Fractional leadership & advisory

Senior leadership for consumer brands, without the full-time hire.

I help CPG and beverage companies navigate growth, strengthen operations, and move strategic priorities forward through hands-on fractional executive leadership and targeted advisory support.

CEOCOOCSOCROCMOAdvisor
Book an intro call See the brands
A track record of leadership
Founder & CEO
OhzaOhza

Founded and scaled to eight-figure revenue and #1 RTD mimosa brand by volume in the US. Acquired in 2024.

Co-founder & CEO
RouéRoué

Co-founded with Future. Took it from concept, to custom bottle development, to national distribution.

Fractional, Board, and Advisory Experience
Kit NA BrewingKit NA Brewing Orange Bike BrewingOrange Bike Brewing AMASS BrandsAMASS Brands Calirosa TequilaCalirosaTequila Gem + Bolt MezcalGem + BoltMezcal AMASS BotanicsAMASSBotanics BODY VodkaBODYVodka
Ways to engage

Fractional leadership in the seat you need

Whether you need a fractional CEO, COO, CSO, CRO, or CMO, or an experienced advisor alongside your team, I bring firsthand experience from having held each of these roles myself. Explore each one to see where I can help and what that work looks like in practice.

CEO
Chief Executive Officer

Company strategy and performance, from the annual plan to the exit

See what's included
  • Annual plan and P&L ownership
  • Board and investor reporting
  • Capital raise support, alongside the founders
  • Exit preparation and sale process

Direct experienceFounded Ohza, ran it with full P&L ownership, raised capital and led it through its acquisition in 2024.

COO
Chief Operating Officer

Operations and supply chain, from daily processes to the systems that scale

See what's included
  • Documented processes and clear ownership for every function
  • Forecasting, S&OP and inventory planning
  • Supplier, co-packer and bottler management
  • KPIs, operating cadence and reporting
  • Tools and automation that scale with headcount

Direct experienceScaled Ohza's operations to 35 states. Took Roué's custom bottle from mold to bottling line.

CSO
Chief Strategy Officer

Where the company plays, from portfolio strategy to acquisitions

See what's included
  • Portfolio and innovation strategy
  • Market sizing and business cases
  • Acquisition diligence and integration
  • Channel and market prioritization, including where to pass

Direct experienceBuy-side on AMASS's Calirosa acquisition and the integration after it. Diligence at Bain Capital.

CRO
Chief Revenue Officer

Sales and distribution, from route to market to key accounts and trade

See what's included
  • Sales team build-out, including hiring, territories, targets and coaching
  • Three-tier distribution strategy
  • Distributor selection and negotiation
  • National and key account management
  • Pricing, trade budget and promo calendar
  • Foodservice and on-premise sales

Direct experienceBuilt Ohza's in-house sales team, opened 35 states, and won Walmart, Costco, Whole Foods and H‑E‑B.

CMO
Chief Marketing Officer

Brand and growth marketing, from positioning to paid media and DTC

See what's included
  • Brand positioning and identity
  • Paid social and creative testing
  • DTC, email and SMS
  • Marketplace growth on Amazon, Walmart.com and TikTok Shop
  • Celebrity and talent partnerships

Direct experienceRan $1M+ a year in marketing at Ohza, built DTC to 150K+ orders, and launched a line with Joe Jonas.

Advisor
Strategic Advisor

Guidance alongside your team, from setting direction to the big calls

See what's included
  • Direction-setting with your existing leadership
  • Continuity for a new full-time hire after a fractional role
  • Planning around priorities, owners and timing
  • Board and investor preparation
  • Pressure-testing on the big calls

Direct experienceBoard member at Kit NA and Orange Bike. Advisor to AMASS. Mentor-in-Residence at the Roux Institute.

Results

What I've done, and what it means for your brand

These are results from businesses I've personally built and led, using the same hands-on approach I bring to every engagement. Each reflects experience I can put to work in yours.

