Michelle is a co-owner and the Chief Operating Officer of Caymen Ventures, Inc. She also leads the consulting practice as the Principal at Red Apple Advisors, a separate division of Caymen Ventures. She works on a part-time basis at Caymen Ventures, Inc.
She is also currently working full time as the majority owner, CEO and President of Packaging Solutions For Today’s industry, a large packaging firm in Southern California.
A high impact, results-oriented executive with over two decades of brand marketing and senior business leadership experience, Michelle creates value by leading organizations to grow revenue and profits in challenging business environments. Michelle is masterful at building brands, growing companies, and leading people in wide range of industries, including food and beverage, consumer products, natural/organic products, durables, luxury goods, and telecommunications. A proven strategic thinker with strong tactical execution skills, Michelle knows how to lead people, solve problems, and make breakthrough growth happen as a change agent with entrepreneurial passion.
Previously, Michelle founded and managed a consulting practice which provided business leadership to small and mid-sized companies, up to and including acting as their interim management teams.
Before that, Michelle was the Chief Marketing Officer at Grohe America, Inc., the Americas division of Grohe AG, the world’s largest manufacturer of premium kitchen and bath fixtures. While there, she led the entire division’s marketing efforts, launching breakthrough new products in record time.
With her husband John, Michelle also jointly founded, managed, and sold the Metrefood Company, a start-up business built around re-launching the 1970’s brand Metrecal. Starting from nothing but a brand name that had been off the market for 20 years, they created and launched a healthy snack drink targeted toward baby boomers that was seen in 3000 stores coast to coast before they sold it.
Corporately, Michelle was the Marketing Director, Keebler Cookies, for the Snack Division of the Kellogg Company where she managed a $600 Million portfolio, including such brands as Chips Deluxe, Fudge Shoppe, Famous Amos, and Sandies. Prior to joining Kellogg’s, she held executive marketing positions with Dean Foods and Ameritech and worked in the consulting field for both Coopers & Lybrand and Andersen Consulting.
Michelle has an MBA from The Wharton School and her undergraduate degree is from Tufts University.
Her hobbies include foreign cultures and travel. She is also a PADI Divemaster. She is married to John Tree, and they have 5 children. It is the second marriage for both of them.