Scott Mandell is the founder and Principal of Mandell Consulting Group (mandell-consulting.com), a business consultancy advising entrepreneurs and their teams on strategy, branding, operations, financial analysis, capital raising, and more.
Scott is the founder, former CEO, and board member of Enjoy Life Foods (enjoylifefoods.com) (2001-2016), a company dedicated to developing, manufacturing, and marketing great tasting gluten free and allergy friendly food products. In addition to starting Enjoy Life, Scott effectively created an entire category, which is now known as “Free From” through thought leadership, education, and certification standards. Scott advised in the creation of the gluten free certification organization (GFCO), the largest gluten free certification program in the world. Enjoy Life became the first company to have its facility and products certified by the GFCO.
In February 2015, Enjoy Life Foods was acquired by Mondelēz International, Inc., a +$30 billion multinational food company in an all-cash transaction. Scott continued to oversee the Enjoy Life business (as a wholly owned subsidiary of Mondelēz) until October 2016.
Scott is an advisor and former CEO of The Shine Hope Company (theshinehopecompany.com), a mental health education company whose mission is to teach everyone around the world the ‘how’ to hope, based on scientific research that hope is measurable and a teachable skill.
Scott is a board member, strategic advisor, and former president of Cannabistry (cannabistry.com) (2017-2023), a company that develops, markets, and sells cannabis infused products under the brands: Tough Mama (toughmama.com), Mistifi (mistifi.com) and The Root of it All (rootusa.com) in the legal California cannabis market.
In December 2013, Scott, and his brother (Steve) established Mandell Ventures (mandellventuresllc.com), a family office partnership focused on investments in founder led early-stage food & beverage and CPG businesses.
From 1993-2001, Scott was a vice president in commercial banking at American National Bank / Bank One (currently JP Morgan Chase). Scott was a lender and relationship manager for middle market business clients throughout the Chicagoland area.
Scott currently sits on the advisory board of the following three privately held businesses. Codex Collective, a franchisee of Schooley Mitchell (schooleymitchell.com), a consulting group that helps businesses in reducing indirect costs in many categories, including telecommunications, merchant processing, shipping, waste, trucking and more. Allergood (allergood.com), a company that provides interactive restaurant menus that instantly filter for allergens and dietary preferences. Beepreciated (beepreciated.com), a company that specializes in high-impact corporate gifts for employees and clients.
Scott has been a member of the Young Presidents Organization (currently YPO-Gold) since 2009, a mentor to many upstart entrepreneurs, and has been an active alumnus at the Kellogg School of Management. He was a board member for the SPOON Foundation (spoonfoundation.org) (2016-2019), an organization that helps children suffering from malnutrition throughout the world.
In 2016, Scott was named by Food Processing magazine as one of five company leaders who are “revolutionizing Big Food”. In 2015, he was named as an EY Entrepreneur of The Year® Award Winner, was the Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) Chicago Gala Honoree in 2014, was named to the Crain’s Chicago Business “40 Under 40” list in 2008 and was inducted into the Chicago Area Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame in 2006.
Scott earned an MBA degree from the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University) in 2001 with concentrations in the areas of Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Finance, and Management & Strategy. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Indiana University (Bloomington) in 1993 with a major in History and a minor in Business.
Scott is an avid sports fan and enjoys golfing, skiing, paddle tennis, and poker. He resides in Deerfield, IL with his wife (Dana) and their three children (Ronnie, Ryan, and Reese).