Our Team

Executive Team

Mandy Dowson - President and Chief Executive Officer

Mandy Dowson
President and Chief Executive Officer

Mandy Dowson is the President and Chief Executive Officer for Jenny Craig. Ms. Dowson is a driven leader with a strong passion for the Jenny Craig Brand and its mission to Change People’s Lives. She consistently leads organizations to deliver exceptional top-line and bottom-line results.

Before being named CEO in November 2022, Ms. Dowson led Finance & Accounting, along with the Operations for Fulfillment, Supply Chain, Real Estate and Business Innovation/ Strategy - including the implementation of strategic initiatives. She was effective in process improvement, global efficiency efforts and the streamlining of costs across business units to maximize profits and reinvest savings to drive growth.

Prior to joining Jenny Craig in 2020, Ms. Dowson was the SVP of Operations and Continuous Improvement at TKC Holdings. As a financial-consulting expert, she has led multiple corporation turnarounds and restructurings.

Ms. Dowson earned a Master of Business Administration from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in Finance and Management from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln.

Dan Hofmeister - Chief Marketing Officer

Dan Hofmeister
Chief Marketing Officer

Dan Hofmeister is the Chief Marketing Officer at Jenny Craig. Mr. Hofmeister oversees company marketing strategy and executions across all channels with responsibility for growing sales, memberships, and market share. He is a seasoned marketing executive and mission-minded leader with a passion for enhancing consumers' lives through strong consumer brands.

Mr. Hofmeister joined Jenny Craig in 2022 and brings nearly two decades of commercial leadership over some of America's leading consumer food brands. Most recently, he held executive leadership roles at Bumble Bee Seafoods, including SVP/General Manager over the Frozen Food Division, SVP/Head of Brand Marketing, and Head of Revenue Management. Prior to Bumble Bee, he spent nearly a decade at Hormel Foods, growing its portfolio of brands in various commercial leadership functions.

Mr. Hofmeister earned dual bachelor's degrees in Business Administration and Philosophy from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Wisconsin, a Master in Theology from Missio Theological Seminary, and an Executive Leadership Certificate from Cornell University.

Drew Martin - Chief Information Officer

Drew Martin
Chief Information Officer

Drew Martin is the Chief Information Officer for Jenny Craig. Mr. Martin is responsible for leveraging technology to support operations and enable digital capabilities.

Mr. Martin joined Jenny Craig in 2022. Prior to Jenny Craig, he was the Chief Information Officer of Jack in the Box (NYSE: JACK) where he was responsible for digital transformation and support of all restaurant applications, corporate systems and digital guest experience platforms for over 3,000 restaurants. Prior to that, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Lytx (formerly DriveCam), where he was responsible for IT, Support and Product Management for the SaaS platform, predictive analytics and hardware offering. Prior to Lytx, Drew was Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for Sony Electronics. He's also had international roles with PepsiCo and Accenture and is the founder and CEO of Silicon Beach Advisors, a digital strategy consulting firm.

Drew graduated from Cornell University with a bachelor's degree in engineering.

Chrystal Danesteh - VP Corporate Field Operations, Training, and Business Development

Chrystal Danesteh
Chief Revenue Officer

Chrystal Danesteh is the Chief Revenue Officer for Jenny Craig. Ms. Danesteh is responsible for developing and implementing operational plans to accomplish strategic initiatives, as well as daily business activities, profitability, training, and service improvements for over 500 North American centers. Her results-focused and supportive leadership style has earned her several leadership awards during her tenure with the organization.

Ms. Danesteh first joined Jenny Craig more than 25 years ago as a Coach/Program Director. She successfully advanced through each level of field and corporate management by building effective teams, delivering on business objectives, and driving the company’s mission to help clients live healthier lives. During her nine years as Sr. Director of Corporate Field Operations, Ms. Danesteh led the North American centers through several corporate transitions while further improving client success and increasing center profitability by double digits. She was named Chief Revenue Officer in June of 2022.

