Vilna Gaon SRL — Advisory Board
22 AI agents, 22 disciplines — scaling consumer brands through operational excellence & Agentic AI
LinkedIn Profiles
22 AI agents, 22 disciplines — scaling consumer brands through operational excellence & Agentic AI
LinkedIn Profiles
Certified Tea Sommelier (UK Tea Academy) · Terroir Teas, Infusion & Sensory Workshops
Brussels, Belgium · Food & Beverage
500+ connections
Certified tea sommelier with 15 years studying the world's finest terroir teas — from Darjeeling first flush to high-mountain Taiwanese oolongs. My approach blends heritage respect with creativity. At Teatower I design tasting experiences, write product copy, and train teams in the art of tea.
"A great tea tells a story. My job is to help you discover it."
Teatower · Full-time
Jan 2023 – Present · 3 yrs 2 mos
Catalog curation (400+ references), product copywriting, in-store tasting workshops, team training. Created Teatower's sensory recommendation methodology.
Mariage Frères · Full-time
Sep 2015 – Dec 2022 · 7 yrs 4 mos
Private tastings at the Parisian tea salon. Seasonal grand cru selection. Trained 40+ sales advisors in sensory analysis.
Fortnum & Mason · Full-time
Mar 2011 – Aug 2015 · 4 yrs 6 mos
Direct sourcing from tea gardens (India, Sri Lanka, Japan, China). Weekly cupping sessions. Development of exclusive Fortnum's blends.
Tea Sommelier Certification — Level 4 (Master)
2010 – 2011
BSc Plant Sciences & Botany
2007 – 2010
UK Tea Academy · 2011
Tea Association of the USA · 2014
Marketing Psychology Expert · Cialdini Principles, Neuromarketing & Behavioral Economics
Paris / Brussels · Marketing Strategy
500+ connections
18 years decoding why people buy — and why they don't. Research-driven: Harvard Business Review, Cialdini's 7 principles, consumer neuroscience. At Vilna Gaon, I audit every touchpoint through the lens of ethical persuasion. 90% of purchase decisions are emotional — my job is to make sure the emotion felt is the right one.
"Ethical persuasion isn't manipulation — it's helping people make the decision they already want to make."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Freelance
Mar 2024 – Present · 2 yrs
Full persuasion audit of the customer journey. Product page, email & CTA optimization. +22% conversion on optimized landing pages.
McKinsey & Company · Full-time
Sep 2016 – Feb 2024 · 7 yrs 6 mos
Behavioral science engagements for FMCG and luxury clients (L'Oréal, Unilever, Richemont). Pricing architectures, packaging tests, in-store nudge strategies.
BVA Nudge Consulting · Full-time
Jan 2008 – Aug 2016 · 8 yrs 8 mos
Applied behavioral economics to retail. 200+ A/B tests. 3 peer-reviewed articles on decision fatigue at point of sale.
MSc Marketing — Consumer Behavior
2006 – 2008
Retail Store Manager & Visual Merchandising Expert · Planograms, Customer Journey & In-Store Experience
Antwerp, Belgium · Retail
500+ connections
12 years optimizing retail spaces. I turn underperforming sales floors into revenue machines through visual merchandising, planogram science, and customer journey design. At Vilna Gaon, I manage the physical retail presence for Teatower and partner brands.
"Retail is theater. The store is the stage. Every product has a role to play."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Freelance
Jun 2024 – Present · 1 yr 9 mos
Planogram design for Teatower in Delhaize. OPALYA display optimization. Customer journey mapping.
Zara (Inditex) · Full-time
Sep 2017 – May 2024 · 6 yrs 9 mos
VM for 14 stores. 8 collections/year. Trained 60+ store staff.
IKEA Belgium · Full-time
Mar 2014 – Aug 2017 · 3 yrs 6 mos
Room setting design, showroom optimization. +18% average basket size via cross-merchandising.
Bachelor in Retail & Visual Merchandising
2011 – 2014
E-Commerce Expert · WordPress & Shopify · CRO, SEO & Omnichannel Integration
Ghent, Belgium · E-Commerce
500+ connections
10 years building and optimizing online stores. WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify — I know the platforms inside out. At Vilna Gaon, I manage the digital presence of the entire portfolio: vilnagaon.com, soundviz.com, bakingsupplies.shop, kosherbreadpro.com, opalya.com.