Ohza#1RTD mimosa brand in the U.S., 2021 through acquisition

Positioning and a velocity story that gets buyers to say yes.

Ohza8-figureannual revenue, then acquired by a strategic

A business run with the clean numbers and story an acquirer wants to see.

Ohza35states opened through the three-tier distribution system

A state-by-state expansion plan, with the right distributor in each market.

Ohza150K+DTC orders, with 260K email and 45K SMS subscribers

Build and execute a scalable online business.

OhzaRouéCalirosa3celebrity partner deals: Joe Jonas, Future, and Adam Levine & Behati Prinsloo

I know exactly how to negotiate a celebrity deal, and what works and what doesn't.

Kit NA156%Amazon growth year over year, at breakeven

An Amazon channel that grows without burning cash.

Retail partners
Walmart
Costco
Whole Foods Market
Amazon
Albertsons
Safeway
H-E-B
Wegmans
Meijer
Circle K
Ahold Delhaize USA
Gopuff
Dodger Stadium
TD Garden
Barclays Center
MGM Grand Garden Arena

National accounts across grocery, club, mass, natural, convenience and venues, plus thousands of independent retailers.

Company spotlights

Four brands, up close

Each spotlight covers a different stage in the life of a consumer company: building a brand from a formulation, launching one with a celebrity partner, buying one, and running one as fractional CEO.

Founder & CEO · Acquired

Ohza

Ohza Classic Mimosa, Mango Mimosa, Cranberry Mimosa and Classic Bellini cans on ice
Ohza Fizzy White Sangria and Fizzy Red Sangria cans with fruit
Ohza box truck wrapped with 'the original canned mimosa' and a hand holding a can of Classic Mimosa

The original ready-to-drink mimosa. I turned an early-stage concept into the #1 RTD mimosa brand in the U.S., leading the business through national expansion and its 2024 acquisition by a mid-market strategic.

Highlights
  • Owned the P&L and ran sales and brand marketing myself, with an in-house sales team calling on accounts directly.
  • Opened 35 states through the three-tier distribution system one market at a time. Picked and negotiated with the distributor in each, and passed on states that didn't make sense.
  • Set pricing and pack architecture by channel, owned the trade budget and retailer promo calendars, read every event in Nielsen and SPINS, and cut the promotions that didn't pay back.
  • Built a fully compliant DTC channel from scratch to 150K+ orders, including a subscription program, then added Walmart.com and TikTok Shop.
  • Sold Levy and Aramark to place the brand in nine arenas and stadiums, including Dodger Stadium and TD Garden.
  • Recruited Joe Jonas as co-brand partner on a sangria line and took it from concept to national distribution.
  • Hired and led a team of 15 full-time employees, plus dozens of contractors, across sales, marketing, operations and creative.
Co-founder & CEO · Exited

Roué

Roué Sauvignon Blanc in its custom faceted bottle
Packaging
Custom molds
assets/roue-packaging.jpg
Future holding a bottle of Roué at the launch
Launch
With Future
assets/roue-launch.jpg

A premium wine and RTD brand for multicultural consumers who wanted a trade-up the category wasn't offering. I co-founded it with Grammy-winning artist Future and took it from concept to national distribution.

Highlights
  • Owned strategy, the P&L and daily operations from day one.
  • Sourced the wine and built the brand identity from scratch.
  • Developed a fully custom packaging system: bottle design, manufacturer sourcing, custom molds and bottling-line tooling.
  • Negotiated national distribution with Southern Glazer's Wine & Spirits.
  • Ran forecasting, financial modeling, ad management and the operating workflows on AI tools.
Buy-side advisor · M&A and integration

AMASS Brands

The AMASS spirits portfolio: AMASS gin and vodka, Calirosa Tequila, BODY Vodka and Gem & Bolt Mezcal
AMASS Brands Group
The spirits portfolio
Calirosa, AMASS Botanics, Gem + Bolt, BODY
assets/amass-portfolio.jpg

A spirits group building a portfolio of premium brands. I advised AMASS on the acquisition of Calirosa Tequila, founded by Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo, and led portfolio strategy and integration planning following the deal.

