High Ridge Brands is one of the largest independent branded personal care companies in North America. We hold leading market positions in hair care and skin cleansing categories in the U.S. with some of America's richest, long-standing brand equities that have engaged and connected with millions of consumers.
High Ridge Brands was formed in 2010 to acquire the rights to ZEST® for the U.S., Canada, and certain other territories and to serve as a platform for strategic acquisitions in the personal care segment. Since then, the company has continued to acquire iconic brands like V05®, COAST®, SGX NYC®, THICKER FULLER HAIR®, LA LOOKS® among others.
High Ridge Brands is a portfolio company of Tengram Capital Partners, a private equity firm with an investment strategy predicated on leading middle market consumer companies that own strong recognizable brands.
Our company mission is to craft extraordinary experiences for savvy consumers. We strive to create products that provide experiences that exceed expectations, helping consumers get more out of life every day.
Our brand portfolio includes Alberto VO5®, Coast®, LA Looks®, Rave®, Salon Grafix®, SGX NYC™, Thicker Fuller Hair®, White Rain®, Zero Frizz®, and Zest®.
Prior to re-joining High Ridge Brands for his second stint as CEO, Jim was acting President and Chief Strategist of Oral Essentials, an early stage disruptor company in the oral care category of which he currently serves as a member of the Board of Directors. Jim was also one of the original founders of Convexity Scientific and was an active partner until moving into the CEO role in October 2017 where he led the company through FDA 510k approval and 2 funding rounds. Prior to Convexity, Jim was President and CEO for High Ridge Brands (“HRB”) a $375+ million personal care company whose brand portfolio includes iconic brands in Skin Cleansing, Hair and Oral Care categories.
In June 2016, HRB was purchased by New York based PE firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice for $415 million.
During his first 5 years at HRB, Jim acquired and seamlessly transitioned 5 stand-alone brands (Zest, VO5, Rave, Coast and White Rain) as well as 2 companies (Newhall Laboratories and Continental Fragrances). In November 2015, he also divested 7 non-strategic brands. In December 2016, he completed the acquisition of the Dr. Fresh Company, owners of well-known Oral Care brands such as Reach, Firefly, Dr. Fresh and Binaca.
Jim’s professional career spans 25+ years. Before joining HRB for his first tour in 2011, he spent 15 years at Church & Dwight where he led the highly successful Strategic Business Unit for Sexual Health (Trojan and Magnum brands), and held a variety of executive Marketing positions across a variety of Personal Care divisions. He began his marketing career at Sterling Health working in the Bayer Analgesic Division.
Jim has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Business from Gordon College and an MBA in Marketing and Finance from Columbia Business School. In 2005, he was recognized by Advertising Age magazine as one of America’s Top 50 Marketers. Jim was also interim President of the Venezia Football (soccer) team in which he is a minority owner and Board member.
Jeff has been serving as Senior Vice President Sales since the acquisition by Tengram Capital closed on April 1st. Jeff has responsibility for sales under the following areas, Dollar, Value, Drug, Club, DIY, Canada and “White Space” Channels.Jeff’s career spans as a veteran of CPG for over 25 years. He primarily spent his career with Pharmavite LLC (5 years) managing divisions of national sales. Then Jeff spent 12 years with Church & Dwight in various sales leadership & trade marketing positions. After Church & Dwight Jeff has had General Management and Sales Leadership positions within small to mid-sized-Private...
equity businesses spanning from Health & Beauty Care to Office to Live Foliage to Trade Events.Jeff and his Twins, Abigail and Spencer, live in North Haven CT. Jeff Graduated from Roger Williams University with a B.A in Criminal Justice with a minor in Law.
Lee is currently Senior Vice President of Sales for High Ridge Brands and has overseen company sales operations since 2015. He has responsibility for the US Grocery, Target, Beauty and International Sales units.Lee has spent his entire career, encompassing some thirty years, in the Beauty Care industry. He has held positions of increasing scope and responsibility, and has overseen sales operations for many leading, cutting-edge companies. Previously Lee held roles as Vice President, Sales of Henkel Corp, CEO of Newhall Labs and Vice President of Sales & Marketing of Advanced Research Labs.
