About
I am a leading retail merchandising, product development and brand strategy expert. I have nearly 30 years of retail, CPG and food service experience, including retail and CPG start-ups, emerging brands, and turnarounds. I was raised in The Bronx, New York, earned a Biology degree and I have leadership experience with Whole Foods, Patagonia, General Mills, Good Eggs and National Co-op Grocers. I launched hundreds of companies and dozens of new categories throughout my career and have been an innovator in plant-based, Non-GMO, Organic, pasture-raised and whole food supply chains.
I led Grocery merchandising for Whole Foods from 2009 until 2016, doubling sales to over $5 Billion annually on top of a 300BP margin gain. In 2023, NOSH recognized me as one of their top 50 food industry notables and Supermarket News has selected me as one of their Top 25 Retail Game Changers. I received the Hemp Industry Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019 for over 20 years of hemp and marijuana activism, including founding a campaign to overturn the Rockefeller Drug Laws as well as enabling the first domestic hemp cultivation in over 70 years.
I have experience in all areas of product development, including supply chain, food safety, packaging, ingredient sourcing, pricing strategy, promotions, E-commerce, marketing and distribution.