Highlights
  • Worked the buy side of the Calirosa acquisition.
  • Set portfolio strategy for the combined spirits division.
  • Led integration across the division's four brands.
Calirosa TequilaAMASS BotanicsGem + Bolt MezcalBODY Vodka
Fractional CEO & board member

Kit NA Brewing

Rows of Kit Non-Alc Hazy IPA cans
Kit NA Brewing
Non-alcoholic craft beer
assets/kit-cans.jpg

A non-alcoholic craft brewery based in Portland, Maine. I joined as fractional CEO and a board member, working hands-on across the business and bringing experienced executive leadership directly into the day-to-day operation.

Highlights
  • Increased EBITDA 46%.
  • Built a new five-year roadmap for the company.
  • Negotiated a new co-packer agreement that better matches what the business needs.
  • Lifted rate of sale 8% through trade and brand marketing programs.
  • Expanded the partnerships the business depends on, including co-branded products that are set to generate a 65% revenue lift in 2027.
  • Grew Amazon 156% year over year at breakeven, after rebuilding the listings and ads and resetting pricing, promotions and inventory planning.
How it works

Two ways to work together

Every engagement starts with a clear role and a shared understanding of what I own. We work out the right structure, terms, and cadence on our first call.

Ongoing

Fractional

Ongoing, in one seat. We agree on a monthly rate and a rough sense of the hours behind it, but I don't work off a timesheet. When something comes up, I'm on it, so nothing in the business waits on me.

Common for: a founder who needs a CRO or COO but isn't ready to hire one full time.

Beside the team

Advisory

For a team that's already in place, or to stay involved after a fractional role ends. Your leaders run their functions, and I help set direction, lay out the plan and pressure-test the big calls.

Common for: a company that just made the full-time hire and wants continuity, or a strong team that wants an experienced operator in the room.

1

Intro call

Thirty minutes on where the business is and which seat is open. If I'm not the right person for it, I'll tell you.

2

Scope

We agree on what I own, a monthly rate, and what a good first 90 days looks like.

3

In the seat

I work inside your team and your tools, report to you or the board every month, and build things that keep running after I step back.

Who it's for

Founder-led CPG and beverage brands, in the U.S. and internationally, usually somewhere between first real distribution and the first conversation about selling. Alcohol, non-alc, food and better-for-you.

Ryan Ayotte
Portrait
Ryan Ayotte
assets/ryan-portrait.jpg
About

An operator first

I grew up in Massachusetts and studied finance at Northeastern's D'Amore-McKim School of Business. I started as an analyst at Goldman Sachs, then ran sales, marketing, the P&L and new product development at North Point Brands, an early-stage CPG brand house, and figured out I'd much rather own an outcome than analyze one. I went back to finance as an associate at Bain Capital, sizing markets and running diligence on consumer and healthcare deals, to save up enough to start my own company.

I launched Ohza in 2019, quit my job the day the first wholesaler signed, and spent five years building it into a national brand before it was acquired. Then I co-founded Roué with Future and built a wine brand from the bottle mold up. Along the way I learned the unglamorous parts of this business the hard way: distributor negotiations, trade spend that doesn't pay back, co-packer schedules, and a forecast that has to be right because the cash is already spent.

I've made the calls you're about to make, with my own money on the line.

Today I live in Portland, Maine. I sit on the boards of Kit NA Brewing and Orange Bike Brewing, and I'm a Mentor-in-Residence at the Roux Institute at Northeastern.

Get in touch

Tell me which seat is open.

A few lines on the business and what you need is plenty. I'll come back with times for an intro call.

Emailryan@cribstoneconsulting.co
LinkedInlinkedin.com/in/ryanayotte
Based inPortland, Maine. Working with brands in the U.S. and internationally.
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