Description
With this file about executive profiles board of directors aaron garrity.
Executi ve Profiles
Board of Directors
Aaron Garrity
Founder, Chairman and CEO
In September 2002, Aaron Garrity and his partners discovered a way
to bring the coveted mangosteen fruit to the global marketplace. With
that, they created a whole new product category and founded
XANGO, an innovative network marketing company with over 1
million distributors doing business in more than 30 countries around
the world.
Under Garrity’s leadership as President and CEO, XANGO bucked
the last economic downturn, earlier this decade, not only surviving but
thriving with more than $300M in sales in its first three years. The
constant drive required to maintain this type of business success
comes naturally to Garrity. For example, he simultaneously earned an MBA and a J uris
Doctorate, all while managing global marketing and product launches with millions in
sales for another multinational health and nutrition company.
Recognizing his role in championing millions of home-based business owners, Ernst and
Young honored Garrity with its prestigious 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Next,
he earned a place in Utah Business magazine’s “Top 40 under 40” list and then won
recognition from the same publication as CEO of the Year in 2008. The magazine
praised his achievements in creating a company culture based on service, creativity and
leadership at every level.
Garrity currently sits on the CEO council for the World Federation of Direct Selling
Associations (WFDSA), the board of directors of the Direct Selling Association (DSA)
and the board of directors for the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce. With XANGO’s
expansion to more than 30 international markets amid a global economic downturn,
Garrity continues to press the innovation button, founding Blink Tank, an incubator for
XANGO employees to develop their own start-up ideas. Music is a personal passion for
Garrity who, before choosing a path in business, earned an audition with a Columbia
Artist performing group featuring a yet-to-be-discovered Lenny Kravitz.
Gary Hollister
Founder/Board Emeritus
Chairman of the Board and CEO from XANGO’s launch in 2002
to 2006, Hollister is one of XANGO, LLC’s six founding members.
Under his leadership the company achieved more than $28
million in first-year sales and has since achieved nearly $2 billion
in cumulative sales. Hollister remains an active chairman emeritus, lending strategic
insight to the executive team and advising distributors.
Upon graduating from Drake University, Hollister worked at Merle Norman Cosmetics
and eventually became president and COO in California. In a span of five years, he
helped engineer sales growth from a base of $60 million to $250 million and doubled the
number of stores. Hollister next became president and CEO of MEI Salons, Inc. in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
After three years, he started the Hollister Group, a marketing organization to serve the
beauty and fashion industry, where Hollister played a key role in launching the Michael
J ordan Fragrance. Then, another large global direct sales company hired Hollister to
lead its turnaround strategy. During this time, he introduced the company and its
products to the J apanese market. Hollister’s insight proved valuable as J apan became
the company’s fastest growing market segment.
Additionally, at this point, he first worked with fellow XANGO founders Aaron Garrity, J oe
Morton and Gordon Morton, and formed his passion for the life changing benefits of
network marketing. Outside of business, Hollister accomplishes success with a different
sort of green as an avid golfer. He has a daughter, three sons and several
grandchildren.
Joe Morton
Founder/Board Member
While living in Southeast Asia, J oe Morton's discovery of the
mangosteen fruit as a global product opportunity inspired the
launch of XANGO®J uice. A passionate advocate of the
network marketing lifestyle, J oe has dedicated his executive
career to driving a global evolution in distributor relations,
building dialogue with leaders at every level of XANGO's vast
network.
Cultivating a worldwide marketplace for a revered botanical is
natural fit for J oe. He gained knowledge of professional
networking and natural products from his father, who ran the
Canadian division of a multinational network marketing
company, and his mother, the owner of a popular Canadian
health food store.
A six-time Ironman competitor named by a magazine as Utah's "Fittest Executive," J oe
is known for his tireless efforts on behalf of XANGO's more than 1 million distributors
worldwide. He invests hours each day in dialogue with distributors in XANGO's 34 plus
global markets. J oe's determined mantra of discovery and recognition of "new leaders"
has propelled XANGO's phenomenal growth and field success stories.
