About Ei

Michael Aletraris was born in Daytona Beach, Florida, but raised in Newnan, Georgia. He received a B.B.A in Finance from Georgia State University, and an M.B.A from Mercer University. He has held multiple Finance and Accounting roles across many different industries throughout his career. Prior to joining Essential Ingredients in 2022, Michael spent time at a mix of private and public companies such as McKesson, Cox Enterprises, and Versapay.

Michael lives in Johns Creek, GA with his wife, Lauren, and their two young boys, Brooks and Bennett. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his family, attending and volunteering at Perimeter Church, and doing all things outdoors and sports.

Tanya Baksh was born and raised in Northern Ontario and graduated with a Bachelor in Science in Chemistry from University of British Columbia. Before joining Essential Ingredients in 2019 for our Canadian expansion, Tanya spent over 20 years in the functions of sales and product management in the distribution industry focused on Industrial Chemicals, Personal Care, Food and Pharmaceutical markets.

Tanya currently resides in Toronto with her husband Andre and their two children, Keegan and Maya. Tanya enjoys spending time up north at the lake, spending time as a family, downhill skiing, and traveling.

Chris Bissinger is an accomplished finance and accounting professional with over 15 years of progressive experience. A native Georgian, Chris joined Ernst & Young's assurance practice in 2002 after graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Georgia with a B.B.A. in Finance. While sharpening his audit skills, Chris received a M.S. with a concentration in Accounting from the University of Virginia. In 2006, Chris joined Coca-Cola Enterprises and served in progressive leadership roles in the Technical Accounting group and most recently the Planning and Performance Management group. Chris came to Essential Ingredients in December of 2016 to lead the Finance function. He is a Certified Public Accountant. Chris and his wife, Amanda, live in Flowery Branch, Georgia with their two children and two dogs. In his spare time, Chris enjoys relaxing at the family's lake house on Lake Hartwell, hiking in the North Georgia mountains, and traveling.

Kody was born in Florida but grew up outside of Columbus in Dublin, OH. He attended Ohio University in Athens, Ohio on a football scholarship and graduated with Bachelor of Science in Recreation Management.

Kody has spent his entire career in chemical distribution and has participated in every market from personal care, oil and gas, coatings, pharma, agriculture, and food. Kody worked for Ashland, Nexeo and Univar prior to joining Essential Ingredients in 2017. He began his career at Ei as an Account Manager in the Northeast Region and now serves as the Director of Supply Chain.

Kody currently lives near Suwanee, Georgia with his wife Kelsie and two kids. They enjoy walking their dog Theo in the nearby parks, exploring local restaurants, and an occasional vacation or ski trip.

Mark Chilton graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Marketing. He received his M.B.A. from Mercer University. He worked in several industries including commercial real estate, telecommunications and consulting prior to joining Essential Ingredients in 2006.

At Essential Ingredients, Mark is responsible for the marketing efforts of the company as well as the relationships with major suppliers. His team provides a high degree of transparency on sales activity to suppliers, which affords them an unparalleled view of their business through the distribution channel.

Mark and his wife, Jan, have two adult children and enjoy reading, visiting new places, and relaxing with friends.

Mike Davies has been in the personal care industry for over twenty years, working previously at Chattem, Inc. and Amway, Inc. Mike joined Essential Ingredients in 2003. He has a B.A. in Chemistry from Kenyon College, M.B.A. from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Cincinnati.

Mike is married to Sharon Davies and they have two daughters, McKenzie and Ansleigh. He likes to spend time with his family, being outdoors for any reason, and reading.

Clint Demetriou is the Founder of Headwaters Growth, LLC which he started in 2020. Uniquely equipped to speak into “all things people” for businesses (Strategic HR), Clint sees every leader whether in business, the community, or family as the headwaters of growth and influence. Clint’s passion is walking alongside these leaders to encourage personal and professional growth.

Most recently Clint was the Chief People Officer of Booster, a nation-wide school fundraising company whose 850 team members are remarkable emerging leaders. Clint served as a business partner, coach, and consultant. His team was responsible for the people side of Booster in a company whose primary distinction is its incredible culture of next-generation, purpose-driven leaders.

Clint brings executive-level leadership experience from organizations across multiple business sectors—from manufacturing and non-profit to telecom and academia. His background includes broad human resource and leadership experience with companies such as AT&T, Perimeter Church, BellSouth International, Georgia Institute of Technology, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Coca-Cola Company, and Booster Enterprises.

A native of Georgia, Jay Denney graduated from The Citadel in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. He earned an M.B.A from Mercer University in 2000. Prior joining Essential Ingredients in 2018, Jay worked in IT developing and supporting HR and Financial systems for Management Science America, BellSouth, and EarthLink. Jay and his wife Jodi have two adult children and enjoy traveling.

Jim Franovich was born and raised in south Mississippi and graduated in Accounting from the University of Southern Mississippi. He has held progressive accounting and finance leadership roles in multiple industries, including media companies such as Gannett Co., Inc. and Time Warner, as well as several restaurant businesses. His finance and accounting background has also spanned companies of different sizes and types, including family-owned, private-equity based, and publicly traded global companies. He joined Essential Ingredients in 2019.

Jim lives in Marietta, GA with his wife, Adrienne, and their two children, Madeleine and Myles. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with family and friends, attending car shows and auctions, and being outdoors.

Tom was born and raised in Saginaw Michigan and received his B.A. in Business Administration from Alma College. Prior to joining Essential Ingredients in 1999 Tom had spent 15 years with Ashland Chemical in various sales, product management and sales management roles. Tom and his wife Lynette have been married since 1984 and have two sons: Michael and Justin. Tom’s hobbies include running, lifting weights, reading and spending time with his family.

