- I am very excited to join a brand (Krave) that I was a huge fan of starting 15 years ago in my healthy snack days.- I am energized to help Krave, the original premium & healthy jerky brand, to continue it’s epic resurgence since the original founder (Jon & Sonoma Brands) bought it back a few years ago.- Plus, Chef’s Cut is amazing brand with high quality products that we will continue to grow to reinvigorate the whole meat snacks category.- I will be handling East account, broker, and distributor management and growth strategies across a mix of conventional, natural, club, drug, and mass - what good fun!

As a volunteer, I coordinate the CPG Sampling Showcase & Competition and the CPG-Focused Panels and Talks, plus coordinate for brands and CPG professionals to have representation throughout the week. This year the big CPG Day is on MON 10/21 at Capital Turnaround in DC! It should be a great time.

Co-Founder of this free meetup group, which seeks to provide networking & learning events for start-up, emerging, and established CPG companies & professionals in the greater DMV area (DC, Maryland, Virginia), focused on a select segment of Consumer Packaged Goods for Food, Beverage, Body, and Beauty. We host free monthly happy hour meetups in the greater DC and Baltimore area that feature product samplings by local CPG brands, panels with industry and brand experts, and founder stories and best practices.

• Seven Teas is a fast growing beverage brand with Organic, Fair Trade Certified, Non-GMO iced teas and lemonades in 16oz Cans and Glass bottles. 1% For the Planet member.• Oversee the headquarter calls, retail launches, merchandising, promotions planning, category management for current all national & regional retailers, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Publix, Weis, Natural Grocers, Raley's, Gelson's, Erewhon, & many more.• In 2023, landed & manage launches of The Fresh Market, Weis, Sprouts, Ralphs, Heinen's, New Seasons, and many more.• Have overseen strong Seven growth: a 5X in $ revenues last 52wks, including over175+% YoY growth in Whole Foods to become #2 Iced Tea $ brand (Nielsen 8/26/23).• Manage and leverage the relationship with our sales brokers, CA Fortune & Natural Source, plus sales & merchandising companies, including Basemakers, Upfront, Boost Sales, and more.• Manage the planning, pricing, forecasting, promotions, incentives, key account targets, and sales reps accountability for our distributors: UNFI, KeHE, Rainforest, LAD, C&S, DPI, Chex, more.• Ongoing conversations, reviews, sample requests, and meetings, with many retailers, including Target, Kroger, Albertsons-Safeway, Ahold Delhaize, Meijer, Wegmans, more.• Negotiate and manage Nielsen and SPINS contracts and utilization, manage forecasting, trade spend, trade shows, plus field sales team hiring.• Create and manage presentation decks, planogram reviews, Repsly, store trackers, blitzplans, void reports, sell sheets, and direction of schedules for our team.

• Leading vertical farming company that grows and sells leafy greens and ready to eat salad kits (blends, romaine, spinach) in a Pittsburgh smart farm fully automated by robotics and AI.• Oversaw a 370+% growth in annual $ run rate by securing and adding a diverse mix of new business and growing existing accounts.• Recruited, onboarded, and manage a produce broker network Advantage Fresh, Leeper, and others, plus a field team of (3) Area Sales Managers.• Manage & grow existing business, including Giant Eagle (grew 217+% over 52wks), Paragon Fresh (distributor with 55+% growth over 52wks), plus pitched, secured, and managed launches of retailers Kroger, Wakefern, Lidl, SpartanNash corp, Fresh Direct, Sheetz, GetGo, and more, plus distributors Indy Fruit, Four Seasons, Lipari, Gordon Food Service, SpartanNash, AVI Foodsystems, and more.• Held conversations, reviews, sample requests, and meetings, with over 30 additional retailers and retailers including Meijer, Albertsons-Safeway, Ahold Delhaize, Harris Teeter, Wegmans, and more.• Negotiate and manage Nielsen, 84:51 and Repsly contracts and utilization. Improve & manage forecasting, trade spend, budget files and sales strategy.• Create and/or manage presentation decks, planogram reviews, store trackers, blitz plans, void reports, sell sheets, and direction of schedules for our team.

• Part of a layoffs due to Covid-related and aluminum budget cuts directed by the board. • Oversee the conventional and natural retailer prospects in the East to secure meetings, gain authorizations, and manage launches in Giant Landover, Stop &Shop, Wakefern, Harris Teeter, Safeway Eastern-ACME, The Fresh Market, Market Basket, Mom's Organic Market, Hannaford, many more.• Manage & grow existing business, including Wegmans, Whole Foods east regions, Earth Fare, NYC area chains through Big Geyser.• Onboard and/or manage brokers, including JOH, CA Fortune, and Bay Foods, to win and expand business; including securing top independents using UNFI & KeHE.• Helped negotiate and manage SPINS data contract and utilization, plus improve and manage forecasting, trade spend, budget files and strategies.• Create and/or manage presentation decks, planogram reviews, store trackers, blitz plans, void reports, sell sheets, and direction of schedules for our team.

• Key CPG advisor for wheatgrass & tea functional beverage start-up. Connected founder with CPG angel & VC investors to raise pre-seed funding to launch first production run.• Advised and supported on retail strategy, distribution, and sales pitches.• The products launched into stores in March 2021. MaKa secured national distribution with KeHE and UNFI in 2022 and won the New Hope NEXTY Award for Best New Beverage in Spring '23.

