To whom it
may concern:

I came across this role as I’m winding down Alpine Start and contemplating what I want to do next.

Since moving to California a few years ago, I’ve been looking for my business community here. I’m ready to move from food and beverage into a brand I love, in a world that’s been part of my life for decades. Roark feels like that opportunity. After talking it through with my wife, I decided to put together a résumé and shoot my shot.

I like to joke that I’ve never had a “real” job because I’ve been building companies since college. That’s meant setting the brand direction and doing the work to bring it to life. It’s also meant hiring, coaching, and supporting people as they grow into those responsibilities. I enjoy both parts: being hands-on with the work and helping others build the skills, confidence, and ownership to lead it themselves, both within our team and wherever their careers take them next.

At BIXBI, I built the branding and early distribution by signing distributors, working trade shows, and traveling the country to talk with independent pet shop owners, store by store.

Those relationships remind me of local board shops: people who know their customers, care about what they carry, and want to believe in the brands they support.

Pet food and coffee have taught me a lot about coordinating product launches, retailer buying windows, holiday deadlines, and the constant demand for something new. At Alpine Start, I brought together product, sales, creative, and marketing to get launches out the door. I also built an athlete program and learned firsthand how athlete credibility, storytelling, and content creation work together, and what makes a partnership valuable to both the athlete and the brand.

Outside of work, I’m a lifelong (mid🤣) surfer, skateboarder, snowboarder, runner, and climber.

I’ve chased swells from Vancouver to Baja, France to Morocco, and Bali to the Ments. I’ve climbed in France and Spain, tackled a good chunk of the Fifty Classic Climbs of North America, and explored Utah’s canyons. Winters have taken me ice climbing in Wyoming, Montana, and Colorado, onto hard ice routes on Mount Rainier, and snowboarding down volcanoes in the Pacific Northwest and South America, including Cotopaxi. Along the way, I’ve run ultramarathon distances through the mountains to get ready for the next big day.

That curiosity and appetite for adventure are a big part of what draws me to Roark.

I’d be psyched to bring everything I’ve learned building brands and helping people grow to a team that shares that spirit.

Michael