Every Man Jack names new CEO, CFO for Marin County men’s care products firm

Coming off an influx in capital in recent months, a fast-growing Marin County company specializing in natural men’s personal care products has spruced up its C-suite with new chief executive and financial officers.

Corte Madera-based Every Man Jack hired Gerry Chesser as CEO, effective June 1. Founder Ritch Viola shifted to chairman of the board and was said to be focusing on sales and marketing.

"There's tremendous growth in the Men's personal care category, and I'm excited for the opportunity to build on the momentum that Every Man Jack has had in bringing our customers products they need and love," Chesser said in the announcement Monday.

Chesser, a Marin County resident, has over 25 years working in consumer products in various roles, the company said. He came from Unilever as group CEO of the US Health and Wellbeing Division, made up of OLLY, Smarty Pants Vitamins, Liquid IV and Welly Health.

Chesser co-founded OLLY in San Francisco and was at the helm when it was sold to Unilever in 2019. Before OLLY, he worked at OWN Products as chief operating officer and then CEO, as well as at Method Products, as vice president of operations.

Meanwhile, Steve Kaufman-Fox posted on the LinkedIn online network in May that he was leaving his role as chief financial officer for nearly 12 years at San Rafael-based Small World Trading Products, better known as EO Products, to fill the same role at Every Man Jack.

“Great product, great people and great opportunity,” he wrote, referring to his new employer.

Viola founded Every Man Jack in San Francisco in 2007 with 12 products. The company moved to Marin five years later. Today, the 80 products are distributed to major retailers such as Target, Costco Wholesale and Walmart.

The Carlyle Group (Nasdaq: CG) made a majority investment of an undisclosed amount in Every Man Jack in December.

“Every Man Jack benefits from a number of tailwinds, including the increasing engagement of male consumers in their personal care routines and the significant growth of natural and sustainable products,” said Jay Sammons, Carlyle’s head of global consumer, media and retail, in that announcement. “Every Man Jack sits at the intersection of these two trends, which gives us a high degree of confidence in the opportunities ahead to build upon its attractive value proposition for consumers and retailers alike.”

After the Carlyle funding, Every Man Jack said it would appoint to its board John Replogle, founding partner of One Better Ventures and former CEO of Seventh Generation and Burt’s Bees; Pete Alberse, a partner of One Better Ventures and former executive at Seventh Generation and Burt’s Bees; and Sharon MacLeod, who spent 21 years at Unilever, where she was most recently global vice president of Dove Men+Care.

Carlyle reported over $260 billion in assets under management. The Every Man Jack investment came from the $18.5 billion Carlyle Partners VII fund.

Jeff Quackenbush covers wine, construction and real estate. Before the Business Journal, he wrote for Bay City News Service in San Francisco. He has a degree from Walla Walla University. Reach him at jquackenbush@busjrnl.com or 707-521-4256.