Julia Stamberger

Julia sets the vision and drives all elements forward to turn that vision into reality, including pulling the pieces together to deliver on key goals including product development, sales, investment, and marketing strategy.

Julia is a perpetual innovator, with a 20-year career developing new products, business models, and strategies. She has directly created and launched myriad brands as well as being instrumental in the development and advancement of multiple successful food & beverage brands.

In 2004, Julia was brought into United Airlines as an entrepreneur-in-residence to create innovative revenue-driving solutions. She created and launched the airlines snackbox concept to solve significant and costly operations and customer service issues that were leading to dissatisfaction and waste. Julia has been driving healthy food innovation ever since.

The nutritious and balanced shelf-stable meals quickly became the backbone of the United’s domestic economy meal program, and other airlines tried to imitate – unsuccessfully. In response, Julia formed GoPicnic, Inc. (now GP Concept Labs, Inc.) and launched the ‘buy onboard’ snackbox programs for the majority of US and Canadian carriers. As the airline market consolidated dramatically, she continued to pivot and innovate, launching the AirlineMporium division, today one of the leading airline foodservice brokerages representing more than 150 better-for-you brands.

In 2010, Julia spun off GoPicnic Brands and took the shelf-stable meal concept to the consumer product industry with GoPicnic ready-to-eat meals. She created six independent food brands for the food components, organizing an extremely complex supply chain to effect as an ongoing series of meals. GoPicnic immediately saw strong consumer and retailer success, growing more than 500% over three years.

In 2016, Julia partnered with several like-minded food & beverage entrepreneurs to launch Spinning Wheel Brands, now The Planting Hope Company Inc. The founding management team saw a need for real nutrition and sustainability in areas of plant-based food, building meaningful brands around three impact missions: Nutrition, Sustainability, and Representation.

Julia was named one of 2020 Crain’s Chicago Business Notable Entrepreneurs and in 2020 inducted into the Exceptional Women Awardees. Julia is a frequent judge/ panelist for entrepreneurship competitions and classes, and is dedicated to mentoring entrepreneurs, especially women in food. She was one of the first graduating classes at pioneering Illinois Math & Science Academy. She attended Miami University of Ohio for undergrad, graduating with a BS in Marketing & Economics + BA in Creative Writing, with minors in International Business, Women’s Studies, & French, and received her MBA from Northwestern's Kellogg School of Management's one year program in 2002.