b'leader of the company, Foster and her team have receivedWhen I started out, there was no internet. Today you multiple awards including the 2004 Alberta Premierscan find someone anywhere in the world and get the Award of Excellence, the 2013 Canadian Seed Tradeanswers almost instantly. In those days, that was unfath-Association Outstanding Achievement Award and the 2018omable. You made a point of going to see people face-to-Alberta Seed Processors Outstanding Service Award. facerelationships were special, she says.In 2019, Foster herself was named a top Alberta busi- Relationships are what stand out most for her after all ness leader by Business in Edmonton and Calgary. these years of being involved in agriculture.I think being successful in this business requiresWhen her father moved the family from the U.K. to being a good leader, an excellent listener and mentor. InIran when she was a little girl, she learned quickly how my early days I didnt think about leadership, especiallyagriculture brings people together. Thats when she met when I was in the thick of purity and germination testing.the gardener who taught her the beauty of growing In the beginning I thought a lot about getting new clientsplants. Foster and her family lived just 15 kilometres north and business to support our staffrunning the lab wasof Tehran in the foothills of the Alborz mountain range.always left to other staff members. We were growing so fast in the beginning I had very little time to mentor people. Thats changed now, and Im very grateful to have a strong team that make things easier, she says.Foster founded 20/20 Seed Labs in 1989 shortly after the federal government privatized seed testing in Canada. At the time, she was employed by a seed and grain com-pany that had no plans to expand its laboratory services. Not satisfied with her career, Foster wanted to explore the opportunity of offering a broader range of services.The company quickly expanded as it became better known, largely through the presence of its head office in Nisku, Alta., word-of-mouth and Fosters attendance at virtually every industry meetingpounding the pave-ment, as Fosters business partner and 20/20 Seed Labs operations manager Carey Matthiessen likes to say.In 2013, we decided to open a laboratory in Winnipeg to mirror our operations in Nisku. Sarahs drive to succeed and willingness to sacrifice led her to live part-time in Winnipeg and part-time in Edmonton to ensure the suc-cess of both organizations. She worked tirelessly to build a customer base there, ensuring that our new customers in Winnipeg would receive the same service delivery that they receive at the head office, Matthiessen says.Now our Winnipeg laboratory continues to grow year-over-year and we are expanding into new markets withSarah Foster founded 20/20 Seed Labs in 1989 shortly after the federal new technologies, thanks in no small part to Sarahs vision. government privatized seed testing in Canada. Photo: Rebecca LippiattFor Foster, that vision expands further than just her Canadian operations. She frequently travels to SouthThere was a derelict palace next door to where we America where 20/20 conducts business and she alsolived, and this family lived in the one room that hadnt serves as an auditor for the International Seed Testingfallen down yet. They looked after the immediate grounds Association (ISTA), travelling the globe to help other seedaround the palace. The father did most of the gardening. He labs get in line with international seed testing standards. must have had four or five acres he tended to himself and I According to Florina Palada, ISTAs head of accredita- was out there every day after school helping him, she says.tion and technical department, Foster shines due to herHe grew tomatoes, cucumbers and a variety of ability to relate to others in different parts of the world. melons which were all channel irrigated. He taught me Sarah is so easy to talk to, open to sharing and tohow to channel and open up the water so it would flow receiving information. Despite the fact that she is so busyto the plants, and just how to grow things in general. with her work and her life in general, she finds time toSeeing those vegetables appear out of seemingly nowhere dedicate to being an ISTA technical auditor, which is nowas fascinating. When I was 14 we moved back to the small task, Palada says. We call ISTA a family and SarahU.K. My family settled in Lincolnshirethe heart of agri-is definitely one of those family members. culturewhich was fortunate for me being so interested Foster says she learned the importance of face-to-facein it. I was always eager to learn more from as many relationships the old-fashioned way. other people as I could in the farming community.NOVEMBER 2019GERMINATION.CA 35'