Andrew Kim, Healthy Spot
Treasurer 2020 - 2022
Andrew co-founded Healthy Spot in 2008 with his business partner, Mark, after adopting his dog Maya during the industry’s largest pet food recall in 2007. He currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer focusing on strategic planning, finance, business and organizational development, and risk management. Prior to Healthy Spot, Andrew worked in Finance as an equity research analyst covering technology companies at a Bay Area based Hedge Fund. Prior to that, Andrew worked as a litigation consultant at an Economic Consulting firm. Andrew holds a bachelor's degree in Legal Studies from the University of California, Berkeley.
Brad Kriser, Kriser's Natural Pet
Director 2020 - 2022
Brad Kriser founded Kriser’s Natural Pet in 2006 and expanded to a 53 store chain. The company is now part of Independent Pet Partners, where Kriser is the Chief Education Officer and Partner. Prior to opening Kriser’s, he founded the pet care facility, The Barking Lot in 2000. Kriser attended Syracuse University and Loyola Chicago for his MBA. He currently lives in Los Angeles, California with his wife, four children, three rescue dogs, two rescue cats and 9 rescue turtles.
Carrie McDermott
Director 2020 - 2022
Carrie McDermott has been with PetPeople, an independent neighborhood pet retailer focused on high quality, natural pet food and supplies since 2018.
Prior to joining PetPeople, Carrie, was President of Sally Beauty, where she was focused on leading the overall business transformation. Prior to Sally, she served nine years in roles of increasing responsibility with DSW Inc., where she most recently served as the Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Carrie successfully led the Company’s operations, ecommerce, marketing, and customer experience, including a 300 person call center. Prior to the COO role, Carrie served as DSW’s Executive Vice President of Sales and Operations, where she was responsible for driving the Company’s omni-channel initiative, launching ship-from-store, and successfully opening over 200 stores.
Prior to DSW, Carrie had leadership roles with other retailers, including Cooper’s, Inc., (a family-owned specialty retail business), The Gap, Inc., and Barnes & Noble, Inc. Carrie lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband, three children, and is the pet parent to two rescue dogs, Remi, a mini-Australian Shepard and Colby, an Australian Cattle Dog mix.
Deb Wilson, All the Best Pet Care
Director 2020 - 2022
Deb Wilson is Co-CEO at All the Best Pet Care, a locally owned regional chain of healthy dog and cat supply stores in Seattle. A lifelong pet industry leader, Deb began her career in 1987 at Animal Supply Company and has held a variety of leadership roles over the past 3 decades spanning distribution, manufacturing, and retail. A developer of strategic focus that enhances cross-departmental teamwork, Deb has a unique ability to define and deliver on specific objectives and results. She possesses a keen sense of upcoming market trends and has been a raw food feeder and advocate for over 2 decades. An excellent mentor who enjoys developing new leaders and empowering teams to make good decisions, Deb uses those experiences to teach and train. Deb is an avid runner with more than a dozen marathons under her belt. She lives in Seattle with her French Bulldog, Frankie.
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John Atkinson, Smithland Pet & Garden Center
Director 2023 - 2025
John operated 13 Smithland Pet and Garden Centers in the Northeast before they closed all 40 stores in mid 2025. His nearly 40 years of diverse retail operations experience with organizations like CT Gardens, Neiman Marcus, C-A-L Ranch Stores, Home Depot, and Tractor Supply and executive-level experience as CEO and COO of Mid-States Distributing, a purchasing cooperative for 36 retailers, brings a unique perspective to the board.
Kate Knecht, Tomlinson's Feed
Secretary 2020 - 2022
Kate is the Co-Vice President at Tomlinson's Feed and oversees Marketing, Team Development, and Digital Projects. After graduating from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.S. in Advertising, Kate worked in technology start-ups in Buenos Aires and San Francisco. In 2013, Kate returned to Austin to continue Tomlinson's evolution as the leading pet supply retailer in Central Texas. Her contributions include the development of company-wide training programs, customer-focused marketing initiatives, and the launch of Tomlinson's eCommerce. When not in the office, Kate is busy raising the fifth generation of the Tomlinson's family tree.