The People of Expo West 2022

It was so great to be back at Expo West in Anaheim, CA this month! I saw so many familiar faces that I had gone the last two years without seeing. I also met many great new people as well. Being in the health & wellness industry for the last 13 years has been so fun and it feels like one big family. I always look forward to these food and natural product events and seeing all the people I have met over the years of attending shows. A total of 57,000 people attended this year. Here are some of the people from the world’s largest natural food and products show of 2022! Some of them are founders, CEOs, innovators, scientists, nutritionists, advocates, manufacturers, health enthusiasts, and more, and one thing that everyone you see here has in common is that they are shaping the future of food.

Day 1:

The first day, I stopped by the HumanCo booth and saw a long-time friend and owner of HumanCo, Jason Karp. HumanCo is home to three amazing brands including, Snow Days gluten-free Pizza Bites, Against The Grain – gluten-free & grain-free pizzas & brands, and Cosmic Bliss – epic organic plant-based and organic grass-fed dairy ice creams! 

Next, I stopped by to say hello to the Food Earth booth! Food Earth makes pre-packaged, ready-to-eat, organic, gluten-free, plant-based Indian meals. These are the women behind the brand, Madhavi and Puja. I met the two back in the Fall at Expo East and it is always a pleasure to see them. 

I was so excited to see Vego Chocolate had a booth! I had only seen this chocolate in Australia. It is the only chocolate I know of made with whole Hazelnuts! Shown here is the CEO, Jan, and his friend, also named Jan that helps out with the company. 

Here is Alison! Owner of Edwards and Sons Trading Company which is home to a variety of organic brands & products, including Native Forest Coconut Milk. 

Loved running into Charles Chen! Charles is a long-time friend I met when living in NYC years ago. Charles is a Chef & Wellness Entrepreneur. Creator of 888 Process™ which delivers monthly self-care boxes to your door.  He is an amazing example of how anyone can turn their health around. He went on a journey to lose over 100 pounds, reclaimed his health, and is now passionate about helping others live their best life!

Stopped by the Nutiva and Coconut Secret booth and said hi to Madalyn! Madalyn has been with Nutiva for years now and handles the marketing and communications of the company. Nutiva is an OG for superfoods and sells oils, seeds, plant-protein powders, and more! Coconut Secret is a newer line from Nutiva that is soy-free “soy” sauce and teriyaki sauces made from Coconut Tree Sap! 

As always it was great to see Chris Amsler! Chris manages and helps to grow healthy food brands. He has helped with the development and growth of Nutiva over the years. 

Of course, I had to get my picture taken with Shaq! This was at the Alkaline88 booth, which sells alkaline water and Shaq is behind the brand! This water is special in that it has a pH of 8.8. This pH is more efficient for hydration because the body absorbs the water faster compared to standard tap water with a lower pH. Other waters also have buffers and chemicals such as magnesium fluoride or calcium chloride which can cause kidney stones. Alkaline88 is purified water and treated with Himalayan rock salt with reverse osmosis and then ionization. In addition, 8.8 is the highest natural pH found in nature. 

Day 2

On the second day of the show, I had a book signing for my book Cancer Free with Food at the Explore Cuisine booth! It was so fun to meet new people and share my book to help others heal and prevent cancer. Here are a few photos from the signing. 

Introducing the new CEO of Explore Cuisine, Melissa Feldman! I am so excited to work with her this year and for the company to now be WOMAN-LED!

And here is part of the Explore Cuisine team! So much fun having my book signing at the booth and getting to hang out with them! They are an epic team and are continuing to help share amazing, gluten-free & plant-based pasta with the world!

I also met up with a few ladies from Vitacost.com to visit booths and take videos sharing about their new products that are available on Vitacost. Shown here are Jess and Terry! They work with the supplements on Vitacost and help to get new products on the site. 

It is always so good to see Jordan Brown! Jordan is the founder of Hu Kitchen and I first met him in NYC when they originally had the Hu Kitchen restaurant. Hu Kitchen sells amazing organic chocolate, offering both plant-based and dairy options made with grass-fed organic dairy. They also sell cookies, crackers, and now chocolate chips sweetened with dates! 

Also on day two, I stopped by the Bragg booth to see any new items they have and talked with Holly Pons! Holly does marketing for Bragg and it was so good to see her in person again! Bragg recently developed Apple Cider Vinegar capsules that have B vitamins in them. A great option if you do not like drinking apple cider vinegar but enjoy the benefits! Plus, these have added energy with the B vitamins. 

Here are Colleen and Jason Wachob, who are the CEOs and Founders of the online lifestyle, media brand, Mindbodygreen. Mindbodygreen is a one-stop spot for all things health & wellness. Their site has helpful articles covering a variety of topics from food, fitness, all the way to beauty. They also offer a health coaching certification and fitness classes! 

I was so excited to see fellow nutritionist, Andrea Donsky! Andrea is the founder of Naturally Savvy which is a health & wellness site covering a variety of health topics, including recipes as well as a podcast. Andrea also founded Morphus which is a lifestyle and supplement brand designed to help women that are experiencing perimenopause and menopause. 

