Dennis: Hello, and welcome to the Impactful Ninja Show. I’m your host, Dennis Kamprad. And today, we’re joined by Ali Cox from Noble West. Ali, welcome.

Ali: Thank you, Dennis. Thanks for having me, and it’s nice to be here.

Dennis: Nice. Nice having you as well. It’s my pleasure. Now before we get into your journey and your story, give us a brief overview. What is Noble West?

Ali: Sure. Well, Noble West is an advertising and marketing agency, but the truth is I think what we’ve emerged as is sort of a business strategist, and we are a specialty shop. So a lot of businesses come to us when they have made incredible investments in ag technology or in ESG supply chain requirements or major on farm investments to be more sustainable or whatnot. And so those clients come to us because they need a bigger ROI for the foods that they are producing and processing because they’re doing it with such a high integrity. So they come to us to say, hey. Help us tell our story a little better so that we can actually command a better price point compared to maybe our neighbors or our farmer down the street that is doing, like, kind of not the bare minimum. And so we wanna try to help those clients differentiate and get paid more from their buyers.

Dennis: That already sounds like an exciting journey going a little bit more from just ads towards strategy as well. But before we go into that, let’s rewind. Give us a brief overview. What’s your what’s your background? What did you do before Noble West?

Ali: Oh, sure. I mean, I love to talk about myself. Don’t most CEOs? I am a 5th generation farmer. So farming is in my background both on my maternal and paternal side. I grew up in a family that has 5 generations of experience in row crop farming, pre irrigation farming, raising beef cattle, produce. My family is the 1st family to start commercializing melons in California. That was over a 100 years ago. So we have a deep history in that, and I have been in the marketing industry for, I hate to say it out loud, but 25 years.

Ali: And I started in entertainment and fashion and have emerged into my true passion, which is agriculture and food ingredient marketing, and quite frankly, sustainability and technology marketing now. And I’m a wife, I’m a mom, and I’m a farmer’s wife. And so we are eat, breathe, and live, agriculture. And I personally believe that we respect our traditions and we respect our history, but what got us here is not gonna get us there. And so now we are at a very critical point, especially, I would say here in California, I can speak really, you know, astutely toward too, is that we it is so expensive to grow food, and there is so much legislature and it is a very complicated time to be a farmer. So more than ever, we need to make sure that consumers understand the value of the food that is grown here in California, the 400 specialty crops. We need to make sure consumers know that a berry grown in California versus somewhere in South America likely or Mexico, there’s a different they can expect a different quality. So that is part of my, you know, impact that I am looking to leave is really educating consumers about what it takes to grow food and where food should be sourced from, and then also farmers understanding more about consumer insights and their preferences.

Dennis: I love it that you can really kind of feel your passion coming through for the topic as well.

Ali: Thank you. Good. I hope so. Because we’re, you know, what, 7,000 miles away from each other. I hope so. Because I I do care so much about about the entire food, ecosystem.

Dennis: Can you all still remember, like, just going, like, one step back or basically towards the beginning when you started in in marketing? When you started, like, doing for the working with the fashion industry, can you remember what, like, that’s, like, concrete, like, challenge for you to figure out? Like, well, it’s good work, but something might be missing. We’re trying to go back to your roots, trying to go back onto the path that you’re on now.

Ali: Yeah. I mean, I can go back to being the director of marketing for Fashion Week in New York. That’s not a problem. But, frankly, my first marketing job was in elementary school when I was selling melons at the melon stand. So I remember, like, wanting to make close those deals. So as, like, a 7 and 8 year old working the melon, this it was called the secondhand melon. So it’s the melons that were too ripe to ship. They would sell locally, like, in a farm stand.

Ali: And I just took it as such. I mean, I counted the money. I figured out what made more money. I figured out how, you know, I would go greet people at their cars, for example, and I would walk them to the farm. I would see them on the road, and I, they would park, and I would run out there. I would walk to them and tell them about our family story and tell them about the melons and what’s really fresh right now. And I would literally do everything I could to send home, like, boxes and boxes of melons in the trunk of their car. I would carry the boxes and put them I would rearrange whatever was in the back seat of their car to put more melons in that car, because I just cared so much about the story and the message of what it took to grow it, and why they are gonna go and make all their friends happy and their neighbors happy by handing out melons, and the price was great.

Ali: So, I mean, this started, this started 40 years ago, and now I can’t stop. And, my goals just continue to get loftier. So I would say that was really the start of me marketing agriculture was as a child at that mill at that secondhand mill stand at Turlock Fruit Company. Mhmm.

Dennis: Was that also the story or the journey where you shifted away from fashion back to agriculture again?

