The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch Helped Sonia Strobel Kickstart Her Growth—Here's How She’s Thriving Today
Sonia Strobel, Co-Founder & CEO of Skipper Otto, was the winner of The Odlum Brown Forum Pitch in 2017/18—making 2023 the fifth anniversary of the incredible milestone!
We caught up with Sonia to see how she's continued to grow the sustainable subscription service that provides consumers with ethically sourced seafood that comes directly from small-scale fisheries. As she explains, "We've grown from three to 12 full-time staff members, from a dozen to 45 fishing families we purchase from annually, from 20 to 95 pickup locations, and from 3,000 to 8,000+ subscription members." In this time, the company's revenue has also increased by 350%!
Skipper Otto has even secured a $250,000 grant to build proprietary software that supports its unique direct-to-consumer food distribution model and a growing number of other businesses.
Sonia looks forward to building more relationships with the fishing families Skipper Otto is proud to support, particularly those led by Indigenous women. This has included Natasha Marshall Gallic, a member of the Tseshaht Nation. Natasha is currently writing her Masters’ thesis at Simon Fraser University’s Indigenous Business Leadership Executive MBA program on the efficacy of the Skipper Otto model to distribute Indigenous Food, Social, and Ceremonial fish to band members.
From left: Willard, Natasha, and Mercedes Marshall