EXPERIENCE
My Track Record
Every piece of advice I give is grounded in something I've actually lived. I've built companies from scratch, scaled them, raised capital, navigated boards, managed enterprise accounts, and made the hard calls that come with building something real.
FOUNDER EXPERIENCE
Paleo Scavenger
2014-2021
Chicago, IL
Founder & CEO
Paleo Scavenger (later, Within / Without) started as a bet on a category before the category had a name. I built it from the ground up as a solo founder leading product development, brand positioning, retail strategy, operations, and everything in between, and scaled it to $1M+ in revenue and distribution across 1,500+ retail locations nationwide before exiting via acquisition in 2021.
It required figuring out how to get on shelf, how to stay on shelf, how to build a brand that moved product without a massive marketing budget, and how to run a lean operation without sacrificing quality. The lessons from that build inform everything I do with founders today.
The exit validated the model and gave me a front-row seat to what acquirers actually look for, which turns out to be very different from what most founders spend their time building toward.
$1M+ Revenue
1500+ Retail Locations
Exited via Acquisition
AQUA Cultured Foods
2020-2025
Chicago, IL
Co-Founder & CEO
AQUA was a different kind of build entirely: deep tech, venture-backed, category-creating. We developed a proprietary fermentation-based process to produce fish-free seafood with the taste, texture, and nutritional profile of the real thing. Nothing like it existed when we started.
Over five years, we raised $10M+ across multiple rounds, filed 19 patents protecting our fermentation process and product applications, secured FDA regulatory approval, built and operated a 5,000 square foot food-grade production facility in Chicago, and achieved product-market fit in fine dining with placements at three-starred Alinea and Michelin Bib Gourmand Mama Delia.
Beyond the commercial and operations build, I managed the full responsibilities of a venture-backed CEO: board governance and dynamics, investor reporting, board materials preparation and delivery, and an M&A process navigating the complexity of strategic acquirer conversations, due diligence, and the decisions that come with trying to find the right outcome for the company, team, and technology. That experience gave me a firsthand understanding of what founders face at every stage of the capital and governance journey, and it's directly relevant to the founders I partner with today.
We were named one of FoodNavigator's Top 30 World's Hottest Food-Tech Innovators in 2025 and featured in NBC Chicago, Fox Business News, Fox 32 Chicago, Rolling Stone, SeafoodSource, Green Queen, BizJournals, and many more.
AQUA wound down in late 2025 following a brutal fundraising environment for alt-protein. I'm proud of what we built, transparent about what we learned, and clear-eyed about how those lessons make me a better partner for the founders I work with now.
$10M Raised
19 Filed Patents
Regulatory Approval
Michelin-starred Placements
CORPORATE EXPERIENCE
Schreiber Foods
2008-2018
Chicago, IL
Enterprise Sales & Commercial Leadership
Before taking the entrepreneurial leap, I spent a decade at Schreiber Foods, one of the largest privately held food companies in the world, in progressive sales and commercial leadership roles. I managed accounts ranging from $15M to $140M across foodservice and retail grocery, working directly with some of the largest food buyers in the country.
That experience taught me how the other side of the table thinks. What moves a buyer. How large commercial relationships are structured, negotiated, and maintained. What separates the products that earn shelf space from the ones that don't. It's a perspective most founders never get, and one that shapes how I approach channel strategy and commercial development with every client I work with today.
$15M - $140M Accounts
Foodservice & Retail Grocery
10 years
RECOGNITION & PRESS
Good Morning America — Watch
The Future of Protein Production, Speaker — 2026
FoodNavigator Top 30 World's Hottest Food-Tech Innovators — 2025
NBC 5 Chicago — 2025
FoodTech 500 — 2024, 2025
Global Midwest Alliance, Speaker — 2025
Climate Solutions Prize Festival Speaker — 2025
Fox Business News — 2025
SeafoodSource, Michelin Chef Partnerships — 2024
University of Illinois, University of Chicago Booth, & Big Idea Ventures Guest Speaker — Ongoing
PODCAST APPEARANCES
Protein Production Technology International, "Special Episode: AQUA Cultured Foods" — Listen
Owning Your Legacy with Loretta Ronadette — Coming June 2026
Ready to make it happen?
Let's talk about where you are, where you want to go, and how I can help you get there faster.