Valynne
Founder, Mountain Girl Organics
During the
winter of 2005 I chose to make
the move from Connecticut to
Colorado. Heading west
with a pick-up truck full of
belongings was pretty
spontaneous, but I went with my
gut and feel it was one of the
best decisions I’ve made. Paul
and I met a few weeks after I
arrived and have been
inseparable since.
My
background is mainly in Human
Services, having worked in
mental health, eldercare, and as
an intern for a youth prison in
California. I would often
supplement my income with a
bartending job on the side.
In between shifts I took college
courses, eventually earning my
Bachelor’s Degree from the
University of Connecticut.
Soon after
arriving in sunny Colorado, I
realized that living in a dry
climate would take some getting
used to. Paul called me
“Lotion Girl” back then because
I would be slathering it on
constantly. It occurred to
me that my skin had always responded best
when I simply mixed together
ingredients found from the local
apothecary or health food store (beeswax, organic
herbs and nut oils, etc). Most
of the recipes were found in
books or online, and I was
really enjoying creating healthy
alternatives to the pricey and
chemical-laden products in the
shops.
With Paul’s encouragement, I
began taking classes that
focused on topics like
aromatherapy, herbs, nutrition,
and how to create various
natural products. Paul has been
behind me from day one,
motivating and inspiring me to
take my passion for all things
natural and make it into
Mountain Girl Organics,
which became official January 1,
2007.
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Paul
CFO, Mountain Girl Organics
I moved to
the USA in March 2003 from my
Oxfordshire, UK home. I had been
working for Denver based
software company, and after
brief periods working in Detroit
and Dallas, I relocated to
Denver.
Having
visited Colorado on several
occasions previously, finding a
home in Evergreen became a
priority for me…a peaceful
dwelling nestled in the Rockies,
yet close enough to my Tech
Center office for a comfortable
commute.
In 2006 I
met Valynne and I soon learned
that she had a passion for the
planet and the use of natural
and organic products, along with
a real concern regarding the use
of toxic and harmful ingredients
in everyday bath and body
products. From that passion
Mountain Girl Organics
was born and I'm very proud of
what Valynne has achieved in so
short a time.
MGO has
passed its year mark and is
growing at a steady pace.
Valynne and I decided to become
partners in the business, making
me in charge of finances (her
least favorite duty!).
While it
seems that there is little time
to relax these days, Valynne
shares my passion for the great
outdoors and travel. She
does not, however, derive the
same amount of pleasure when it
comes to Football (Soccer in US
terms), Rugby and Cricket!
I continue
to thoroughly love Evergreen and
Colorado. We have both met
some wonderful people, many of
whom we are honored to call
friends. I miss the UK in many
ways; family and friends of
course, but also the wonderful
pubs and real beer, fish and
chips, and a good curry! I have
been lucky to experience many
different countries and peoples,
but I am quite happy to call
Evergreen home..
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Laurie
Formulator, Mountain Girl
Organics
Laurie Teason and I met when
Mountain Girl Organics was brand
new. I had so much to learn
then (and still do) and Laurie
is the one who has taught me the
most. This woman answers my
questions on just about a daily
basis…I do believe she knows
nearly every nook and cranny of
this industry! In other words,
Laurie she has been a driving
force in the success of Mountain
Girl Organics.
Paul and
Laurie and I will be working
together more and more as the
wholesale orders from across the
country continue to come in.
Laurie established her own soap
company (www.sweetcheeksco.com)
in 2001. She also formulates
and manufactures bath and body
products for other companies.
She teaches soapmaking and is a
fabulous consultant all around.
Also a jewelry maker and a
quilter, Laurie enjoys
making stained glass windows,
cooking and baking and sitting
down with a good book. Laurie
and her husband Tim have been
married twenty-six years and
live in Lakewood, Colorado. Both
of their sons are living on
their own now – Grant is a chef,
and Ben an auto-mechanic. Tim
is a master carpenter. He and
Laurie created the molds I use
for my soaps. You can also
admire his handiwork when
visiting me at one of my market
booths – he made the display
cases! They are a renaissance
family of builders and creators.
Laurie is the only one (besides
me, of course) I want making MGO
products at this point. She
taught me just about everything
I know about soaping, after
all! So, while I move my booth
from market to festival, while I
visit new boutiques and spas and
co-ops all over Colorado and
beyond, I know Laurie will be
working away, behind the scenes,
creating more wonderful Mountain
Girl Organics products for all
of us. Thank you, Laurie! |
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Jeni
Marketing, Mountain Girl Organics
Jeni
Cuene oversees marketing and public
relations programs for a variety of
clients, including Mountain Girl
Organics. Specifically, she creates,
implements, and measures the success of
a comprehensive marketing campaign,
which includes advertising, collateral
materials, web initiatives,
publications, media relations, and more.