During the Expo, I was sharing recipes at the SunButter booth to show the different ways SunButter can be used! Here is the epic team behind the brand that sells roasted sunflower seed butter which is a great alternative to nut butter, free of the top 8 allergens, and offers a variety of health benefits. 

At the HumanCo party later this night I ran into friend Brain Rubenstein. Brian is the founder of Brand Expansion Group, an agency that helps brands expand in a retail setting. 

Day 3

On day 3 I had my book signing for Anxiety-Free with Food at the SunButter booth! This was extra exciting because this was the first signing since this book came out last December in 2020. Here are a few pictures from the signing. 

After my signing, US Weekly stopped by to film some content! US Weekly is in affiliation with Life to Go which is an online store that sells healthy snacks, beauty products, fitness gear, and supplements. I recently launched my Liana’s Organics Anxiety-Free Supplement to be sold there. You can purchase it here. Shown here are Kat Dara and Lisa Pounds. Lisa is the Executive Vice President and Editor in Cheif of Life to Go and Kat is the director of marketing for the company, boss babes!

On my way into the show this day I saw Alex Pegon who manages international markets for Explore Cuisine. Alex came all the way from Switzerland for the Expo. This was his first time coming to the show, how exciting! 

This is Mark Sission, the founder of Primal Kitchen! Primal is my go-to brand for salad dressings and sauces. They are all gluten-free, mostly dairy-free, and low in sugar, using only natural sweeteners. 

Two new friends I was stoked to meet! This is Oded and Aviv, the founders of one of the most epic brands I have ever seen, Blue Stripes Cacao! They sell the first-ever Cacao Water, chocolate, and other snacks made from cacao. They are a highly sustainable company using the entire cacao pod. There is no other company like this in the world to use the entire cacao pod. I was so excited to meet these two and am excited to see what is to come of their new brand. 

I enjoyed an afternoon pasta break with the team at Carbone! Carbone is an epic pasta sauce that is the new Rao’s but even better because they are certified non-GMO! Shown here are Eric, Christina, and Caitlin, part of the team behind the brand. 

Later that day I saw Luke Abbott! Luke is a consultant and helps to grow natural food companies. 

Here is Tero, founder of Four Sigmatic! Four Sigmatic sells amazing functional coffee, plant protein, and coffee creamers, all made with mushrooms. It’s always great to see Tero and his fun mushroom pants!

Spotted! Mike Tyson, a legend in the boxing world was at the show! He was doing a meet and greet at one of the booths where he has a product. So fun!

This is Hunter Stutz, I met him for the first time this Expo! Hunter works with Pitted Labs which are e-commerce consultants. They help brands with their strategy for selling on Amazon. 

To end day 3 I went to a few parties with some of my foodie friends! The first stop of the night was the Redmond Life dinner. This dinner is always a highlight of my Expo with epic natural and organic food and great conversation! It was so great to see Tiu, pictured here!

Also at the Redmond party, I got to see Julie and Kristy! So much fun!

To end the night I went to one of the best parties that always happens during Expo West called Organic Roots. Here I ran into Marci Zaroff, she is the founder of a few organic, sustainable clothing and lifestyle brands, including Seed to Style, Yes And, Farm to Home, Metawear. She also works with Beyond Brands which is an agency to help organic, conscious, healthy brands grow.  And Marci wrote the book, Ecorenaissance: A lifestyle Guide for Co-Creating a Stylish, Sexy, and Sustainable World. She is such a boss babe!

Also, at the party I ran into Shane Hofer, Shane works for Imlak’esh which is an epic, organic superfood company known for their Sacha Inchi nuts! They also just launched a new company called Chi Foods which makes plant-based ground pork – it’s delicious! 

Day 4

Long-time friend, Max Goldberg stopped by to say hello at the SunButter booth! Max is the founder of the publication Organic Insider. Organic Insider covers the latest news of all things Organic, from the newest brands to watch out for to the best practices of Organic farming. Sign up for their newsletter here.

So great to see some of the team from Ancient Nutrition! Here is Hannah the Retail Marketing Specialist and Hank, who is the VP of sales. Ancient Nutrition sells supplements and superfoods, a brand I recommend. 

This is Laurie O’Hara, the founder of Olita Sunscreen! Olita is an epic sunscreen company that is certified organic, reef safe, and EWG certified. (The Environmental Working Group is an American activist group that specializes in research and advocacy in the areas of agricultural subsidies, toxic chemicals, drinking water pollutants, and corporate accountability). Loved that we matched without planning, ha!

These cuties came by to see the Sunflower fields!

Then, Michael Stroka stopped by the SunButter booth too! Michael is the Co-Founder and CEO of the American Nutrition Association. 

After the show ended I stopped by Walgreens to see my Liana’s Organics Anxiety Free supplements featured in US Weekly, Closer Magazine, Ok Magazine, and InTouch Magazines! The feature was to highlight the supplement now being available on Life to Go. This was such an exciting moment to see my supplement in print! 

Later that night I went to dinner at Gracias Madre in Newport Beach with my team and friend, Max Goldberg, founder of Organic Insider. 

Last but not least, here is my epic team: Caroline, Virginia, Molly, Melissa, Makayla, and Ashley! They all helped to make this Expo West be the best one yet!