Russ Blake is a passionate and high-energy business leader with over 20 years of experience in the grocery and specialty foods industry. He is currently the CEO, President, and Chief Commercial Officer at DPI Specialty Foods, a position he has held after serving as the Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Senior Vice President of Sales Services, Vice President of Sales and Logistics and Vice President of Specialty Grocery at the same company. Russ is a former Corporate Category Manager - Specialty Foods and held multiple "growth" positions in ID, AZ and CA locations at Albertsons Companies, a retail grocery chain. He received his executive education in Financial Analysis from the University of California, Berkeley and completed the Food Industry Executive Program at the University of Southern California. He describes himself as a "hands-on Executive" with a focus on executing business objectives that deliver meaningful shareholder value, creating high functioning teams, and inspiring them to achieve shared objectives. His core strengths, according to SF 2.0, include Achiever, Significance, Relator, Learner, and Focus. His leadership theme is executing strategy through relational influence.