Smoketown is a boutique brand consultancy that helps visionaries, mission-driven brands and nonprofits maximize their growth and positive impact without one compromising the other.Through fractional CMO services and growth strategy consulting, Smoketown provides seasoned brand leadership for organizations that need C-level support but are not yet ready to hire someone permanently. Our team brings industry-leading expertise through smarter marketing & innovation strategies, day-to-day team management, and an extensive network of pre-vetted agencies and martech tools -- all at a fraction of the cost of a full time executive. Experts in brand strategy, innovation and growth strategy, everything they do is grounded in in-house custom consumer research.

Advise the investment team at Trailhead Capital on opportunities in regenerative agriculture, CPG, agtech and other sectors

New American Table convenes the next generation of iconic food and technology brands in inclusive, paradigm-shifting collaborations to increase representation on shelf and in the value chain. Join us at NewAmericanTable.com

Helping strengthen the natural consumer products sector in Chicago, joining the national network that includes Naturally Boulder and Naturally Bay Area.

Regenerative food and agriculture accelerator. Working with start up and early stage companies with 13 week intensive, mentor and expert driven cultivation of entrepreneurs. Focused on building framework for success. We work with young entrepreneurs who are driven to find environmentally safe solutions to the global food and Ag problems we face today and to support the regeneration of our planet.

A podcast that interviews leaders of emerging brands, while the paint on their disruptive blueprints is still wet.

Partner with DOUGHP’s dynamic founder to help the company reach its full potential

Free advice for start-ups in Family Farmed’s Good Food Accelerator

Free advice for The Hatchery’s members

Case StudiesSITUATION: Opportunity to expand distribution with our largest retailer, but it required innovating at a record-breaking pace.ACTION: Rather than asking “What should we make?”, we partnered with R&D to understand, “What CAN we make?” Then we paired those capabilities with a problem that consumers wanted to solve: delicious, high quality, 100% natural ways to add protein to salads and snacks.RESULT: Launched Hillshire Farm Premium Carved Meats in record time. It was featured in the company's CAGNY presentation in 2018.SITUATION: Bold flavor trends and demographic shifts had created disruptive opportunities for traditional protein formats like smoked sausage.ACTION: Led a breakthrough innovation partnership with Tajin, one of Mexico’s largest and most iconic spice brands. Defined the strategic opportunity, generated ideas, and coached the commercialization team. Navigated difficult internal discussions about the size of prize, bridging the gap between expectations and reality.RESULT: Earned praise from the Tajin executive team for my leadership. Featured in Tyson’s 2018 CAGNY presentation. Not yet launched.

Case StudiesSITUATION: Hunt's needed an innovation strategy and pipeline that expanded the consumer segments that it could reach, while modernizing the portfolio.ACTION: Coached my team to partner with R&D and internal creatives to build Hunt’s most robust innovation pipeline in nearly a decade. Helped lead the thinking to apply Jobs-to-Be-Done Theory to our innovation process.RESULT: Delivered concepts that earned multiple "Outstanding" and “Solid Investment” scores (per BASES and Brainjuicer). SITUATION: Creating a meaningful point of difference in shelf-stable tomatoes was challenging. As a result, the category was becoming a commodity as Private Label gained share.ACTION: Built an integrated marketing campaign that re-framed Hunt’s core point of difference. Instead of talking about it narrowly (“peeled with steam, not lye”), we celebrated all of Hunt’s farm-to-table choices with a new advertising campaign and innovation pipeline.RESULT: Grew share and increased media mix effectiveness by 35%. SITUATION: Brand-building skills were unevenly distributed across the organization, because it lacked a consistent training program.ACTION: Envisioned and built a training program called Accelerate for the brand organization. It covered a broad range of skills, from writing a design brief to evaluating advertising, and leveraged experts both inside and outside the company.RESULT: Accelerate trainings expanded, earned credibility, and became mandatory for every ABM and Manager.

Develop and lead trainings in management and strategy for local, growth-focused food companies in the Bay Area, including Blue Bottle Coffee, Organic Valley, Acme Bread, and Belcampo Meat Co.

Led business strategy development, integrated marketing communication and innovation for Clorox Toilet Cleaners and Liquid Plumr, a combined $250M+ business with a $40M+ demand creation budget. Led relaunch of Clorox Toilet Wand.

Led innovation for the $500M+ laundry businesses, including strategy development, discovery, design thinking, consumer insight generation, product development and concept writing and testing. Developed and launched Clorox Control Bleach platform (crystals and pods).

Led business strategy development, integrated marketing communication and close-in innovation for Clorox 2, a $125M laundry additives brand with a $30M demand creation budget. Reversed negative share declines.

Led the development of shopper marketing platforms for nearly every brand in the Cleaning Division portfolio, including Clorox bleach and Clorox Disinfecting Wipes. Helped Home Care win Sales Planning Team of the Year.

Helped lead integrated marketing communications and close-in innovation for Spray Cleaners. Chartered and led product development for SmartTube Technology (shipped 2012, still on shelves today).

Key Accomplishments:• Conceptualized an online, user-managed system for vendor new product submissions. Led team of software developers and designers to create wireframe and final site. Fully replaced decades-old analog system.• Piloted an online marketing campaign that tied ad effectiveness to specific store traffic.• Sourced baby clothes and accessories as a Buyer.

The largest whole wheat flour brand in the Northern Pacific at the time. • Identified the opportunity to expand into the baking mix category with dessert baking mixes positioned as “better for you” options. Successfully persuaded the company to invest in a consumer survey that demonstrated potential demand.

Venture Capital -- $20 million -- Focused on early-stage, science-based consumer products that help people stay healthy.Key Accomplishments:• Researched and drafted its first Private Placement Memorandum.• Managed online newsletter for prospective investors.

A $50 million meat company that sells premium, family-farmed, sustainably-raised meat products.• Led consumer research, including analyzing a 27,000-cell Excel file, that uncovered the uniquely important role of packaging in consumers’ processed meat purchases. • Successfully recommended a shift in packaging communication priorities: from emphasis on animal welfare to emphasis on great taste enabled by sustainable farming practices.

A $1.2 million nonprofit helping clients build and supplement in-house research capacity.Co-Executive Director (promoted 2001), Research AnalystKey Accomplishments:• Delivered a 40% revenue increase post-9/11 despite dramatic decline in fundraising environment nationally.• Created a business plan to generate 200% more earned revenue over a three year period.• Conceptualized the organization’s youth-focused practice, which became its fastest growing.