I started my CPG career at Red Bull. Seven years. That’s where the operator lens was built — not in marketing school, not in an MBA program, but on the ground at one of the best consumer-brand machines in the world.
I came up in brand management. But you can't stay narrow at a brand like Red Bull — the business is too integrated, the problems too real.
Distribution is the real moat. The brand is the flag. The system is what wins. Every retailer account, every cooler placement, every route driver relationship — that’s the infrastructure that makes it impossible for a competitor to catch up. Brand gets the credit. The system earns it.
Flavors expand the shelf. They don’t cannibalize the base. One of the most counterintuitive things I learned early: a new SKU doesn’t steal from your existing volume. Done right, it takes the whole brand’s footprint up. That lens shapes how I think about portfolio strategy and product development still.
Field marketing isn’t awareness. It’s revenue. At Red Bull, field marketing was the closest thing to a direct sales force that a consumer brand can have. Every activation, every sampling moment, every account visit was building a commercial relationship — not a brand impression. Marketing as a revenue activity. I brought that lens to every role after.
You can’t run a consumer business without understanding the truck. Before you understand brand, you have to understand distribution. Before you understand distribution, you have to understand what happens between the warehouse and the shelf. I learned this by doing it. I haven’t thought about a consumer business the same way since.
Bijan Mustardson. A premium Dijon mustard brand built around one of college football’s most exciting players — and no product whatsoever. I built the recipe, sourced the ingredients, stood up the manufacturing process, and opened the retail accounts. From concept to shelf.
FitJoy Foods. A failing grain-free protein bar in a saturated category. I made the call to exit the category entirely, pivot the brand to grain-free pretzels, rebuild from the logo out, and launch three SKUs into natural channel grocery — top-quartile velocities in under a year.
Electrolit USA. Joined as the first full-time marketing hire when the brand was at $300M in annual revenue. Built the department from scratch, commercialized two new product lines end-to-end, and have helped grow the brand to $770M in annual revenue.
I build the whole machine — value chain, brand, and team — for consumer brands in the $20M to $500M range that are ready to scale the right way. Specialists manage what already exists. Operators build what must exist.
I’m a husband — fifteen years together, three kids. I play guitar, mostly for the meditative value rather than any aspiration toward performance. Before Red Bull I did illustration and design work, which explains why I still have opinions about label layouts and visual hierarchy that go a bit beyond the standard business case. I live in Central Texas partly for the family, partly for the food, and partly because finding natural swimming holes is one of the genuine pleasures of my life.
Inherited a failing grain-free protein bar in a saturated category. Made the call to exit, pivot the brand to grain-free pretzels, rebuild from the logo out, and launch three SKUs into natural channel grocery — top-quartile velocities in under a year.
→ Read the case studyBuilt a premium Dijon mustard brand from concept to shelf — recipe, sourcing, manufacturing, value chain, retail accounts. All of it. A true zero to one scenario.
→ Read the case studyJoined a $300M business with strong demand and no marketing function. As the first FTE marketing hire, built the department from zero, commercialized two new product systems, and helped take the business to $770M ARR.
→ Read the case study