SPINS' Team of Natural Product Specialists
Brent Coons
Director, SPINS Product Library
Brent
began his work in the Natural Products Industry in 1998 at a San Francisco Real Food Co. store. After quickly being promoted to a store buyer and supervisor, he spent the next five years gaining valuable insight from the store's long-time customers. Brent then helped to open a Whole Foods Market in downtown San Francisco, where he was grocery buyer for a year. Beyond his work in the retail space, he personally embraces holistic and sustainable living with a particular interest in music, healing arts, health and gardening. Brent has also studied alternative healing, Chinese medicine, massage therapy and reflexology. He has been with SPINS for a little over 6 years and recently received his BA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University.
Kerry Watson
Manager, SPINS Product Library
Kerry has worked in the natural products industry for more than 13 years and has been with SPINS for 7 years, where she plays a leadership role in the SPINS Content-Development team. She is also a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for Nutrition Outlook Magazine. Her industry experience includes managing the supplement department at a local natural foods store and starting her own nutrition-consulting practice in San Francisco, where she met with clients to help them achieve better health through diet and nutritional supplementation. Kerry is certified as a nutrition consultant, diet counselor, and nutritional educator through Bauman College. She attended the California School of Herbal Studies located in Forestville, CA, and graduated with certificates in Foundations, Therapeutics, and Clinical Herbalism.
Warren Jones
Natural Product Specialist
Warren
has been with SPINS since 1999 and has worked in the Natural Products Industry since 1985. Prior to joining us, he worked in a small natural food co-op in his hometown of Buffalo, NY and a large collectively owned natural foods store in San Francisco. There, he and his 200 colleagues did everything from participating in major financial decisions to helping customers with their buying decisions. Warren became vegetarian in 1983 and has been vegan since 1990. He enjoys film, music, camping, art, activism and promoting the benefits of a vegan diet in his spare time. He holds a Fine Arts degree from Buffalo State College.
Jake Knepper
Natural Product Specialist
Jake
joined SPINS after earning his BS degree, in Business Marketing, at Iowa State University. Having grown up in rural Iowa, his concern for the environment, food safety and the family farmer led him to pursue a career and life interest in the organic and natural products industry. While attending college, Jake interned with Wholesome Harvest Organic Meats. There, as a Marketing Specialist, he created and maintained databases, built business relationships with independent and national retailers and represented the company at trade shows.
Vanessa Mroski
Natural Product Specialist
Vanessa
comes to SPINS with over 8 years of experience in the Natural Industry. After working in retail at a Chicago area Whole Foods Vanessa moved into their regional corporate office. In this position Vanessa maintained multiple product databases utilized by stores in and throughout the Midwest region. She worked closely with Department Buyers, Manufacturer Vendors and Marketing department for the region. Vanessa brings a unique and broad experience from an industry important retailer.
Dorothy Paape
Natural Product Specialist
Dorothy joined SPINS in September 2010. She previously worked for Cost Plus World Market in Oak Brook, IL for four years where she gained much exposure to natural and specialty products through her leadership roles as Beverage Department Head, Gourmet Department Head and Point of Sales Coordinator. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree as well as a MBA in Marketing from Dominican University in River Forest, IL. She enjoys a natural focused lifestyle including a passion for gardening, cooking and exploring new wines. Her specialty background and broad retail experience make her a strong fit for our team.
Dustin Phillips
Natural Product Specialist
Dustin came to SPINS in January of 2007 after working for three years at Strawberry Fields, an independent natural food store in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Adhering to a vegan lifestyle since 2002, Dustin describes himself as a “natural foods enthusiast”. He also brings valuable database experience relevant to SPINS' work. Dustin has a BS in Social Studies Education and a BA in Psychology from Southern Illinois University.
Susanna Ghaemi
Natural Product Specialist
Susanna began at SPINS in 2009 with a background in both research and natural products retail. As a curatorial intern at a local Chicago museum, she indexed artifacts for the museum database and promoted docent education through research and essays. After an additional year of research and writing her thesis, she completed her BA in Art History in 2006 from Loyola University Chicago. Later that year, she joined Whole Foods Market, where she discovered her passion for natural foods. Susanna quickly excelled to become the Prepared Foods and Bakery Team Leader in Evanston. Through preparing a variety of recipes catered towards clean ingredients, a healthy lifestyle and special diets, Susanna gained a breadth of knowledge about the natural products industry.
