The People of Traditional Medicinals®
There are many talented and dedicated people working at Traditional Medicinals®. Here's a snapshot of a few members of our team.
Drake Sadler, Co-Founder and Chairman of the Board
Blair Kellison, Chief Executive Officer
Josef Brinckmann, Vice President of Research and Development
Katie Huggins, Vice President of Quality Control
Darrick Blinoff, Vice President of Sales
Janine Levijarvi, Vice President of Human Resources
Bob Hight, Site Development Manager
David Hoffmann B.Sc., F.N.I.M.H., Medical Herbalist
Drake Sadler
Co-Founder and Chairman of the BoardFour decades ago when Traditional Medicinals® began blending teas in a small herb shop in Northern California, the young idealistic hippy co-founders shared the common belief that through their work together they could change the world. Certainly a lot of change has occurred, and Traditional Medicinals® has matured into a large successful business. One thing however has not changed, and that is the mission of the company. “It may appear that we are in the herb business, but really we are in the business of change”, explains co-founder Drake Sadler. “We are changing the standards of quality for herbal products, changing the practice of alternative medicine, changing the health of the people who consume our products and changing the lives of the rural native people who farm and collect our herbs in the wild.
“An estimated seventy to ninety percent of medicinal plant species are collected in the wild mainly by local and indigenous people. These native villages are horribly impoverished and struggle to preserve their culture and communities. It is the mission of Traditional Medicinals® to work closely with these communities on economic development and social empowerment, investing in change from poverty to prosperity. With the support of our health conscious consumers, we believe we share an opportunity to end poverty, end hunger, rebuild families, restore self sufficiency & economic stability in these rural and indigenous communities.
"It isn’t necessary however to travel to distant native villages to see that the entire planet desperately needs new business models which are non-exploitive, free from discrimination, environmentally sustainable, nurture our spirits and serve humanity. Traditional Medicinals® is a vision realized, and after all these years, I am so pleased that these ideals remain fundamental to the core values of the company.
"If you have read thus far, you too must share these common values. Together we stand on the threshold of something new, something important, and something we can pass on to our children and the next generation. To expand upon this common purpose we must recognize and encourage spirit leadership within business, in our own communities, and in our families. Thank you so very much for your support of Traditional Medicinals®."
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Blair Kellison
Chief Executive OfficerCompelled to apply his talents in business to products he deeply believes in, Blair Kellison comes to Traditional Medicinals® as its Chief Executive Officer – taking the reigns from co-founder Drake Sadler for the first time since Traditional Medicinals® was founded over thirty-four years ago.
A former CPA with Ernst & Young, Mr. Kellison received his MBA from The University of Chicago in marketing and finance. He transitioned into the natural products industry nearly fifteen years ago from working as a brand manager at Nestle Foods, one of the largest food companies in the U.S.. Subsequent to Nestle, Mr. Kellison became the business development manager at Fantastic Foods.
Prior to his most recent position with Natural Snacks, LLC, Mr. Kellison was president of Alternative Medicine, a multi-media publishing company. During his five-year tenure he transformed the company from an unprofitable fledgling organization, into a high growth and profitable enterprise.
Mr. Kellison has been drinking Traditional Medicinals® teas for many years, but it was not until a visit to the company that he realized the extent of the Company’s commitment to its employees, the villages around the world that supply the herbs, and to instituting sustainability and social responsibility into every aspect of its business – from field to manufacturing.
Citing Traditional Medicinals® reinvention of the standard business model as inspiration, Mr. Kellison is excited to inherit thirty-four years of commitment to product quality and consumer trust.
Traditional Medicinals® welcomes Blair, his fresh perspectives and ensuing visions for leading the organization by creating a thriving company culture that continually challenges employees to grow and learn within an environment where they are valued and respected.
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Josef Brinckmann
Vice President of Research and DevelopmentWorking at Traditional Medicinals® is being part of a community of highly principled individuals whose shared philosophies and ethics direct every aspect of our work together. As one of the company's guiding visionaries for the past nearly 30 years, Josef's personal values are an integral part of our company.
"My motivations are aligned with the purpose and vision of Traditional Medicinals®," says Josef, "I believe in the conservation and sustainable use of medicinal plants, preservation of traditional health care systems, and the ethical promotion of natural health care and healthy living."
Josef's management role at the company requires much from him, such as traditional medicine research for the development of products that are appropriate for self care, cultivating relationships with sources of sustainably produced and pharmacopoeial-quality botanicals, and evidence building including clinical research. In these functions he is quick to point out that "my main purpose at the company is to document high levels of evidence in support of the safety, quality, efficacy and sustainability for the natural health products that we offer. While our products are formulated according to traditional and well-established systems of herbal medicine, we are also very interested in scientific research that adds to the traditional knowledge."
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Katie Huggins
Vice President of Quality ControlFor Katie Huggins, our Vice President of Quality Control for the past eleven years, working at Traditional Medicinals® is an opportunity to work in a place where her personal values are in harmony with the values of the company and her work.
As she sees it, her role in the company is "to make sure we fulfill our commitment to quality. My job is to pay attention to the quality of our starting materials and to the quality of our work. Katie manages both the Quality Control and Purchasing Departments, which means that she ensures that our buying practices are integrated with our quality objectives. Her job is an integral part of our company mission. Katie's daily routine includes working with the herbs and the people that grow and process them, managing our stringent quality control processes to ensure that every single batch of tea meets our high standards and helping the company maintain its role as a leader in the supply of Traditional Herbal Medicines.