Lee began his career with Del Laboratories holding multiple roles with Key account and Sales management responsibilities.
He is proven in developing innovative sales, marketing, and promotional strategies which enable all products to meet with their maximum potential in a competitive market environment.
Lee holds a BBA in Organizational Behavior from Baruch College, graduating Magna Cum Laude and resides with his wife Alexandria in Southern California and will be relocating to Stamford, CT. He has two grown children, Jordan and Lauren who live in New York and New Jersey.
Diane joined High Ridge Brands in August of 2018 as Chief Supply Chain Officer, leading the supply chain and information technology functions. Her focus and passion has been to develop a strong, collaborative team to support the turnaround plan, in particular through driving strong supplier engagement, cost savings programs and improved customer service results.Ms. Preston previously held executive leadership roles in Supply Chain in both consumer goods and retail environments. Her experience includes leading customer service, logistics, planning and e-commerce operations in growth and turnaround strategies. Before joining High Ridge Brands, she was Executive Vice President of Supply chain at Toys R Us.
Prior to that, she held leadership positions at Pinnacle Foods and The Dannon Company, Inc and began her career at Kraft Foods Group holding multiple roles in both Supply Chain and Finance.
Ms. Preston holds a B.A. in Finance from the University of Notre Dame and currently resides in Nanuet, NY with her husband and two boys.
Jessica joined High Ridge Brands in August of 2020 as Chief Marketing Officer, leading the innovation pipeline and marketing programs that drive sales for the entire HRB skin and hair portfolio. Jessica has over 20 years of experience leading winning teams and brands. Her success is driven by her consumer first orientation, strategic planning, and practical approach to complex business issues. Jessica has demonstrated success in several leading consumer packaged goods companies such as Unilever, PDC Brands, and Alberto Culver by creating value for some of America’s most beloved brands like Tresemme, Cantu, Dr. Teal’s, Nexxus, Ragu, Calgon, and Body Fantasies.
Jessica holds a Master’s degree in Marketing from New York University. She is also a certified Yoga instructor and an Autism Advocate. She resides in Westchester, NY with her husband and their two children, Aurora and Emmett, and their dog Monday.
Flavia joined the team in July 2020 as HRB CFO and was enticed by the growth potential of the company. She enjoys the fast pace of the business and partnering with Sales, Marketing and Operations. Flavia is a business executive with over 30 years’ experience across the beauty and food industries as well different markets around the world. Her expertise includes strategic and financial planning, operations finance, controllership, cashflow management, risk management, and M&A. Her priorities always include building high performance teams by managing complex cross-functional projects and consistently delivering results. Flavia holds an Industrial Engineering degree from UFRJ in Brazil and an MBA from NYU Stern School of Business.
She lives in Westchester, NY with her husband and daughter Maya. Her son Jonathan attends NYU. Completing the family are her two dogs, Max and Tootsie. Her passion are travelling and summer, so you may find her in her native Brazil during winter vacations.
Maria has been serving as VP, Human Resources of High Ridge Brands since September 2019, overseeing all areas of Human Resources including Recruiting, Benefits, Employee Relations, Performance Management, Training, Payroll and Policies & Legal Compliance. Since joining, she has aspired to create an exceptional work experience for all HRB employees.
Ms. Sayegh has over 15 years’ experience leading HR teams and building functional HR departments from the ground up. She has demonstrated successes across multiple industries and verticals among both publicly and privately-owned organizations of varying sizes and locations: Kari-Out, Bartlett Dairy, Norwalk Hospital, Sony Electronics, and LG Electronics US.
Ms. Sayegh was born and raised in New York City. She earned a Bachelors’ degree in Psychology from Manhattan College in Riverdale, NY and is completing her thesis towards a Masters’ program in Human Resources from Mercy College. Ms. Sayegh also serves on the PTA Board of Brookside Elementary School. She resides in Yorktown Heights, NY with her husband, five children, and an English Bulldog named Rocket.
High Ridge Brands has retail relationships across mass, grocery, drug and dollar channels in the U.S., and also sells products in international markets including Canada, the United Kingdom and Mexico. The company operates an asset-light business model, outsourcing most of its manufacturing needs. We currently have over 60 employees in our corporate headquarters in Stamford, CT.