Prior to being named VP and GM, Richardson spent two years as a business development director for engineered polymers at Lubrizol Corporation, Active Organicsʼs parent company. His previous experience at Lubrizol included program management and business development in addition to roles as technology manager, global marketing manager, regional manager for the equipment manufacturers group and regional sales manager.

He started at Lubrizol in 1991 and left in 1996 to become vice president of technology for The Wynn Oil Company. He rejoined Lubrizol in 2003, leaving in 2007 to become chief operating officer for BG Products, Inc. After leading a successful restructuring of that company, Richardson returned to Lubrizol in 2010.

Richardson has a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Southwestern College in Kansas and studied at the master’s level in polymer science at the University of Akron. He holds seven U.S. and foreign patents.

Away from the office, Richardson enjoys golf, boating, gardening, and traveling with his family.

Patrick has been with Lubrizol since 1998 where he has been in sales first with concentration in the Pharmaceutical market, and later taking expanded responsibilities in the Personal Care business. During that time he has worked to develop business with a number of industry leaders including Avon, Estee Lauder, and Colgate-Palmolive. He was most recently the global key account manager for Johnson & Johnson. He has a BS from Lehigh University in Economics, and a Master’s Degree in Management of Technology from Polytechnic University in New York.

In his new role, Patrick will be responsible for managing the performance, development, and activities of the direct sales team and distributors. Additionally, he will be responsible for expanding the marketing function at Active Organics. He will also provide the leadership needed to ensure the business strategy is being supported and implemented globally with customers for the Active Organics business.

At Celanese, Raul started as a Process Engineer and then moved into production supervision and quality management. After nine years at the plant, he was transferred to the Dallas headquarters and held production planning, marketing, International sales, Capital budgeting, Strategic Planning, and Logistics/Customer Service positions.

After a major division of Celanese (Acrylates) was sold to Dow Chemical Company, Raul left and started a career in the Fuel Ethanol business with a plant management position at a small ethanol plant in southeastern Colorado. He then moved to a larger plant (Corn Plus) in Winnebago, Mn and worked as a Plant Engineer for this 45 million gallon per year plant. Raul then accepted a position as the Plant Manager for a 50 million gallon per year plant in Maricopa, Arizona.

After spending some time consulting part-time, Raul decided to dedicate all his time into being an independent full time consultant for the ethanol industry. He had customers in Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, Nebraska, Idaho, and California. Most of his engineering projects were projects to increase production rates or to reduce operating costs. Raul recently co-authored an article in the March 2013 Ethanol Producer Magazine on the use of six sigma to improve ethanol yield. Raul enjoys rebuilding old cars, traveling, and spending time with his family. 

Prior to joining Active Organics, Keri has served in the Quality Assurance field for the pharmaceutical, medical device, nutraceutical and blood banking/biologics industries working at such companies as American Red Cross and Aptalis Pharma, Inc. She has a strong background in vendor management, process improvement, problem/complaint management, vendor auditing, and document control.

Keri has earned a B.A. in Psychology and a B.A. in Sociology from Augusta State University. She is now pursuing her M.B.A. from Texas A&M University – Commerce.

Away from work, Keri enjoys writing, reading, running, watching movies, traveling and spending time with her family.

Kim’s team also excels in Return Credit Complaint Authorizations, accounting for less than 0.5% of Active Organics total error margin, which is itself under 1%!

In addition to her management role, Kim plans, coordinates, and implements all aspects of Active Organics’ presence at local and international trade shows.

Out of the office, Kim and her family have been involved with the U.S Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse and Burro Program for many years, adopting wild Mustangs to raise and show. When not horseback riding, she enjoys other kinds of travel and curling up with a good book.

Her focus on safety training contributed to our recent record of 400+ days without a lost-time accident. As founder of our Active Organics Green Team, Harris is also committed to sustainability practices within our facilities. Harris started her Active Organics career in 1995 in customer service, becoming a supervisor in under three years. Before moving to Operations, she was in charge of planning, coordinating, and implementing all aspects of Active Organics’ presence at local and international trade shows.

Prior to joining Active Organics, Harris spent seven years at Electronic Data Systems (EDS) as a Business Relation Analyst. Previous to that she worked for 10 years in customer relations and quality control.

When not running production for us, Harris is training for half-marathons and long-distance bike rides for charity. 

He supervises operations for both the Active Organics R&D laboratory and our regulatory department. His full-time staff includes two analytical chemists, a formulation chemist, and a regulatory specialist; he also oversees the part-time and temporary employees in these two areas. 

