steering the ship
How has Wolfe steered this growth? She would describe herself as a hands-on leader, while also looking to empower her team.
“I like to provide a vision, a direction. There are lots of paths to get there, but here are the goals and the milestones.”
For Wolfe two of her key touch points are consistency and safety.
Recognising milestones and celebrating success along the way is important but recognising mistakes and where correction needs to happen is also critical to effective leadership. “Mistakes are part of innovation and growth. People can’t be afraid to make mistakes. It’s okay to stumble along the way.
I believe being an effective leader is directly correlated to how many difficult decisions you are willing to make, how many difficult conversations you are willing to have and how frequently and quickly you are willing to do that.”
This is where many leaders stumble in Wolfe’s assessment - they delay or avoid having the tough conversations or making the tough decisions when needed. “You have to be decisive. You may not always make the right decision but what is wrong - is indecision, or waffling.”
Collaborative, flat, entrepreneurial is how she would summarise the environment that she tries to create. “I like to set goals, then be consistent with accountability and follow up.”
“I like to provide a vision, a direction. There are lots of paths to get there, but here are the goals and the milestones.”
Transferable leadership
Working across different industries has also shown Wolfe the commonalities in leadership roles.
“I didn’t grow up in agriculture, but like in any industry, I surround myself with smart people, ask a lot of questions, listen, assimilate, and make the best decisions with the information I have. We were all given two ears, and one mouth for a reason and I try to use them wisely.”
For Wolfe, a broad range of experience can be a benefit. “You bring fresh knowledge, can look at things through a different lens, and can shake things up and innovate.”
“One of the things that I learned from years in finance is the essential tools to be fiscally responsible. I bring fiscal strategy and accountability - is this in the interest of the company both commercially and financially?”
Wolfe is clear in what she brings to the table. “I’m not going to be the lead chemist. I bring setting and selling clear goals. Empowering roles and accountability and leading with purpose.”
Bringing the energy
“You have to earn and build trust within your team to effectively lead. Managers are hired but leadership is earned,” states Wolfe as we move on to the details of leadership. Once the direction has been set, the strategy slide deck is done, how do you keep the momentum going within a team?
Although Wolfe cites the necessity for milestone, or status-based, monitoring, she is quick to point out that you have to keep it fun and maintain an element of humour.
“People like to be involved in transformation. Setting ambitious goals and achieving them is invigorating. Positive transformation can be contagious, and bring its own energy and momentum.”
This is where Wolfe stresses the importance of being consistent in goal setting and offers a note of caution. “People get fatigued if there’s too much change, or if the end-game is constantly changing, and that can be negative. Nobody likes to feel like they are just spinning their wheels.”
To maintain focus, Wolfe is keen on reinforcing what she terms ‘the why’ and the end goal. The path can change but the goal is consistent.
“People like to be involved in transformation. Setting ambitious goals and achieving them is invigorating. Positive transformation can be contagious, and bring its own energy and momentum.”
Leadership roles for women
Wolfe is proud of the high number of leadership roles at FBSciences currently held by women.
She says she looks at the glass half-full when questioned on the difficulties for women to climb the career ladder.
“I’ve been in male dominated industries all my life - tech, finance, agriculture – where some people have underestimated me along the way. But if you do the work, you prepare, know your stuff, and you go in and wow them, you’re actually more memorable in the end. So being female can be an asset, as well as a challenge.”
Being prepared is something that Wolfe comes back to often. But she cautions here, too, quoting the expression of paralysis through over analysis. “Be prepared as best you can for any situation, but being decisive is one of the lessons she has learned from a range of management experiences. “Taking calculated risks and making decisions quickly and with limited information, comes with experience and is a practiced skill and important in order to move forward.”
Wolfe rates the ability to be calm and decisive under pressure. “If people are faced with limited information, and the need to make a decision, you can’t always wait for the next breadcrumb of information before making a decision…if you do that, the decision usually gets harder, and options become more limited and less attractive the longer you delay.”
Drawing influence
When reflecting on what has prepared her for leadership roles and the dynamics of decision-making, Wolfe draws on a number of influences.
