Meet the Team
About
Katie Journeay
Katie Journeay has spent more than 20 years in CPG sales. She started her career in field sales and marketing working for companies like RNDC, GMR Marketing, Team Enterprises, and Miller Brewing Company (now Molson Coors).
She managed the national natural channel business at ZICO Beverages, where she helped drive the brand through its acquisition by Coca-Cola. In 2014, she joined Chameleon Cold-Brew as VP of Sales, leading the team through its 2018 acquisition by Nestlé alongside colleague Mandy Touchet.
That same year, Katie co-founded NOROC with Mandy, building it into a boutique consultancy that has advised more than 30 emerging CPG brands on sales strategy and retail execution. As Managing Partner, Katie leads the firm's business strategy.
About
Mandy Touchet
Mandy Touchet started in CPG in 2014 as one of the earliest sales hires at Chameleon Cold-Brew in Austin. Over four years she helped build the brand's national footprint, rising to Senior Director of National Accounts and leading her team through the company's acquisition by Nestlé in 2018.
From there, she co-founded a consultancy with Katie Journeay, providing sales strategy and retail execution support to more than 30 emerging brands across CPG categories. She returned to the operator's seat as Senior Director of Sales at Richard's Rainwater, then as Director of National Accounts at OLIPOP, managing priority accounts and a multistate team.
At NOROC, Mandy partners with brands to architect go-to-market strategy, build strong teams, and manage retail growth from plan to performance — turning momentum into sustainable revenue.
About
Buck Williams
Buck Williams has spent more than 20 years scaling brands that disrupt the marketplace.
He joined ZICO at the founding stage, literally out of the founder's garage — and helped build it from $3.5MM to a Coca-Cola acquisition, later serving as VP of Commercialization & Field Execution inside Coca-Cola's Ventures & Emerging Brands division.
He's been a founder himself, raising over $1MM in seed capital and taking his own CPG brand from concept to shelf. Since then, he's led sales at Hain Celestial's BluePrint Juice, helped double Beanfields from $6MM to $12MM in a year, scaled Richard's Rainwater from $500K to $5.8MM, and built Nguyen Coffee Supply's sales function solo past 10,000 doors.
At NOROC, Buck is the Client Relationship Manager — the single point of contact for every new engagement, with deep distribution relationships across the Northeast and beyond.
About
Kara Chavez
Kara Chavez has spent her entire career in natural and organic grocery, including 20 years at Whole Foods Market; 15 years focused on CPG, adult beverage, and private label.
At Whole Foods she worked across the Center Store Private Label, Specialty Adult Beverage, and Marketing teams, owning category strategy, product development, and P&L. She's certified in Category Management through CPCA and Sensory Panel certified.
At NOROC, Kara works as a retail specialist, bringing two decades of buyer's-side insight into how great products get discovered, developed, and grown on shelf, and applying it to help small brands reach their full potential.
Maygen Layman
About
Maygen knows what it feels like to sit on both sides of the retail table since 2014.
She’s been the category manager deciding which brands make the cut. At H-E-B, she was the buyer developing growth strategies, evaluating suppliers, launching products, and managing a double-digit growth categories.
She understands what retailers are looking for, what makes a buyer lean in, and where even great brands can miss the mark. Her experience spans merchandising, sourcing, category strategy, product launches, supplier negotiations, and brand growth—with a particular passion for helping emerging brands turn retail opportunities into real, sustainable businesses.
At NOROC, Maygen helps brands think like retailers, show up strategically, and build partnerships that go beyond getting on shelf.
Christian Bunse
About
Christian Bunse has spent his career in CPG since 2019, most recently driving double-digit growth at OLIPOP across major retailers like Kroger, Publix, and Wegmans, with earlier stops at Chobani and On Shelf Marketing Group.
He brings a distinctive lens to category work, pairing his English and Anthropology background with a genuine love of data to uncover the patterns and stories inside the numbers.
At NOROC, Christian serves as Category and Business Insights Manager, turning data into narratives that help brands make sharper decisions. He lives in Cincinnati, Ohio with his partner of ten years and their two cats.