Through personal stories and expert reflections, listeners gain practical wisdom and inspiration to lead with impact, create cultures that connect stakeholders, navigate challenges unique to family business, and carry forward the legacy of their family business.
In this episode of The Third Layer, host Marshall speaks with Sena Wheeler, co-founder of Sena Sea, about navigating a profound family legacy that traces back hundreds of generations to commercial fishermen in Norway. Sena shares the journey of evolving her family’s historic Alaskan commercial fishing operations into a modern, direct-to-consumer enterprise. The conversation highlights the strategic decision to prioritize sustainability and value-add processing over mass volume, allowing the family to “do more with less” while delivering premium quality. Sena discusses the unique dynamics of running a business with her husband, Rich, detailing how they leverage their distinct strengths by dividing responsibilities between “out at sea” harvesting and “on land” marketing and logistics. She also emphasizes the importance of intentional family integration, bringing their teenage children onto the boats to instill a strong work ethic and build shared memories. For family business leaders, Sena’s story is a compelling testament to the power of leaning into authentic heritage, adopting scalable models before crises hit, and utilizing deeply rooted family values to adapt an ancient trade for the modern marketplace.
Key Themes:
Evolving a Legacy Business
Division of Strengths in Partnership
Authentic Brand Storytelling
Intentional Succession and Family Integration
Sustainable Scaling
Timestamps:
00:05 – Introduction of Sena Wheeler and Sena Sea
01:25 – Five generations of fishing, Norwegian roots
02:35 – Visiting Norway and the family’s origins
03:17 – Norwegian immigrant community in Ballard, Seattle
04:37 – How Sena’s father married into the fishing family
06:09 – Life aboard a fishing vessel and the seasonal lifestyle
07:32 – Evolution of trip lengths across generations
10:25 – Long lining explained: halibut and black cod fishing
15:19 – How fishing passed through the female side of the family
19:59 – Pivot to direct-to-consumer and Sena’s food science background
22:49 – Why they chose DTC over traditional distribution
24:26 – Building a small processing facility and the 2020 sales surge
29:33 – Email marketing strategy and authentic family storytelling
31:54 – How Sena and Rich divide responsibilities
37:34 – Sustainability and regulation of Alaskan fishing
43:18 – Family legacy and reconfiguring generations of fishing for today
Additional Resources:
Shop with Sena: www.senasea.com
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Marshall Lockton
The Third Layer is a podcast crafted for family-owned business owners and leaders who truly understand the intricacies of navigating a business where family and leadership intersect. Hosted by Marshall Lockton, who has lived the family owned business experience from various leadership viewpoints, guests share what they’ve learned about what makes family business leaders uniquely able to lead with culture. The podcast zeroes in on the greatest leadership lessons about culture learned throughout the career of a seasoned family business leader. We uncover how that one pivotal insight transformed them and influenced everything they do. We go beyond the first layer, and ask the leader to help the audience really understand why the lesson was so important to them and how it applies to different facets of their business(es) and life. Through personal stories and expert reflections, listeners gain practical wisdom and inspiration to lead with impact, create cultures that connect stakeholders, navigate challenges unique to family business, and carry forward the legacy of their family business.