Expert Details
Brand Repositioning, Advertising, Disruptive Innovation, eCommerce
ID: 736728
Minnesota, USA
Complex P&L Ownership Mulitple Business Transformations Deep Sales & Supply Chain Focus Snacks, Beverage & Meals Experience Board of Director Engagement Rapid Growth Small brand portfolios Shelf-stable, frozen/ fresh Disruptive & fast innovator Ecomm expertiseSUCCESS HIGHLIGHTS
Employer:
Building a Snacks Company inside Employer by creating growth strategies & upgrading capabilities. Recruited a growth-oriented leadership team.
✓ Returned the two largest businesses - Bars portfolio & Fruit Snack portfolio - to share growth a[er years of lagging the category.
✓ Lead Emerging NutriLon Brand OperaLng Unit - launched new brands & drive growth via retailer engagement & meeting consumer needs.
✓ Gained board approval of a $100 Million capital investment to increase capacity on high growth potential brands.
✓ Expansive innovation into 3+ new categories driving 500+ basis points of growth:
Dunkaroos (11 shares of Snack Combos), Pillsbury Ready to Eat Cookies & Lucky Charms Sweet Baked Goods (partnership with Walmart).
Tyson Foods/Hillshire Brands:
✓ Delivered $200 Million in revenue growth; drove 30% CAGR profit over 5 years.
✓ Implemented a growth business model focused on reinvigorating brand health, maximizing production capabilities & overhauling the cost structure.
✓ Led rapid growth of Emerging Brands OperaLng Unit including acquired brands.
✓ Launched Hillshire Snacking brand, driving $100 million in sales in under 2 years.
✓ Appointed by Tyson leadership to attend G100 NextGen Leadership program.
Conagra Brands:
✓ Share & profit stabilization of the $750M shelf-stable meals portfolio.
✓ Developed portfolio strategy to prioritize capital allocation and investments.
Danone/Coca-Cola JV:
✓ Digital innovator on Evian Water: 50% of communications budget invested in breakthrough digital while launching B2C ecomm platform.
✓ Award-winning Food Service packaging innovation.
Education
| Year | Degree | Subject | Institution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year: 2001 | Degree: MBA | Subject: Master of Business Administration | Institution: Schulich School of Business, York University |
| Year: 1995 | Degree: HBA | Subject: Business | Institution: Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario |
Work History
| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years: 2019 to Present | Employer: Undisclosed | Title: President | Department: Brand |
Responsibilities:Building a Snacks Company inside the company. Full P&L ownership of a $2.1B Business Unit comprised of retail snacks including Nature Valley, Fiber One, Salty Snacks, Epic Meat Bars, Dunkaroos, Pillsbury Ready to Eat Cookies & Lucky Charms Sweet Baked Goods. Amplified share growth through the Pandemic by increasing team empathy and engagement. Built & executing a strategic growth plan aimed at becoming a Top 5 U.S. snacks company. Upgrading core growth capabilities including Emerging Channels (ecomm & Small Format), Cost Management & Price Pack Architecture. Rebuilt cross-functional leadership team to focus on growth agenda. Commercial TransformaLon – Returned the Bars portfolio & Fruit Snack portfolio to share growth a[er years of lagging the category. Personally focused on key retailer engagement & building underdeveloped channels. Integrated $15 Million Epic Meat Bars business into the NutriLon Emerging Brands OperaLng Unit. Expansive Innovation – Core categories, price pack architecture, and expansion into 3 new categories, driving 500+ basis points of growth: Sweet Baked Goods (Lucky Charms), Combo Snacks (Dunkaroos), and Ready-Made Cookies (Pillsbury). Social Impact – Invested in a recognized, socially forward program aimed at elevating under-represented voices throughour brands. Rolled out the first recyclable packaging innovation across the bars portfolio. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2014 to 2019 | Employer: Tyson Foods | Title: SVP | Department: Brand |