"A great online store loads fast, converts visitors, and makes the back-office team's life easier."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Jan 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 2 mos
10+ WordPress/WooCommerce sites. REST API automation, SEO, performance tuning, multi-site architecture.
Shopify Plus Partner Agency · Full-time
Mar 2018 – Dec 2023 · 5 yrs 10 mos
Built 80+ Shopify stores. Liquid themes, checkout customization, headless (Hydrogen). Average +35% revenue post-launch.
MSc Computer Science — Web Engineering
2013 – 2015
Email Marketing Expert · Deliverability, Prospecting & List Building · MailPoet, Raw SMTP, DNS Authentication
Lyon, France · Email Marketing & Growth
500+ connections
12 years sending emails that actually land in inboxes — not spam folders. I've managed deliverability for lists from 5K to 2M+ subscribers, warm-up campaigns for fresh domains, and built prospecting pipelines that find the right contacts from the open web, trade directories, and professional networks. At Vilna Gaon I run email operations across all portfolio brands: MailPoet on WordPress, raw SMTP for warmup and transactional, and multi-source lead collection. No Mailchimp — we own our infrastructure and our data.
"Sender reputation is a long-term asset. Every email you send either builds it or burns it. I make sure we build."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Mar 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 1 mo
Email strategy across all portfolio brands (OPALYA, Teatower, BakingSupplies, KosherBreadPro). Deliverability monitoring, warmup schedules, audience segmentation, automated sequences. Built email collection pipelines: web scraping, Hunter.io/Snov.io APIs, lead magnets, trade show capture. 94.2% inbox placement rate across all domains.
Sendinblue (now Brevo) · Full-time
Jan 2019 – Feb 2024 · 5 yrs 2 mos
Managed deliverability for 800+ SMB clients. SPF/DKIM/DMARC audits, IP warm-up programs, blacklist remediation. Reduced average client spam rate from 12% to 2.1%. Built internal tooling for reputation monitoring.
Mailjet · Full-time
Sep 2015 – Dec 2018 · 3 yrs 4 mos
Campaign strategy for B2B and B2C clients. A/B testing frameworks, send-time optimization, lifecycle automation. Managed 50M+ emails/month. Developed Mailjet's client onboarding warm-up protocol.
Freelance · Self-employed
Jun 2012 – Aug 2015 · 3 yrs 3 mos
Email campaigns, newsletter design, list building for French SMBs. First exposure to raw SMTP, DNS configuration, and the dark art of inbox placement.
MSc Digital Marketing & Data Analytics
2010 – 2012
BSc Information & Communication Sciences
2007 – 2010
HubSpot Academy · 2016
dmarcian · 2020
Google · 2018
Commercial Real Estate · 20 Years at Cushman & Wakefield · Retail Location Strategy & Lease Negotiation
Brussels, Belgium · Real Estate
500+ connections
20 years in commercial real estate at Cushman & Wakefield, specializing in retail locations. 500+ leases negotiated across Belgium, Luxembourg, and Northern France. At Vilna Gaon, I advise on retail location strategy for Teatower and partner brands.
"Location is a math problem disguised as an art problem. I solve both."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Advisory
Sep 2024 – Present · 1 yr 6 mos
Retail location analysis for Teatower expansion. Lease negotiation. Catchment area and footfall modeling.
Cushman & Wakefield · Full-time
Jan 2004 – Aug 2024 · 20 yrs 8 mos
Led retail leasing for Benelux. Key clients: Inditex, H&M, IKEA, Delhaize, Colruyt Group.
Master in Real Estate & Finance
2002 – 2004
Financial Analyst · Value Investing (Buffett/Munger) · DCF, Portfolio Valuation & Capital Allocation
Liège, Belgium · Finance & PE
500+ connections
Value investor to the bone. 15 years in financial analysis, inspired by Buffett and Munger. Margin of safety above all. At Vilna Gaon, I evaluate every portfolio asset: DCF valuations, scenario modeling, P&L analysis. Plain language, focused on intrinsic value, allergic to complexity for its own sake.
"Price is what you pay. Value is what you get. My job is to make sure you know the difference."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Jan 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 2 mos
Portfolio valuation (Fair Value NAV: €1.3M). Terracotta Beauty deal structuring. LR Data Science AI pivot business plan (10-27x ROI). Brand equity valuation with Mara.
Goldman Sachs · Full-time
Sep 2015 – Dec 2023 · 8 yrs 4 mos
Consumer & Retail M&A. 20+ transactions, €3.2B total. Mid-market consumer brands and PE exits.
