A spotlight on the best of our industry’s women: Interview with Beth Potter
By Ellen Wheeler
Led by Ellen Wheeler, vice president of partnerships for Alive Publishing Group and publisher of CNHR, this column highlights outstanding female leaders and innovators in our natural health community.
In this issue, Ellen converses with Beth Potter, marketing manager, Community Natural Foods & Natural Foods. Beth Potter has spent the past 30 years working in the health food industry, getting her start at alive magazine. From there, she managed public relations for many emerging brands and pioneers in the industry, coordinating health food store lectures and media. For the past 10 years, she has been the marketing manager at Community Natural Foods and Calgary Co-op.
ELLEN: Beth, we’ve both been in the industry for almost 30 years—hard to believe! Can you tell me a little bit about how you got started and what has kept you passionate all this time?
BETH: It really is hard to believe that it’s been 30 years! I grew up with a mom who shopped at a health food store. She read Adelle Davis’ <Let’s Have Healthy Children> and Earl Mindell’s <Vitamin Bible>. When I was 18, she took me to a macrobiotic cooking class and although I wasn’t sure about the food, it sparked something in me. A few years later, I joined her at a Whole Life Expo and tried green foods and immediately felt the impact it had on my energy. The rest is history.
I started my career at <alive> magazine, where I typed in the monthly content and catalogued and entered Dr. Zoltan Rona’s responses to readers’ questions about health. I learned a ton.
ELLEN: You’ve also owned a PR company—a bit of a different vibe from what you are doing now. I’m sure there were some major learnings. Can you share a bit about that journey?
BETH: I loved PR even more than journalism. There’s a rush that comes with developing a story, pitching it, and seeing how it resonates. I learned from a master: Jill Leach. She was a Vancouver publicist who taught me how to go after a story. I am grateful for her tenacity.
After she passed away, Deane Parkes and David Chapman were my source of encouragement. They supported me and connected me with clients in the natural health industry. It was a different time back then: there weren’t many companies selling natural health services when I got started. We were literally telling people about the importance of hydration and its impact on overall health. While still relevant, the level of consumer education around health has grown tremendously. We’ve succeeded as an industry in raising the level of natural health education.
ELLEN: How has your role at Community Natural Foods evolved over the past 11 years?
BETH: I began my career at Community Natural Foods in PR and then, after a brief stint as a graphic designer, I transitioned to marketing, e-commerce, and category management. I learned on the job, which was made possible by Community Natural Foods’ collaborative workspace. It’s a dream job where I get to wear many hats, which aligned well with my entrepreneurial background.
Community Natural Foods also fits my values. It’s driven by people who want to make a difference in people’s lives and care about more than just profit.
ELLEN: Community Natural Foods is such a beloved retailer in Alberta as well as within our industry. What do you think has created that love and loyalty for the stores over the years?
BETH: Community Natural Foods was founded on a desire to help people lead a healthy life in an affordable way. Garry Wilkes, the founder, exemplified that in the way he treated staff and customers and in how he led his life. Bruce Martins and Adam Martin led as servant leaders and were generous in mentoring and encouraging others. Vendors, customers, staff, and leadership were all treated with the same care and respect. It’s what makes Community Natural Foods and this industry so special.
ELLEN: Being part of a legacy brand and then going through an acquisition must have been an adjustment. Can you talk about some of the challenges and learnings from this experience?
BETH: The acquisition of Community Natural Foods by Calgary Co-op was definitely an adjustment. It was important for me to remind myself that the businesses have more in common than differences. Calgary Co-op leadership knew and respected the things that made Community Natural Foods special and they didn’t try to change that.
They invested in the business, which allowed us to renovate two stores and open two more. They also brought operational improvements that have benefitted us.
The more challenging adjustments involved separating service elements from operations. Community Natural Foods has a rich history of collaboration, with “pull together” being one of our core values. We’re now finding a balance in this area now.
And the culture is different, subtly different, but it was important to acknowledge the differences and then determine what really matters. Many of us work in this industry because we believe we are doing something bigger than just selling products, that we are investing in the wellness of people.
We are still in that business, but it has matured. It was important for me to take a step back and reflect on what still mattered, what was fact, and what had grown into folktale. That helped me let go of certain ideas and find ways to better define and communicate our core business identity. It also supported the integration of Community Natural Foods’ marketing into Calgary Co-op’s marketing and member experience team.
ELLEN: Is there anyone you would like to spotlight in the industry who has been a big support or inspiration in your career?
BETH: There are so many people. Rhody Lake and Siegfried Gursche were the first to take a chance on me and were such fierce fighters for the industry. Lorna Vanderhaeghe and Lisa Chisholm are some of the hardest working women in the industry who go above and beyond to mentor and encourage women, including myself. Siegfried Gursche, Deane Parkes, David Chapman, Stewart Brown, and Adam Martin opened doors for me, introducing me to the industry and new opportunities. And of course, women like you, Ellen, who encourage us to uplift one another and have fun together