Jordan Hayes is the Director of People & Culture at Essential Ingredients. Hailing from the West Coast, Jordan was raised in Folsom, California and later graduated from the University of California – San Diego with a degree in Psychology.

With nearly a decade of experience in HR roles, Jordan excels at building people strategies that support Ei’s goals for our business and employee-owners. From facilitating leader development to hosting the Ei book club, it’s all about creating a work environment where our team thrives and contributes to Ei’s purpose to be a blessing and inspire others to be a blessing.

Outside of work, Jordan enjoys hitting the hiking trails and playing mediocre golf, as well as family walks around their hometown of Norcross, Georgia.

Jeremy Hosler is Essential Ingredient’s purpose-driven Sales Director for the Midwest region. Raised in Cedarburg, Jeremy is a long-time Wisconsin resident who graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Madison with a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. Prior to joining the Ei team, Jeremy served in numerous positions within the chemical industry, working as a Pharmaceutical R&D Specialist at Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals as well as an Account Manager for two different companies – Brenntag and Purolite.

Equipped with a warm personality and the ability to build genuine, lasting relationships, Jeremy consistently drives territory growth for Ei through bold innovation and collaborative teamwork efforts. As a leader, Jeremy intends to maintain this people-first approach in support of Ei’s Evergreen aspirations to be a blessing to others, inspiring them to be a blessing in return. This makes Jeremy a most committed teammate to those around him, allowing others to grow, develop, and flourish both personally and professionally under his care – much in the same way that he has during his time under his own leaders at Ei.

When off the clock, Jeremy can be found outdoors with his family as they enjoy activities like boating, skiing, swimming, and playing all kinds of sports in the beautiful city of Delafield, Wisconsin where they currently reside.

Mary Mroczkowski graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a B.S. in Environmental Public Health. She worked for 10 years for an aluminum distributor where she managed the customer service team. Mary joined Essential Ingredients in 1999. Since that time she has been responsible for a variety of functions including customer service, purchasing, warehouse operations, logistics, and third-party warehouses.

Mary loves to solve problems and enjoys the challenge of analyzing the problem and finding the solution. Mary enjoys taking walks with her husband and two dogs. She also enjoys meeting new people, being inspired by their stories, watching movies, and hiking.

Erin Murray graduated from Virginia Tech with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. She joined Essential Ingredients in 2017 following 4+ years at Evonik, 11+ years at Clariant, and 2+ years at OSi Specialties. In addition to her role as the Midwest Sales Director, Erin is responsible for the state of Indiana and key accounts. She is based in Indianapolis where she lives with her husband John and her two kids, Penelope and Teddy. While busy cheering on her kids at various sporting events, Erin also enjoys spending time boating, reading, exercising, traveling, and watching Nebraska and Colts football.

Bob Potts graduated from Miami University with a B.A. in Chemistry. He has worked in the industrial chemical and personal care industry for over 30 years in technical, sales, global account management and distribution management roles. Prior to his time at Essential Ingredients, he was employed by Lubrizol Advanced Materials, Cognis Corp. (now BASF), Lambent Technologies (now Vantage), and Unichema (now Croda). Joining the Essential Ingredients team in 2018, Bob is responsible for leading the Northeast Sales Team.

Bob currently resides in Cincinnati, OH with his wife, Marcia, and two sons, Trey and Trevor. Among Bob’s hobbies are traveling, spending time with friends and family, and watching/playing most any sport.

Julie Vibert was born in Central Florida and has lived in Georgia since 1981. She graduated from the Art Institute of Atlanta with a degree in Fashion Merchandising. She has held several positions in retail and district sales management. Her background also includes customer service, teaching, medical transcription, and being mom to two children. Julie started her career with Essential Ingredients as a Customer Service Representative in 2010 and transitioned to the Purchasing Department in 2016. She and her husband Steve are avid baseball fans, and are season ticket holders to the local Atlanta Braves affiliate, The Gwinnett Stripers.

Brittney Wells graduated with a major in Chemistry and minor in Biology from Lander University. She also recently received a master’s degree in Management from Lander. Prior to joining Essential Ingredients, Brittney worked in various roles in Quality Control, Regulatory, and Quality Assurance, at Capsugel®, Now a Lonza Company. Brittney currently resides in Greenwood, SC and serves on the boards of local non-profits such as Greenwood Area Habitat for Humanity and Community Initiatives, Inc. She is also a steering committee member of the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce Women’s Leadership Council. Brittney’s hobbies include spending quality time with her family, being an active member of CrossFit Greenwood, and photography.

Molly was born and raised in Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University with a BS in Physiology. Upon graduating from college Molly moved to Southern California.

Molly began her career in the chemical industry with Ashland Distribution. Molly has also worked for Lipscomb Chemical, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Cognis Corporation and most recently with BASF Corporation. Molly’s primary focus has been in the Personal Care industry but also has experience in the Food and Beverage and Home Care markets. Molly has been an active member of the California SCC since 2003.

Molly lives in Carlsbad, California with her husband, and two kids, Hayden and Bryson. Hayden enjoys playing soccer, basketball, football and golf. Bryson enjoys soccer, football and swimming. Molly enjoys traveling, running, hiking and spending time with her family and friends.

April Yeager is originally from Charlotte, North Carolina and has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina. April is also a graduate of the two-year Queens College Management Program in Finance, Accounting, Ethics and Logistics. April is an accomplished specialty chemicals professional, spending over thirty years with Clariant serving in various roles. Most recently she served as the Head of North America Procurement for Clariant. Joining Essential Ingredients in 2020, April is responsible for leading the Operations team as the Senior Vice President of Operations.

Currently, April resides in The Woodlands, Texas. She has two adult sons, Zach and Dillon. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, cooking and spending time with her family.