Deutsche Bank · Full-time
Jul 2011 – Aug 2015 · 4 yrs 2 mos
Consumer staples coverage. 100+ research notes. Brand equity valuation framework.
MSc Finance & Economics
2009 – 2011
CFA Institute · 2013
Content Strategist · GaryVee Methodology · Social Media, Short-Form Video & Attention Arbitrage
Brussels / Online · Content & Social
500+ connections
Attention is the asset. Every platform has its own language — respect it. Give value 3x before you ask for anything. Speed and volume beat perfection. At Vilna Gaon, I build content calendars and design platform-native strategies for LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X across the entire brand portfolio.
"The best marketing strategy is to actually care about your audience."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Mar 2024 – Present · 2 yrs
Multi-brand content: Teatower, OPALYA, Soundviz, KosherBreadPro. Pillar content model. Short-form video scripts.
VaynerMedia · Full-time
Jan 2018 – Feb 2024 · 6 yrs 2 mos
Social strategy for 15+ consumer brands. 500M+ organic impressions. TikTok-first CPG strategies.
BA Communications & Media Studies
2014 – 2018
Odoo v19 Expert · Belgian PCMN Accounting · ERP Configuration & Financial Data Extraction
Liège, Belgium · ERP & Accounting
500+ connections
The ERP is the single source of truth. Clean data in, clean data out. At Vilna Gaon, I set up and maintain the Odoo v19 instance: Belgian PCMN chart of accounts, opening balances, journal entries, bank reconciliation, and financial reporting. I'm the bridge between the ERP and Warren's analyses.
"Automate everything that can be automated. Manual entries are errors waiting to happen."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Jan 2025 – Present · 1 yr 2 mos
Full Odoo v19 setup: PCMN chart of accounts, opening balance (€727K), ventilation entries, JSON-RPC API automation.
Odoo SA · Full-time
Mar 2017 – Dec 2024 · 7 yrs 10 mos
60+ Belgian SME implementations. Accounting, CRM, sales, inventory, purchase. PCMN compliance specialist.
Master in Accounting & Auditing
2013 – 2015
JD Edwards Manufacturing & WMS Expert · MRP/MPS, Shop Floor Control, Warehouse Management & Distribution Systems
Brussels, Belgium · Manufacturing & Supply Chain ERP
500+ connections
20+ years configuring JD Edwards EnterpriseOne for manufacturing companies — from shop floor control and MRP runs to warehouse management and distribution. I've implemented JDE across consumer goods, food & beverage, cosmetics, and industrial manufacturing. At Vilna Gaon, I'm the bridge between production floor reality and ERP data: if it's made, stored, picked, or shipped, it runs through my systems. I work alongside Fabian (Odoo) and Nick (Supply Chain) to ensure end-to-end operational clarity across the portfolio.
"An ERP is only as good as its configuration. The best MRP run in the world can't fix a wrong BOM or a misaligned routing. Get the master data right, and the system does the rest."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Jun 2024 – Present · 1 yr 10 mos
JDE EnterpriseOne implementation across portfolio brands. Manufacturing configuration for OPALYA (cosmetics batch processing), Teatower (blending & packaging), BakingSupplies (multi-vendor fulfillment). WMS setup for LR Data Science's 4-warehouse operation (1.21M SKUs). EDI integration with Delhaize, Carrefour, Colruyt for Distrimarks distribution.
Deloitte Consulting · Full-time
Jan 2016 – May 2024 · 8 yrs 5 mos
Led 12+ JDE E1 9.2 implementations for mid-market manufacturers (€50M–€500M revenue). Specialization in process manufacturing (food, pharma, cosmetics) and discrete manufacturing (consumer goods). Designed WMS solutions for 3PL integration and multi-site warehouse operations. Built MRP/MPS frameworks reducing inventory carrying costs by 15-25%.
Accenture · Full-time
Sep 2009 – Dec 2015 · 6 yrs 4 mos
JDE shop floor control and BOM configuration for FMCG clients across Benelux. MRP setup, routing optimization, and production costing. First WMS implementation — designed RF scanning workflows for a 40,000 sqm distribution center.
Kerry Group · Full-time
Mar 2005 – Aug 2009 · 4 yrs 6 mos
Production planning in a JDE environment for food ingredients manufacturing. MPS management, capacity planning, batch scheduling. Where I learned that ERP knowledge without shop floor experience is just theory.