She didn’t grow up on a farm, like some agribusiness CEOs. But she did have a grandfather who bought a farm in Alberta, where she spent some of her childhood.
The influence here was less about the farm, but more his entrepreneurial spirit and zest for trying new things. He had a thirst for knowledge that Wolfe admired.
“My parents passed on an example of setting the belief that anything is possible with passion and perseverance, grit and tenacity. When I was very young, my dad told me if I wanted to be an Olympic athlete or the prime minister of Canada, then I could be. Regardless of how true that was, I believed him and that’s a huge gift of empowerment. I have lived my life that way. I control the outcome.”
Wolfe says she has taken snippets from different people along her career path.
Role models along the way have given her opportunities and taught discipline and consistency.
“I had superiors early in my career, both male and female, that were great role models, saw my potential and let me run with things. I’m thankful for those people who gave me those opportunities.”
And it is something that Wolfe enjoys reciprocating. “I love giving people a shot to stretch beyond their comfort zones, sometimes seeing their initial fear, then rising to the challenge, seeing them build confidence, and then seek out the next challenge.”
Any advice?
When it comes to the speaking circuit, Wolfe has done the rounds at schools and universities to talk about leadership and her career. She obviously thrives off the interaction.
“How did you get there? Is the most common question I’m asked,” she says.
And how do you answer? “It’s not any one thing, windows of opportunity that I climbed through. We all get them. You need to create them where you can, and take them when they present themselves. But for sure, I worked very hard.”
And the nuggets of advice that students want? “My advice - be bold, be brave, try different opportunities, ask for what you want, be persistent, and never talk yourself out of an opportunity or say no out of fear.”
When it comes to choosing an academic pathway, Wolfe is circumspect. Is it better to be a generalist or a specialist, for example? Wolfe cites the books ‘Range’ by David Epstein, which has the subtitle ‘How generalists triumph in a specialised world’, and ‘Outliers’ by Malcolm Gladwell, focused on the principle of 10,000 hours of specialised practice.
“Both can be effective. Some of it comes down to the individual. For myself, I believe in Range. Having and drawing on as many diverse challenges and experiences as possible. I thrive in it and they all teach you something,” she notes. “As long as you are reflective and can draw from the experiences.”
“My advice - be bold, be brave, try different opportunities, ask for what you want, be persistent, and never talk yourself out of an opportunity or say no out of fear.”
Finding the words
The one skill that Wolfe rates as essential is the ability to communicate effectively.
She observes that many smart and knowledgeable people find it hard to present a message and end up delivering the information as if sprayed by a fire hose.
“Knowing how to sell your message effectively, the story, your want, your need, the power of persuasion - it’s a massive skill. Both in life and in business.”
Everyone should learn how to speak in public according to Wolfe. “It usually presents windows of opportunity and it forces people to manage their fear. Over 75% of people are afraid of public speaking, it is the most common cited fear,” she says. It’s also a skill she believes can be learned and is helpful in practicing effective communication.
But where did she learn? Did she tread the boards in school theatre productions? Is there a showreel somewhere of her in a musical? Sadly not. Practice. And more practice, and being prepared for the opportunity, or crisis. No need for drama.
Oro Agri Leadership
An interview with Carol Pullen & Sara Monteiro
Oro Agri Leadership: An interview with Carol Pullen & Sara Monteiro
Meet Sara Monteiro and Carol Pullen, two inspirational women with senior roles at Oro Agri. They share their stories of how they entered this industry and provide some useful guidance to help others along the way!
NAI: Sara and Carol, it’s a pleasure to be interviewing you both. Please can you share your story with us here at New AG International. Have you always been involved within the Agriculture sector?
Carol Pullen
Sara Monteiro
Sara Monteiro: I am an agronomic engineer and have a PHD in biochemical sciences related to plant disease defense mechanisms. I started looking at the science of agriculture and during this scientific process, I discovered a molecule from a plant to defend other plants from being attacked by diseases. This led to a switch in my life.
At first, I was a university researcher and lecturer. When I discovered this molecule that was targeting some of the main diseases of crops, my life changed. Because of this molecule, I applied for an entrepreneurship program to develop the idea and the products in the agricultural market. Even when I was still at university, I founded a startup with two of my former PHD supervisors. We applied for this entrepreneurship program and won funding by a group of investors in Portugal. We first built a pilot plant to develop the project for the first stages of R&D, and small-scale production required to show efficacy of the products.
