With the 5 year anniversary of Red Toque Creative upon us, we want to reflect on years past and share our origin story.
Kelsey Wood hadn’t planned to start her own digital marketing agency. She had spent the majority of her working life in customer service, sales, and marketing roles for other companies. However, as the daughter of two business-owners, she always had a passion for entrepreneurship and bringing people together. Her trajectory to become a marketing and human resources professional began with an interest in human psychology starting in high school and blossoming later in a degree program at university. Learning about how people think and what makes them tick, uncovered Kelsey’s love and knack for HR and marketing.
During university, Kelsey seized the opportunity to professionally manage the online presence of a few community organizations and local businesses. She never imagined that this would stem into a full-blown business. But that’s exactly what happened. More and more clients sought out her expertise for their own businesses and organizations. As the Red Toque Creative clientele grew, so did the need for a bigger team.
Around this time, Kelsey and her now husband Nick made the decision to move from Vancouver to the Comox Valley to be closer to family and farther from city life. “We needed better relationships with work and life…we felt that a physical relocation would reboot that. We wanted to start prioritizing family and community as much as a career, and to find and work with other people who had those same values.”
“I made a decision that what was really important to me was helping other people find and do what they love, and to help them learn skills that they could use to do something that they would truly enjoy doing,” said Kelsey.
With that decision came Diana and Yolanda, the first additional team members to join Red Toque Creative back in 2017.
Diana Wood makes the Red Toque Creative machine run smoothly. (She’s also Kelsey’s mom, if you were wondering about the relation.) A professional forester by trade and Woodvine’s vineyard manager, Diana brings over 35 years experience as an entrepreneur to the role of Business Administrator at Red Toque Creative. When she’s not doing the books or working on the company’s next move behind the scenes, she’s maintaining her 3000 grape vines and keeping her two German Shepherd pups in line.
Yolanda Holderness is a Social Media Specialist at Red Toque Creative. She loves helping clients reach their full potential and bringing their creative vision to light. Outside of work, Yolanda loves photography, spending time with her dog Finn, and exploring Vancouver Island.
The next additions to the team came the following year in 2018 with Emma Wassmer and Megan Barr, both coming to the team in the role of Social Media Coordinators. Emma is a talented writer with a diploma in graphic communications who enjoys hiking, photography, and creating art. Megan Barr is a skilled videographer, and content creator who enjoys cooking, making jewellery, and hiking. She is also a recent graduate of the Digital Media Studies program at Vancouver Island University. As the team has grown, so has the passion to continue to grow and thrive. Each new addition to the team has been a milestone that Kelsey views as the highlight reel of Red Toque Creative’s achievements over the last 5 years.
While the team and company have grown, the values have not changed. We still love living and working remotely in beautiful coastal communities, partnered with inspired entrepreneurs who have an appreciation for family time and a desire to connect with their community in a meaningful way. We’re excited to commemorate 5 years in business doing what we love, and look forward to celebrating many more!
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