Rachel Crowther is energized by passionate and empathetic leaders who make waves with their sense of purpose and determination. Over the years, she says, they have taught her "how to better show up."

Rachel does way more than just show up at Cober Solutions, based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada. She heads up an impressive team that successfully communicates its brand and lives out its culture of innovation and togetherness.

Rachel and her team are building upon 100+ years of technology and talent at the venerable company, with strategies and actions that fuel its continual growth. "Our team is incredibly passionate, and cares deeply about the industry we are in and how we participate in the space. That’s a really powerful and exciting place to build from," she says in the Q&A below.

Rachel is a cool blend of smart, kind and down-to-earth. We enjoyed chatting with her to learn how Cober advanced in 2023, its success with warehousing and fulfillment, what its "ideal" client now looks like, and more:

DSCOOP: Can you share a bit about your role – the big-picture roles and goals on your plate?

RACHEL CROWTHER: Absolutely! I am the Director of Sales & Marketing with Cober and work alongside an incredibly talented team to support revenue and cross-functional growth. We have a few big-picture goals for our team, but a priority for the organization is to continue to invest in both our B2B and on-demand partnerships, and evolve with them through product diversification. As well, we’ll be focusing on further developing our warehousing offering. We are in the process of expanding our current headquarters facility by over 100,000 sq. ft., and that fresh space will be primarily leveraged for our warehousing, pick-and-pack and fulfillment services. It’s an area of our business that has really flourished over the last few years, and we are very excited to have the additional capacity to support it.

We don't take our partners and their trust in our team for granted, and I truly hope that humility is part of the Cober narrative. That is what we work toward every day, in every department.

DSCOOP: Congrats on that expansion, and for Cober's impressive track record of growth. Today, what do you think your best customers are saying about your company?

RACHEL CROWTHER: What I hope our customers say about us is that we deliver what we promise. Period. At the end of the day, we provide a service — whether that be to a local family business or a global e-commerce brand — through technology, streamlined workflows, quality manufacturing and fulfillment. It is our job to deliver beautiful products on time. That’s it. We don’t take our partners and their trust in our team for granted, and I truly hope that humility is part of the Cober narrative. That is what we work toward every day, in every department.

DSCOOP: What's a little different about your business this year than in recent years?

RACHEL CROWTHER: This year has been one of unbelievable growth, investment and expansion — in every sense of the word, literally and figuratively. The high-volume, on demand e-commerce space is really exciting for us and is where we are actively investing in resources, new equipment and ever-evolving technology to show up for those relationships. Our team has been hyper-focused this year on implementing new manufacturing techniques and workflows and leveraging data across the business, as our client base expands their requirements. To see those improvements happen in your business, year over year, and when that impact then directly translates to your partners and ultimately the end consumer? That's pretty energizing for us.

DSCOOP: That's awesome! What's the biggest challenge your team faces right now on the sales and marketing side?

RACHEL CROWTHER: I think our biggest challenge is keeping up with our drive. The Cober team thrives in evolution, which is thrilling and is what has gotten us to where we are today, but with those big ideas and high performance goals comes a fresh list of challenges. Momentum is something our team has felt in spades this year, and it’s our job to ensure we can support that momentum for our partners as well as our internal team members. Growth is hard and at the speed we are moving, so prioritizing communication, collaboration and trust within our team is paramount.

DSCOOP: What kind of new-business prospects interest your salespeople — what opportunities are you going after now?

RACHEL CROWTHER: We are very fortunate in that our current client base is incredibly well diversified, and we work really hard to maintain that balance within the organization. In terms of fresh opportunities, because of the facility expansion and the subsequent capacity in warehousing, our sales and marketing teams are actively working to really understand that market from every perspective, and do a deep dive into the space. Warehousing came to us organically as a subsidiary service to our print manufacturing, but it has now blossomed into its own standalone and sustainable service at scale, which is amazing, thanks to our incredible team on and off the floor who have put that infrastructure in place.

DSCOOP: Giant fist-bump to you and your team! Anything else you’d like to emphasize about the good things your team/company is doing?

RACHEL CROWTHER: I am personally incredibly proud of Cober and the work the entire team puts in — day in and day out — to support the hyper-growth-focused mindset. I can say this with 100% confidence: Our team is incredibly passionate, and cares deeply about the industry we are in and how we participate in the space. That’s a really powerful and exciting place to build from.

DSCOOP: Thanks for spending some time with us!

RACHEL CROWTHER: Thank you as well!