ACG 101 Oct. 2023 Emerging Food & Beverage Brands

Carol has practiced public accounting since 1991. She leads the Food & Beverage Practice and Agribusiness Practice for the Southern California region. She has significant experience in accounting, auditing, and general business and management matters of multigenerational family-owned and private equity–managed entities. Carol provides assurance services to various middle-market food processing, beverage, and agriculture companies. In 2010, Carol was honored with the California Society of Certified Public Accountants prestigious Women to Watch Experienced Leader award. In October of 2011, she was also awarded the San Fernando Business Journal’s Trusted Advisor award. Most recently, she was honored as one of the top 500 influential leaders in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Business Journal, and of that group, was recognized as a Top Leader.

Marc Striowski, based in Los Angeles, is a managing director with over 15 years' experience covering consumer and retail companies in the United States. Marc provides a broad range of corporate finance and M&A advisory services for companies across consumer sectors, including food and beverage, agriculture, consumer products, household and personal care, and emerging consumer brands. Marc is responsible for client development, management and transaction execution leadership, and works in partnership with companies implementing changes in corporate form (e.g. merger, sale, public offerings), pursuing significant strategic expansions via acquisition (idea generation, transaction analysis, structuring and deal execution), or conducting recurrent and transformational financings. Prior to moving to Los Angeles in 2021, Marc spent 11 years in New York City within the Global Consumer Investment Banking teams at BofA (2014 to 2021) and Barclays (from 2010 to 2014). Prior to business school, Marc worked as a CPA with Deloitte in Chicago. Marc lives with his wife, daughter and son in the Pacific Palisades, CA, and enjoys running and hiking with them in the many trails along the Pacific Ocean. Marc graduated with honors from the University of Notre Dame (BBA and MS in Accountancy) and from the University of Chicago (MBA), Booth School of Business. He is a CPA in the state of Illinois (inactive).

Jeanne David is the Founder and CBO of the award-winning company, Outer Aisle Gourmet, LLC. Jeanne also currently serves on Outer Aisle’s Board of Directors. Four years after its products were first rolled out in the local Whole Foods in Santa Barbara, Outer Aisle was named the 5^th fastest growing company in CA by Inc magazine. Outer Aisle created and manufactured two game-changing food products - gluten-free, grain-free, nutrient dense, low-carb Cauliflower Pizza Crusts and Sandwich Thins/Wraps.

During her time as CEO, Jeanne oversaw all aspects of the company, including - Product Development, Production/Operations, Sales and Marketing. During her tenure, Outer Aisle grew from a start up in her kitchen at her home to being included in the Inc.5000 fastest growing companies in the U.S. two years in a row. The company’s annual revenue grew from $750,000 to over $38,000,000 in just 6 years.

Jeanne is a natural born entrepreneur and has started several small businesses, the first one at age 10. The most successful of these introduced a line of natural food products to market in Louisiana.

The idea for OAG’s product line was born when Jeanne and her husband, Dan, decided to change their diets - cutting out sugar, bread and processed carbs while increasing vegetables. The goal was to keep their blood sugar level all day long. Jeanne experimented with vegetables as a substitute for other ingredients in their favorite foods and ultimately created Cauliflower Sandwich Thins/Wraps and Pizza Crust so her family could enjoy sandwiches, burgers, tacos, lasagna and even pizza without the carbs.

Previously, Jeanne was the Executive Director of the Central Coast branch of the Arthritis Foundation, which gave her a greater awareness of the ravages of inflammation on people’s health and well-being and of the crucial role diet plays in overall health.

With more than half of American adults being overweight or obese and a similar percentage being prediabetic or diabetic, and with the primary cause of these epidemics being the high sugar and high processed carbs in the Standard American Diet, market data collected by OAG indicates that the demand for its low-carb products is just beginning to take off.

Jeanne loves giving back and serving wherever she can – whether it is mentoring other CEOs, running marathons to raise funds for Team World Vision (to bring clean water systems to third world countries) or volunteering in the Santa Barbara community.

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Demir Vangelov is an executive known for scaling consumer businesses. He has 25 years of diverse experience that spans premium, natural, plant-based beverages, protein, mass-market food products, and other industries. In his corporate career, he has turned around financial distress, delivered top and bottom-line growth, raised capital, and built supply chain and manufacturing operations.

Demir is a board director for Starco Brands, a public consumer goods company. Previously, he was the Chief Executive Officer of Soylent, the original food tech company acquired by Starco Brands in 2023. Prior to joining Soylent, Demir was the first CFO and COO of Califia Farms, a privately held, founder-led maker of innovative non-dairy beverages. He contributed to 5x revenue growth by raising capital, steering domestic and international expansion, and establishing a scalable infrastructure.

Demir is a member of the Fortune CEO Initiative, a global leadership collective committed to enacting meaningful social change. He is also an active member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). 

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Meet Trey Lockerbie: International touring musician, podcast host and co-founder/CEO of the fastest growing functional beverage company in the US! Having a constant rigorous touring schedule filled with late nights, early mornings, airplanes, and tour buses; Trey craved connectedness to a community and a healthier lifestyle. Knowing this lifestyle wasn’t sustainable long term, he co-founded Better Booch, the fastest growing kombucha brand nationwide now sold in Costco, Target, Whole Foods and Walmart. Having the passion for making wellness more approachable to more people, Trey, along with his wife Ashleigh, set out to create the best tasting, highest quality “booch” at an approachable price point. Additionally, with any downtime off the road from touring, Trey became increasingly interested in where to put his money. After the success of Better Booch, he realized becoming a businessman could help him become a successful investor, too. He set out to learn everything he could about investing, by listening to finance podcasts, connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs and learning about the blockchain industry. And in his early days, this involved complex option trading strategies, dinners with Warren Buffett (really), and coming to learn the merits of value investing. His conversations with Buffett launched him into becoming the host of what is now the #1 investing podcast in the world - The Investor’s Podcast (aka ‘We Study Billionaires’) which has over 100 million downloads. 

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Kelley Scanlin is the visionary Founder and CEO of Pure Simple Foods, a dynamic holding company that encompasses three up and coming brands in the natural food sector: Lark Ellen Farm, Banner Road Baking Co, and the latest addition, Purely Sprouted. With an unwavering commitment to promoting the goodness of natural foods and harnessing the health benefits of sprouted nuts and seeds, Kelley has become a driving force in the industry. Her journey began in 2015 when she embarked on a personal quest to heal her body from inflammation, leading her to create Lark Ellen Farm in her own kitchen.

Under Kelley's leadership, Pure Simple Foods has thrived as a beacon of health-conscious innovation. Lark Ellen Farm, born out of Kelley's quest for personal healing, has grown into a beloved brand that offers an array of delicious and nutrient-packed sprouted nut and seed snacks. Banner Road Baking Co complements the portfolio with its delectable, yet healthy granola. The latest venture, Purely Sprouted, demonstrates her enduring dedication to spreading the message of the transformative power of sprouting, further cementing her status as a pioneer in the natural food industry. Kelley Scanlin's journey is not just about building a successful business; it's about sharing her passion for nourishing, healing, and revitalizing through the pure simplicity of nature's offerings.

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