My first job was bagging groceries at Family Fare. Since then, I’ve built grocery and retail tools as a product manager and taken them to market as a product marketer. I’ve shipped enterprise, mobile, and web systems for Albertsons, Kroger, Target, and Cub Foods (UNFI), covering ecommerce, loyalty, merchandising, store operations, and workforce management.
Today, I help grocery-tech startups build and sell products that independent and mid-tier chains actually adopt, and I advise grocers on the technology they’re considering. I also speak and write about the technology changing grocery from the operator’s side of the aisle.
Ways to Work Together:
01 · Strategic Advisor
Commitment: 10 to 25%, up to a day a week
Minimum: 3 months
Entry point: Most engagements start here
Founders use this track to get a grocery veteran's read on the product and the pitch before they burn runway on either. It's also the fastest way to find out which of the other tracks you need.
I join the calls that shape your product: what to build, how to sell it, and how to get it running inside a grocer. We pressure-test your ideas against what a store actually needs on a busy Tuesday morning. You get over fifteen years of grocery and retail judgment on call without adding a seat to your org chart.
Common focuses include what to build next, how to position it against the vendors grocers already use, and how to turn a pilot into a paid rollout. When the work needs more of my time, it moves into Fractional Product Support or a Fixed Scope project.
02 · Fractional Product Support
Commitment: 40 to 60%, 2 to 3 days/week
Minimum: 6 months
Access: Scheduled working sessions plus continuous async
This track fits founders who need a senior product partner before small problems turn into expensive ones. I do the product work alongside you, so you can get back to running the company.
I help you decide what to build this month and how to sell it, so those calls stop landing on your desk at midnight. I coach whoever makes product and sales decisions today, which is usually you or your lead engineer, and fix the handoffs between Engineering, sales, ops, and the stores.
That last one matters most when you sell to grocers. A feature can ship on time and still die in the back room because nobody told a store manager it exists. I’ve sat on the grocer’s side of that handoff, and I build for the stores that have to run your product.
The goal is to create and position products grocers will actually adopt. Fractional work often starts with a Strategic Advisor assessment and scales up when a launch or a big grocer deal needs more of my time.
03 · Fixed Scope Initiatives
Duration: 3 to 8 weeks
Deliverable: Go-to-market plan and pilot structure
This track fits those who sell to grocers and keep stalling between the first demo and a signed deal. Sometimes the pitch misses, sometimes the product does, and usually nobody on the team can say which.
I break down both sides: which features grocers will pay for, what’s missing, who you pitch, what you demo, how you price, and how you scope pilots. Grocery deals usually require IT, merchandising, and store operations to agree, and most products and pitches answer to only one. I review your product and your pitch the way a skeptical grocer will.
Each project ends with a short list of product fixes, the buyers to target, the message for each, and a pilot structure a grocer will sign. The project stands alone, and teams that want help acting on it often move into Strategic Advisor.04 · 1:1 Coaching
04 · 1:1 Coaching
Minimum: 3 months
Standard: 6 months, review at month 3
For: Founders and engineering leads
This track fits the founder or engineering lead who makes the product calls because nobody else does. You keep doing the work, and I coach you through it. The job gets hard the moment your biggest grocery customer starts writing your roadmap for you.
Our sessions stay practical. I help you sort grocer requests into what belongs in the product and what belongs in a custom contract, and I give you the blunt feedback your team and your investors won’t. One big customer can quietly take over a roadmap, and I coach you to hold that line.
We review progress at month 3 and decide whether to finish the standard six months. Coaching pairs well with Strategic Advisor when you want someone in the room on the big calls, too.
For Grocers
Format: Project-based or ongoing advisory
For: Independent and mid-tier chains
Independent and mid-tier chains get pitched by more tech vendors than they have people to evaluate. I help you figure out what you actually need, test vendor claims, and scope pilots that prove something before you sign a multi-year contract.
I’ve sat on both sides of the table, so I know which demos hold up once the software reaches your stores. I disclose every vendor relationship up front, and I never recommend a client’s product without telling you.
Tell me what’s stalling, whether you build grocery tech or buy it, and we’ll figure out which track fits.