GT Dave is the category creator of the Kombucha industry with his line of #1 selling products known as GT's Kombucha & Synergy. Over 20 years ago while he was barely a teenager, GT started brewing and bottling his authentic organic raw Kombucha in his parent's kitchen in Los Angeles.  Since then, he has expanded his company's portfolio beyond Kombucha and has once again become a pioneer of cutting-edge wellness offerings including non-dairy kefirs, non-dairy raw coconut yogurts, probiotic shots, adaptogenic teas, and much more.   GT continues to be the creative and visionary force behind all of GT's Living Foods while allowing the company to remain family-owned and operated. 

Kerrie Lopez is a category lead for Jet.com's fresh business, focused on dairy, beverage, and cross-category initiatives such as managing the artisanal and local food assortment. She has also been part of the original team bringing Jet's first private brands to market. Prior to joining Jet (which was acquired by Walmart in September 2016) Kerrie managed the makeup and private brand categories at Birchbox, strategically sourcing samples for the monthly beauty subscription box as well as full-size product for the rapidly growing e-commerce site. Kerrie lives in New York City with her husband and their dog, Maisie.

Kara co-founded VMG Partners in 2005 and focuses on all aspects of the Fund’s investment strategy, sourcing, execution, portfolio company oversight and exit management. Since its inception, VMG has partnered with entrepreneurs and management teams to provide a breadth of value-add resources in the areas of sales, marketing, branding, finance, operations and legal support which enable its partner companies to rapidly increase brand awareness, accelerate growth and build equity value. Kara serves, or has served, on the boards of babyganics, Bare Snacks, Drunk Elephant, Health Warrior, Humm Kombucha, KIND Snacks, Pirate Brands, Pretzel Crisps, Quest Nutrition, Solid Gold Pet, Sun Bum, Waggin’ Train and Vermont Smoke & Cure, among others. Kara has been an investor in emerging, lower-middle-market branded consumer companies for the last 18 years. Prior to her private equity career, Kara was an Analyst at the investment bank of Schroders plc and received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics and German from Colgate University.

Howard Telford is the Head of Soft Drinks Research at Euromonitor International, a world leader in strategic research solutions and business intelligence. He has been with since 2010. In his role at Euromonitor, he provides insights on consumer trends and market performance in the drinks industry across 100 markets. Howard’s insights are regularly cited in a variety of national programs and publications including CNBC News, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg and Fortune magazine. For more insight on Euromonitor International, visit http://www.euromonitor.com/.

In 2017, Sheryl O'Loughlin introduced her book, Killing It: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Keeping Your Head Without Losing Your Heart. She is currently the CEO of REBBL, the first super herb adaptogen beverage company. REBBL partners with Not for Sale, a non-profit dedicated to eliminating human trafficking. Sheryl was the CEO of Clif Bar and Company and co-founded and served as CEO for Plum, Inc. She has held positions in the Stanford Graduate School of Business and Sonoma State University, and she currently serves the boards of Once Upon a Farm, the Harvest Summit, and Conscious Capitalism. She is a member of the Forbes San Francisco Business Council and One Step Closer to a Sustainable Community (OSC2). Sheryl earned her MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. She lives in California with her husband, Patrick, and their two sons.

Ryan Caldbeck is the CEO and cofounder of CircleUp, the platform providing capital and resources to innovative, early-stage consumer brands, and opportunities for sophisticated investors. Ryan founded CircleUp after nearly seven years of investing experience in consumer product and retail-focused private equity at TSG Consumer Partners and Encore Consumer Capital. The experience exposed him to many great consumer and retail businesses too small to obtain funding through the customary private equity channels. Inspired by these often-overlooked opportunities, he founded CircleUp to make funding available to promising companies. Ryan has been recognized as a “Titan of Retail” by Bloomberg and “40 Under 40” by both M&A Advisors and the San Francisco Business Times.