Our Team

Derek Bliss-Web Developer

Derek is a true Vermonter; He loves his green mountains and the four seasons. When he’s not helping True North Granola with web development or working on his own business, he can be found taking hikes in the woods with his dog, Bella.  He also loves being in nature with his 2 kids, Damian and Bailey.  Besides his business and his family, Derek is a hockey fanatic.  He plays in men’s leagues several times a week and never misses a Bruins game on TV.  Truly one of his favorite snacks (and not just because he works for Frank and Ingrid) is the Nutty No Grainer.  There is no favorite flavor in it-you can taste the undertones of maple syrup and all of the nuts make it a perfect snack.  Simple is the best way to eat it straight from the bag and tipped into his mouth.  Sometimes he does not share the bag with his wife.  True North granola is unique because it is made with great quality ingredients by people that care.

Ingrid Chrisco-Founder and Owner 

Ingrid has been a foodie her whole life.  One of her greatest pleasures has been finding, creating and cooking meals for her family and friends.  This long-standing love morphed into the granola business six years ago when she decided she could make a better product than what she had been eating. It wasn’t a stretch for her to do this as she had been making granola for her husband, sons, family and friends since her days of living in Alaska with her husband.  ‘Go Nuts’ was her first creation, and to this day, it remains True North’s best seller.  Using instinct, intuition, imagination and endurance, she and her husband have built True North Granola Company into a recognizable and sought-after product. We chose the name True North to represent the ultimate destination in one’s search for the finest granola available.  In her career as an educator, Ingrid has worked to make a positive difference in the lives of her students. It is her belief that she is now making a positive difference in the lives of granola consumers.  One of those consumers, a fan since the early days of the company’s creation, states, “When I eat your granola, it makes me happy.”  We aim to share that happiness with anyone who tries True North Granola.

Frankin Chrisco-Owner

 Franklin says that he has been eating what he believes to be the best granola in the world since 1972. That’s when Ingrid started creating granola recipes and baking them in our log cabin on the Kenai River in Soldotna, Alaska. I was always helping in the process by making suggestions, gathering ingredients, stirring as granola baked and tasting the results. We tried different ingredients and baking styles but quickly settled on what has become our best seller, Go Nuts. At that time we we added high and low bush cranberries we gathered ourselves on the land of Dillon Kimple, Principal of the school where I was teaching. We loved sharing our granola with Dillon and other very appreciative friends. Baking, eating and sharing GoNuts Granola remained a constant in our lives as we moved to Vermont in 1974 and has remained so through our housing moves and raising our boys, Zachary and Joel. When Ingrid’s entrepreneurial spirit first moved her to suggest creating a Granola business I was quite skeptical. Eventually she convinced me this business was possible and she was serious. It became my goal to figure out what I could do to support this dream. I realized my best role was being her right hand guy. There was plenty to do and this eventually led me to saying I would become the face of our venture, True North Granola Company at the Brattleboro Area Farmers’ Market. We have branched out considerably since our first year selling granola at the Farmers’ Market but the Market has remained the heart of our customer base.

Dylan Gallagher-Lead Production Associate 

Dylan is a Massachusetts bird with Vermont feathers. From “Away”, he moved to Vermont three years ago. He started working for True North granola last year, and today assists several accomplished granola cooks. He not only helps with assembling and shipping our granola to several states across the US, but sometimes in the nick of time has a Pandora station that other cooks can listen to, can almost out-pun Franklin, and has even come to equal terms with the shop’s large vacuum. Dylan has also been seen onstage with the Vermont Theatre Company at Brattleboro’s Dawn Dance, or in the library looking for new books to read. He appreciates Ingrid and Franklin’s ‘teacher vision’, in that they can see the best in anyone.

Katie Getts –Social Media

Agathe Hoos-Baker 

You might not realize when you first meet her, but Agate isn’t from “around here” – Vermont, that is. She was actually born, yes born (not hatched, she’s not a chicken after all), in France, but her childhood years were spent in South Africa. Yes, she does enjoy Marmite on an english muffin with cheddar cheese. When she was a young teenager, her family relocated to New Jersey because of her father’s job, which we’re told is top secret. Agathe’s worldly experience has taught her many important things, including lead singers in rock bands will notice you if you look like you’re not having fun, don’t leave pizza in an oven (even when it’s off) for an entire weekend, and amniotic fluid is highly combustible.  Agathe is truly happy she and her family found their way to Vermont where she gets to make and eat granola. When she’s not spending time with her kids, she’s making kitchen miracles happen. As a pharmacist technician-turned-baker, she has truly grown to love her craft and currently has 5 impressive years under her belt baking (and eating!) delicious granola.