Ali: Oh, you know, well, I I I left out you asked me my background. I left out a chapter. I’m an Olympic rower. So I spent 15 years on the East Coast of the United States rowing and competing in World Cups and World Championships and Olympics. So when I was on the East Coast, I decided to move to New York and work, try my hand at, like, big advertising and marketing because I was a marketing major in college, and I had internships when I lived in San Diego because I went to University of San Diego. And so that I I got into sports marketing and fashion marketing when I lived in New York. And it was, about 12 years ago that I just said, you know, I wanna go back to my roots. I know what I care about.

Ali: And quite frankly, the agriculture industry needs me a heck of a lot more than the fashion industry does. So I need to go back to where my passions lie.

Dennis: Nice. So after the realization that the agriculture industry needs you much more, what was the concrete first steps for you to to actually get started with Noble West? Was it was it kind of a journey that and followed over some kind of time, or was that, like, a concrete, like, let’s do it now moment?

Ali: Well, it’s always a journey, I think, frankly. And if anybody here listening to this podcast runs their own small business, they know it’s a journey also. Right? Every single day is some sort sometimes it’s beautiful and sometimes it’s a hot mess, but you know what? It is what it is. So I started my business in 2007, and it was called AC and C Marketing. I left I worked at several large multinational publicly traded PR and advertising companies in New York City. And then it sort of evolved, and we rebranded to Noble West 2 years ago. So the Noble West brand is new, although I would argue it’s been in my heart for the last, like, 45 years. It’s it’s the brand that makes the most sense for me as as CEO and I think for our team as well.

Ali: But it was really in 2011. I thought, you know, I gotta get back to my roots. I really need to go make an impact, and I need to be where my passions lie so that I can do the most good in the world.

Dennis: Yeah. How was that feeling for you in 2011 when you then really made the transition? And how did the first steps go for you there? Well, they were rocky, Dennis. I I could see you there.

Ali: Yeah. They were rocky. They were tough. But the truth is, like, in our industry, and I think probably most folks who are also in the service industry, now you know that you’ve had some wonderful consultants on the podcast or whatnot, Good work begets more good work. So if you do good work and you do have great customer service and you provide impact for your clients, like, one project one phenomenal project can lead to 2 to 3 to 4. And because our clients travel in the same circles, and so there’s word-of-mouth that happens. But then there’s also, you know, this thing called the Internet where, like, good work, like, it pollinates. And as soon as you start applying for awards and you start putting your work out on LinkedIn and you start, like, paying attention to the algorithms and you have a website that is really highly functioning.

Ali: And, also, it kinda snowballs, and that is what happened. So one great project that I did, you know, on my own, because at that point, it was just me. I was a freelancer and starting out, and I had an assistant and, you know, that I kind of broke my back on a couple early projects. And then but it gave me enough of a story that when I would get my foot in the next potential client or customer’s office, I could use that as my background. So it just it’s always building.

Dennis: Nice. It sounds like really kind of the snowball that you mentioned before. That you do great work. You do great customer service. Your clients are happy. There’s some word-of-mouth, and let’s keep let’s keep going.

Ali: Yeah. And here’s the thing. I think we all know this. Like, people like to work with people they like to work like to be around. So, like, if you have a nice personality, chances are, like, you’re gonna get a nice referral. And if you follow through and you’re smart and you do what you say you’re gonna do and you over deliver in many cases, your business is gonna grow. And but that’s not without challenge because every business is just for all the challenge. But that’s that’s a nice point.

Dennis: That’s a nice point to get into later on as well into the challenges. But before we go into the challenges, let’s go into your passion as well. So you kind of were able to marry your 2 passions. One with the marketing, but then the other one also to help, agriculture, let’s say, to become more sustainable, to bring more visibility, to better agricultural practices. What were some of your favorite projects how you were able to help your clients in this regard?

Ali: They’re all different but sort of over like, related. We do a lot of work in the California rice industry Mhmm. Which is very, very fulfilling for me. So the rice industry in California is in the Sacramento Valley, the northern part of California. It’s very arid. There’s also very wet winters, and there’s a big migrant bird population that goes through there. It’s just the perfect place to grow rice. Right? And it’s short and medium grain rice, and they’re grown in patties just like you see in this in, like, the south part of, you know, in Asia or the southern part of the United States.

Ali: And there are about 700,000 acres planted. And working within this industry has been really fulfilling. We’ve worked on sprouted projects. We’ve worked on a sake projects. We have worked on manufacturing projects, meaning that, like, rice that is milled is then manufactured to a puff or a flour or a panko, basically, any sort of gluten free option. And that has been incredibly rewarding because rice farmers have had a very tough challenge during the California droughts. Like, from a legislative point of view, they have been cut off water even up to a 100% in some years. So just the how rice works in California is amazing.

