Gaia Herbs Appoints Angela McElwee as President

Veteran Natural Products Leader to Play Integral Role in Company’s Strategic Growth

BREVARD, N.C.--()--Gaia Herbs, North America’s leading herbal brand, has announced that Angela McElwee will move into the role of company President, effective immediately. McElwee, a veteran leader with 23 years of experience in the natural products industry, will assume day-to-day operations, enabling Founder and CEO Ric Scalzo to focus on Gaia’s herbal formulations and deep quality commitment, vertically integrated farming, as well as Gaia’s visionary evolution.

McElwee joined Gaia in 2008 as Vice President of Sales, and was subsequently promoted to Vice President, Sales Operations and elected to the Board of Directors in 2013. During her tenure, McElwee has contributed to numerous milestones for the company, including more than tripling net sales, launching over 50 new products, spearheading a rebrand of the entire product line, as well as being an integral part of establishing the industry’s first seed to shelf traceability program, MeetYourHerbs®.

“Angela’s focus on people and process, and her deep belief in our mission provide her with a strong foundation for this role,” said Ric Scalzo, Founder and CEO of Gaia Herbs. “She has been a critical part of our business as VP of Sales Operations, and will play an essential role in strategically growing our brand, furthering our mission of cultivating health and wellbeing by creating sustainable relationships between plants and people.”

McElwee will continue to oversee Gaia’s sales strategy, along with fellow natural products industry veteran Guinevere Lynn, who has been promoted to Senior Director of Sales, as well as Tammy McIver-Gay, Vice President of Business Development. This shift allows Gaia to balance continued growth with staying true to founding values, and will enable Scalzo to focus on farm operations in both North Carolina and Costa Rica, expert herbal formulation, long term vision, and philanthropy, all of which are integral parts of Gaia’s future — including the company’s 30th anniversary in 2017.

“Having respected the Gaia Herbs brand for over two decades, it’s a tremendous honor to take on this leadership role. I believe deeply in what we do, and know that our products make a positive difference in people’s lives. My personal values and my professional passion are totally aligned, which makes it easy to love this work.” said McElwee. “The team at Gaia has grown exponentially in number and skill over the years since I began, and they teach and challenge me daily. I’m extremely excited about what the future holds for our brand and for our people.”

Prior to joining Gaia, McElwee held sales leadership roles at Enzymatic Therapy for more than five years, culminating her tenure there as Director of Sales. With an early passion for science and health, her first job was at a health food store while in high school, where she continued working while earning a degree in biology and chemistry from Wright State University, with a special focus in Ethnobotany. After graduation, she assumed the General Manager position for the independently-owned natural products retailer, including store operations, marketing, ecommerce, warehousing, and logistics for the chain of eight locations. McElwee credits this early experience in retail operations for a strong and balanced customer partnership approach in her subsequent sales roles.

Outside of her work with the Gaia Herbs team, she can be found tending to her organic garden, and spending quality time with her family including husband Jeremiah and their four young daughters.

Gaia Herbs products are sold through national and independently owned health food stores across the U.S. as well as through trusted online retail sites and GaiaHerbs.com. To find a store, visit GaiaHerbs.com/stores. For additional detailed information about Gaia and its line of organic and ecologically harvested herbal products, please visit Gaia’s MeetYourHerbs® traceability platform on GaiaHerbs.com.

About Gaia Herbs

Gaia Herbs is the leading herbal brand in North America with more than 200 liquid extracts, functional powders, teas, and patented Liquid Phyto-Caps®. We cultivate health and well-being by stewarding sustainable relationships between plants and people. Our steadfast dedication to quality and integrity is unparalleled and meticulously proven by science, including pioneering DNA validation models for each herb. We use only organic methods to cultivate more than 6.5 million plants each year on our farms in the United States and Costa Rica, and that same organic approach continues through manufacture using patented technology to achieve the highest efficacy of each herb, validated by our scientists throughout the process. This method of purity, integrity and potency, and our seed to shelf commitment, ensures the highest quality products and allows us to share complete transparency through MeetYourHerbs®, the industry’s only traceability program. Our desire to nurture healthy connections with nature extends beyond our herbs through GaiaCares, which champions environmental and social sustainability on our farm and worldwide.

Learn more at GaiaHerbs.com and join in the conversation on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Contacts

Gaia Herbs
Alison Czeczuga, 828-393-3354
Education & Communications Manager
aec@gaiaherbs.com
or
Rachel Kay Public Relations
Kristin Hickey, 929-226-7089
Kristin@RKPR.net

Contacts

Gaia Herbs
Alison Czeczuga, 828-393-3354
Education & Communications Manager
aec@gaiaherbs.com
or
Rachel Kay Public Relations
Kristin Hickey, 929-226-7089
Kristin@RKPR.net