MSc Industrial Engineering — Production & Logistics
2003 – 2005
BSc Applied Sciences — Mechanical Engineering
2000 – 2003
Oracle · 2012
Oracle · 2014
ASCM · 2010
Corporate Lawyer · Belgian CSA & Cross-Border M&A · Shareholder Agreements & PE Transactions
Liège / Brussels · Legal
500+ connections
12 years in corporate law, specialized in Belgian CSA and cross-border transactions. At Vilna Gaon, I drafted the Terracotta Beauty shareholder pact (25 articles), the share transfer conventions (incl. BE-FR cross-border with SNC), and I review all legal documentation for CSA compliance.
"A good contract prevents disputes. A great contract makes disputes impossible."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Advisory
Jan 2025 – Present · 1 yr 2 mos
Terracotta Beauty: shareholder pact, 2 share transfer conventions, AGE preparation, governance framework (deadlock, shotgun, tag/drag-along).
Linklaters LLP (Brussels) · Full-time
Sep 2016 – Dec 2024 · 8 yrs 4 mos
PE transactions, shareholder agreements, JV structures. 30+ deals. Cross-border (BE, FR, LUX, NL).
Master in Law — Corporate & Financial
2009 – 2014
UX/UI Expert · Conversion Optimization · WCAG Accessibility & User Research
Milan / Remote · UX Design
500+ connections
10 years designing digital experiences that convert. I obsess over user journeys, micro-interactions, and invisible friction. At Vilna Gaon, I optimize page layouts, conversion funnels, and WCAG 2.1/2.2 accessibility compliance across the portfolio.
"Good UX is invisible. Bad UX is unforgettable."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Freelance
Jun 2024 – Present · 1 yr 9 mos
Conversion funnel optimization for OPALYA and Teatower. WCAG accessibility audits. Mobile-first design reviews.
Booking.com · Full-time
Mar 2018 – May 2024 · 6 yrs 3 mos
Checkout redesign (+12% completion). 500+ A/B tests. WCAG AA across core flows.
MSc Communication Design
2014 – 2016
CFO & Financial Controller · IFRS & BE-GAAP · Group Consolidation & Tax Planning
Brussels, Belgium · Finance
500+ connections
15 years in financial controlling. Expert in IFRS and Belgian GAAP. At Vilna Gaon, I handle group consolidation, tax planning across the multi-entity structure, and financial compliance.
"Numbers don't lie, but they can be poorly organized. My job is to make them tell the truth clearly."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Advisory
Mar 2024 – Present · 2 yrs
Multi-entity P&L consolidation. Tax optimization across BE/FR/US entities. Annual accounts (BE-GAAP).
PwC Belgium · Full-time
Sep 2013 – Feb 2024 · 10 yrs 6 mos
Audit of mid-market Belgian companies. IFRS and BE-GAAP. 15+ annual engagements.
Master in Accounting & Finance
2011 – 2013
Business Development — West & Central Africa · Distribution, Regulatory & Market Entry
Abidjan / Brussels · International Trade
500+ connections
10 years building distribution networks across West and Central Africa. At Vilna Gaon, I develop the African market strategy for OPALYA and the broader cosmetics portfolio. Regulatory navigation, distributor relationships, pricing for local purchasing power.
"Africa is not one market. It's 54 countries, 2,000 languages, and infinite opportunity — if you do the homework."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Sep 2024 – Present · 1 yr 6 mos
OPALYA market entry for Ivory Coast and Cameroon. Distributor identification. Cosmetics registration and import permits.
Carrefour West Africa · Full-time
Jan 2018 – Aug 2024 · 6 yrs 8 mos
Distributor network across 5 West African markets. 200+ retailers. Launched 15 FMCG brands into Ivory Coast.
MBA — International Trade
2015 – 2017
Cosmetics Formulation Expert · Skincare for Melanin-Rich Skin · Regulatory & Product Development
Paris / Lagos · Cosmetics
500+ connections
15 years in cosmetics formulation for melanin-rich skin. I understand hyperpigmentation, moisture barriers, and SPF for dark skin. At Vilna Gaon, I advise on OPALYA product development, formulation reviews, and ingredient sourcing.
"Melanin-rich skin isn't a variant — it's the majority. The industry is finally catching up."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Advisory
Jun 2024 – Present · 1 yr 9 mos
OPALYA product line review. Ingredient efficacy for dark skin. EU Cosmetics Regulation compliance.
