Lisa Liegl Rees is an RV industry baby. Her father, Pete Liegl, founded Forest River, an industry powerhouse in the RV World.
The Liegl’s often entertained RV Dealers in their home and the staff at Forest River was like a second family to her growing up.
She often dreamed and spoke of owning her own RV company but understood what a challenge that would be in such a male dominated industry.
So armed with a marketing degree she spent 13 years in the retail business world, successfully promoting and selling different consumer products for many well-known companies.
In her 30’s she owned and operated her own successful import/export business until in 2017 when she left it all behind to begin her own RV company ”East to West” where the Della Terra was born.
Her goal was to focus on simplicity- incorporate new building methods to shorten the production lines and produce a better product.
She chose a limited number of floorplans- 8 to be exact- and combined that with neutral colour schemes on both the interior and exterior.
By keeping the window dressing of the RV simple and classic, it allowed her team to apply extra production dollars to creating a superior entry level RV.
Della Terra which means” of the earth” is built to minimize its ecological impact on the environment, and features a higher level of fit and finish for an entry level RV.
In 2019 her vision paid off when Della Terra was awarded both RV Pro’s Best of Show & RV Business’s Top RV Debut.
Forest River chose to buy out her company after that successful debut, however, she chose to remain as the General Manager of the division she created.
By expanding her design team and utilizing Forest River’s impressive manufacturing capability they have exploded onto the RV market with additional product lines.
The “Alta” travel trailer, the “Tandra” fifth wheel and the “Entrada” in the motorhome division have moved them from the 58th RV company in the US to one of the top 25 and in record time.
All East to West models are still being manufactured following Lisa’s founding principles:
- Build with environmentally sound materials and offer limited floorplans with classic interiors.
- Use most of the build budget to invest in high quality features and finishes, that are normally considered upgrades but come standard on the” East to West” product.
- Keep the price competitive in which ever product line they are manufacturing.
Ms. Rees success at such a young age and as a woman in the RV industry is remarkable. She’s been featured in many industry publications and appears to show no signs of slowing down.
At Minard’s Leisure World fifty percent of our employees are also woman who excel in their roles in Sales, Service and Parts. This is one of the many things that make us a one of a kind RV Dealership.
We have no doubt that the female perspective adds another layer of value in creating and retailing the perfect RV product for the modern consumer.
We applaud “East to West’s’” focus on increased storage, comfortable interiors and durability while being sensitive to our ever-changing environment.
Time to see what all the fuss is about?
Explore award winning Della Terra and Alta at Minards Leisure World, Weyburn and Watrous Saskatchewan.
