Today I would like to take a moment to sincerely thank everyone who makes PureFit the great company that it is. Needless to say, without our committed following of customers–those of you who actually buy and consume our award-winning, all natural nutrition bars–we wouldn’t be in business, but our team, which is made up of a very diverse and unique group of professionals who flat-out just make everything magically happen, also deserves a major pat on the back.

First and foremost, I want to thank Jenna Brien, our enthusiastic in-house sales associate. For those of you who have had the pleasure of meeting Jenna, you know she’s a ball of energy whose true passion in life is teaching spin and being around her husband Will. Jenna and I laugh so much together that our office manger, Belinda Jordan, said we’d sell an additional million bars if we’d simply quit goofing off so much. From that moment on, I realized that Belinda, a 20-year-old college student, was the smartest employee I had! The problem is, she laughs at all of my jokes and impersonations, and that of course only fuels my antics. Regardless, Belinda’s a real gem and things just wouldn’t work around here with her.

This post wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Darcy Pendarvis. Darcy could be the CFO of a major corporation but prefers to help out Orange County, Calif., companies with their bookkeeping, payroll, and banking/financial strategy. As a QuickBooks Pro Advisor, Darcy is able to provide me with all of the financial info I need at a moments notice. Without her, I know we wouldn’t be around. She has saved me many times and I cannot thank her enough.

Christian Riggs is one of our freelance graphic designers. He’s outrageously under-priced, lives in Utah with his wife Amy and their four gorgeous kids, and is one wickedly cool guy. Check out his work at www.riggscreative.com. Christian is responsible for our new logo and packaging (thanks to Becky Nelson for giving us the original concept), and he also does a great job on our print ads, eNewsletters, and many of the other collateral materials that keep us in business. Thanks, Christian!

No one laughs more at me or my jokes than my publicist/business consultant, Stan (last name withheld for fear that he’d come to my home and waterboard me for getting his name indexed by Google or some other search engine). Stan’s more than just my publicist and business consultant… he’s a true friend and a brilliant business tactician. Thanks, Stan!

Here at PureFit, we work with so many nutritionists and Celiac specialists that it’s hard to thank them all. Nevertheless, I’d like to mention Kim Brown, Danna Korn (author of Gluten-Free Living For Dummies), Dr. Bari Rooney, and Melinda Dennis. Thank you–each and everyone of you–for all of your sage advice and referrals!

Needless to say, if you’ve made it this far in today’s post, you must be wondering who I owe the utmost thanks too, and that of course would be my wife Traci, who in 2000 encouraged me to “go for it.” She allowed me to take what little money we had and start PureFit, and now, some eight years later, we’re still here, kicking the nutrition bar industry’s butt. Thanks, Traci… you truly are the best!

Thanks to everyone else who make us great (and yes, that includes you Kilee, and you too Pikachu… the two of you may act like dogs, eat dog food, beg for treats and table scraps, and even walk around the office on all fours, but I know that you know that I know that you guys can read!)