Interview with Craig Noell, CEO of Halo Healthy Tribes

Craig Noell is a veteran of thirty years as an executive in finance and special situations during which he established a recognized penchant for identifying and implementing creative approaches to the complex needs of critical stage companies.  Noell has been involved in the recapitalization/restructuring of more than 200 companies.  The common denominator tended to be a critical stage challenges whether from the complex challenges associated with rapid growth or financial distress due to economic challenges or managerial miscues.  Noell’s early career included stints at Bank of America and Barclays before joining what ultimately became Wells Fargo Capital Finance.  At WFCF Noell was SVP and head of the New York and Southern California business development efforts. 

Later Noell was a senior executive in the Distressed Investing Group at Goldman Sachs & Co where he founded the Credit Partners Group and pioneered the development of special situation and hybrid lending providing alternative financing to both financially distressed companies as well as entrepreneurial growth companies that had yet to achieved the kind of profitability to borrow from traditional commercial bank institutions.

In 2004, Noell co-founded Signature Group Holdings where he was CEO and oversaw more than 25 special situation investments culminating in the 2010 reorganization of Fremont General Corporation (NYSE:FMT). Over the prior decade, Fremont had ranked as one of the three largest originators of subprime mortgages and had over $10B in assets prior to imploding.  While Fremont operated in bankruptcy, Signature prevailed over an insider group to successfully confirm an unsolicited plan of reorganization and Fremont emerged from bankruptcy with a substantial net worth and $900 million in Net Operating Loss Tax Carryforwards (NOLs).  The reorganized company adopted the Signature name and Noell became CEO overseeing the repositioning of the company out of the mortgage business through acquisition, the settlement of over 500 pieces of litigation, and bringing current delinquent audit results and SEC filings dating back to 2007.  Noell retired in 2013 and has been a private investor culminating in the formation of Halo Healthy Tribes.

Noell is a graduate of the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania where he received Bachelor of Science in Economics.  He has a Global MBA from Duke University.  Noell also attended Loyola Law School (Los Angeles). 

Tell us a bit about Halo Healthy Tribes.

Thank you for visiting with our tribe!  Our business is premised on the idea that people want to eat healthier but can’t find the foods they want to buy when visiting the supermarket.  This is true even if they are shopping at a “health food” store, it simply is no guarantee of healthy fare.  These stores still sell soda and all manner of sugar laden products not to mention other controversial ingredients. It’s difficult to determine what’s healthy:  Organic, Gluten, Soy, Sugar, Carbs, GMOs, Fat – they are just a few of the areas of controversy in the area of nutrition and some of the “healthy” alternatives are in direct opposition to other concepts and the advocates on both opposing sides are doctors and scientists of good reputation and sincerity so it’s difficult for me and nearly impossible for the ordinary person.  That’s where the “healthy tribes” aspect of our name originated. People subscribe to different beliefs about food and I joke that out here in California people take it more seriously than their religion.  Our products are distinguished by a distinctive ring circling the top of the package- that’s the “Halo” in our name. Its purpose is to let the consumer know for what tribes the product is intended.  We target three different diet tribes but for all the differing opinions, there really is more commonality between them than the promoters might admit: 

• Sans Sucre which is French for no sugar added. All our products are 100% natural with no added sugar
• Plant Powered if that promise is on the halo then it’s vegetarian with visual variants that let you further know if the product is lactose free, dairy free, or vegan, and
• Fat Fueled products that are low carb and keto friendly. 

Not every product meets the needs of all three tribes but its surprising how many of our products really do meet the needs of multiple tribes.

