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 is currently finishing a 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. She has been with SPINS for 6 years and has a leadership role on the SPINS Content Development team. The team is made up of a dedicated group of natural product specialists with backgrounds in various areas of the Natural Products Industry. Some of the experience she brought with her to SPINS includes managing the supplement department at a local natural foods store and starting her own nutrition consulting practice in San Francisco where she would meet 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 based in Penngrove, CA. She attended the California School of Herbal Studies located in Forestville, CA and graduated top of her class in 1998 with certificates in Foundations, Therapeutics and Clinical Herbalism. Her mentors include the respected master herbalists and authors James Green and David Hoffman.
Jeffrey Campbell
Natural Product Specialist
Jeffrey began his career with Safeway as a produce clerk selling a host of specialty products. Moving up in the company, he worked as a grocery manager for three years before becoming a store co-manager for two years. After leaving Safeway Jeffrey moved onto Tree of Life for a year, selling natural and specialty products to grocery and mass market stores. Jeffrey has a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from Mesa State College in Colorado. He is an avid gardener and an outdoor enthusiast.
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.
Dustin Phillips
Natural Product Specialist
Dustin came to SPINS in 2007 after working for Strawberry Fields, an independent natural food store in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois. Working in natural retail since 2004 experience, and adhering to a vegan lifestyle since 2002, Dustin describes himself as a “natural food 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 Steiling
Natural Product Specialist
Susanna comes to us with a background in both research and natural products retail. As a curatorial intern at a local Chicago museum in 2004, 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 preparing natural foods. Susanna quickly excelled to become the Prepared Foods and Bakery Team Leader in Evanston. Today she continues to pursue a personal interest in high quality natural and organic foods.
Angie Ubalde
Natural Product Specialist
Angie joined SPINS in the winter of 2005 with a great combination of research, project management, and Natural Products retail experience. Prior to joining us, she was the Email Marketing Specialist for MetaReward, Inc., responsible for managing and analyzing the success of their email marketing campaigns. Angie also worked as a buyer for the Body Care, Books/Cards/Magazines, and Housewares departments and as a Vitamin/Supplements salesperson for Whole Foods Market in Houston, Texas for five years. Angie is passionate about holistic health and environmental design. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Communications/Media Studies with a concentration in Visual Analysis from Mills College.
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.