Gulley’s experience in the field of chemical analysis is comprehensive. Prior to a stint as an assistant lab manager at Armstrong Forensic Lab in Arlington, Texas, he spent 11 years in sales, technical support, and service of chemical analysis instruments, chemical products, and the accompanying computer hardware and software. In short, Gulley is an ideal director of lab services—as well-versed in the mechanics of the equipment and technology used as in the practice of chemical analysis itself. He began his career at Zoecon Industries in Dallas where he spent over four years as an analytical chemist. 

Away from the lab Gulley is still hands-on, enjoying both woodworking and the art of stained glass.

Varvel is a Certified Management Accountant (Canada). Management accounting is more strategic than general accounting, using financial and non-financial information to help with operational decision making. Varvel analyzes financial results, studies operational processes, and analyzes market trends to help determine the strategic direction for the company.

After studying numbers all week, Varvel spends leisure time with her husband, son, and four dogs. When not out training for a half marathon, she enjoys kickboxing or relaxing with a mixed media art project.

As IS Director, Bryon Chase is responsible for all information processing at Active Organics: everything from electronic data interchange, networking, and security systems to web and data system design, development, and datacenter operations.

He also has charge of the phone and email systems. As with every IS director, Chase’s biggest job is keeping every piece of hardware and software current. He advises executive management about needed upgrades, conversions, and modifications, and then oversees the changes from research to implementation.

Chase has been IS director since June of 1998 when he joined Active Organics. Prior to that he served as MIS director for ColorTyme, Inc. He has also been a consultant for many companies in an array of IS related positions.

Chase’s education in programming of micro and mainframe computers began in 1982. In 1992 at Central Texas College (now Tarleton State University), he won Texas statewide university programming competitions in three different computer languages. As he says, “computers always came easy for me and I have always enjoyed learning new things in the computer industry.”

When Chase has time away from computers, he enjoys scuba diving, motorcycles, and world travel.

In addition, Mary works closely with the sales team, customer service, and the lab to make sure that the marketing efforts on all fronts support the look-and-feel of the brand footprint established for Active Organics as the global leader in natural performance ingredients and botanical actives. She is no stranger to the AO brand, as Mary has been doing projects for Active Organics since 2005, and was hired full-time as their Marketing and Communications Manager in January of 2013.

Previously Mary worked for nine years as Manager of Advertising then two years as Director of Marketing, for Swest, Inc., a leader in jewelers' tools, supplies and equipment. From Swest, Mary was Advertising Manager for 2 years at Sy Kessler Sales, Inc., a company who provides high-end gemological microscopes, and is known as the definitive source for jewelers and watchmakers tools. In addition, Mary was Project Manager for Ellipse Communications, Inc., supervising the production of 130 websites in the multi-family industry and designing a few websites of her own.  

Mary earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising from the University of North Texas, in Denton, has two undergraduate degrees from San Antonio Jr. College, a Drafting diploma from North American School of Correspondence, a Building Construction diploma from Chicago Technical College, and has regularly earned community college credits to expand her professional skills.

Away from work, Mary participates in a weekly bowling league, has read the Harry Potter books five times a piece, and loves to enjoy a quiet evening with her partner and 3 cats.

Prior to Active Organics, he spent 6 years as COO and General Counsel for multiple growth companies in the Dallas area. Rose has had direct responsibility for the launch and development of businesses, and for over $200 million in business acquisitions, technology development and sales, and all related lePrior to Active Organics, he spent 6 years as COO and General Counsel for multiple growth companies in the Dallas area. Rose has had direct responsibility for the launch and development of businesses, and for over $200 million in business acquisitions, technology development and sales, and all related legal matters. He has also served in operations and counsel roles for e-business solutions, online media and internet fulfillment companies. Earlier in his career, Rose founded a firm providing outsourced general counsel services to high-growth companies and private equity groups throughout the U.S.

Rose earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin, a J.D. from Southern Methodist University (SMU), and completed the SMU Cox School of Business Management Development Program. He began his career in the private practice of law for a top U.S.-based international law firm.

Rose is engaged in numerous charitable activities including his current service on the governing board for the Perot Museum of Nature & Science in Dallas, Texas. He enjoys outdoor activities with his wife and 2 children.gal matters. He has also served in operations and counsel roles for e-business solutions, online media and internet

A noted biochemist and former research professor at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Smith has been granted 15 patents in the United States and internationally. He has served on the editorial board of numerous trade journals, and has published over 60 technical papers. Dr. Smith’s current research focuses on the stratum corneum and how exfoliants including AHAs and topical enzymes can influence both epidermal and dermal properties and lead to long term rejuvenation of the skin.

After receiving his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1976, Dr. Smith served as a research professor at Harvard Medical School. In 1979 Dr. Smith became a research director for Richardson-Vicks, later moving to Estée Lauder as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Research and Development. He left in 1991 to start WSC.