Meet the team at Bluelab

Greg Jarvis - Chief Executive Officer

Skills: Employing people who are smarter than I am which makes my job a lot more satisfying, focusing on what is important for the business and customers, encouraging our team to develop and strengthen their skills.

Pet Peeves: Millions spent by Governments on reports that "inform" us about stuff we already know, winter in New Zealand while it's summer in California, any time an Australian team beats New Zealand, bad restaurant food and coffee.

Loves: With my job being able to meet people from all around the world, my family, catching up with friends, time out at the any of the great local beaches, travelling, and fishing when I get the chance!

Chris Winslade - VP Sales and Marketing

Skills: Meeting people, travelling around the world solo, solving other peoples problems (never my own), being organised, being brand egotistical, making my daughter laugh, strategic planning, reversing a trailer, eating chocolate and making Dutch Krokets.

Pet Peeves: Flies, engaged telephones, computers that think for themselves, ignorance, jealousy and having no chocolate.

Loves: Working for a company that has focus and is strategic, watching my daughter play netball, seeing my two beautiful grand-daughters reach milestones, renovating my house, my dad helping me renovate my house (he's free), home grown veges, getting my hands dirty, living in a beautiful country that is surrounded by water, 'Scomas' in San Francisco and chocolate mmmmmm...      

Tracey Gordon - Administration Manager

Skills: Juggler of money, editing queen, perseverance, making it balance and making it simple!

Pet Peeves:  The wind, cooking, false people, not having enough hours in a day.

Loves:  Walking around our beautiful coastline, travelling to somewhere new, getting a bargain, seafood, and most importantly watching my daughter grow!

Steve Blackett - Technical Manager

Skills: Finding better ways to do things, running the Bluelab factory and looking after our great staff, being jealous of Ian and his radio controlled helicopter, making plans and then changing them five minutes later...oh...and changing nappies!

Pet Peeves: Coke without whiskey, never winning the lotto and sales people that don't know what they are talking about.

Loves: My family and friends, snowboarding, potato chips, sled dog racing, loud rock music, bikinis and dishwashers.

Cindy Farnsworth - USA Retail Account Manager

Skills: Flexible, building relationships, influencing others, positive thinking, problem solving, strategic planning and presentation proficiency!

Pet Peeves: Poor customer service, people that cut in line, weather that is less than perfect.

Loves: Travelling to new countries, boating, fishing and catching with my husband, my two yorkies, home grown tomatoes, the colour blue and seeing my kids build their own lives!

Larry Bourland – USA Retail Account Manager (Pacific North West)

Skills: Building relationships, woodworking, problem solving, making tasty cocktails, listening, paperhanging, making my wife laugh!

Pet Peeves: Zig zag drivers, poor customer service, parking in San Francisco without enough quarters, late night mosquito visits, uncooperative computers, lukewarm coffee, lukewarm beer.

Loves: My girls, softball, anything edible with nuts, fresh powder on the mountain, a baby's laugh, back massage, Sunday paper with a hot cup of coffee, getting night time water for my daughters.

Mandy Jarvis – Production Manager

Skills: Providing a complex taxi service for my children’s afterschool sporting activities, Manufacturing all the Bluelab products at one time – actually very similar to juggling 10 ball in one go! and responding to Fraser’s constant demands

Pet Peeves: Going looking for production tools, disposophobia – compulsive/pathological hording at work stations!, automated customer service lines and dripping taps.

Loves: A fabulous New Zealand sauvignon accompanied by some great food, exploring new places with my family, getting out on the water – and staying upright on the water ski’s... and fresh powder snow, sunshine and staying upright on the snow ski’s!

Fraser Lobb - Customer Services Manager (Dr Bluelab)

Skills: Separating my cats when fighting, finding parking spots, helping the older generation with technology, finding ways to do things easier and providing the best customer service!

Pet Peeves: The distance between NZ and England, the Hurricanes and All Blacks losing, bad air-conditioning, slow internet connections, constructing flat packs, being beaten in the virtual rugby picks by people who know little about Rugby (happens quite often).

Loves: Doner Kebabs from the Weybridge Kebab van, New Zealand and its amazing landscapes and scenery, English style Indian Curry, holidays, cold swimming pools in hot countries! 

Phil Ramsey - Product Development Manager

Skills: Solving curly issues (or at least straightening them somewhat), problem solving from different angles. Meeting and working effectively with a wide range of people. Finding north in times of need, cooking and eating hangi food!

Pet Peeves: Navigating menus and pressing many buttons to be asked to leave a message or to ring back later!, New Zealands’s catastrophically high motorcycle registration costs, predatory internet scammers and poorly designed products.

Loves: My young family and learning things with them, live music at great venues, Bay Of Plenty’s sunshine, travel and experiencing different people and their cultures, Yum cha and Japanese food, motorcycles of all shapes and well designed products.

Ian Hemmingson - Development Engineer       

Skills: Lots, but unfortunately few make me any money. Reputed to be able to "fix anything"...as long as it's mechanical/electrical/computer problem. Research, develop, analyse and solve problems, to make new products and hopefully have less problems to solve!

Pet Peeves: Filling out forms...like this one! Microsoft...they cause me a lot of "Help I can't..." phone calls, Technology...responsible for a lot of "I've just bought this and I can't..." questions, Learning more...makes you feel more ignorant. Quick fixes.

Loves: Challenges (that's why I'm here folks). My kids (another challenge and joy). The great New Zealand outdoors (so I can escape from 1^st love above). Dilbert...I can relate to his work experience. 

Duncan Gibb - Industrial Designer       

Skills: Dropping my cell phone and can catching it before it hits the ground... Making things easy and understandable... Making things pretty... and making things!

Pet Peeves: Working on sunny days, people who don't smile back, warm beer, fish and chips without tomato sauce and products and software which haven't been designed properly!

Loves: Cooking and growing good food. Tramping (Hiking) and working so close to the surf!

Graham Dixon - Service Department

Skills:  Patience, fishing (see patience), finding answers to customers problems.  I've just started keeping Tropical fish, if they survive this could be a developing skill.  I've also just set up a vegetable garden, if edible plants out number weeds, this could also be promoted as a skill.  And finally, getting electronic products doing what they should according to the instruction manual, a true skill!

Pet Peeves:  People who hang up the phone without saying a word, cryptic crosswords (cannot do them!), opening certain courier parcels, dishonesty, forgetting to do things, Manchester United losing! Computer programs that don't work and perhaps most of all buying tropical fish that turn out to be pregnant!!

Loves:  Animals, wife (especially if she's watching...Joking!), family, life, clever and well acted comedy, eating fresh fish, solving customers problems, chocolate drops covered in hundreds and thousands...mmm