Phil has over 34 years of operating experience and 15 years of private equity experience in the consumer and retail sector.

Prior to LNK, Phil was a 23-year veteran of Quaker Oats, where he held positions of increasing responsibility, including President. At Quaker, he played a leading role in building Gatorade into a global brand, from $70 million to $1 billion in sales. After Quaker, Phil became President and COO of Dean Foods (NYSE: DF), where he led the successful repositioning of milk as a beverage, introducing the “chug” packaging that revolutionized the dairy business. Subsequent to Dean Foods, Phil was President and CEO of Pepsi North America. Under his leadership, Pepsi outgrew Coke in North America and the Pepsi Bottling Group was spun off into an independent public company. From Pepsi, Phil became President and CEO of Levi Strauss, a leading global apparel company with more than $4 billion in sales in more than 110 countries. At Levi’s he and his leadership team were credited with restoring the company’s financial strength, reestablishing its competitiveness across all dimensions of the business, and revitalizing the brand around the world.

Phil has served on the Board of Directors of Dogfish Head, Beachbody, Ariat, Natural Food Holdings, Shutterfly (NASDAQ: SFLY), Meredith Corporation (NYSE: MDP), and Kaiser Foundation Hospitals and Health Plan. Phil received a BA from Georgetown University and an MBA from Northwestern University.