Ali: So, like, I always say to what does this mean for consumers? This means for to consumers, your sushi is gonna be more expensive because, I mean, we even export short grain rice sushi rice to Japan because they don’t even have enough acreage to serve their needs. So, like, sushi will be more expensive because of the rice, not even necessarily the fish, which is, like, crazy. Because from a value proposition, we know the fish is probably more valuable from, like, supply. So that’s been fascinating. We’re working on an upcycling fruit project, which has been very, very fulfilling. I know you cover upcycling on this podcast. I love you. You’re Gary Schuler on.

Ali: Shout out to Gary, a great innovative guy from Michigan. We’re working on an amazing beverage project with an organic beverage juice that is creating a foundation and a nonprofit to support the transition from conventional produce to organic produce to shore up supply chain opportunities for organic fruit growers in the United States. That’s been great. So, again, it’s really just it’s it’s amazing. And, honestly, I should just say, anytime we get to support a client, launch a new brand, or launch a new initiative, or launch a new, like, a rebrand, We’re we’re working on a very, very I’ll call it just heady rebrand right now that with many stakeholders who speak different languages. So it is like, that is something that’s been really fulfilling. But, again, these are business challenges. I don’t think of them as creative challenges necessarily or advertising or marketing challenges.

Ali: They are business challenges that require incredible artistic and creative and, like, strategic minds. So it’s just really exciting to to be part of this, frankly.

Dennis: That sounds also super exciting from the kind of diverse range of projects that you shared. Just with these two projects, how does that sound so differently?

Ali: Yeah. I mean, we cover we work with, right now, let’s see, about 17 different commodity types. So from produce to rice, different types of produce, cherries, onions, ton in walnuts, a ton in almonds. I’ve worked in pecans. We’ve worked in cranberries. I mean, cantaloupes. Do you name it. And it’s something that is just, like, I just feel very proud to lead a team of strategists and creatives who, like, clients can rely on to help them as partners.

Ali: Like, it’s just one of the most it not one of the most. It is the most satisfying part of my entire career.

Dennis: Nice.

Ali: Which as you, like, politely pointed out, has been going on for about 25 years.

Dennis: Yeah. And also in in that time, we already hinted at it. There was also some challenge along the way. You mentioned some kind of creative challenges, some business challenges. Walk us through maybe 1 or 2 of those. What was the biggest challenge, and what was your learnings out of these?

Ali: Well, I always say, like, you’re always gonna have pots boiling on the stove. And you’re always, like, tending the boil. Right? And some are exploding. And, like and so it’s just about managing that. And so, like, I always think everything’s simmering, and then something’s always like, I always say one department within the company probably has to be rebuilt at any given day. Like, I I don’t know what to say. Like, it is it is what it is, and I think that’s why agencies are an amazing collective. So there’s that.

Ali: But a challenge I think that a challenge is that I mean, this is kinda under the weeds. If you have any advertising folks listening, they’ll understand, is resource management. So I need to carry enough resources at this company that if the phone rings and there’s an amazing appropriate opportunity, like right now, we are responding to a humongous RFP that could create incredible change for a commodity within California that is struggling immensely, struggling so much that my own family has pulled out 80 acres of trees of this type. There are trees getting pulled out because it is struggling so deeply. We are responding to a humongous RFP that if we win it, I’m gonna be able to create so much good for my neighbors and my friends and my family, and it’s so deep. So, like, I would say that’s, like, an example of what I kind of get to work on every day, which is why I’m so fired up about it. But it’s really resource management. So we need to be able to respond to the RFPs that we care about, like the one I’ve just mentioned.

Ali: We also need to be able to service our current clients who we appreciate and value tremendously, but then also not carry too much overhead that people aren’t utilized properly. So the resource management is, like, the hardest part of scaling, and I’m probably not unique in saying that. Right? It’s like farmers. Farmers, you know, they they and right now, there’s a huge trend in using labor contractors. So, like, a lot of farmers aren’t carrying as many full time or even permanent seasonal employees because they just don’t know if they’re gonna need them month to month and if they’re more harvest specialists or if they’re great in the in the wintertime. Like, they don’t know that. And so that’s why there’s a trend in labor contractors. And I would argue, like, that’s just I think that we have to get creative with with resourcing because, frankly, like, payroll is, you know, 95% of my expenses at this company.

