Catching up with a ‘Sea-E-O’

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Emily Wilder, MBA ’19 is bringing a taste of the Pacific Northwest to customers near and far. Her 2-year-old online store, Salinity Seafood & More, features food and wares from Washington state.  

“I’ve always been really drawn to food and the excitement around food,” says the native of Whidbey Island. “I knew that would be my journey from the time I was a teenager.” 

Her preparations for the venture included earning a Bentley graduate degree and working as a tour guide for a Mass.-based oyster farm and as a sales rep for a shellfish company back home. She credits the experiences for revealing “the niche I needed to fill: telling the stories of local farmers and artisan makers.” 

Salinity sells sweet and savory foods, including local oysters that Wilder champions, along with crafts and household goods. It carries 100 to 200 products at any given time, sourced from more than 50 vendors. She calls them “small businesses with good intentions.” 

These are companies whose values reflect her own, which focus on making a positive impact on the community, the environment and the workplace.  

Accordingly, as the self-dubbed “Sea-E-O” works on growing Salinity, she donates a portion of revenue to schools and nonprofits such as Whidbey Island Nourishes and Island Senior Resources.  

Wilder says those dual goals are in her DNA, pointing to her late grandfather, Joel B. Wilder ’58, H ’02. A real estate entrepreneur and lifelong philanthropist, he was among Bentley’s most generous donors; in fact, Wilder Pavilion was named in recognition of his immense contributions to the university.  

“He taught me to deal ethically with others in all matters,” says Wilder, “and to always give back.”