Our Teams
Collaborating Across Continents
At AERON, we believe in the power of our people to drive innovation and success. With teams located across the USA, China, Mexico, and beyond, we are committed to providing unique and inspiring opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Executives
Patrick Kosar
Executive Chair
Mr. Kosar is responsible for strategic planning, financial forecasting, financing, and general executive guidance. He leads the Made-in-America initiative at AERON and is hands-on in growing the Iowa plant. Mr. Kosar has been in executive sales and marketing management for most of his career. His most recent position prior to AERON was Vice President of Sales and Marketing at ArtSelect, a cutting-edge e-commerce company based in Fairfield, where he more than tripled sales over a three year time period.
Monica Hadley
Co-Founder & CFO
Ms. Hadley co-founded AERON and has guided the development of the enterprise from an operational, legal and financial standpoint since inception, as well as being involved in product development and marketing. Previously, Ms. Hadley co-founded Fairfield Accounting Services, Inc., which is still going strong, serving the local business community. She is enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. Ms. Hadley served on the Board of Directors of Country Fresh, LLC, a Houston-based fresh food processor, for 5 years, and, as its CFO, shepherded the company through two acquisitions by private equity groups. Ms. Hadley also produces the Writers’ Voices with Monica and Caroline radio show and podcast, interviewing world-renowned authors alongside her octogenarian mother. She is the founder of The Iowa Justice Project, Inc., a nonprofit working in criminal justice reform.
Nate Orme-Johnson
President & CEO
Mr. Orme-Johnson oversees the everyday activity of AERON, both in the US and overseas. In his role as President and CEO, Mr. Orme-Johnson implements short-term tactical plans and initiatives while keeping long-term strategy in mind. He guides the sales and customer service teams and is heavily involved in product development and engineering. Prior to joining Aeron, Orme-Johnson spent 15 years as a top producer in a number of professional sales positions, and his persistence at AERON led to the company’s first sales breakthroughs. He holds a B.A. and M.A. in Literature from Maharishi International University in Fairfield, Iowa.
Jeffrey Smith
Co-Founder & Director of E-Commerce
Mr. Smith invented AERON’s original product, the Drive Time 12-volt aromatherapy diffuser, and he and Monica Hadley started Aeron to bring his vision to life. Subsequently, Smith founded SEO Design Solutions, the company behind one of the most-downloaded WordPress plug-ins for SEO of all time, SEO Ultimate WordPress Plugin, as well as the SEO Bootcamp training series and the SEO Design Framework for WordPress. Currently, Smith works behind the scenes for AERON, building out our web properties, managing advertising and lead generation, performing his search engine optimization magic, and providing eCommerce strategy, execution and support.
Vice Presidents
Adrienne Hadley
VP of Finance
Ms. Hadley, CPA, oversees the finance and operations departments and serves as the chief contact with tax preparers and external auditors for AERON. Ms. Hadley graduated from University of Texas in Austin with a BS in Corporate Communications and a minor in Business and earned her master’s in professional accounting from UT’s #1 ranked program. She spent eight years in public accounting at Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) in Dallas and Rothstein and Kass (RK) in LA, specializing in federal tax. Hadley joined Houston, TX-based Country Fresh, LLC expanding her expertise to include management accounting in a manufacturing environment. Prior to joining AERON, she served as senior manager in tax for Rackspace Technology, Inc. in San Antonio, TX, a provider of managed cloud solutions, focusing on indirect tax and financial systems integration.
Alex Leung
VP of Asian Manufacturing
Mr. Leung, who is fluent in English and Mandarin, is based in Hong Kong and is our direct liaison with Aeron’s two partner factories in China as well as a vast network of sub-suppliers and service providers. Other responsibilities include hiring and managing Aeron Pacifica’s team of designers, engineers, sourcing agents and quality control technicians. Leung holds a Bachelor of Management degree from the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada; a Professional Diploma in Quality Management including Six Sigma Green Belt and Lean Manufacturing training from Hong Kong Baptist University; and is certified as a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Associate Vice Presidents
Paul Gandy
Associate VP and General Counsel
Mr. Gandy serves as Aeron’s in-house attorney and primary source of legal advice in all areas of the company, including corporate transactional work, intellectual property development and protection, and international trade compliance. Raised in a military family, Gandy earned his undergraduate degree with honors from Harvard University, and his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin. Paul has maintained a private law practice in Fairfield for over 28 years and serves on the Fairfield City Council. He is also a member of the Magistrate Nominating Commission for Jefferson County, the Judicial Nominating Committee for District 8A, which includes Jefferson County, and a board member of the Iowa Justice Project.
Angie Orme-Johnson
Associate VP of Product Development
With over 25 years in product development, Ms. Orme-Johnson guides projects from conception to market launch, ensuring high standards for each design. Her career began with a company making Swarovski crystal figurines while in community college. After raising three children, she returned to the field, working on skin, bath, and beauty gift sets and, later with her own firm, on scrapbooking gift sets for big box stores. As Associate VP of Product Development, Ms. Orme-Johnson leads her team in driving innovation, exploring new trends, and rigorously testing concepts for versatility across materials.
Patrick Guerin
Associate VP of Engineering & Manufacturing
Mr. Guerin is responsible for research and development of new products as well as improvements to existing products. He also works with our manufacturing teams to implement automation, increase production capability, and ensure product quality and compliance. Mr. Guerin accumulated 17 years of experience in R&D and manufacturing at VayTek, Inc. He also provided technical support at Fairfield Software, Inc. He was lead engineer to build and operate a service bureau data center at Cogebec, Inc. in Montreal. At Bell Canada, he was account manager in the data communications department and later training instructor.