Dennis: No. I feel I feel you with this. Our model is quite different than, let’s say, an agency model, but still yeah. Yeah. It’s it’s business.

Ali: How do you keep people busy but not so busy that they’re burned out? Right? That’s, like, the number one. That is we could turn this into, like, a leadership podcast. Like, talk about that. Like, how you keep them busy and stimulated, but not burned out, but also, like, really engaged, and so they can see upward mobility. It’s a challenge. Yep. That’s a challenge.

Dennis: And I can imagine based on the type of work you’re doing, you also have, like, a super select or a special group of people you’re working with. Well, I’m coming from that’s what I’ve heard basically from every single person I interviewed on the podcast and from ourselves as well. What we’re looking into is people first and foremost who are passionate for what we are doing. This is the number one criteria, and everything else comes afterwards. And it sounds like it might be exactly the same for you.

Ali: Well, you know, I interview people differently now than I ever did. And, admittedly, when somebody, a candidate, is in the interview pipeline, by the time they get to me, it’s already been vetted that they’re capable to do the job. So, like, they can already they can already do whatever the job description requirements are. So for me, it’s really more culture and like, kind of fit like, more of a fitness check maybe, I guess. I don’t know. But, like, some first questions I ask are, like, tell me about your favorite dinner you ever ate, or tell me about, like, what’s the best tomato you ever had and where was it from? And if they don’t care and and they’re stumbling on that answer, they really will not like working here. You know? Yeah. The same with client selection.

Ali: If we get a lead from a client or we’re talking to a potential client and say in their food product there’s 4 or 5 ingredients, like, we’re probably the our sweet spot as an agency is no more than 3 ingredients because we need to tell the ag story. So that’s just, like, a sweet spot. But if they don’t like, if, say, it’s like a let’s say, it’s like a cookie or, like, a bar or a smoothie or something, and, like, they don’t know where the sugar came from, like one of the key ingredients, and they’re like, it just came off the Sysco truck. I’m like, you’re gonna hate working with us. Because that sugar, your sugar partner, whomever this is, this is such a huge is it how was the cane grown? How was it harvested? Where did they process it? Why are you buying the sugar versus that sugar? I mean, how does this impact the whole story matters. So that’s maybe that’s a little bit of a rabbit hole, but I think that it’s just about being intentional, and intentional leads to being impactful.

Dennis: Yep. That’s also great that you mentioned, like, being intentional with the client selection and really ensuring that they know where all their resources, they know where all the ingredients come from.

Ali: Totally.

Dennis: Now let’s let’s have a look into the future a little bit. For Noble West, you said, yet just a recent rebranding. What is the what is the outlook? What what are you imagining there in the next next couple of years when it comes to, kind of, the impact that you wanna have?

Ali: Yeah. I think that the Noble West offering is going to continue to get more and more narrow. So we will probably do more work and take on more projects and work with clients with more similarities. Like so that way we really, really, really become an expert. Because now we do work across sustainability, ag tech, food tech, growers. I mean, we do that now. And I have to say, 10 years ago when I said, I’m gonna sunset every client that is not in ag, it felt very narrow and scary to most people that worked with me at the time. And, frankly, they all quit within 6 months because it was too scary for them.

Ali: They didn’t think it was possible, and that’s all well and good. But what I do think is that even though this feels like a specialty niche shop, I think we’re gonna get more niche.

Ali: I think we’re gonna do I think all of our work is going to somehow touch sustainability. And the reason why is not because I think it’s, like, the right thing to do or it feels good or whatnot. It’s because farmers are. Farmers are becoming sustainability experts. Whether they know how to say those words or they like those words, it’s the truth. And so wherever farmers and brands that care about deeply about their sourcing are, like, that’s where we’re gonna be.

Dennis: Plus to add on, it also is the right thing to do. So it’s that makes it even better.

Ali: Well, I think it’s the right thing for everybody. I think it’s the right thing for the climate. I think it’s the right thing for the farmers because that means that they would actually get a bigger ROI for growing, like, more high quality food. It also means that there’s education with consumers about how to source their food and how to buy food that is aligned with their ethos.

Ali: So, I mean, there’s it’s like it’s like a deeper story. Yep. Which also requires a lot more critical thinking on what is allowed to be imported into the country.

Dennis: Also, thinking about from your customer or client’s perspective, you mentioned that for the future, you’re aiming to go a little bit narrow as well and trying to expand a little bit more there. Let’s just assume some potential customers are listening at the moment. Who would be your ideal customer? And how would they be how should they reach out to you?

