How would you describe what you do to someone who knows nothing about Clif Bar or your role?
It’s magic. Like the thread that holds your trousers together. You don’t think about it, it doesn’t seem special at all, but without it, no trousers. I move quietly in the background, stitching together details and minutia. Like a butterfly going from flower to flower (Creative Team, Brand, our exhibit house, Sports Retail, Marketing, etc.) on a sunny day or like a stealthy ninja who doesn’t need shadows, or a butterfly ninja. Me and my kaleidoscope of butterflies (the Trade Services Team) take everything that goes into creating a tradeshow presence (budget, build, product, logistics, timelines, sponsorships, staffing, accommodations, and LOTS more) and we bring it together in one place to move as one cohesive majestic entity. The unified goal is to grant trade show wishes and make it look like it didn’t take any effort at all to execute, and that it was always just one beautiful thing that looks exactly like what creative designed and functions the way our internal teams imagined it would. That’s the wild crafted magic of Trade Services. My personal specialty is to season the tradeshow sponsorships so they have extra flavor and to find the internal gaps where more life can live, in such a way that it enriches the internal landscape. So I’ve added to the mothers’ lounge, swag at states, and the light n fast sales sampling program.
What do you love most about working at Clif Bar?
I’ve been here for almost 24 years, so my answer is easy. It’s watching a company that was once a really cool little funky business make its mark from local underdog to hometown hero, and grow to become a big beautiful, robust, living, and thriving force for good and change in business, and in the world. I love contributing my energy to a place that is so vibrantly alive and is growth oriented across multiple aspirations. Balance is important to me, so I feel fortunate many times over to have been able to basically grow up here. I think I was about 10 when I started. Who knew?! Watching this story unfold on the ground has been an incredible once-in-a-lifetime experience. I don’t know what tomorrow holds for me, but yesterday and today are awesome! I wouldn’t trade any of this experience for all the cookies in the world. Not even chocolate chip with sea salt.
What are your interests and passions outside of work?
When I’m not at work, I’m a mom to two dynamic, very creative, and incredibly energetic young people. I have a science-minded son who is 10 and pretty much lives in the “why” phase of life, and I have an incredibly creative daughter who is (so very) 13 and a visual art student at the Oakland School for the Arts. My dynamic duo keeps me pretty busy. We like to get out on the weekends and hike around the east and the north bay and spend time out in the Bodega Bay area. I’m a huge fangirl of redwood giants, so I love to find hikes that involve hanging out with them. They like hugs, I like hugs. Win, win! When I’m not mom’n, I love to make jewelry off and on. I am an amateur metalsmith with enough tools to be dangerous. I have a small studio set up in my home and I love when I can dive in and spend time there. I also love live music. ALL kinds. Music is one of my essential life essences. So whenever I get a chance. I try to get out and enjoy that to the max. It keeps life feeling magical and vibrant.
What is one of your most memorable food experiences?
My two top food-related memories are of my paternal grandmother and maternal grandfather. The first is of my grandmother who used to make one of my favorite Hungarian dishes, Rakott Krumpli. It’s a heavy-duty potato casserole, and I tend to crave it when I miss her or it’s cold outside. The second is from when I was younger and first living on my own. I used to visit my grandfather on a pretty regular basis. Our visits always opened with his favorite line, “Tell me something magnanimous!” After good conversation and friendly banter, our visits always ended with a trip to the butcher shop. He always sent me home with a box of steaks and a slice off his old man’s wad of show-off cash. My roommates loved him, but not as much as I did. Grandparents are the best people!
What has been or will be your greatest adventure?
Every day is the greatest adventure. I mean seriously. What’s more adventurous than waking up to being present in your everyday and showing up as your true self, embracing community, and honoring each step of your journey? Yesterday is gone, tomorrow isn’t promised, and today is here now. PARTY! I mean, enjoy the entire whole ride. It’s all beautiful. I suppose one day if I’m lucky, retirement will be my greatest adventure. I plan on being a very free-spirited senior citizen if the universe grants that to me. Like, I’ll skid in sideways at the end. Life — use it up or do without. I’m trying to use every drop. This stuff is gold!