The quick and dirty: Leah Markum, brand strategy and content writer and designer
I’m a brand strategist, copywriter, and layout designer specializing in plant- and land-focused industries. I take a step back to evaluate the marketing ecosystem through brand strategy and messaging. Then I structure content that helps businesses connect with their audiences, build authority, and grow. This industry appeals to me because I’ve always been involved. I hike, hang out at farms, and study natural sciences. I also thrive when I combine my artistic abilities with strategy.
My formal education includes bachelor’s degrees in biology (with a minor in agricultural communications) and professional and technical writing.
My mission: Elmstrata Studio and reaching a lesser-known but active audience
There are two types of people I think about on this website: the plant- and land-based business owners or marketers, and the individuals who missed that calling. Though ultimately, they’re both passionate about the natural world and want to connect with it. Here, we lean into “Make your profession your nature connection.” In other words, the practical approach.
The current ecological or marketing professional
I wasn’t able to progress from my undergrad biology degree to graduate school for either disease or landscape ecology (a few professors even do landscape disease ecology). I haven’t gone on to a direct land-based career. But I can take my alternative and work with people who have and learn all about their organizations.
Marketers and communications specialists working at land-based businesses often don’t end up there specifically. But it’s an opportunity many take seriously and thrive in. Considering how many people want to be creative and love nature, it’s a shame that they didn’t learn that marketing isn’t necessarily sleezy, and it’s actually perfect for them.
The prospective professional or the curious
I’ve also seen quite the cast of characters of those who also found or should’ve found indirect paths to working with nature.
A science graduate student who felt trapped and sold her drawings as an alternative nature and creative outlet. I knew a nurse who wanted a job that left more energy to enjoy weekend hiking and fishing trips. A construction worker who worked on neat rustic properties, yet he felt aimless without autonomy and crafting what he could be proud of.
There will always be challenges that force us to change our path. But with some bobbing and weaving, they can create the opportunity to see what can be.
I want to encourage everyone with an interest to use practical strategies to “ground” their nature interests with land-based businesses.
Why I pack strategy, messaging, and content into the marketing bag
Working with brand strategy, messaging, and structured content is like hiking with one of those massive overnight backpacks. Unless you train, you’ll slow down. And if you don’t organize or pack well, you get frustrated.
The marketing journey requires a trained mind to wield tools well at the right time. Writing and design are essential tools to reach the audience that will support your passion.
Few prepare for such a journey. I do.
Strategy gives you the direction to guide your audience: What needs are you fulfilling? What makes you better than your competitors? Where will the audience see your marketing?
Copywriting is the core message: People come for visuals, but an audience stays for the words. Writing targets key emotions and supports those motivations with rationale.
Graphic Design is the first layer most people see: It’s the welcoming committee dressed right for the occasion. Visual appeal often sells itself.
That’s why I think about the complete picture and pack these tools in one bag.
If you’re sitting down…the Leah Markum journey
I’m a crossover of a pragmatist, creative, intellectual, and adventurer.
The natural history nerd
I’ve always read natural science books, written stories, drawn nature subjects, and gone on road trips. I also hung out with my best friend, who had farm animals and lived in the mountains, where we could freely explore.
I attended school for wildlife biology. Those courses had conflicting schedules, so I usually took botany and ecology. I assisted with field and lab research, but also conducted an independent project.
But doing science felt stiff with a limited focus on the overall view. I like to mentally “move” and “see” more. Writing was always a good excuse for that.
Communications transition
So, I shifted to agricultural communications and professional writing. This took me on a journey across communications: journalism, technical writing, graphic design, photography, videography, and public relations.
Outside of school, I discovered how I could balance pragmatism, creativity, strategy, and write substance. It was marketing writing, or copywriting. Add a little graphic design, and I can have a unified approach. Yet, in practice, I often needed to do the high-level strategy and work my way downstream to production.
Thus…
And that’s how life goes: you plan for a line, and you end up testing out a little of everything before you find what works.
I’ve traveled and lived all over North America. Right now, I’m in forested northwest Arkansas with a few cats that found me. I hike on weekends, garden in the summer, and alternate my indoor hobbies (drawing, painting, writing, reading, guitar, languages).
But enough about me.