Responsibilities:Promoted to expanded general management role running a $2.2B Business Unit comprised of Retail Branded and Customer Branded refrigerated & frozen foods. P&L, strategy, and innovation ownership for a broad portfolio including Hillshire Farm & Ball Park; Emerging Brands Unit that included: Aidell’s, Hillshire Snacking, and Golden Island; Customer Brand portfolio Commercial TransformaLon – Drove $200 Million in Revenue growth and +30% CAGR profit growth by reinventing the refrigerated food section through innovation, matching quality and value by investing in higher quality while reducing costs in non-consumer valued areas. Board Engagement – Regular Tyson Foods Board of Director engagement. Nominated to the G100 Next Gen CEO development program by the Tyson leadership. Engaged in M&A discussions with Board and Executive team. Reignited Category Growth – Modernized the portfolio by innovating in premium products (Ball Park ‘Prime’ hot dogs). Customer Brands Strategic Partnerships – Led a cross-functional team that created customized innovation leveraging manufacturing capabilities to develop new products in frozen and fresh categories. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2012 to 2014 | Employer: Conagra Brands | Title: Vice President/General Manager | Department: Shelf Stable Meals |
Responsibilities:Stabilized profit & share across the $750M portfolio through innovation, cost optimization, and investment in high ROI advertising. The portfolio included Chef Boyardee, Marie Callendar, and Healthy Choice brands. Stabilized struggling Portfolio - Led the brand architecture development for the Meals portfolio to prioritize investments. Cost Management - Grew Gross Margin across the portfolio by reducing input costs and changing the mix. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2010 to 2014 | Employer: Conagra Brands | Title: Brand Director | Department: |
Responsibilities:Drove +5% growth on Orville Redenbacher and Act Two Popcorn brands through innovation and advertising. Revitalized Growth - Led brand architecture development for the popcorn portfolio. Modernized Through InnovaLon - Launched award-winning packaging innovation, the Orville Redenbacher Pop Up Bowl, leading to significant brand growth at key retailers, including Walmart. Invested in Advertising - Led the development of an award-winning advertising campaign in support of the Orville Redenbacher Pop Up Bowl innovation. |
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| Years | Employer | Title | Department |
| Years: 2006 to 2008 | Employer: Danone & The Coca-Cola Company JV | Title: Vice President Marketing, Evian North America | Department: |
Responsibilities:Marketing leader for Danone Waters of North America $160M Joint Venture with Coca-Cola, overseeing the marketing, PR,innovation, Design, and Shopper Marketing functions across Retail and Food Service. The beverage portfolio included Evian, Badoit, and Bonafont waters. Global advertising Campaign – Created the “Filled with Care” campaign that celebrated Evian’s source in the Alps, whichrolled out to 12 other countries. Digital Innovator – Developed innovative ecomm & digital campaigns that included “Pop Spas” across the country, brand takeovers of key media partners, celebrity and event integration which included John McEnroe, Serena Williams & the South Beach Wine and Food Festival. This resulted in 100M impressions. In-Market Direct to Store Test – Tested a direct delivery model in Houston to support the launch of Bonafont, a Hispanic branded beverage. JV Board Engagement - Regular engagement with JV Board of Directors from The Coca-Cola Company & Danone. Various marketing and sales roles in Canada and the US at PepsiCo Danone/ Coca-Cola JV & HJ Heinz. |
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Career Accomplishments
| Professional Appointments |
|---|
| Selected by the Tyson CEO & Board to attend G100 NextGen Leadership Program for future CEO talent |
| Awards / Recognition |
|---|
| Nielsen Top 25 Breakthrough InnovaLon and an IRI Top 10 Pace Sejer Award for Hillshire Snacking Selected by Tyson ExecuLve Team to attend World 50 Leadership Program Silver Edison Award for innovation, Progressive Grocer New Product Award, and Consumer Survey of Product InnovaLon, Product of the Year for Orville Redenbacher’s® Pop Up Bowl™ Design Awards for Evian Palace Bojle from Beverage Industry and brand packaging |