Mrs.
Cuene brings over ten years of
marketing, sales, and business
development experience to the each
project. She has held marketing
positions with several companies
including National Reclaim, Inc.,
Integrated Pain Solutions, LLC, and
PainCare Holdings Inc., the parent
company of Integrated Pain Solutions, as
well as, a well-known international bank
and an architecture, engineering, and
environmental firm.
Mrs.
Cuene developed a business relationship
with Mountain Girl Organics while
working with Integrated Pain Solutions (IPS).
IPS attended 12 healthcare conferences
in 2007 and needed a natural, healthy
product as a give away. Mrs. Cuene
integrated Mountain Girl Organics Mint
Mystique Lip Quenchers’ into her
marketing strategy for the healthcare
conferences. They were so successful
that people would recommend others to
stop by the IPS booth just for the lip
quenchers!
Maria
Strategic Planning, Mountain
Girl Organics
Maria McAfee has
over 25 years of senior managerial
experience in various industries. Ms.
McAfee started and managed four
companies over the past 17 years. She
started two companies that were wholly
owned subsidiaries of public companies
trading on the American Stock Exchange.
Ms.
McAfee is responsible for P&L, sales,
marketing, MIS implementation, and
financial management. She has also
worked as a consultant, offering her
expertise in strategy, marketing,
contract negotiations, management, and
business and network development to
clients in various industries.
Ms.
McAfee has been friends with Valynne,
Founder of Mountain Girl Organics
for several years. Ms. McAfee has
recommended MGO to companies she
has worked with as a natural marketing
tool that would be beneficial to
everyone that comes in contact with the
products. Ms. McAfee has promoted and
integrated MGO into her
conference campaigns, give-a-ways, and
raffles. Mountain Girl Organics’
products have made Ms. McAfee’s
campaigns successful as people keep
coming back for more!
Hunt
Hunt has worked in
the natural/organic CPG industry for
over 10 years and has seen, first-hand,
the movement by consumers towards
healthier, better-for-you products. He
has helped to build and manage several
start-up brands which were focused in
all major retail channels, both
domestically and internationally.
Hunt currently works for Snikiddy
Snacks, a dynamic and exciting
all-natural foods company, as the VP of
Sales. Snikiddy is committed to changing
the snacking landscape for families
towards healthier choices.
Paul and I met Hunt and Angie through
mutual friends in 2007 and I (Valynne)
have been picking his brain ever since!
Hunt and Angie believe that a healthy
life-style, and making decisions on
better-for-you foods, begins at home.
They also have been strong supporters of
MGO from the very beginning. Hunt and
Angie were given samplers of MGO
products before they were even available
for sale.
I am convinced that
the cosmetics industry will be impacted
by the demand for organic ingredients
just as the food industry has been these
past few years; this is where Hunt and
his years of experience come in!
Emily
General Counsel, Mountain
Girl Organics
Emily Ossmann enjoys
playing the guitar and piano, singing,
and breathing the fresh Evergreen
air while hiking, skiing and ice
skating. She has been married since
2000, and enjoys life in the mountains
with her husband, Michael, and their two
Great Danes, Milo and Ivy, and Rhodesian
Ridgeback, Charley.
Valynne met Emily at a “Brainstorming
Session” for soapers a couple of years
ago and found that they shared many a
similar interest including natural
products of all kinds, farmers markets,
music, art, and chickens (Emily now
raises them while Valynne looks on with
curiosity). And while Valynne
really appreciates listening to good
music and gazing upon fine art, Emily
actually creates the two!
Emily holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from the
University of Colorado at Boulder, where
she graduated with honors, and a Master
of Art and Art History from the School
of the Art Institute of Chicago. Emily
received her Juris Doctorate from the
University of Denver Sturm College of
Law, which means she is really good at
drawing up contracts for MGO and other
important stuff like that…
Julie
Event Planner, Mountain Girl
Organics
Julie
Gallahue is a long time resident of
Evergreen, Colorado. Married to Dave
Gallahue and Mother of three sons, Adam,
Alec and Ian, she began event planning
independently in 2005.
Julie
brings to
Mountain Girl Organics experience in
planning events ranging from fundraisers
to weddings, and looks forward to
organizing events that reflect the
beliefs and philosophies of MGO. Her
vision for the company’s events include
organic elements and creature comforts
that remind guests of the simple
pleasures that only nature and good
friends can provide.
In
addition to event planning, Julie also
writes and produces independent feature
films with her company, Goldie Mae
Productions, LLC. Mountain Girl
Organics and Goldie Mae Productions
partnered in producing the current film
entitled “Left Unsaid” to debut in the
summer of 2010. A custom MGO bar soap
was developed for Goldie Mae Productions
and sales of the soap helped fund the
movie.
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