Becks Tosswill is a creative wizard. When it comes to working her magic and breathing life into branding, Becks has a gift.
Along with her husband Richard, this mum of three farms Te Awaawa, a sheep and beef hill country farm, at Gladstone in the Wairarapa. Her home-based Farmers Daughter Design studio has clients around the country, employing a team of four remote contractors and, in 2020, she won the Creative Arts section at the NZI Rural Women New Zealand business awards.
The Tosswills are successful farmers in their own right, and their innovation and forward thinking approach to the land and environment has been recognised with the supreme award for the Greater Wellington region in the 2018 Ballance Farm Environment Awards, and the 2021 Wairarapa Sheep & Beef Farm Business of the Year.
Increasingly, Becks is exploring how her two worlds can meet, using her creative skills to connect with and help other rural women who want to forge their own path in the agricultural sector. We sat down to talk about how this evolution happened, and what ‘good’ branding really looks like.
Describe yourself in 3 words: Creative, determined, passionate
How do you marry design and farming? I studied at Wanganui School of Design and then worked in Wellington in design communications and marketing for a few years. I married my husband and came back to the Wairarapa about 15 years ago. At that time design coms was seen as more of a city role and profession. I play in two different spaces with the farm and Farmer’s Daughter, but I’m really interested in how the creative side can actually benefit or influence the side of me that’s in agriculture/food production. The people I work with closely now are women on farms who perhaps have a skillset and are wanting to create their own thing or give back to their communities. It could be diversification within the farming operation, agri-tourism, creating a team culture in the workplace or developing products directly targeted at the ag sector.
What does your job as a designer involve? I feel very privileged that I get to work with amazing women in our rural communities that have an idea, and I’m invited to help them achieve their goals and vision. It might be being an ear for someone, a community event, or developing a brand – putting ideas and strategies in place to build that brand. My role is really to support women to achieve their own vision, goals and success.
What inspires you? Lots of sources. I wouldn’t say it’s just looking at Pinterest, that’s part of it, but my inspiration mainly comes from the environment and the people I work with. It comes from things I read or see online, but the natural landscape here on the farm is a biggest source of inspiration. We have a lot of groups visit the farm and it comes from the conversations and connections you make – I love asking questions, listening and learning about people.
What makes a good brand? The key thing I like to discover is – what problem are you trying to solve? I need to understand the reason WHY you need a brand, who your target market is and identify why you feel you need that product in the marketplace. Once I understand the issue or problem we can create a brand that will speak directly to those people, and make you unique in the market.
The work we do is a lot about process. If you’re looking for a designer, get to know them – are you comfortable with their process and them being part of your team? Understand the designer’s process and trust it. If you have a good relationship and trust their process, that’s when the magic will happen.
I’m really experience driven. A brand isn’t a logo on a piece of paper, it’s a whole sensual experience – sights, sounds, smells.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
From my Grandpa, who was an innovative dairy farmer. He was always full of quirky sayings and jingles. One of his most memorable to me as a young child was: If you’re standing still, you’re going backwards. I guess this reminds me of him, family and the value of hard work
Tips for working from home? I value process and routine. I get dressed as if I am going to work. In the mornings I get the kids ready and out the door – I ring fence that time, I’m mum. Once they’re on the bus I have a five minute drive home and I shift my mind-set. I use that time to reflect on what will happen when I walk in that door. I make my coffee and turn on the music. Little things, they might seem trivial, but it’s really important to have those little steps to work you into sitting down at your desk. You have to be disciplined, and you have to be prepared on a farm where people are coming and going and a farm contact or rep turns up and you need to put some morning tea on the table! I also plan and block time out in my diary the night before – I don’t sit down and then plan. I’m a big believer in mindfulness, and when you work on your own that becomes incredibly important, putting some framework around it.
Be mindful of and make time for personal development. When you work on your own it can be easy to let that slide. It could be networking, online courses or connecting with other like-minded people.
What are you listening to? I’m mood driven. If I know I need to be inspired I’ll search Spotify for inspirational playlists, or if I need to do some in-depth reading but want to break the silence in the house, I’ll look up something like mindful playlists.
I’m on the road a lot picking up kids and shipping them to sport, so I’ll plug in an audio book, at the moment I’m listening to Playing Big by Tara Mohr. Other books I’m reading are one about the life of Winston Churchill and True Grace about Grace Kelly. I enjoy history and love books I can take something from.
I also have a special book – It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want To Be - by Paul Arden. I’ve had it about 15 years, it moves around with me and I dip into it every now and again.
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