b'JOURNEYTHE STORY OFSarah Fosters career and the founding of OF her company 20/20 Seed Labs plays out like a Hollywood movie. The plot would go something like this.Its the 1960s, and a young British girl moves with her DISCOVERY family from the U.K. to Iran because her civil engineer father has found work there. The little girl befriends an elderly gardener who lives with his family in an aban-doned palace next door. Through helping him garden she discovers her love of plants and goes on to a successful What do a derelict Iranian palacecareer as a seed analyst and entrepreneur.The films twist would come when the 1991 Gulf War and miles of Kuwaiti desert have intakes place, and the Kuwaiti government must reclaim vast swaths of desert contaminated by oil fields set on fire common? They play a key role in theby Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Our protagonist and her business partners are hired on to help in one of the history of 20/20 Seed Labs and thebiggest land reclamation efforts in history.Everything about the story is true, of course. Foster career of its founder. Marc Zienkiewiczthe 57-year-old founder of 20/20 Seed Labs which is celebrating its 30th anniversary 2019has lived a life that would indeed make a great transition to the silver screen.I wanted to do something different with my life, espe-cially in seed, and I wanted the freedom to bring useful technology to the agricultural sector. I think it takes a certain kind of person to be an entrepreneur, and there arent many of us out there that can say they are doing something they love, she says.When I started the seed testing laboratory, I think it was rare for analysts to be seen at meetings. People told me they thought I was different. I would look at them puzzled. They pictured seed analysts as women with bouffant hairdos, chained to their desks and never leaving the laboratory.These daysnow that she has a large staff that helps make 20/20 Seed Labs such a successful businessher time is spent travelling throughout the world, ensuring her business is highly visible in the international seed community.20/20 Seed Labs is known as Canadas first fully-accredited independently-owned seed testing lab. As Sarah Foster grew up just 15 kilometres northof the Iranian city of Tehran.34GERMINATION.CA NOVEMBER 2019'