Lesley Kelly

About Lesley

Lesley Kelly actively farms with her family at Watrous, Saskatchewan, Canada where they grow wheat, durum, canola, barley, oats, lentils, peas, and flax. Lesley is the head and heart behind the popular High Heels & Canola Fields blog where she dispels myths about agriculture and brings consumers and farmers together. She has recently expanded her reach by co-hosting What the Farm Podcast with Rob Sharkey which explores various topics in food and farming through real-life conversations. Lesley’s goal in being involved in agriculture beyond the farm is to build community, bring people together, create conversation, collaborate and identify solutions that help both the industry and consumers. Lesley received her Bachelor of Commerce in Marketing from the University of Saskatchewan, as well as an Accelerated Accounting Diploma and went on to work in various leadership marketing and branding positions in the ag sector before returning to the farm. Using her entrepreneurial spirit and the skills developed through her agribusiness career, she created a snack food business using the barley grown on her farm and built her own marketing business. Lesley has been a leader in advocating for mental health. She's been part of the Canadian national #BellLetsTalk campaign and co-founded the Do More Agriculture Foundation whose mission is to break barriers and support all producers in taking care of their mental well-being. The Regina YWCA recognized her with the Women of Distinction award for this work. Lesley brings a powerful message, spark, and energy with her heart-to-heart presentations to audiences across the country – from local meetings, corporate board rooms to national conventions. She’s a dynamic speaker who has a passion for life, agriculture and the people in the industry, and establishes a deep connection to help motivate and inspire her audience to help take care of themselves, each other and their farm and business.

www.highheelsandcanolafields.com

Contact Lesley Kelly

Speaking Topics

Build a Better Brand in Agriculture

Your brand is a tool that can help achieve your farm’s goals, help attract and retain employees, building a relationship with landowners and maintain the strength of consumers’ trust. More than just a logo, Lesley will uncover what branding is, the disciplines of brand-building and how to bring your brand to life.

Creating Moments of Change

Defining moments shape our lives yet they seem to happen by accident or luck. We can become the authors of these defining moments, whether they are big or small in life, relationships and work. Paying attention to these moments opens a world of possibilities. Lesley will share how not luck, but connection, communication and creating have helped shaped these defining moments of change in her personal and professional life.

Breaking Barriers in Agriculture: Can you imagine having one conversation that can save someone's life?
After sharing a live video of Lesley and her husband's mental health stories, a conversation within and outside agriculture and around the world was created. Lesley shares what sparked them to create the video and then co-found the Do More Agriculture Foundation.
Lesley will also share their road together on mental wellness, how it's helped them, their team and farm, and the power behind how one conversation can break barriers, change a culture and help save lives.

Collaboration Beats Competition

Agriculture is a competitive industry and farming is a hard but rewarding career. Bringing like-minded people together with a mission to help farmers led into co-founding the Do More Agriculture Foundation. Lesley will share how a collaborative approach with people in and outside of the farm and industry can help set your farm apart and help the industry become stronger together.

Diversity on the farm: The changing face of agriculture

Statistics show that having an equal amount of gender diversity in decision-making roles makes for more successfully run boards, companies, communities, and societies. One of Lesley’s goals is to help foster an industry rich in female leadership that empowers future generations to do the same. Lesley will share her role on the farm (and finding it), the importance of diversity and how women are changing the face of farming.