My journey here at Sea-licious began exactly 4 years ago this June when I was just a fresh university graduate looking to start my career in the marketing world. I had applied for every marketing position and was in and out of interviews, all the while Karlene was looking for a marketing assistant. Her dear friend Rhoda Rizkalla-Couvras, whom was the Marketing Manager at my job at the time had referred me to Karlene and voila, here we are! I am still so thankful to Rhoda for this opportunity that turned out to be so much more than just a “job”.
Having never worked for a small business before, let alone being the very first employee hired (heck yes I was J), I was filled with excitement and anticipation of where this company would go and what role I would play in all of this. Turns out I’ve learned to be the Jack of all trades here – everything from packing and shipping orders to setting up tradeshows to managing office renovations to applying for our office/warehouse permits to waking up at 5am for CTV segments and to even learning how to drive a forklift! I’ve learned what the phrase “building a business from the ground up” truly meant. It really does take a unique group of like-minded individuals with creativity, drive, passion, grace, humility and most importantly heart, to be able to make visions come to life. That’s exactly what you will find here in our Sea-licious family.
I am so fortunate to have been taken under the wing of the dynamic husband-wife duo Karlene and Gaetano. It’s such a breath of fresh air to be a part of a company that not only allows, but actually encourages you to step outside of the box and find your individuality. They are the clear definition of leaders – it’s not “you should do it”, it’s always “we should do it”. Not many of us can say that about our employers. I was there to share in the successes of winning our very first tradeshow booth award (it was a glorious moment for us and I still remember all of us getting teary-eyed) and I was also there when things didn’t go as planned for us. For every one of these moments, good or bad, we’ve always stayed together as a team. Karlene always makes it a point to ensure our hard work never goes unnoticed – whether it’s a heartfelt email or phone call, hand-delivered flowers and cards, team building events, group dinners or even the kindest, most genuine hugs. I’ve always felt that these little gestures of encouragement are what inspires each and every one of us here to strive for more.
Sea-licious is so much more than just a job for me, it has become a lifestyle. Karlene and Gaetano’s passion to educate and share the knowledge of health and nutrition is infectious. Since being a part of the Sea-licious team, I have adopted healthier eating habits and learned so much about the science of healthy fats and other nutrients and I even managed to find my better half here (There is still an ongoing debate here in our office as to who played cupid to our love story).
These 4 years have flown by so fast and I am so proud and humbled to have witness how far we’ve come. “Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much”. Go Sea-licious Go!
Xo
Vix 🙂