Katie loves plants and plant chemistry and herbal teas. She says that she is "fascinated with the wonders that are available from the natural world," and comes to Traditional Medicinals® with eighteen years of experience in the quality control of botanicals. She believes strongly in living in a sustainable manner and is passionate about the conservation of medicinal plants. In fact, she is passionate about the conservation of the natural world as a whole — plants, animals and people. "I think that living in a sustainable way is imperative for all of us, including the planet, to survive," says Katie.
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Darrick Blinoff
Vice President of SalesDarrick has been with Traditional Medicinals® for 17 years. As the Vice President of Sales, his crucial role in the company is to make our products available to our growing base of consumers by increasing distribution and enhancing our in-store presence.
For Darrick, selling Traditional Medicinals® products is second nature because, "our products work, and are aligned with an environmental ethic of sustainability and responsibility that so many of us share." He believes that, "Every store that carries our products enables an ever expanding network of our customers to share in the health benefits, and purpose of our company."
Darrick's interest in the medicinal use of plants began 30 years ago while enrolled in a college course about Native Plants. "I bought my first Traditional Medicinals® tea back then, and I have been recommending them to family and friends ever since ". Darrick is a proponent of the healing power of traditional herbal medicine and his respect for the medicinal nature of plants continues to deepen. "Every week I learn something new about the healing nature of plants from our Research & Development or Quality Control Departments. Selling our teas is a team effort, and it helps to have such knowledgeable and respected gatekeepers assuring the efficacy of our products."
As with our other employees, Darrick represents a confluence of personal beliefs with the company's larger mission. He wishes to add, "As we work to bring more of our products to your favorite retail store, we thank our distributor and retail partners for their support, and hope you join us in experiencing the health benefits of our authentic medicinal formulations."
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Janine Levijarvi
Vice President of Human ResourcesJanine is a special force at Traditional Medicinals® and has, occasionally, been described as the "Keeper of the Vibes." While the title was given jokingly, there is an essence of truth to it, in that Janine does her best to create an atmosphere where employees feel honored and respected. As she says, "It is essential that no matter what an employee may do each work day, that he or she feels their contribution is essential to the overall success of the Traditional Medicinals® line of products."
Janine has been with Traditional Medicinals® since the early 1980's. She was drawn to the company out of her own deep belief in the "time honored tradition of using plants to restore health and vitality which worked wonders for me then and continues to do so to this day."
Her Human Resources philosophy is to cultivate a work environment that fosters employee development, teamwork and safety. She is involved in all aspects of Human Resources from job recruitment to wage increase guidelines, from guidance in the application of employment policies to interviewing and employment offers.
When Janine came to Traditional Medicinals®, she had envisioned "working where I could love my work and work for what I loved." She has derived great enjoyment from helping the company successfully achieve its mission and goals of providing Traditional Herbal Medicine to consumers.
While the greatest day-to-day rewards come from working with "wonderful co-workers that share the work day and work space," Janine also experiences the deeper rewards of participating in meaningful work. One day, while out in our herb garden, "the buzz of the hundreds of bees as they rushed from the fragrant blossoms of lavender, sage, rosemary, yarrow and hyssop," reminded Janine why herbal medicine is so powerful and yet so gentle.
These realizations, along with helping to create a work place in which ecology, sustainability, mission and values shape the work experience are Janine's greatest accomplishments.
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Bob Hight
Site Development ManagerBob Hight brings significant skill and experience to his position as Site Development Manager. With nearly 30 years of construction experience and holding a General Contractor's license, Bob joined Traditional Medicinals® in 1987, first as a contractor, and then, joining our full-time staff in 1992. In his position he oversees a 4 person crew and our 8-1/2 acres. This includes overseeing all facility buildings, including new construction design, landscape design and maintenance.
Bob finds his greatest reward in planning projects, working with all the necessary people to coordinate their involvement in the project and then seeing the project through to completion. One of his job highlights is the coming to life each spring of the herb garden. While he has witnessed many herbs growing in the other gardens and the pots in our nursery, he says, "The show in our herb garden this year was really spectacular and exciting."
As part of what Bob considers to be an ethical corporate culture, he sees himself as a contributing member who helps create a positive, healthy and supportive working environment. He values his role as a support person - maintaining, upkeeping and developing all of the systems necessary to create our products - and he feels that he brings a unique ability to study a project, work with the different parties involved and help to achieve a result that is beneficial to all. And, he has "the tenacity to see it through to the finish.'"
We couldn't agree with Bob more!
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David Hoffmann B.Sc., F.N.I.M.H.
Medical HerbalistDavid Hoffmann has traveled the world, run for Parliament on a Green Party ticket (yes, he's English), and has been an activist in the Green and Peace movements for longer than he cares to remember. He is the author of 17 books, his latest is a textbook on science and clinical skills for phytotherapists entitled Medical Herbalism, published by Inner Traditions. These accomplishments aside, David, a Fellow of Britain's National Institute of Medical Herbalists, has been a phytotherapist (that's a practitioner of herbal medicine) for over 30 years.
David is passionate about plants. He promotes herbal medicine around the world, teaches at the California School of Herbal Studies, Bastyr University and the California Institute of Integral Studies, and, as previously mentioned, has authored many books about plants and plant medicine.
He is well-suited to the Traditional Medicinals®' family - feeling as deeply invested as we do in the healing power and the mystery of plants, with the desire to share this knowledge with others.
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