Blake began his career in corporate finance and investment banking prior to graduating with an MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA. He went on to pursue a career as a consumer packaged goods marketing and general management executive. Blake successfully transformed several brands and pioneered the Nestle Beverage Company entry into category management during his tenure with Nestle USA. As VP Marketing and General Manager for Celestial Seasonings, a growth stage natural foods company, he and his team successfully grew the business by roughly 50% over a two-year period prior to the sale of the company. Blake’s background includes starting up a consumer focused e-commerce company as well as turn-around management experience with a European owned Consumer Goods Company. From 2002 to 2009 Blake was a partner in a Marketing and Business Strategy consulting firm leveraging his 20 years of experience successfully building and growing both mature and start-up businesses in various roles in marketing management, business development, sales management, and general management. In April of 2009 Blake returned to Celestial Seasonings as the CMO to provide the vision and innovation for the company to successfully drive growth while fulfilling the brands mission of being an environmentally and socially responsible business. In March 2013 Blake joined Quinoa Corporation (a private equity backed company) as the Chief Marketing and Sales Officer and transitioned to the CEO soon after joining in March of 2013. Quinoa Corporation is the first company to export Quinoa from Bolivia and makes a range of products under the Ancient Harvest brand. In 2016 Blake joined as CEO of the a2 Milk Company in North America to drive growth of this natural innovation into North America based in Boulder Colorado. Under Blake’s guidance the brand has experienced rapid growth and is now a nationally distributed brand across all channels of trade. Blake lives in Lafayette Colorado with his wife and has two adult children that are on the east and west coast. Blake has sat on the board of several growth stage consumer products companies, Naturally Boulder, and actively enjoys his lifestyle that includes hiking, skiing, reading, tennis, running, yoga, and meditation.