Ali: Well, they should be very fun. They should be really fun and love new ideas. The potential perfect customer for us is somehow tied to the agriculture industry or food or the food ingredient industry. So either they are a food processor, they are a food brand that cares deeply about getting a return for high impact sourcing. They are a farming entity that grows food and sells it and wants to get paid more for their farming efforts. They might be a client that has ESG goals but don’t know how to articulate them. They also might not know how to articulate all the good things they’re already doing. There’s a lot of that.

Ali: I would say, Dennis, that’s really a big thing. Is a lot of companies and I don’t wanna sound too Pollyanna about this. I really don’t. But there are a lot, especially I’m just gonna speak to California and because it’s so articulate. There the requirements to grow and process food in the state of California are so rigorous that by default, if you’re running your business in a compliant method, this isn’t even, like, extra extra extra with extra robots and extra solar and whatnot Because there are so many processing plants that are already required to be net neutral. So they are using renewable energy. They are recycling all of their water. They I mean, this is already happening.

Ali: And if you don’t actually talk about it and package your operation up with a bow, your clients, which are, like, brands that are buying ingredients, can’t roll that into their ESG reporting. And if they can’t roll it in their ESG reporting, Their leadership is off, like, talking about all these aspirant things that they wanna do to, like, hit ESG goals or mandates by their shareholders, and they’re already doing it. And so if there’s anybody listening who has that challenge, please call me.

Dennis: Nice. We’ll put all your information including a link to your website as well into the show notes and on screen now.

Ali: Awesome.

Dennis: With that in mind, let’s take a little transition. Since you started working with your own agencies, since you started focusing more on sustainability in the agricultural industry, how would you say has that impacted your own life? Have you felt any changes based on, for example, how you’re shopping for ingredients or for food? Or is there anything else that has impacted it?

Ali: Sure. Yeah. Of course, I have a little bit of a leg up because I grew up only really eating produce that was grown on our farm or around our farm or from our farming neighbors. And and, of course, living where I live in the Central Valley, we have amazing the farmers markets are just like like, blow your mind, extraordinary produce. Right? The best, like, the best grown on the best soil, they’re amazing. So I have that bias. But I would say, like, feeding my own family, I really I read the back of the I don’t buy anything without reading the back of the label.

Ali: I always check where it was originated. And I like, I think most women who are feeding, you know, Sorry, guys. But, like, 90% of all consumer purchases in the home are made by women. So that are basically within the age of, like, 26 AM, like, 45 years old. So I’m, like, right in there. But, like, I read the back of the label. I look for the story. I typically if it’s a new brand, I go to their Instagram or I go to their website or I go to their Pinterest.

Ali: So I would say just, like, I do that due diligence, not only because I care about it, but it’s interesting. And, also, like, if I’m price comparing, like, I really wanna know what the story is because there are some, you know, there’s some sort of and I don’t wanna call them splurges, but I would call them, like, investment purchases that I just think makes so much more sense.

Dennis: Nice. And with this in mind, let’s already go into our final question. If you have to share one tip with our audience on how we could become more impactful, what would your number one tip be for us?

Ali: My number one tip would be to stop eating food that is not grown regionally. Let me, like, clarify a bit. Produce. Stop eating produce that is not grown regionally, that is temperature dependent because that is doing the most harm. That’s where organic food that is not grown within, like, 500 miles of wherever you’re consuming it, it cannot arrive organically. It arrives with ethylene. You have to put ethylene on a truck, and they could they have to pipe the container with ethylene in order to keep it so it ripens just right on time, right when you want it. And so I would say you’re most impactful and also eating seasonally for a lot of us.

Ali: Like, eating seasonally is super critical. Like, in most parts of the world, like, a salad doesn’t make sense. Now there’s this awesome exception, which is called hydroponic farming. And hydroponic farming is happening all over the world, and it’s a huge investment that a lot of it’s been funded by the venture capitalists. It’s innovating. So, you know, there are hydroponic farms, you know, surrounding Calgary and, you know, surrounding all these, like, super snowy cold places. And where that is an amazing option that’s biodiverse. There’s, like, nutritional.

Ali: It’s also regional. There’s, like, barely any chemicals that are used, if any. It’s grown in a temperature controlled environment. So I would just sort of say be impactful about where your cons where your produce is coming from.

Dennis: Thanks. Thanks so much. I love that tip. I love eating seasonal as well and always the fresh produce from here. So, that fully resonates in a good sense as well, which is always nice. Well, thanks. Thanks so much for for joining us, and thanks so much for all the good work you’re doing, Ali.

Ali: Thank you for having me on, Dennis.

Dennis: My pleasure. And to everyone else, thanks so much for joining us as well. And stay impactful.