Before founding XANGO, J oe led international business and global expansion for
several network marketing corporations. As he helped build the new international
footprint of the direct sales industry, J oe immersed himself in the culture of each market
and cultivated relationships with leaders worldwide. Today, Morton contributes his time
and resources to causes at home as well as abroad. In addition to leading several
charitable missions through the XANGO Goodness Foundation, he also serves on the
board of the Utah Valley Chapter of the Boys & Girls Club and as a scout master for the
Boy Scouts of America.
Gordon Morton
Founder/Board Member
An innovative marketing mind, Gordon Morton pioneered a host
of opportunities for XANGO – from the category-creating
introduction of the first premium mangosteen beverage
(XANGO®J uice) to the first jersey-front sponsorship in U.S
professional sports with Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake
(RSL) team.
In fact, Morton coined the company moniker: combining the
words xanthones (vigorous phytonutrients that contain
antioxidant properties) and mangosteen (the fruit containing
xanthones and flavonoids) into XANGO. Marketing a globally
successful natural product is no surprise given Morton’s roots; his
mother ran a small retail health food store and his father
established the Canadian division of a multinational natural products company. Years
later, after university, Morton was a globally successful direct sales distributor prior to
founding XANGO.
Morton’s contributions to XANGO include creating its best-in-class compensation plans,
developing XANGO.TV – the video-sharing Web site for distributors’ use in buzz
marketing and spearheading the XANGO Cup, in which RSL competes annually with an
international powerhouse (for example, Mexico’s premier soccer club in 2009) in a
friendly match. Morton is an active member of RSL’s Community Council, and the Salt
Lake Tribune recognized him as a Top 25 most-powerful sports figure in Utah. Utah
Business magazine designated him a “Top 40 under 40” honoree for his business
accomplishments.
Additionally, Morton champions charitable efforts, globally and close to home. Morton
nurtured the philanthropic XANGO Goodness movement, which made its first donation
well before the company turned its first profit. While retaining corporate giving, Morton’s
extended the program into the XANGO Goodness Foundation, with 501(c)(3) status, to
help even more people in need. Of particular interest is improving the lives of children at
home and around the world and mobilizing to address disasters and crises. This
humanitarianism led to Morton being honored as the recipient of a Corporate Social
Responsibility Award from the World Summit for Young Entrepreneurs in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, and most recently earning a 2009 National Charity Award.
Kent Wood
Founder/Board Member
A licensed CPA, Kent Wood joined the XANGO founding team as
its first Chief Financial Officer. In this capacity, he was responsible
for raising the startup capital for the company, certainly a significant
challenge during the post-9/11 economic downturn. Not only did
Wood accomplish this gargantuan task, his leadership was
instrumental in paying back the initial investment by company
investors – more than 2½ years ahead of schedule.
A 2008 Utah Business magazine “Forty under 40” honoree, Wood’s
career has been marked by a strong work ethic and an unparalleled
knowledge of financial management. Wood has undergraduate and
post-graduate degrees in accounting and worked full-time for
another direct sales company while attending college. After
graduation, Wood worked for the accounting firm Grant Thornton
where he spent two years auditing large corporations.
Recruited back to serve as controller of a large direct sales company, he helped manage
more than a billion dollars in sales each year. He then became the international
controller overseeing $500 million in annual business for another large natural products
corporation. It was no small amount of money to oversee, but Wood did so with
tremendous care and success, an example of the good stewardship he brings to
XANGO.
Wood takes part in XANGO’s global charitable efforts, as well as contributing to the local
community. For example, he serves on the advisory council of a major university’s
athletics program and has been President of the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (AICPA) local chapter. A lifelong sports fan and participant, Wood
appreciates the accomplishments of sports stars J ohn Stockton, Steve Young and Dale
Murphy. Seeing beyond raw talent, Wood recognizes that these athletes had the
discipline necessary to prepare themselves properly and the dedication to help their
teammates succeed, fine examples for his career.
