A Kansas City area resident since 1998, Bernadette's passion for food and healthy eating began early on. After earning her B.S. degree in Nutrition and Food Science from Florida State University, that passion has continued to grow throughout her personal and professional life.

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Bernadette joins the Yin Yang Naturals team with extensive sales and sales management experience. She was previously employed by The Hain Celestial Group and Blackford Brokerage as a business manager covering the Midwest region.  While with Hain Celestial she worked closely with Supervalu, UNFI, and AWG to increase sales. She also worked with several key retailers in the Midwest on promo planning, new item submissions, and program negotiations. In her tenure with Blackford she managed over 30 natural and specialty lines while working closely with Hy-Vee, and Fareway.

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Bernadette loves cooking, volunteering at her favorite non-profit, and spending time with family and friends. Her treasured family includes her husband and two children.

Danny Jimenez was born in Los Angeles, CA. He started his grocery career in 2007 at Whole Foods Market. During his time at Whole Foods, he worked as a buyer in several departments including Bulk, Grocery, Frozen, and Dairy. He also participated in many store resets and store openings such as WFM Del Mar in San Diego along with WFM Arroyo in Pasadena, CA, where he stayed to become an Associate Grocery Team Leader.

In 2017, Danny was given the opportunity to work with Presence Marketing as a Retail Representative. After two years at Presence, Danny’s wife received a great career opportunity in the great state of TX, so his family left sunny Southern California and moved to Houston where they both currently work and reside.

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Danny loves to spend his free time with his family, watch movies, play board games, BBQ, and collect shoes.

Gary began his journey in the grocery industry as a stocker for a local grocery store in the Dallas Fort Worth/North TX region during his high school years. As he worked his way up, he had the opportunity to work in all departments before being promoted to Assistant Manager.  From there, Gary became interested in distribution and started his next adventure working for a regional distribution company servicing independent stores in Central TX.

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After years working with a distributor, Gary had the opportunity to begin his growth into the natural grocery business with Tree of Life/KeHe as a Sales Representative, and watched the natural products industry explode for the next two decades. Gary moved on to become a Territory Manager for an independent natural foods brokerage company, covering the Central Texas territory, working with both major retailers and independents.  

An Austin, Texas resident since 1999, Gary is an enthusiastic member of the community and enjoys fishing the local lakes, occasional trips to the coast, and spending time with friends and family.

Heather Smith was born in Las Cruces, NM. She brings with her 15+ years experience in the retail/customer service industry. Her CPG career started 4 years ago at Basemakers in the DFW area as a Field Representative and was quickly promoted to an Area Manager. She has experience calling on Whole Foods Market, Central Market, Natural Grocers and Sprouts focusing on building relationships and creating brand visibility. She loves a challenge and has a passion for learning and helping others to succeed.

Outside of work Heather is a very dedicated sports mom spending her weekends at Basketball Tournaments and Football Games. She enjoys spending time with family and friends, dining at local restaurants, playing games with her son and catching a nap whenever possible.

Joseph began his career in the coffee industry, discovering his passion for fair trade farming, organic products, and different approaches to sustainability, while also caffeinating the masses. He had the opportunity to step into the Natural Industry and expand his expertise by working for an independent natural foods and wellness brokerage company as a Territory Manager for close to a decade, covering north Texas, Oklahoma, North Louisiana, and Arkansas.

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Joseph currently resides in Dallas with his wife and kids, two Great Pyrenes and three cats, who run the house. He enjoys teaching pottery at the local Craft Guild, learning about stage combat, and building Star Wars Legos in his free time.