In addition to the halo, each product also has a “flagpole” that runs down the left face of the package.  On the flagpole we try and put additional information about things like gluten and soy or GMOs.  We approach this differently from other food companies.  For most products, these icons are more of a marketing gimmick where they are trying to virtue signal to the consumer but its caveat emptor- you only know the virtues they are promoting.  Our products are always 100% natural and we avoid the use of processed grains (including soy) so by design the source of 99% of the gluten and GMOs.  But we are also pragmatic.  When we started to develop a line of Asian sauces and related products, it’s virtually impossible to do that without including something derived from soy.  So our flagpole lets you know what’s in our products and these call outs are in the same place in the same order all the time.  So consumers never have wonder.  Every product on every flagpole we always address the same exact issues in the same order.  There aren’t many products we sell that have soy, but when you look at our Asian sauces its identified in the same place where it would normally say soy free.  If it’s worthy of a call out on our flagpole to advertise a nutritional fact, the call out will be addressed every time in the exact same place. So our approach is infused with pragmatism and two of the worst words to say around our office are “never” and “easy”.  We treat them like we do swear words.  If you use them, $5 goes into the swear jar.

What gave you the idea for your business and how did it start?

Credit really goes to our founder Kim Whichard, even though I guess I was the inspiration.  When I turned my doctor told me I was in fine shape for my age, but he sort of nudged me and told me I should lose 20 pounds and that I could get off my prescriptions if I’d take personal responsibility.  “Nobody ever takes me serious and makes real changes,” he said.  Well Kim is a fitness enthusiast and already had me exercising most every day so somehow this became her challenge.  I sort of became her science project to prove what happens when you adopt a low carb diet.  And as predicted, just cleaning up my diet and ditching the carbs made a huge difference.

So was that a Keto diet she put you on?

[Laughs] Well, this was 2012 so keto was just a medical term that you would find discussed in books like Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes as the science explaining why it makes such a big difference when you eliminate carbs.  Dr. Atkins had identified all the way back to the 70s and he wasn’t the first.  Paleo was what was really in fashion back in 2012 and like Atkins and as with Keto now there is some great inspiration to be drawn from all three but eventually the charlatans and promoters get involved and have a way of undermining the good.  We call those people ketotards.

But Kim’s diet, the Halo Healthy diet can be summarized in 133 characters:  Eliminate sugar.  Eliminate processed carbs like bread and pasta. Be very sparing with fruit and root vegetables. Eat lots of plants.

The Halo Healthy diet is simple.  Kim’s genius was to identify that life would be so much more simple if you could just find the products in the supermarket that fit your way of eating.  It’s pretty basic, but that’s what the Halo does.

What’s your favorite thing about your job?

Oh, my favorite thing is not having a job.  That’s not entirely true.  When you have a job you have to be responsible and worry about making the trains run on time.  Kim, Victoria, Julian bear that burden.  I’m an investor.  Historically, I’ve helped companies in transition and never focused on any particular industry but our biggest challenge as a society is wellness, and it all starts with diet.  Halo is a big part of helping society- the world really- address that challenge.

But it has caused me to retool my own efforts to focus on investing in health and wellness.  The synergies with what they are doing are tremendous so I changed the name on the door from Square Peg Capital to Halo Healthy Capital. I’m a true believer in the concept and what Kim and her team are creating. They keep finding great little companies and asking me if I can help them.  Most of all, I do like the creativity involved. Maybe I’m just detoxing from 30 years in finance but helping the team come up with product ideas and marketing strategies is great fun.  Last week Julian was working on the planned line of jams. Most of the jams out there are almost 50% sugar so its just another area where what they are doing makes a huge difference.  The working name for the brand was Orchard Valley Jams but nobody was in love with that name and the labels weren’t inspiring either.  My contribution was to say, “We just need to start over from scratch”.  And Julian said, “I’ve got it!” and dashes off.  Ten minutes later he sends around a rough cut of a logo for “Scratch Made Fresh”.  It was perfect. It’s been refined slightly, but what he sent was 99% complete.  Everybody loves the new design, it is a great feeling.

What are your keys to making yourself productive?

I don’t know. [laughs]  I think that it starts with having goals that are tangible and important.  Then you have to be committed. If you have those two things I think you can overcome a world of other challenges.  I have a big problem with organization- it’s just not how my brain thinks. I know that organization is important, maybe even more important for someone like me.  I try to surround myself with people who balance my weaknesses. I also try and systematize the important things so they become part of a daily routine.  Fortunately, Kim is the most organized person I’ve ever known and Julian jokes about being OCD.