L'Oréal — Multicultural Beauty Lab · Full-time
Sep 2015 – May 2024 · 8 yrs 9 mos
R&D for Dark & Lovely and SoftSheen-Carson. 25+ SKUs for African and Afro-Caribbean skin/hair. 3 patents.
Master in Cosmetics & Perfumery Formulation
2009 – 2011
Kashrut & Jewish Law Expert · Kosher Certification, Halachic Baking & Ingredient Compliance
Brooklyn, NY / Remote · Food Compliance
500+ connections
Ordained rabbi with 20 years in kashrut supervision. At Vilna Gaon, I review every recipe on KosherBreadPro for halachic accuracy: hafrashat challah, egg checking, Pas Yisroel, brachot, holiday rules. I also audit ingredient sourcing for BakingSupplies.shop.
"Kashrut is not a restriction — it's an elevation. Every ingredient, every process, every detail matters."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Advisory
Jan 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 2 mos
120+ recipe reviews. Ingredient compliance audits. Multi-tradition coverage (Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrachi, Yemenite).
Orthodox Union (OU Kosher) · Full-time
Sep 2010 – Dec 2023 · 13 yrs 4 mos
Supervised 200+ bakeries for OU certification. Pas Yisroel, Bishul Yisroel, Pesach chametz management. Training program for mashgichim.
Semicha (Rabbinic Ordination) & MA Talmudic Studies
2004 – 2010
Sales Master · Ziglar Methodology · Scripts, Objection Handling & Pipeline Optimization
Brussels, Belgium · Sales
500+ connections
You can have everything in life you want, if you help enough other people get what they want. Selling is a transference of feeling. At Vilna Gaon, I write sales scripts, design objection handling, optimize the pipeline, and coach on consultative selling.
"Attitude, not aptitude, determines altitude."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Advisory
Mar 2024 – Present · 2 yrs
B2B sales scripts for Brand Marketing. OPALYA retail pitch decks. CRM pipeline design. Closing techniques training.
Salesforce · Full-time
Jan 2016 – Feb 2024 · 8 yrs 2 mos
Built EMEA mid-market from 12 to 85 reps. €120M ARR. Ziglar + solution selling methodology.
MBA — Sales & Marketing
2014 – 2016
Private Equity Mentor · Blackstone Playbook · Deal Structuring, Portfolio Ops & Firm Building
New York / Brussels · Private Equity
500+ connections
Go big or go home. Don't lose money. Every deal must have a thesis. Operational excellence creates value — not financial engineering. At Vilna Gaon, I mentor on scaling a micro-PE into a world-class firm. The Blackstone way: standardize, measure, improve.
"Relationships and reputation are everything. The rest is execution."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Advisory
Jan 2025 – Present · 1 yr 2 mos
Portfolio audit and optimization. Terracotta Beauty deal review. Micro-PE scaling via AI-assisted parallel management.
Blackstone · Full-time
Sep 2008 – Dec 2024 · 16 yrs 4 mos
Consumer & retail portfolio. 12 platform acquisitions, 30+ add-ons. $8B+ TEV managed.
MBA — Finance & Strategy
2006 – 2008
BSc Economics
2002 – 2006
Acquisition Strategist · Boring Businesses · Seller Financing & Creative Deal Structures
Austin, TX / Remote · Small Business M&A
500+ connections
The best businesses to buy are the ones nobody thinks are sexy. Seller financing is the great equalizer. Cash flow is king. At Vilna Gaon, I identify acquisition targets, structure creative deals, and run SMB due diligence.
"You don't need a pile of cash. You need a pile of creativity."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Advisory
Jun 2025 – Present · 9 mos
CIBUS Market operational takeover strategy. Terracotta Beauty acquisition review. "Boring business" target pipeline.
Contrarian Capital · Self-employed
Jan 2019 – May 2025 · 6 yrs 5 mos
Acquired 8 small businesses via seller financing. Portfolio: $4.2M revenue, 23 employees.
BBA Finance & Entrepreneurship
2015 – 2019
Food Ingredient Sourcing · Supply Chain & Commodity Trading · HACCP & BRC Audit
Chicago, IL · Food Supply Chain
500+ connections
15 years in food ingredient sourcing and supply chain. At Vilna Gaon, I manage vendor relationships for BakingSupplies.shop and CIBUS Market. Supplier qualification, price negotiation, quality assurance, logistics optimization.
