TRUSTEES & COMMITTEES

Christine Guyott, FCSI, RDN

CHAIR
Rippe Associates, Inc.
[email protected]

Christine Guyott is a registered dietitian who has worked in the foodservice industry for over 25 years. She leads the healthcare team as a Principal with Rippe Associates, Inc. While her primary area of expertise is healthcare, she has worked on a variety of project types since starting her career in 1985 and enjoys working with clients throughout the country. Christine enjoys speaking to dietetic and architectural classes on non-traditional dietetics and foodservice design. Currently, she is part of the AHF Industry Advisory Board and KState Dietetics Advisory Board.

Brent Hall, FCSI

Brent has over 28 years of foodservice experience which includes custom equipment design and manufacturing, installation, specifications, schematic design, design development, construction documents and project management. Complete project experience listings include a vast number of projects worldwide.

Kristin Sedej, FCSI

As Principal & Owner, Kristin brings a strong operational background to S2O Consultants by drawing on her extensive hospitality experience as well as her in-depth knowledge of all facets of the food design service industry. She holds a BS in Hospitality Management from Roosevelt University and currently is a Professional member of the Foodservice Consultants Society International. In 2014, FE&S magazine awarded Kristin the Consultant Top Achiever of the year award.

Kristin’s key projects have included renovations to the New Orleans Superdome, starting in 2005 after Hurricane Katrina up to the current renovations slated for completion in 2025, LAFC-new soccer stadium in Los Angeles, working on the renovations to the United Center, home of her favorites, the Chicago Bulls and the Blackhawks and multiple projects at Churchill Downs, Home of the Kentucky Derby..

Kristin resides in the city of Chicago and is enjoying being an empty nester. She enjoys dining out and traveling with friends and her 2 adult children.

Joe Schumaker, FCSI

After graduating with honors from the California Culinary Academy, San Francisco, Joe co-founded Cosmopolitan Catering.  After growing the business to over $15M in revenue he exited and began consulting full-time in 2015.  Joe is an expert in foodservice management, food business growth and mentorship.

Eric Norman, FCSI

Eric began his career in foodservice at the young age of 14 working at a local Dairy Queen which eventually progressed into bartending at age 19, where he worked his way through college until graduating with his BA in Business Management. Having interned at MVP Services Group since he was 18, Eric would go to work for the firm right out of college, staying there until MVP merged with Clevenger Associates in early 2017. Mentoring under his father Ed Norman, Eric’s consulting career has focused on proper foodservice design and quality documentation. While focusing heavily on Education, Eric has also completed many design projects in all segments in his 20+ years as a professional consultant.

Eric has been heavily involved with FCSI for the past 15 years. He has worked with the FCSI Worldwide Academy Task Force f the Young Member Forum (ICON) as Chair and Past Chair, the Bylaws & Governance Task Force, Conference Steering Committee, and the Conference Planning Committee. Eric most recently has served on the FCSI The Americas Board of Trustees as Trustee and Secretary from 2014 to 2018 and Chair of The America’s Board from 2020 to 2023.

Peg Galie, FCSI

AT LARGE TRUSTEE
S2O Associates
[email protected]

Peg  began her career in the foodservice industry at the age of 14 as a dishwasher and continued to work in foodservice as a server, bartender, cook and front-end manager. She has also been involved in residential construction. That changed in 2008 during the great recession when she joined a health care company. During her time in the health care industry, she worked part-time for S2O reviewing plans and specifications. She joined S2O in 2014 and has worked her way up through prior to becoming a project manager with S2O Consultants.

As project manager, Peg has worked on numerous large venue projects including professional and collegiate sports venues, hotels, K-12 schools, health care, corporate dining, and higher education facilities. 

Anja Kuechenmeister, FCSI

AT LARGE TRUSTEE
Camacho Associates
[email protected]

Anja Kuechenmeister is an FCSI Professional and the Vice President of Business Development at camacho, bringing 17 years of experience to her role. She has been instrumental in forging and nurturing key partnerships with channel partners and direct customers, focusing on understanding their unique needs, guiding them through the design process, and assisting them in budgeting for their projects. Her overarching goal is to drive growth at camacho. Anja's journey within the company has seen her evolve through various roles, including Project Coordinator, Project Manager, Quality Control, and Marketing Director, showcasing her versatile skill set and dedication to the company's success. Anja's commitment extends beyond her corporate responsibilities, as evidenced by her active participation and leadership within the FCSI community, including roles such as Council for Professional Standards, the committee for the FCSI Symposium in Nashville, the Past Chair of ICON and co-leading the SE FSCI Chapter, highlighting her significant contributions to the industry.

Scott Reitano, FCSI

AT LARGE TRUSTEE
Reitano Design group
[email protected]

Through his 38 years in the foodservice industry, Scott has become highly regarded for his change leadership, creativity, and his passion for serving others. He brings high-energy and an infectious enthusiasm to all the opportunities and challenges he is afforded in life.

Scott believes in the concept of Project Leadership. To that end, he is committed to using his foodservice industry knowledge, design expertise, and project process understanding to guide his clients and advise his design partners throughout the completion of facility design and construction.

Tarah Schroeder, FCSI

AT LARGE TRUSTEE
Ricca Design Studios
[email protected]

As Vice President and Shareholder at Ricca Design, Tarah is heavily involved in planning, concept, and schematic design, and oversees the design process. Her designs will fit the vision and financial goals of the team, with a focus on green and sustainable approaches to operations. Tarah will work closely with her team during the completion of design and construction documentation, overseeing all project deliverables. She works with in-house quality control personnel to ensure the highest levels of coordination and documentation are delivered.  She is instrumental in keeping the design team on schedule to meet all milestone deliverable dates.

Tarah started her foodservice journey at Whole Foods Market helping to develop their Rocky Mountain presence and Green Mission program.  Now with Ricca for fifteen years, Tarah promotes the client’s vision and is a good listener that is able to elicit key information from the project team.  She proactively engages all team members, building trust and consistency, and sees the big picture to come up with collaborative solutions.

​Tarah is a sought-after expert on sustainability in the foodservice industry. She is one of the main authors of the National Association of College and Universities Food Services (NACUFS) Sustainability Guide and has presented numerous speeches on sustainable foodservice design to engineers, architects, and others within the foodservice industry.

Par Bain, FCSI

CANADIAN TRUSTEE
SmartDesign Group
[email protected]

Par joined SmartDesign Group in 2005 and has progressed to his current role as Director of Hospitality, leading a team of talented designers working on all scales of projects from small micro kiosks to massive commissary operations.  He has been able to offer his operational background, understanding of customer experience and an appreciation for the human element in every design solution.

Emmanuel Melo, FCSI

LATIN AMERICAN TRUSTEE
StudioIno
[email protected]

Emmanuel has a postgraduate degree in Strategic Design, an MBA, and a degree in Product Design. He has worked in this industry since 1974 and is co-founder and partner of StudioIno - Architectural and Foodservice Design Studio, Hub Foodservice - Collaborative Kitchens, and Hub Cloud Kitchen, all in São Paulo, Brazil.

Emmanuel is the author of 14 Design Tools for Foodservice Innovation, published in 2023 by ATOMStudios in São Paulo—Portuguese and English versions.

Alison O'Hearn

EPiC Committee Trustee
Cini-Little International
[email protected]