With 17 years of consumer goods and DTC experience, Hudson Gaines-Ross is a Co-Founder & CEO of Plant People, a high-performance, hemp, mushroom and herbal solutions-based supplements venture with accelerating momentum across offline and online channels. Hudson's experience can provide guidance on the hemp / cannabis / CBD / adaptogens / nootropics / metabolism industries (capsules, gummies, tinctures, skincare, etc.) from market trends, innovation, competition landscaping and overall business strategy. Hudson has worked in this capacity since January 2017. His experience ranges across Wholesale, Distribution, Brokers and DTC (subscription and one-time) channels.
Hudson is a Co-Founder of RISE Brewing Co., an innovative nitro-cold brew coffee company based out of New York City. With a growing team and coffee brewery, RISE serves nitro-coffee in kegs and cans (RTD/ready to drink beverage) across the United States and is developing a devoted customer following. Hudson has worked in this capacity since March 2014.
Hudson is currently a Board Member at campinteractive since February 2010.
Hudson also served as the Founder of CROSBY, a branding + business strategy firm that specializes on branding + identity, design (graphic / digital), website development, presentation storytelling + design and video. Hudson worked in this capacity for five years (Feb 2015 - Feb 2020). Prior to CROSBY, Hudson served as the Managing Partner at a design firm, Breadhouse (June 2015 - September 2016). At both firms, Hudson partnered with internet, e-commerce, non-profits, mobile app, and retail organizations, firms; startups on their brand building, supply chain, customer support, recruiting, fundraising, creative direction, marketing, packaging design and end-to-end customer experience strategies. Mr. Gaines-Ross advises companies ranging from jewelry, bicycles, fashion, health and wellness, food, beverage and supplements.
Previously, Mr. Gaines-Ross was the Head of Operations and Strategy and Founding Member for e-commerce offline and online retail company, ALOHA.com, from September 2012 to September 2014. At Aloha, an e-commerce and digital content lifestyle brand in the health and wellness space, he oversaw a complex supply chain of packaging suppliers, supplement's; food manufacturers, co-packing manufacturers, and ingredient sourcing companies to produce 30+ high quality consumer packaged goods, such as, supplements (i.e. protein, vitamins), foods (i.e. chocolate, nutrition bars) and beverages. He was responsible for ALOHA's creative direction, in particular, its product packaging and creative marketing.
Prior to ALOHA, Hudson led several Gilt Groupe business launches, including Gilt Groupe, Food & Wine, and its international expansion to 120+ countries. Additionally, Hudson managed multiple partnerships, such as MasterCard, Google, and The Wall Street Journal. He also has experience as an advisor to Brilliant Bicycles, NMRKT, LINNÉ, Dogstr, Fetchr, Noble Media, Upwild, Spliitsand mentor to Founder Institute and German Accelerator, and founder of WHAT I'M HOLDING.
Can speak to any of these topics: Thrive Market, Whole Foods Market, Faire, Kroger, The Vitamin Shoppe, KeHE, UNFI, Llasa OMS, ecommerce, wholesale, sales, branding, packaging, hiring, team-building, brand-building, supply chain, Shopify, Shipstation, Zendesk, Monday.com, DTC, Gusto, UpWork, ChatGPT/OpenAI, Gorgias, MiniSocial, Trello, Faire, Slack, reCharge, etc. Wholesale, Distribution, Brokers and DTC (subscription and one-time) channels. Highlighted retailers: Whole Foods Market, Kroger, Amazon, etc. Human resources stuff as well Gusto, BCBS (Blue Cross, United, etc.).