I was a technical scientific officer of the company as well as a board member. So, as you can see, I started my university life in agriculture because this is what I studied and did my pHD on. In the end I discovered something for agriculture and used this to start my own company to sell commercialized bio products, including biopesticides extracted from plants.
A couple of years ago I met Carol and she told me she wanted to install a new production plant in Europe, and we found this place here in Palmela and it was time for me to move and embrace this new challenge. So, I came and started working for ORO AGRI, which as you know, produces plant protection products in agriculture.
Carol Pullen: No. I used to work in my family’s business where we made detergents from orange oil. We started selling to the co-ops in South Africa and this was the first time I was exposed to not only the orange oil business, but also to agriculture.
I travelled to all the smallest of regions with my small VW Golf which had no air-conditioning. I was young and had a blast! Eventually the mining industry started buying from the agricultural co-ops and before you know it, we found ourselves immersed in the mining business doing dust-control and dewatering of coal. I went to the Colliery training Center in South Africa on a management quick-course and believe I was the first female to graduate and get my coal preparation license. In those days there were no ladies room showers and I always had to use the underground captain’s quarters as there were no woman underground and also no facilities for ladies. Years later, we sold the business and I remembered some stories from my agricultural co-op days and asked my dad to look into them. We sent a sample to the local university to test and found we were equally as good as insecticide as fungicide which was unusual. We patented the product and the rest is history.
After many years in mining, I moved to the Pulp and Paper industry with a company called Nalco Chemical. I remained there for about 7 years before moving on to a company called HACH – A Danaher company specializing in industrial water automation and optimization. Many years later I re-joined the family business in USA as I became an avid wine afficionado and wanted to start the grape business for our products, primarily to visit more of the farms and be close to the vineyards really. This was a raving success and soon after I was transferred to start the EU business which had been struggling for the previous 10 years. I arrived and started focusing on vineyards as the only employee plus a part time accountant/lawyer and the previous EU manager became a consultant.
Today we have a team of more than 40 people and we have grown the business at an average of 30% a year for the past 10 years. I had no agricultural background which I believe might have been to my benefit. I rely heavily on the experience of the people around me and I’ve surrounded myself with people who know a LOT more than I do – but have guided them with big dreams and optimism of what ORO AGRI could be if we do it right. In the end, I hope to retain that feeling as we grow into a large organization. I am a firm believer in team work and this job did not come with an instruction manual so I rely on teams within my organization to facilitate the direction and decisions we make.
NAI: What inspired you to work within this sector?
Sara Monteiro: Ever since I was a young girl, I have always wanted to do something that helped the environment. It was not clear for me when I was younger what exactly I wanted to do. In university, I understood that chemical pesticides lead to degradation of the environment and the contamination of water. Both of these consequences are becoming a big problem in the environment for society and people. When I started my research, I always focused on trying to discover something that could address this issue and decrease the harm done to the environment. A molecule or something that could increase efficacy of products but was not harmful to the environment. I like plants and I think that they have everything that humans and animals need to save the world. I have always thought that we should explore plants to give us molecules so that we can use these to protect the environment and our health. This is why my research was focused on defense mechanisms of plants in order to discover something produced by one plant that can be used to protect other plants. I am not a dreamer. I believe in science, but I do believe that the science should help not only the people but also to protect the environment and everything that surrounds us. We cannot continue to conduct things as we are today. I think that if each one of us can develop or at least think about something that can improve or add something to protect the environment, we should do it.
Carol Pullen: I was studying viticulture and oenology through UC Davis extension program and wanted to spend more time in the vineyards, which had become a passion. Obviously visiting with the winemakers and the wine tasting rooms was a distinct bonus.
Do you have any guidance that you would offer other women who would like to follow in your footsteps?
Sara Monteiro: I think the main guidance I can give to anyone is to believe in what you are doing. Don’t be afraid to risk and make difficult decisions because sometimes you need to do it. I think the worst situation a person can be in is to not decide. When you don’t decide, you never know what you can achieve.