Angie Ubalde
Natural Product Specialist
Angie joined SPINS in 2005 with a great combination of research, project management, and Natural Products retail experience. Prior to joining SPINS, she was the Email Marketing Specialist for MetaReward, Inc., an Experian company, responsible for producing, managing, and analyzing the success of their email marketing campaigns. Angela began her work in the Natural Products Industry in 1995 at Whole Foods Market in Houston, Texas. Leveraging her expertise in homeopathic medicine and organic/natural body care, Whole Foods utilized Angela as the buyer for two of their departments. As an emphatic supporter of holistic health and environmental design, Angela is expressing this passion by investing in and calling home to San Francisco’s first LEED certified residential high-rise building. Angela enjoys films on sustainability, environmentalism, and food policy challenges. As an award-winning filmmaker, concentrating in Visual Analysis for her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Mills College, Angela brings an eye for detail and design to all of her work.
Rafael Bratman
SPINS Manager of Business Analytics, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage
Rafael started at SPINS in 2006, first as a member of the Content Development team, and currently as the Manager of Business Analytics for Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage. Rafael is also an educator, avid gardener, and food policy activist with a passion for sustainability. He holds a B.A. in the Social Sciences from Wesleyan University, and certificates in Architecture and Green Business from Chicago’s Center for Green Technology. Rafael is active in the community, volunteering with the Chicago Food Policy Advisory Council, and teaching gardening and environmental education at a local religious school. His work experience includes sales of IPM fruits at Farmer's Markets and work with Sustain USA's Familyfarmed.org Expo as an Outreach Coordinator to farmers, food distributors and food service industry personnel. Rafael has also worked as an activist for The Campaign to Label GMOs and BioEthics2006. Rafael brings a passion for health and the Natural Food Industry to all of his endeavors.
Isabella Harbut
Natural Product Specialist
Isabella has recently joined SPINS after previously working for a local health food and supplement store. Earning a bachelor degree from the University of South Florida in Sociology with a minor in Psychology, Isabella has always enjoyed researching and analyzing social behavior. She also studied a semester abroad in Hawaii to study Global Social Behavior. After graduation she then moved to Italy for a year to attend Florence Design Academy to further her studies and passion in sustainable design and architecture. Isabella has always led a passionate lifestyle, in which running, the environment, health and the outdoors suit her desire to achieve and attain her goals. Continually she always strives to promote an active and healthy lifestyle, running in numerous races, gardening and promoting vegetarianism. Isabella has spent many years traveling around the world living in various states and out of the country and through her fulfilling lifestyle she brings her passion and devotion to SPINS.
Michelle Gillespie
Natural Product Specialist
Michelle joined SPINS in March of 2010. Her interest in the Natural and Organic Products industry is driven by her commitment to health and wellness. She is passionate about raw food nutrition and is a raw milk activist. Michelle is currently working toward her Master of Nutrition Therapy degree from the Nutrition Therapy Institute in Denver, Colorado. She spent a year working in nutrition and public health education with the Yapese in the Federated States of Micronesia with the United States Peace Corps. She has also worked as a graphic designer, creating labels for a line of 100% organic body care and food products, and as a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) accredited landscape designer with an interest in environmentally sustainable design. Michelle’s broad experience and dedicated natural consumer lifestyle is a welcome fit to our team and our company.
Kim Elrick
Natural Product Specialist
Kim came to SPINS in December 2010 after spending 2 years at Fruitful Yield, a natural food store in South Elgin, Illinois. First she worked as Team Lead and Assistant Supplement Buyer and later was promoted to Assistant Manager. For three years prior, her dietetic internships landed her in the orbit of Park Ridge Multi Med, an integrative medicine clinic in Park Ridge, Illinois, where she gained valuable insight into Functional Nutrition. She spent two years as Clinical Nutrition Program Assistant and Retail Supplement Inventory Coordinator, which helped to expand her knowledge base and expertise by allowing her to work with a leading specialist in her field, Registered Dietitian Susan Allen. Kim completed her BA of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics with a concentration in Community Health from Northern Illinois University, in 2005.
Jacob Ortony
Contractor
Jacob started at SPINS in the winter of 2011 working within the Content Development team. He has a strong background in both computers and natural foods. He studied the hard and soft sciences at several schools including the University of Illinois and Santa Monica College in CA. He spent 6 years at Whole Foods as a staff supervisor and at the Common Ground Co-Op. In addition, he opened a small computer business of his own where he enjoyed helping clients with a variety of computer issues. His natural product industry experience and background as a computer consultant bring a unique perspective to the Content Development team at SPINS.