Bryan Davis
Founder/Board Member
A founder of XANGO, Bryan Davis represents the company’s
international interests as a global ambassador to its existing and
emerging international markets. In this role, Davis strategically
builds relationships with key government, industry and trade
representatives around the globe.
As an example, Davis and other XANGO leaders recently hosted a
trade delegation representing the Royal Thai Government, led by
Ms. Chantira J . Vivatrat, executive director of Thai Trade Center in
Los Angeles and commercial consul to the Royal Thai Consulate Los Angeles. During
the visit, the delegation recognized XANGO’s “creative use of mangosteen,” the national
fruit of Thailand.
More often, Davis visits the home turf of current and potential ingredient sources and
distributor networks, building relationships with royalty, governments, cultural leaders
and other gatekeepers to advance XANGO’s interests. Constantly traveling, Davis works
relentlessly to facilitate XANGO’s rapid expansion and support the company’s global
network of more than 1 million distributors. A lawyer by education and trade, Davis has
played a crucial role in XANGO’s sustained growth, guiding the company through global
legal regulations, trademarks and compliance in its early years. He was also
instrumental in hiring the company’s general legal counsel and staff that carries out this
work today.
Before founding XANGO, Davis worked in private practice as a civil attorney, and then
became the director of legal services for a large international firm negotiating billion
dollar transactions. Davis earned a J uris Doctorate from the University of Puget Sound’s
School of Law. A believer in XANGO’s charitable initiatives, Davis participates in
volunteer efforts to improve communities locally and abroad. Additionally, he contributes
his acumen as a board member of the World Trade Center of Utah.
Executive Management
Nate Brown
Chief Financial Officer
Brown oversees XANGO’s global finance and accounting departments while also
directing the company’s global growth strategy with regard to manufacturing and
distribution. He has been instrumental in streamlining XANGO’s supply chain to ensure
the highest quality assurance and championing XANGO’s continuous improvement in
on-time delivery to its global customers from over 25 operating centers. Brown
previously worked with two large international accounting, tax and consulting firms,
Arthur Andersen and KPMG.
Beverl y Hollister
Senior Vice President of Business Development
Hollister is responsible for XANGO’s personal care brand innovation – Glimpse
®
Topical
Skin Nutrition – and its newest personal care line J uni™ Family Care. She was the
architect behind recruiting some of the world’s foremost skin care authorities and leading
research scientists to create Glimpse’s proprietary scientific formulation featuring
BioActiveX
3
Complex, derived from the mangosteen pericarp. Frequently traveling to
support Distributor success, Hollister motivates Distributors to pursue their dreams as
successful entrepreneurs.
Scott Smith
Senior Vice President, Americas
Smith utilizes his many years of executive experience at the company, across several
disciplines, to support aggressive growth initiatives for North and Latin America and help
Distributors reach their potential for success. Instrumental in collaborating with
Distributor leaders to enhance the company’s field training program, Smith is focusing
his team on providing legendary customer service as a key value.
Daniel Laroque
President, EU, CIS, South Africa
Laroque delivers the XANGO opportunity to CIS countries including Russia, the Ukraine
and Kazakhstan as well as XANGO’s European markets and South Africa. He ensures
the proper resources are aligned to drive strong growth in the EU, CIS and South Africa
markets over the long-term. Over the past 25 years, Laroque has dedicated his
professional life to executive management in Europe. He has helped many companies
open and develop new markets – impacting tens of thousands of lives through a life
changing business opportunity, and products.
Michelle Wilson
General Counsel
Wilson plays a key role the development and execution of an effective legal strategy as
XANGO continues to launch new products and expand into new international markets.
She provides strong leadership and strategic counsel to XANGO’s Board and executives,
which enable seamless global expansion. In addition to her leadership at XANGO,
Wilson is a well respected member of Utah’s legal community, with 16 years of legal
experience.
doc_985120299.pdf
With this file about executive profiles board of directors aaron garrity.