Carol Pullen: My biggest weakness is also my biggest strength. I dream big and don’t take no for an answer – unless that is the answer I wanted. I am relentless in finding way to achieve goals and dreams. In order to achieve greatness, I believe you have to dream big and do whatever you can to make your dreams a reality. If your team buys into the dream, then it makes the dream more realistic and each and everyone will do what they can to fulfil not only my dream, but our dream.
NAI: Within your career at Oro Agri, can you share some insight into your role and responsibilities?
Carol Pullen: I started in sales in California supplying local vineyards with orange oil based products and eventually larned enough to work on all crops. After the vineyards took off as a raging success I was transferred to Europe to start working with vineyards in Europe as it had become one of our best markets. When I started we had to assemble a group of people in various fields. My goal was to be one of the leading groups in Oro Agri from a scientific viewpoint. We hired the first registration staff for Oro Agri and when the Biological Assessment Dossier (BAD) preparation became an issue, we hired a salesman who could also do the BAD preparation. Our EU lawyer also did the accounting in the beginning. We assembled a world class team with everyone multi-tasking in order for us to grow our business. Today the team members can specialize more in their chosen field and I am merely a conductor making sure all the pieces fit together. (I was a professional musician for 4 years living my rock and roll dreams, so herewith my best analogy. I see it like the horn section practicing together, the strings practicing together and then my job is to assemble the entire team to make sure we are all working on the same concerto. No sense in one team working on Bach when the other team is working on Chopin. Sometimes to speed things up this does happen however, as we will have the one team lead in the Chopin piece and the other team lead in the Bach piece, but eventually everyone will do both together. I might add a percussionist or timpani team which seems crazy to those working on Chopin and Mozart, but when we start working on Copland’s “Fanfare for the common man” it finally makes sense. I guess this is where my favourite quote comes in “Those who dance are thought crazy by those who do not hear the music.” Sometimes the process and decisions don’t make sense to those looking at it from the outside - but it is actually all part of a master plan to accomplish dreams set forth by myself and the team, and when the music finally comes in – all sections of the orchestra are perfectly aligned.
NAI: What do you think we can do as an industry to help balance out the gender imbalance and help encourage more women into leadership roles?
Sara Monteiro: Well, I think the leadership today is not a question of gender anymore. I know a lot of women in top positions not only in the industry but at universities, everywhere. This is my opinion. But usually, women need to prove themselves a little bit more than men. But again, if you believe in what you are doing, if you are not afraid to risk and make decisions, then I think it doesn’t matter If you are a man or a woman.
Carol Pullen: I do not believe in advancing someone because of their gender to be honest. I believe this does more harm than good. I think hard work should pay off eventually irrespective of the gender or industry. 30 years ago I worked in mining with no mining experience and no females in the industry and yet found a way to make it work. Getting my Coal Preparation License did help with my credibility as many thought sending a woman to the mines was a gimmick to increase sales. When I finished in the top 5 in class the word soon spread and doing a lot of the work and installations myself I was accepted as someone who had something interesting to share and not just there because I was female. Today I believe woman have had a lot less prejudice barriers to deal with though I am sure they still exist. These days anyone can be anything they want to.
NAI: ORO AGRI being an equal employment opportunity employer (all people is equally considered without regard to their race, colour, religion, sex, age, disability, national origin, sexual orientation, genetic information, gender identity, etc) do you feel that ORO AGRI is a company that empowers woman and allows them to grow to the best of their abilities?
Sara Monteiro: For sure. If not, I would not be in the position I am in today. I think that at ORO AGRI we have women in key positions. So, I think that for ORO AGRI gender is not as important as the quality of the work. Not even just this, but the commitment of the people to the job they are performing. There is no such a thing as gender inequality here at ORO AGRI.
Carol Pullen: I don’t believe we even evaluate whether someone is male or female. If they’re a good fit for the position, then perfect. We have less females applying for agricultural positions and I believe it is because woman expect there to be possible barriers but hard work always gets rewarded irrespective of race, religion, gender in all industries.
NAI: Thank you both for your openness, and for the time to share your story with us.