- Manage the Mid-Atlantic & Southeast regions; including 16 states from southern NJ to FL to OH, accounting for approx $40-$50 million in revenue per year.- Category Management HQ calls with Southeast/Mid-Atlantic based grocery and natural/specialty chains: Harris Teeter, Food Lion, Safeway Eastern - ACME, The Fresh Market, Giant Food, Ingles, Lowes Foods, Mom's, Heinen's, Giant Eagle, Lidl, DeCA (Military), SEG, (3) regions of WFM Specialty, and more.- Recruit, onboard and/or manage natural, DSD, gourmet, keg, and grocery distributors, including UNFI, KeHE, SuperValu, C&S, Burris, Merchants Distributors, Commonwealth Joe, Penn Beer, Cavalier, Artisan Beverage, Bear Island, TN Craft, Hana Foods, Grape A Day, Savannah Dist, and more.- Recruit, onboard, and manage GT's Area & Territory Sales Managers and Part-Time Merchandisers throughout the Mid-Atlantic & Southeast. Commonly 11+ full-time reps and 7+ part timers.- Lead sales manager (and idea creator) of Mid-Atl 360 sales & marketing initiatives, including 2020 retail sponsorship w/ the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

This was a passion project & social business launched in 2016 while living in Jordan. The company is not currently active. Herfa is an English transliteration for the Arabic word meaning "craft", or "a talent produced with one's hands".Herfa Heritage is an apparel and accessories social business concept that blends traditional, handmade Middle Eastern embroidery with modern style - comfy shirts, hoodies, hats, onesies, ties, leather belts, headbands, and more. All pieces are hand-embroidered by local and refugee women in Jordan in their homes so that they can continue to care for their families and provide much needed income.

- Snikiddy Snacks was sold to Utz in 2017.- Coordinate display execution and broker and distribution management for New England, New York, and New Jersey grocery chains (Market Basket, Shaw’s, ShopRite) and Whole Foods.- Record of increasing revenue 50-100% in the core accounts.- Buyer calls and key account management for independent chains and stores to add new SKUs, solve problems, line up distributors, and boost display activity.- Day-to-day management of the store trackers and chain rankings, schedule of our team to visit stores, train new reps, and design sell sheets.

- The makers of Pirate's Booty, Smart Puffs, & Tings snacks. Sold to B&G Foods for $195M in July 2013- Key account management for 10+ regional & independent/natural accounts in SoCal, AZ, HI, and NV, including Bristol Farms, Northgate Markets, Bashas, & Foodland; responsible for coordinating promotional schedule & negotiating ad fee expenditures & display support- Coordinated with 50+ district managers & 300+ store/grocery managers to sell promotions; included Whole Foods (45 stores), Sprouts (60), Ralphs-Kroger (250), Vons-Safeway (280), Albertsons (240) Walmart (75), Target (50); totaling over 1,000 stores- Developed the relationships with five major distributors (plus five smaller ones) and three brokers and their reps and district sales managers to ensure display execution; created & oversaw the sales incentives & contests- Managed the day-to-day responsibilities of the SoCal region, including managing 2-10 interns & hourly reps, scheduling team for sales blitzes, organizing store/chain sales data, coordinating orders, designing sell sheets, managing trade shows, & coordinating with marketing team for events and retail support- Motivated sales team to sell in, design, & build large displays in stores - Pirate Ships, School Buses, sports-themed, branded film/TV partnerships (SpongeBob, Pirates of the Caribbean)- Recognized at 2012 annual meeting for leading SoCal team to win national display contest- Coordinated innovative SoCal sponsorships, like Coachella La Coste & Filter parties, Dim Mak events, Filter Culture Collide, and various other music/sports/arts/culture/charity events

- Record label and events company founded and run by international DJ & producer Steve Aoki- Managed retail & tour marketing, PR, & event sponsorships, fan contests, & social media- Designed one-sheets for marketing & distribution for the albums; crafted artist biographies & selling points

Managed event logistics for "Life on BlackBerry" national tour stops in Boston, Toronto, and Chicago, including Red Sox VIP events; logistics for Blackberry sponsored John Mayer tour

- Coordinated marketing & promotions initiatives & built a sales and marketing “BarFly” rep program- Sold advertising and co-promotions to companies, including Live Nation, Broadway Across America, & FNX

- Developed & managed all marketing, promotions, & sponsorships for New England; booked & executed hundreds of samplings at Coca-Cola corporate accounts (Staples HQ, Bose HQ), store openings, sales promotions, colleges, concerts, and special events (Rock the Bells, Taste of Chaos); ran bar/club promotions & guerrilla samplings (Boston Marathon, Red Sox)- Started & managed college rep program: grew it to 250 campus reps at 75+ universities in New England; started and grew an email list to 2,500 people to send blasts about events; ran university RV tour through the Northeast - Contributed to 250% sales growth at colleges in Boston area; became #2 selling energy drink, behind Red Bull

Created a record label & released nine CDs by bands, varying in style from indie-rock, alternative, punk, ska, to pop-rock; promoted CD release shows and secured distribution, press, online promotion, & radio

Created and managed a production company in Connecticut and Ohio from 2000-2006, booking over 300 concerts in a variety of venues; coordinated PR, marketing campaigns, email lists, & social media

Event marketing and samplings of vitaminwater and smartwater in Southern CT, NYC, NJ, and upstate NY at concerts, sports events, running races, fairs, and more. This was before the Coke purchase and vitaminwater was extremely hot at the time; it was a great learning experience right after I graduated college. I wanted to stay with glaceau, but I had decided to move to Boston in Fall of 2005 and there were no jobs available in that market.

This was my first real job (when I was 14) and started me on a lifelong path of building incredible, mostly healthy, food & beverage CPG brands. I worked at the SoBe HQ in Norwalk, prior to their purchase by Pepsi, every Summer for four years in a row when I was home from boarding school or college. Each Summer I would have different focus: marketing, events, sales, apparel, mailroom, shipping, contest fulfilment, and everything in between. It was a incredible experience at a fast growing, vibrant, innovative, funny, risk-taking, nimble company!