Executi ve Profiles
Board of Directors
Aaron Garrity
Founder, Chairman and CEO
In September 2002, Aaron Garrity and his partners discovered a way
to bring the coveted mangosteen fruit to the global marketplace. With
that, they created a whole new product category and founded
XANGO, an innovative network marketing company with over 1
million distributors doing business in more than 30 countries around
the world.
Under Garrity’s leadership as President and CEO, XANGO bucked
the last economic downturn, earlier this decade, not only surviving but
thriving with more than $300M in sales in its first three years. The
constant drive required to maintain this type of business success
comes naturally to Garrity. For example, he simultaneously earned an MBA and a J uris
Doctorate, all while managing global marketing and product launches with millions in
sales for another multinational health and nutrition company.
Recognizing his role in championing millions of home-based business owners, Ernst and
Young honored Garrity with its prestigious 2006 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Next,
he earned a place in Utah Business magazine’s “Top 40 under 40” list and then won
recognition from the same publication as CEO of the Year in 2008. The magazine
praised his achievements in creating a company culture based on service, creativity and
leadership at every level.
Garrity currently sits on the CEO council for the World Federation of Direct Selling
Associations (WFDSA), the board of directors of the Direct Selling Association (DSA)
and the board of directors for the Utah Valley Chamber of Commerce. With XANGO’s
expansion to more than 30 international markets amid a global economic downturn,
Garrity continues to press the innovation button, founding Blink Tank, an incubator for
XANGO employees to develop their own start-up ideas. Music is a personal passion for
Garrity who, before choosing a path in business, earned an audition with a Columbia
Artist performing group featuring a yet-to-be-discovered Lenny Kravitz.
Gary Hollister
Founder/Board Emeritus
Chairman of the Board and CEO from XANGO’s launch in 2002
to 2006, Hollister is one of XANGO, LLC’s six founding members.
Under his leadership the company achieved more than $28
million in first-year sales and has since achieved nearly $2 billion
in cumulative sales. Hollister remains an active chairman emeritus, lending strategic
insight to the executive team and advising distributors.
Upon graduating from Drake University, Hollister worked at Merle Norman Cosmetics
and eventually became president and COO in California. In a span of five years, he
helped engineer sales growth from a base of $60 million to $250 million and doubled the
number of stores. Hollister next became president and CEO of MEI Salons, Inc. in
Minneapolis, Minnesota.
After three years, he started the Hollister Group, a marketing organization to serve the
beauty and fashion industry, where Hollister played a key role in launching the Michael
J ordan Fragrance. Then, another large global direct sales company hired Hollister to
lead its turnaround strategy. During this time, he introduced the company and its
products to the J apanese market. Hollister’s insight proved valuable as J apan became
the company’s fastest growing market segment.
Additionally, at this point, he first worked with fellow XANGO founders Aaron Garrity, J oe
Morton and Gordon Morton, and formed his passion for the life changing benefits of
network marketing. Outside of business, Hollister accomplishes success with a different
sort of green as an avid golfer. He has a daughter, three sons and several
grandchildren.
Joe Morton
Founder/Board Member
While living in Southeast Asia, J oe Morton's discovery of the
mangosteen fruit as a global product opportunity inspired the
launch of XANGO®J uice. A passionate advocate of the
network marketing lifestyle, J oe has dedicated his executive
career to driving a global evolution in distributor relations,
building dialogue with leaders at every level of XANGO's vast
network.
Cultivating a worldwide marketplace for a revered botanical is
natural fit for J oe. He gained knowledge of professional
networking and natural products from his father, who ran the
Canadian division of a multinational network marketing
company, and his mother, the owner of a popular Canadian
health food store.
A six-time Ironman competitor named by a magazine as Utah's "Fittest Executive," J oe
is known for his tireless efforts on behalf of XANGO's more than 1 million distributors
worldwide. He invests hours each day in dialogue with distributors in XANGO's 34 plus
global markets. J oe's determined mantra of discovery and recognition of "new leaders"
has propelled XANGO's phenomenal growth and field success stories.
