NEW WORLD NATURAL BRANDS - Key Persons


Aston LaFon

Job Titles:
  • Co Founder & President, 18.21 Man Made

Beatriz Saavedra

Job Titles:
  • Man Made Brand Manager

David Ferguson - COO

Job Titles:
  • Director of Operations

Ed Ryan - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman
Ed has served as Chairman, CEO, and Board Director of a wide range of private and public companies over the past 30 years. He has extensive experience in the private equity market working with management teams and shareholders to drive shareholder value. EFR Inc's past two private equity platforms delivered a 22 times and a 16 times return to shareholders investment. Ed provides leadership through board directorship positions for both public and private companies. Ed's board experience has been with nine outside companies working with management teams while providing stewardship on the audit, compensation, and executive committees. Some of those companies include K2 Inc, Rawlings Sporting Good Company Inc, and Penford Corporation. The inspiration for New World Natural Brands, LLC came from two places. First, Ed watched how his children researched and purchased their personal care products and thought how a collection of micro brands might be an ideal way to deliver unique quality products to highly responsible consumers - consumers who spend a great deal of time vetting the products they use. The second source of inspiration came from an animal specialty products company he owned that grew from $4 M of EBITDA to $30 M. That company used micro brands to build their success. From this success New World's strategy is to replicate the model in the personal care market.

Erin Tulloch

Job Titles:
  • Financial Controller
Be confident knowing our experience and expertise is proven to promote growth and success by creating partnerships with our portfolio companies. Our collective management skills and expertise cover every key aspect of business development and growth, including acquisitions, legal, accounting and finance, brand and product management, sales, supply chain and logistics, natural products advocacy and marketing. New World Natural Brands partner companies benefit from our collective brainpower and the kind of insight that can come only from successful hands-on experience in helping companies grow profitably. We understand the needs of small businesses from the perspectives of both owners and managers. That's unique. Contact us to learn more.

Kim Ryan

Job Titles:
  • President Go - to - Market
Kim resonates with New World's core values because she is passionate about natural products and partnering with entrepreneurs. Coming from a natural CPG food and beverage company, she appreciates the space and understands the need to be healthy, natural and sustainable in everything we do. Kim has worked for a wide range of top CPG brands. They include: Coca Cola Refreshments, American Airlines, Nestle Purina and most recently, The Wonderful Company. Her expertise is in consumer-focused marketing and she has lead marketing strategy, experiential marketing, event marketing, social media and digital marketing efforts. Kim received her undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University with a dual major in Business and Journalism and completed her Masters of Business Administration with a focus in Marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Kim grew up in St. Louis, MO and spent her time horseback riding and running. She ran track while attending SMU and has always had a passion for traveling the World. Nowadays, you can catch her hiking, biking, or working up a sweat at hot yoga. Kim leads Baebody, the first brand New World Natural Brands acquired. She is passionate about brand growth and consumer-centric marketing. Baebody is a digitally-savvy hair, skin, body and wellness brand focused on simplifying self-care. Kim?s expertise in brand management provides a holistic mindset to the brand?s expansion.

Shannon Curtin

Job Titles:
  • New World Natural Brands' CEO
Shannon's passion for beauty began over 25 years ago as a high school student selling fragrances in her hometown department store. Upon graduation from college, she made her way to Walmart Store Inc., serving in various beauty merchandising positions of increasing responsibility. Following Walmart, Shannon moved to Chicago as the GVP/GMM of Beauty & Personal Care at Walgreens where she led the strategic vision for the division and the multi-billion-dollar P&L during her six years, before accepting a NYC-based position at Coty Consumer Beauty. As the SVP/GM of North America for Coty's consumer division, Shannon's billion dollar financial responsibility included the mass fragrance portfolio as well as integrating and relaunching the iconic beauty brands of COVERGIRL, Sally Hansen, Rimmel and Clairol. Shannon then launched her own consulting and creative practice in Hoboken, NJ., The Beauty Boutique, that specialized in the strategic development of independent beauty brands. As New World Natural Brands' CEO, Shannon is focused on supporting the company's mission of growing independent, natural beauty and personal cae brands and advancing sustainable business and innovation practices that will provide ongoing goodwill for humanity and Mother Earth. Shannon has earned numerous awards throughout her career, including Crain's Chicago Business 40 under 40 (2014), CEW Achiever Award (2015) and Beauty Inc.'s 50 Most Powerful Women in Beauty (2015). She proudly serves on the board of CEW, The Bees Trees and Water Foundation and her alma mater, the Henderson State University School of Business. Shannon lives in Chicago with her husband and 2 children.

Stacey Quince - CFO

Job Titles:
  • CFO
As CFO of New World Natural Brands, LLC, Stacey brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in finance, accounting and treasury, information systems, technology implementation and human resources. Her experiences range from working with and supporting well-established public companies to early stage startups. Stacey is passionate about building a collaborative finance team that supports the growth of the portfolio and their leadership. Prior to New World Natural Brands as CFO, Stacey lead the finance and accounting activities at AVIA, a Chicago-based startup in the healthcare transformation and innovation space. She had additional exposure as a financial adviser supporting early stage incubated companies within the Abundant Venture Partners portfolio and performing financial due diligence on targeted outside investments while monitoring and reporting on the financial results of all portfolio investment companies. Prior to diving into the startup world, Stacey spent time domestically and internationally with PwC in the Assurance practice. Her focus was with Consumer and Industrial Products and Services division where she gained comprehensive insight into business operations across a portfolio of iconic Australian and US brands. A St. Louis native, Stacey enjoys traveling with her Australian husband, Alex, back to his hometown to see family and friends and loves spending time exploring the Chicago food scene. Stacey holds a Master of Accountancy from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Tom Ryan - CEO

Job Titles:
  • CEO
As CEO, Tom focuses on identifying and integrating new expansion opportunities into New World's portfolio. He?s excited about the growth of New World and the opportunity to introduce more people to the natural lifestyle.