Abby Lively-Baker

Having grown up in Western Mass, Abby visited Brattleboro frequently as a youngster. After college and several “gap years” she found herself spending all her time in Brattleboro putting her
BS in Kinesiology and AS in Fine Art degrees to work in the Intensive Training Program at NECCA. Soon enough, Abby wound up meeting Ingrid and Franklin through the annual Cotton Mill Holiday Show and was eventually hired on. When she’s not perfecting the German Wheel or her drawing, she’s baking a variety of tasty granola. Today Abby is an aspiring rock-star super-hero circus-artist moonlighting as baker and taster of the best granola she’s ever tried.

Chris Triebert  and Carol Ross—Design Team from Rock River Studios (text and picture to come)

As designer and photographer, we developed True North’s graphic image, and it has been a True Love! Over the last 10 years we’ve gotten to know Ingrid and Franklin and are so honored to be part of such a fine team of people!

We moved to Vermont in 1990. Our path took us from NY, to the Boston advertising and publishing world and then up to South Newfane, VT. We started Rock River Studio and for many years specialized in local food packaging design and promotion. These days Carol can also be found hanging over a potter’s wheel at Clayworks in Brattleboro, and Chris working on a new body of photographic images in her studio along the Rock River.

Erin Weaver –Baker 

Erin’s Vermont roots began at Green Mountain College in Poultney, where she then branched out to Brattleboro post-grad to experience the vibrant music and arts scene. Erin moved to Brattleboro from central Vermont on the first day of 2012. After initially working at a desk job, she realized she was craving something more fulfilling. Once Erin found her way into True North’s kitchen and met the folks involved, she fell in love with the place. Although new to baking at the time, Erin has grown to enjoy it immensely, whether it’s coming home smelling like “nutritious dessert” or the satisfying idea of making something of value from raw ingredients and putting it out in the community. Erin and her wife have two young sons; when she’s not wrangling children or baking granola, Erin dances with two area Morris teams and hosts “Fish & Chips,” a weekly folk show on local radio station WVEW. Despite having almost no sweet tooth, Erin readily agrees that she and the other bakers at True North make exceptionally good granola.

OUR AMAZING TEAM OF HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS

Declan Lonergan, Isabelle Magbie and Catey Yost have been especially valuable to us during summer breaks and school vacations. We joke that when it’s time to start school each fall, staying to work at True North Granola could be an option. Of course we don’t believe this! As retired educators, we understand the value of a good education and all three have demonstrated their exceptional skills and talents as students, swimmers, hockey players and in every aspect of their lives. We are so very proud to be able to hire former students of ours to work at our business whenever the opportunity develops. Catey will be the first of these three heading off to college this fall and we will miss her very much. The others will follow one year later.

OTHERS WHO HAVE PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN THE SUCCESS OF TRUE NORTH GRANOLA

Yaeko is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. She has worked in five star hotels and restaurants throughout the country. And now has brought her expertise to Vermont and True North Granola. “I love working for True North Granola. It is nice to work with peopleUwho are dedicated to making a product of which I can be proud, and who also treat their employees very well. True North is owned by two extraordinarily conscientious people when it comes to picking out the best quality ingredients. Ingrid Chrisco’s recipes creates unique combinations of flavors that you can’t find in any other granolas.”

Julie has had a love and respect for food and its meaning to people since childhood.  “Having spent lots of time on my grandparents’ produce farm as a kid, I really got to see the connections
between good food, hard work and the pleasure derived from both.”   Her ‘professional’ career began in elementary school baking bread to sell at the local general store and grew to include baking for Copley Square Market in Boston, MA, cooking, baking and managing retail gourmet food stores in both Northern and Southern Vermont, and owning a small catering company.A working wife, mom, avid gardener and weekly food columnist for the Brattleboro Reformer, baking granola for True North fits her busy life perfectly. “I love being part of True North’s effort to produce fun, responsible and, most of all, delicious granola!”
 

Grayson Carlile-Baker 

Grayson joined the True North team in the fall of 2015 when he moved to Brattleboro from Alaska to attend the New England Center for Circus Arts, located in the Cotton Mill where True North creates magic.  Grayson is a pure delight to all who meet him and an excellent baker. He continues to bring positive energy to our shop and entire staff.