Meet The Team! Old
Cindy: Chief Baking Officer/Founder
Cindy started Hungry Monkey Baking in May 2010, on her daughter Lily's 2nd birthday, after leaving her long-time career as the head of marketing, advertising and customer communications for a large, Chicago-based, organization. The company you see today began at a charity event in her hometown after her signature Chocolate Chip Banana Bread sold out two days in a row. Six weeks later she started selling it at the Northfield Farmers Market just north of Chicago. Three months later, Hungry Monkey was featured on ABC Chicago 7's Hungry Hound; soon after they found themselves in Sunset Foods, a north suburban (Chicago) grocery chain, where they still sell today. Cindy is currently focused on building their online presence as well as their special event and corporate gifting programs. Cindy continues to expand the Hungry Monkey brand as Chief Baking Officer, CEO, recipe scientist, marketer, packer, amongst many other hats : ) Cindy lives in Lake Forest, Illinois, with her husband Tom and daughter Lily. In her early 60s, Cindy is just getting started!
Lily, Hungry Monkey's namesake, started "working" on her 2nd birthday at the Northfield Farmers Market in the northern suburbs of Chicago helping hand out samples to customers. She continues to help her Mom at store events and packing boxes to ship. Lily also appears regularly on their weekly "Sweet Sunday" show on TalkShop.Live. When not helping out her Mom, Lily can be found singing as a Soprano 1 with Voices Rising, a touring chorus, acting in school plays and bicycling. Unlike her Mom, her favorite subjects are math and science and she hopes to become an engineer someday like her Dad (although some days she wants to be an actor :) Lily's favorite hungry monkey is the Original Banana Bread, but the Triple Chocolate Brownies and Cinnamon Apple Streusel Cake are a close second!
Grace comes to us from England having spent 16 years specializing in growth marketing & e-commerce, working with brands like SKODA & Microsoft. Grace used to work in the music industry and is responsible for the success of artists such as Katy Perry & the Arctic Monkeys. Like our new look? Grace is responsible for our 10th Year Anniversary facelift and manages our entire digital output. Grace loves Hungry Monkey's Cinnamon Apple Streusel Cake but would never turn away a Chocolate Chip Macaroon! Grace lives in Logan Square, Chicago with her husband Mark, where she runs her digital agency, Grace & Favour.
Henie was one of the original influencers, consulting for Fortune 500 companies since Instagram's inception in 2010! She worked with big brands, including Audi and Samsung. Henie represented the US for Nokia as their Social Media Reporter. An avid photographer, Henie takes breathtaking pictures, despite being legally blind since she was a child. She has more than 30k organic followers on Instagram (you can follow her @heniereisinger). Henie can't stop eating Hungry Monkey's Triple Chocolate Brownies -- she cuts them into fourths and eats them out of the freezer! Henie lives in West Hollywood, CA.
Ulises has been baking with Cindy, the Founder of Hungry Monkey, almost since they started in 2010. When Hungry Monkey started taking off, Cindy needed help and a mutual friend connected them to Ulises, an amazing pastry chef. Ulises is credited with formulating Cindy's recipes for bigger batches, yet keeping her signature, homemade, taste. Ulises loves the Original Banana Bread, but the Chocolate Chip Macaroons are a close second. Ulises lives in Chicago with his wife, Denia, and three [very active] boys!
Father to a young son, Romeo (also goes by Elmer), manages the commercial kitchen where Hungry Monkey is baked. While Romeo has been promoted to Bakery Manager, he has baked more than 50K Hungry Monkey breads, cakes, and brownies himself! Romeo always has a smile and can't live without Hungry Monkey's Pumpkin Bread when it's in season! His wife, Cruz, and son, however, love the Cinnamon Apple Cake! Romeo and his family live in Wheeling, IL.