Chris Young
Associate VP of Design
With a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Arts from Western Illinois University, focusing on electronics, manufacturing, and CAD, and a minor in Computer Science, Chris Young brings over 33 years of engineering experience to AERON. He spent 15 years specializing in automotive design engineering and 18 years in aerospace design engineering. In his current role, he leads the design engineering team, overseeing projects for both customers and internal brands, ensuring innovative and efficient solutions across various domains.
Daniel Hadley
Associate VP & LOVA General Manager
Mr. Hadley assisted with the development, construction, and establishment of all 3 facilities created for LOVA, located in Austin, TX. Since being established in 2015, Mr. Hadley and his team have continued to provide consistent fragrance bottle fulfilling services averaging 1.2 million yearly. As direct overseer of daily operations, Mr. Hadley is immersed in the development, progression, and expansion of processes to continue to provide high quality services to small and medium sized businesses. Mr. Hadley attended The University of Texas at Austin where he received his Bachelor of Business Administration with honors.
Julie Rohrer
Associate VP & AAM General Manager
Ms. Rohrer brings over 20 years of expertise in product development and global factory compliance. Prior to AERON, she served as Vice President of Product Development and Global Factory Compliance at Team Effort in Clarion, IA. Ms. Rohrer’s career highlights include leading product development for major brands such as Nike Golf and the PGA TOUR, and extensive domestic and international travel for product development and supplier sourcing. In her current role, she focuses on planning and inventory management, cost control, physical plant CAPEX planning, and efficient sourcing, while enhancing key performance indicators and maintaining team alignment.
Teams
Finance, Accounting, Operations & Strategic Supplier Management
This team is responsible for ensuring smooth and efficient operations at AERON. Finance oversees financial planning, analysis and budgeting while accounting manages financial records, compliance and reporting. Operations and strategic supplier management process orders, purchase components, and arrange shipments. They focus on sourcing, identifying and vetting suppliers to secure high-quality materials at the best prices while maintaining quality standards, optimizing operational costs. Together, these functions ensure financial stability, operational efficiency, and effective supplier partnerships.
Business Development, Brand Development, & Sales
The business development, brand development, and sales teams play a pivotal role in driving our company’s growth and success. AERON’s B2B sales go above and beyond to match AERON products with our customers’ needs and provide the support to ensure success at retail. Business development drives growth by identifying new opportunities and forging strategic partnerships. The brand team develops, coordinates and maintains the company’s house brand products ensuring consistency and relevance in the marketplace.
Technical Services
What is it and will it work? Our technical services team includes the designers, engineers and testers, quality control and production line managers who get your ideas onto your store shelves on time, on budget, and in-compliance. In other words, with perfection. Whether a brand-new product or refining a design you already have, we bring state-of-the art resources and technology to design it and then kick its tires through testing, prototyping, and securing industry compliance.
Product Development
This team sources the world over for trends, styles, materials and processes to make every product look and function just right. Their collective muscle can be brought in during concept, R&D, or engineering phases, or even after product prototyping. From concept illustration to color choices, decorative finishes, packaging design, even functional enhancements and beyond, this team possesses a deep knowledge of what’s possible to make your products fresh, current and super on-point for today’s market.
Special Projects, Office & Facility Management & Human Resources
Special Projects, Office & Facility Management, and Human Resources each play crucial roles in ensuring that operations run smoothly at AERON. Special Projects seeks to improve operational efficiency and oversees initiatives that fall outside of routine operations. Office & Facility Management handles the day-to-day operations of AERON’s office spaces and facilities, including maintenance, safety, and logistical support. Human Resources manages employee relations, recruitment, training, and compliance with labor laws, aiming to foster a positive workplace culture and ensure staffing needs are met effectively. Together, these functions contribute to a well-organized, efficient, and supportive work environment.
AAM
The AAM Team plays a pivotal role in ensuring that production goals are met efficiently while upholding the highest standards of safety and quality. This dedicated team is instrumental in managing several critical functions across the manufacturing process. They are responsible for operating a variety of sophisticated equipment, meticulously assembling products to ensure every item meets stringent specifications. The team also handles essential tool maintenance, ensuring that all equipment remains in optimal condition to prevent disruptions and maintain productivity. Additionally, the AAM Team oversees warehousing operations, managing inventory with precision to support smooth production flow and timely distribution.
China Team
The China Quality Assurance team is responsible for ensuring the quality and safety of products manufactured in China on a daily basis. This includes conducting thorough inspections of production facilities, inspecting product samples to meet quality standards, and implementing corrective actions when necessary. The team collaborates with our partners in China to address any quality issues and continuously improve processes to enhance product quality and customer satisfaction. They source components for our North American manufacturer and oversees the logistics of exporting products. This team also hosts customer visits at our China facilities.
LOVA
Located in Pflugerville, TX, our 8,000 sq ft bottle filling plant is operated by a dedicated team of professionals. With expertise across three specialized filling lines—two lines focused on filling plug-in fragrance diffuser bottles for AERON customers and one line dedicated to filling essential oils for AERON’s house brands—our team ensures precision and quality in every product batch. Serving as a distribution center for AERON’s house brand products, they handle both wholesale and direct-to-consumer orders with efficiency and care. The LOVA Team plays a crucial role in our operations, managing pack out services for our house brand products to streamline distribution and meet customer demands effectively.