"The best ingredient deal is the one where both sides want to do it again."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Jan 2024 – Present · 2 yrs 2 mos
Vendor management for BakingSupplies.shop (40+ brands). CIBUS Market supplier onboarding. Food safety compliance.
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) · Full-time
Mar 2014 – Dec 2023 · 9 yrs 10 mos
Specialty food ingredients. $200M+ annual volume. 15-country supplier network.
BSc Food Science & Technology
2002 – 2006
Art Director · Brand Identity & Packaging Design · Ex-Truffl, Ex-Chad Michael Studio, Ex-Saatchi & Saatchi
Los Angeles / Brussels · Design & Branding
500+ connections
11 years building brands that sell — from naming to shelf, strategy to production. Trained at three very different schools: global campaign discipline at Saatchi, zero-to-brand creation at Truffl (Last Crumb, Rag & Bone, Korean Bros, Fat Miilk), and the absolute craft of luxury packaging at Chad Michael Studio (30+ spirits brands). At Vilna Gaon, I'm Art Director for the entire consumer portfolio — OPALYA, Teatower, Terracotta Beauty, Soundviz. My job: turn products into brands, and brands into valuable assets.
"A brand is a system, not a logo. A logo without a system is decoration. A system without a logo still works."
Vilna Gaon SRL · Full-time
Jan 2025 – Present · 1 yr 2 mos
Portfolio brand equity audit (scored 6 brands). Soundviz rebrand (36→73/100). Wheeler 5-phase methodology. Color systems, type systems, packaging specs.
Truffl · Full-time
Jan 2019 – Dec 2024 · 5 yrs
30+ brands from zero: naming, strategy, identity, packaging, photography, web, social. Last Crumb, Rag & Bone, Korean Bros, Fat Miilk, Jean Dousset, Barcode.
Chad Michael Studio · Full-time
Jan 2014 – Dec 2018 · 5 yrs
Luxury spirits packaging: custom bottles, letterpress, foil stamping, embossing. 30+ brands. Learned that materiality is a brand signal the subconscious reads before the eye processes the logo.
Saatchi & Saatchi · Full-time
Jan 2013 – Dec 2013 · 1 yr
Global campaigns. Lovemarks framework. Learned the discipline. Left because big-agency process kills craft.
BFA Graphic Design & Packaging
2009 – 2013
Alina Wheeler / Wiley · 2016
Pratt Institute · 2015
Master Pastry Chef & Artisan Baker · Jewish Baking Traditions · Baker's Math, Sourdough & Kosher Compliance
Champaign, IL, USA · Artisan Baking
500+ connections
20 years in professional baking and pastry — from Parisian patisseries to New York's kosher bakeries to my own operation in the Midwest. I know dough the way a violinist knows strings — by feel, by sound, by smell. At Vilna Gaon, I run the baking operation across three properties: KosherBreadPro (120+ recipes), BakingSupplies.shop (40+ vendors), and KashrutBaking. My role: precise recipes, product development, ingredient sourcing, connecting content to commerce.
"Precision is kindness. A vague recipe fails bakers. I give grams, baker's percentages, and both °C and °F — never 'a pinch' or 'until done.'"
Vilna Gaon SRL (Chef Jean Pierre LLC) · Full-time
Jan 2023 – Present · 3 yrs 2 mos
120+ kosher recipes for KosherBreadPro. Product development & catalog curation for BakingSupplies.shop (40+ vendors, 300+ SKUs). Content-to-commerce: every recipe links to ingredients in the shop.
Breads Bakery · Full-time
Sep 2017 – Dec 2022 · 5 yrs 4 mos
Artisan kosher bakery, NYC (Union Square). Challah (800+/week), babka ("most famous in New York" — NY Times), viennoiseries. Trained 15 bakers.
Pierre Hermé Paris · Full-time
Mar 2011 – Aug 2017 · 6 yrs 6 mos
Classical French pastry at the highest level. Lamination, choux, macarons, tarts, entremets. At Hermé, 0.5g changes everything.
Éric Kayser · Apprenticeship
Sep 2008 – Feb 2011 · 2 yrs 6 mos
Artisan bread, liquid levain, pain de tradition. Foundations of long fermentation and baguette shaping.
Grand Diplôme de Pâtisserie
2006 – 2008
Certificate in Artisan Bread Baking
2010
Le Cordon Bleu Paris · 2008
Culinary Institute of America · 2010
National Restaurant Association · 2018