Tell us one long-term goal in your career.

I just want to help the team here build a valuable company and hopefully it makes a real difference in terms of enabling people to eat more healthy.  At this point I get more enjoyment at helping others to grow. I volunteer at an incubator for new businesses as well.

What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned through the course of your career?

It’s harder than it looks.  Also the value of organization and execution.  Like I said, I struggle every day to execute. Most of us do.

What advice would you give to others aspiring to succeed in your field?

Don’t do it.  Seriously. If it isn’t a labor of love that you are extremely passionate about it’s probably not worth the toll even if you get rich.  Everyone hears about the tech billionaires but starting a company is enormously taxing. It takes an enormous toll.  You only tend to hear about the success stories. Starting and building a business is a great thing and even as our media glamorizes the founder billionaires it probably doesn’t really recognize how much that entrepreneurial creativity really contributes to making the world better for everyone.  I’d argue that Bill Gates did much more for society during his first 25 years building Microsoft than he ever will do through his foundation efforts and all the money that is behind it. I think anyone who starts and creates something worthwhile deserves society’s gratitude.  I just think succeeding on that level takes a lot of perseverance and the prospective entrepreneur should understand that.

What are your favorite things to do outside of work?

I have three kids and beyond reading, hiking, and otherwise trying to stay in shape pretty much everything in my life revolves around them.  I was 40 when my first was born and becoming a father completely changed me. If work and conquering the world were important before, all I wanted to do was be with those kids.  So I still love working hard and building businesses but my tenacity isn’t the same any more.

My oldest, Ethan Zachary is 17, but we know him as Easy.  He’s the prototypical oldest child. His dream has been to play professional basketball for the LA Clippers but I’ve always told him he was more likely to own the Clippers than play for them.  He’s 5-11 now and asked me if I could intercede with God to get him a couple more inches and solidify his chances of playing varsity next year. Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of clout upstairs but God made him smarter than either of his parents so he talks about going to Wharton like I did.  My advice to him has been to not worry about studying business but just find something to be passionate about and learn for the next four years.

Hallie(Gator) is my middle child and my only girl.  She’s a freshman and into surfing and Jr. Lifeguards but the best way to describe her is as the reincarnation of Steve Jobs.  If any of my kids completely changes a paradigm the way that Jobs did, my bet would be on my girl. She’s creative and interested in so many different things but what distinguishes her is not just the creativity but the sheer force of personality to bend the world to her will- it can be tough to be her dad!

Cambo is 12 and is doing great as the baby following in the shadow of such spectacular older siblings.  He’s also into basketball. He hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet but he’s going to be taller than his brother so the basketball career might go just a little bit farther.  He’s the classic youngest child. He’s much more interested in entertaining his class than getting perfect marks but as his older brother noted, he’s wicked smart so he somehow still pulls out great marks without working nearly so hard.  He’s been a video blogger and he’s also a big reader with an intellectual bent.

Name a few influential books you’ve read and/or websites you keep up with that you’d recommend to readers.

Like everyone, the web consumes way too much of my life. I’ve read the Wall Street Journal since I was in high school and the Journal and NYTimes get the bulk of my reading but I like the Atlantic and City Journal but Quillette is a new find that has some extraordinary stuff.  Back in college I read Pure White and Deadly by John Yudkin.  He was a lonely voice in the 70’s calling out sugar but he was right. When I started focusing on my own health in 2012, then Yudkin’s book resonated out of the past.  There’s a YouTube video “The Bitter Truth” by Robert Lustig who built on Yudkin’s research.  It is still viral after 10 years.

On a more personal basis, Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond is the true story of how Western Europe came to dominate much of the world after being an unimportant backwater for most of history.  Les Miserables and Crime and Punishment are two of the greatest pieces of fiction. The writer Andrew Klavan says that great fiction tells its own special truth; I certainly think its true of both those books. You can never miss with Elmore Leonard.  I like Janet Evanovich too.  Her stuff has been known to make me laugh out loud.

Connect:

www.HaloHealthyTribes.com

Craig@HaloHealthyBrands.com

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