Before founding XANGO, J oe led international business and global expansion for
several network marketing corporations. As he helped build the new international
footprint of the direct sales industry, J oe immersed himself in the culture of each market
and cultivated relationships with leaders worldwide. Today, Morton contributes his time
and resources to causes at home as well as abroad. In addition to leading several
charitable missions through the XANGO Goodness Foundation, he also serves on the
board of the Utah Valley Chapter of the Boys & Girls Club and as a scout master for the
Boy Scouts of America.
Gordon Morton
Founder/Board Member
An innovative marketing mind, Gordon Morton pioneered a host
of opportunities for XANGO – from the category-creating
introduction of the first premium mangosteen beverage
(XANGO®J uice) to the first jersey-front sponsorship in U.S
professional sports with Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake
(RSL) team.
In fact, Morton coined the company moniker: combining the
words xanthones (vigorous phytonutrients that contain
antioxidant properties) and mangosteen (the fruit containing
xanthones and flavonoids) into XANGO. Marketing a globally
successful natural product is no surprise given Morton’s roots; his
mother ran a small retail health food store and his father
established the Canadian division of a multinational natural products company. Years
later, after university, Morton was a globally successful direct sales distributor prior to
founding XANGO.
Morton’s contributions to XANGO include creating its best-in-class compensation plans,
developing XANGO.TV – the video-sharing Web site for distributors’ use in buzz
marketing and spearheading the XANGO Cup, in which RSL competes annually with an
international powerhouse (for example, Mexico’s premier soccer club in 2009) in a
friendly match. Morton is an active member of RSL’s Community Council, and the Salt
Lake Tribune recognized him as a Top 25 most-powerful sports figure in Utah. Utah
Business magazine designated him a “Top 40 under 40” honoree for his business
accomplishments.
Additionally, Morton champions charitable efforts, globally and close to home. Morton
nurtured the philanthropic XANGO Goodness movement, which made its first donation
well before the company turned its first profit. While retaining corporate giving, Morton’s
extended the program into the XANGO Goodness Foundation, with 501(c)(3) status, to
help even more people in need. Of particular interest is improving the lives of children at
home and around the world and mobilizing to address disasters and crises. This
humanitarianism led to Morton being honored as the recipient of a Corporate Social
Responsibility Award from the World Summit for Young Entrepreneurs in Sao Paulo,
Brazil, and most recently earning a 2009 National Charity Award.
Kent Wood
Founder/Board Member
A licensed CPA, Kent Wood joined the XANGO founding team as
its first Chief Financial Officer. In this capacity, he was responsible
for raising the startup capital for the company, certainly a significant
challenge during the post-9/11 economic downturn. Not only did
Wood accomplish this gargantuan task, his leadership was
instrumental in paying back the initial investment by company
investors – more than 2½ years ahead of schedule.
A 2008 Utah Business magazine “Forty under 40” honoree, Wood’s
career has been marked by a strong work ethic and an unparalleled
knowledge of financial management. Wood has undergraduate and
post-graduate degrees in accounting and worked full-time for
another direct sales company while attending college. After
graduation, Wood worked for the accounting firm Grant Thornton
where he spent two years auditing large corporations.
Recruited back to serve as controller of a large direct sales company, he helped manage
more than a billion dollars in sales each year. He then became the international
controller overseeing $500 million in annual business for another large natural products
corporation. It was no small amount of money to oversee, but Wood did so with
tremendous care and success, an example of the good stewardship he brings to
XANGO.
Wood takes part in XANGO’s global charitable efforts, as well as contributing to the local
community. For example, he serves on the advisory council of a major university’s
athletics program and has been President of the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants (AICPA) local chapter. A lifelong sports fan and participant, Wood
appreciates the accomplishments of sports stars J ohn Stockton, Steve Young and Dale
Murphy. Seeing beyond raw talent, Wood recognizes that these athletes had the
discipline necessary to prepare themselves properly and the dedication to help their
teammates succeed, fine examples for his career.
