Jamie Combs, MD of Natural Balance Foods, on Tarzan, Captain Simple and Sir Paul McCartney
What did you want to be when you were a kid? Tarzan or Spider-Man.
What was your first-ever job? Herding longhorn cattle at a small town rodeo arena. Twenty bucks a day and free soda. I was 13 and it was like a surreal John Wayne-themed universe but I came away with a respect for hard work, compassion for animals and a deep curiosity about human behaviour.
What's your best interview tip? Articulate their problem better than they can.
Describe your career to date. Steadily discovering the simplicity on the far side of complexity and getting better all the time.
How do you describe your job to your mates? Championing wholefood, common sense, optimism, and the clean, green future. Also helping people see that over-processed foods are the problem and wholefoods are the solution.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? Handing a Nakd Cocoa Orange to a sceptic and watching their eyes light up and the big smile roll across their face as it dawns on them what they've just discovered. Fruit that tastes like chocolate.
What is the least rewarding part? Anything that requires sitting still for long periods.
If you could change one thing in grocery what would it be? We need a dramatic expansion of wholefood alternatives available. We're condemning the nation and the next generation with all this over-processed food.
If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be? The office truly does need a hot tub and trampoline.
What do you like to do outside work? Run around in nature, read, explore, exercise, goof off with my oddball collection of friends and family.
What's your nickname? Captain Simple, thanks to constantly asking the hypothetical über-question "What would Captain Simple do?"
Do you have any phobias? Nope, just a pleasantly persistent resistance to conformity.
Which celebrity would you pick to join your staff? Sir Paul McCartney. As the wholefood and vegetarian movements continue to merge with the youth, environmental and ethical movements, Sir Paul is in a unique position to help the next generation.
What's the weirdest thing you've eaten? Pride. Tastes like chicken.
What luxury would you have on your desert island? Books, highlighters and free time.
What did you want to be when you were a kid? Tarzan or Spider-Man.
What was your first-ever job? Herding longhorn cattle at a small town rodeo arena. Twenty bucks a day and free soda. I was 13 and it was like a surreal John Wayne-themed universe but I came away with a respect for hard work, compassion for animals and a deep curiosity about human behaviour.
What's your best interview tip? Articulate their problem better than they can.
Describe your career to date. Steadily discovering the simplicity on the far side of complexity and getting better all the time.
How do you describe your job to your mates? Championing wholefood, common sense, optimism, and the clean, green future. Also helping people see that over-processed foods are the problem and wholefoods are the solution.
What is the most rewarding part of your job? Handing a Nakd Cocoa Orange to a sceptic and watching their eyes light up and the big smile roll across their face as it dawns on them what they've just discovered. Fruit that tastes like chocolate.
What is the least rewarding part? Anything that requires sitting still for long periods.
If you could change one thing in grocery what would it be? We need a dramatic expansion of wholefood alternatives available. We're condemning the nation and the next generation with all this over-processed food.
If you were allowed one dream perk what would it be? The office truly does need a hot tub and trampoline.
What do you like to do outside work? Run around in nature, read, explore, exercise, goof off with my oddball collection of friends and family.
What's your nickname? Captain Simple, thanks to constantly asking the hypothetical über-question "What would Captain Simple do?"
Do you have any phobias? Nope, just a pleasantly persistent resistance to conformity.
Which celebrity would you pick to join your staff? Sir Paul McCartney. As the wholefood and vegetarian movements continue to merge with the youth, environmental and ethical movements, Sir Paul is in a unique position to help the next generation.
What's the weirdest thing you've eaten? Pride. Tastes like chicken.
What luxury would you have on your desert island? Books, highlighters and free time.
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