President and founder of IGNITE Sales Management and Consulting since 2006

• 13-year Sales veteran of General Mills, Inc. 
  • Led initiatives covering virtually all aspects of CPG industry including:
    • Regional and national wholesalers and distributors
    • Corporate chains
    • Category development and management
    •  Trade marketing and spending development
    • Product sales and channel management and promotion
    •  Non-grocery channels (Wal*Mart, Target, Drug, Club)
    • Retail development and execution
    • Natural/Organic
  • Led and directed the National Sales, Category Management and Trade Marketing organizations of Small Planet Foods.  During his tenure, the organic division:
    • Realized a 6,500+% increase in EBIT
    • Realized all time highs in net sales more than quadrupling the sales growth of the rest of the organization
    • Realized all-time highs in distribution and new product growth
    • Was awarded the Natural/Organic “Category Captaincy” from Cannondale and Associates for superior category leadership
  • Kent was a recipient of a world-wide General Mills “Champions Award” for superior organizational accomplishments, given annually to approximately 35 individuals (out of over 25,000 employees) within the organization
  • Additionally, he also received four Regional, three Zone, and a National sales award at General Mills National Sales Meetings' for his contribution to the sales organization and accomplishments during his career

Kent is a life-long Nebraska Husker fan, avid marathoner and tri-athlete.  He loves to travel and notes his favorite location as Queenstown, New Zealand.  Most recently, Kent enjoys spending time with his wife and son!

Regional Business Manager – West

• Over 19 years of sales experience in the CPG industry
• Roles include territory manager, account manager, senior account manager, key account manager, western region sales manager and most recently sales manager for the western states
• Expertise in regional sales management, national accounts, broker partnership, alternative channels and all things CPG food sales.
• 7 years of experience with General Mills, Inc.
• Costco Key Account Management for LA/SW regions:
• Inventory planning/forecasting
• Business planning (category management and trade analytics)
• Strategic account management
• 8 years with Campbell Soup in various positions from Territory Manager up through Senior Account Executive.    Received 2 Merit Awards
• 2 years with Dole Packaged Foods managing the Southwestern Sales Region.
• Other organizations with sales management experience include Gallo Wine Company, Merisant Sweeteners and Circle Foods, LLC..

David enjoys spending time with his wife (Tomoe) and 2 kids (Kota and Maya).  Whenever time permits, he enjoys traveling to exotic destinations, surfing and going to the beach with the kids. 

Regional Business Manager – Grocery West

• Over 9 years of experience in the CPG industry
• 7 years of experience with General Mills, Inc. in various positions including:
• Supply Chain
• Customer service
• Inventory planning/forecasting
• Business planning (category management and trade analytics)
• Strategic account management
• 2 years with Nestle Waters as the Customer Development Manager for west coast retail operations in the club/mass channel
• Worked in numerous product categories from refrigerated dough, yogurt, frozen vegetables, breakfast, pizza, snacks, center store salty snacks, Mexican, organic/natural Small Planet Foods, imported and domestic beverages
• Expertise working with wholesalers, distributors, corporate chains, mass merchants and clubs, both regionally and nationally

Nancy enjoys spending time with her family and friends and soaking up all her community has to offer.  She appreciates the outdoors where camping, hiking and even scuba-diving beckon her.  She and her husband are busy welcoming their first child into their family!

Regional Business Manager – Northeast

• Over 17 years of experience in the retail industry
• 12 years  of which have been in the food industry including both buying and selling 
• Previous organizational experience includes:
• C&S Wholesale
• Millbrook Distributing
• Most recently, he held a Business Manager position with Natural Specialty Sales/Acosta responsible for business development of grocery customers in the Northeast
• Expertise working with retailers, distributors, wholesalers, brokers, and manufacturers

Scott keeps himself busy spending time with his wife and three boys (a set of twins and their older brother).  He enjoys time spend coaching his son’s baseball team.  His love of baseball goes beyond coaching and to the big league where Scott is a tried and true Red Sox fan.

Director of Marketing and Communication

• Over 9 years of experience working in Marketing and Public Relations
•  7+ years experience with General Mills, Inc. in Brand Management
• Worked across a variety of established and new brands and channels including a focus on multicultural and international consumers
• Developed strategic business plans, brand positioning, advertising, consumer and trade promotions and business analysis

• Experience working in the non-profit sector where she developed and implemented a Communications and PR campaign that resulted in the company's strongest year in over a decade

Heather loves to dance and enjoys both practicing and teaching yoga.  International travel is another passion from which an African safari has become her favorite travel experience.   When she’s not out running/training for a marathon, she most importantly enjoys spending time with her husband and son.

Regional Business Manager – Natural East

• Over 9 years of experience in the CPG industry
  • 7 years of experience with General Mills, Inc. in various positions including:
    • Supply Chain
    • Customer service
    • Inventory planning/forecasting
    • Project management
    • Business planning (category management and trade analytics)
    • Strategic account management
  • 2 years with Peace Coffee, a Fair Trade, Organic coffee roaster located in Minneapolis, MN where she managed all sales and customer service functions for the company
  • Worked in numerous product categories including coffee, tea, frozen vegetables, breakfast, pizza, snacks, Mexican, baked goods and cereal
  •  Expertise working with co-ops, natural food stores, small stores, wholesalers, distributors, corporate chains, mass merchants and clubs, both regionally and nationally

Megan has a love for all things culinary from growing the ingredients in her garden to preparing them for the table.  She’s very passionate about community involvement, sustainable living and would love an opportunity to discuss with anyone who is interested.  Megan is an avid traveler both here in the US as well as internationally.

Category Analyst

Renée’s been in the Natural Foods Industry for over 9 years. Organizations include Barbara’s Bakery, Natural Specialty Sales, & the Hain-Celestial Group.

Experience includes

• Corporate Sales Reporting
• Sales & Data Analysis
• Sales & Growth Budgeting and Analysis
• Inventory Tracking and Projection
• Sales Coordination – Business Planning
• New Client Roll-Outs; New Product Launches
• Promotion /Trade Spending - Planning & Analysis
• Customer Service

Renée enjoys everything outdoors and social and loves getting her family involved.  With 3 year old twin daughters and a 13 year old son, life is always busy and fun. Traveling, camping, and catching a great concert as often as possible are tops on the Martelle List of Things To Do, but the favorite will always be hitting the beach on California’s central coast.

Regional Business Manager – Southeast

• Over 10 years of sales and business development experience in the CPG industry, with both the broker and manufacturer 
• Organizations where he managed regional business include:
• Mott’s
• Welch’s
• Ocean Spray
• Nestle Water
• Diamond Brands
• Castleberry Foods
• Expertise working with retailers, brokers, and manufacturers within:
• Business development
• Category management
• Trade marketing
• Fiscal responsibility
• Retail development and execution