Bryan Davis
Founder/Board Member
A founder of XANGO, Bryan Davis represents the company’s
international interests as a global ambassador to its existing and
emerging international markets. In this role, Davis strategically
builds relationships with key government, industry and trade
representatives around the globe.
As an example, Davis and other XANGO leaders recently hosted a
trade delegation representing the Royal Thai Government, led by
Ms. Chantira J . Vivatrat, executive director of Thai Trade Center in
Los Angeles and commercial consul to the Royal Thai Consulate Los Angeles. During
the visit, the delegation recognized XANGO’s “creative use of mangosteen,” the national
fruit of Thailand.
More often, Davis visits the home turf of current and potential ingredient sources and
distributor networks, building relationships with royalty, governments, cultural leaders
and other gatekeepers to advance XANGO’s interests. Constantly traveling, Davis works
relentlessly to facilitate XANGO’s rapid expansion and support the company’s global
network of more than 1 million distributors. A lawyer by education and trade, Davis has
played a crucial role in XANGO’s sustained growth, guiding the company through global
legal regulations, trademarks and compliance in its early years. He was also
instrumental in hiring the company’s general legal counsel and staff that carries out this
work today.
Before founding XANGO, Davis worked in private practice as a civil attorney, and then
became the director of legal services for a large international firm negotiating billion
dollar transactions. Davis earned a J uris Doctorate from the University of Puget Sound’s
School of Law. A believer in XANGO’s charitable initiatives, Davis participates in
volunteer efforts to improve communities locally and abroad. Additionally, he contributes
his acumen as a board member of the World Trade Center of Utah.
Executive Management
Nate Brown
Chief Financial Officer
Brown oversees XANGO’s global finance and accounting departments while also
directing the company’s global growth strategy with regard to manufacturing and
distribution. He has been instrumental in streamlining XANGO’s supply chain to ensure
the highest quality assurance and championing XANGO’s continuous improvement in
on-time delivery to its global customers from over 25 operating centers. Brown
previously worked with two large international accounting, tax and consulting firms,
Arthur Andersen and KPMG.
Beverl y Hollister
Senior Vice President of Business Development
Hollister is responsible for XANGO’s personal care brand innovation – Glimpse
®
Topical
Skin Nutrition – and its newest personal care line J uni™ Family Care. She was the
architect behind recruiting some of the world’s foremost skin care authorities and leading
research scientists to create Glimpse’s proprietary scientific formulation featuring
BioActiveX
3
Complex, derived from the mangosteen pericarp. Frequently traveling to
support Distributor success, Hollister motivates Distributors to pursue their dreams as
successful entrepreneurs.
Scott Smith
Senior Vice President, Americas
Smith utilizes his many years of executive experience at the company, across several
disciplines, to support aggressive growth initiatives for North and Latin America and help
Distributors reach their potential for success. Instrumental in collaborating with
Distributor leaders to enhance the company’s field training program, Smith is focusing
his team on providing legendary customer service as a key value.
Daniel Laroque
President, EU, CIS, South Africa
Laroque delivers the XANGO opportunity to CIS countries including Russia, the Ukraine
and Kazakhstan as well as XANGO’s European markets and South Africa. He ensures
the proper resources are aligned to drive strong growth in the EU, CIS and South Africa
markets over the long-term. Over the past 25 years, Laroque has dedicated his
professional life to executive management in Europe. He has helped many companies
open and develop new markets – impacting tens of thousands of lives through a life
changing business opportunity, and products.
Michelle Wilson
General Counsel
Wilson plays a key role the development and execution of an effective legal strategy as
XANGO continues to launch new products and expand into new international markets.
She provides strong leadership and strategic counsel to XANGO’s Board and executives,
which enable seamless global expansion. In addition to her leadership at XANGO,
Wilson is a well respected member of Utah’s legal community, with 16 years of legal
experience.
doc_985120299.pdf