Emily Hawkins - Chief People Officer

Emily Hawkins
Chief People Officer

Emily Hawkins is the Chief People Officer for Jenny Craig. Ms. Hawkins oversees our Human Resources and Human Capital strategic initiatives. She partners with leadership across the organization to ensure commitment to Talent, Culture, Vision and Values. She has a strong focus on change management initiatives and strategic transformations to align with strategic goals and initiatives. She is known for her passion for the employee experience and for developing employees to reach their full potential.

Ms. Hawkins joined Jenny Craig in 2022 with over 15 years of HR leadership experience. She most recently held the role of 1st VP, Talent & Culture for Mission Federal Credit Union where she led organization-wide strategic initiatives across the full employee life-cycle. She has a proven history of strategic transformations to improve innovation, data analytics and employee experience.

Ms. Hawkins holds an undergraduate degree in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Washington and a Master of Business Administration from San Diego State University. She is also certified in HR Management from the University of California San Diego and has her Senior Professional of Human Resources designation from the HR Certification Institute.

Michelle Terracciano - Managing Director, Jenny Craig Oceania

Michelle Terracciano
Managing Director, Oceania

Michelle Terracciano is the Managing Director, Jenny Craig Oceania. Ms Terracciano is responsible for managing all aspects of Jenny Craig’s operations in Australia and New Zealand including developing and executing business strategy, driving growth and profitability, providing overall leadership, and managing day-to-day business operations.

Michelle is deeply passionate about Jenny Craig and the power of our program to change lives, one at a time.

Michelle first joined Jenny Craig over 27 years ago as a Coach. Over her long career with the organization, Michelle has held and thrived in every level of field position. For the past eight years, Michelle has served as National Sales and Operations Director on the Jenny Craig Oceania Leadership Team. Ms Terracciano was named Managing Director in July of 2021.







Jenny Craig Advisors

Angela Fitch, MD, FACP, FOMA

Angela Fitch
MD, FACP, FOMA
Chair of the Science Advisory Board

Angela Fitch, MD, FACP, FOMA is the Co-Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center and faculty at the Harvard Medical School. She is board certified in weight and obesity medicine, internal medicine and pediatrics. She serves as Chair of the Jenny Craig Science Advisory Board since 2021.

Dr. Fitch was chief resident in internal medicine before moving to Minnesota to practice primary care at Fairview Health Systems and the University of Minnesota. She began the practice of weight and obesity medicine at the University of Minnesota treating children with obesity. In 2012, Dr. Fitch became the medical director for the Metabolic Health and Weight Management Clinic at Park Nicollet and began practicing obesity medicine full time. Dr. Fitch became a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine in 2012. She is currently President-Elect of the Obesity Medicine Association. Dr. Fitch is the winner of the 2017 Clinician of the Year Award from the Obesity Medicine Association.

A graduate of Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering, Dr. Fitch worked for Procter and Gamble as a product development engineer before following her passion and attending medical school. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and then stayed for a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics.

Elizabeth Frates - M.D.

Beth Frates
MD, FACLM, DipABLM
Science Advisory Board Member

Beth Frates, MD, FACLM, DipABLM, is a trained physiatrist, and health and wellness coach, with expertise in Lifestyle Medicine. She is an award-winning teacher at Harvard Medical School, where she is an assistant clinical professor. She developed and taught a college Lifestyle Medicine curriculum at the Harvard Extension School in 2015. She was voted president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine in August 2020. Dr. Frates serves as President-Elect until 2022.

In 2018, Dr. Frates co-authored The Lifestyle Medicine Handbook: An Introduction to the Power of Healthy Habits. She also co-created Lifestyle Medicine 101, a full college curriculum. Most recently, Dr. Frates co-authored, The Teen Lifestyle Medicine Handbook, published in October 2020.

As Director of Wellness Programming at the Stroke Institute for Research and Recovery at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate, Dr. Frates has created and implemented a 12-Step wellness program, PAVING the Path to Wellness™ for patients and providers. As of the fall of 2020, Dr. Frates serves as the Director of Lifestyle Medicine and Wellness for the Department of Surgery at Mass General Hospital. In addition, Dr. Frates has her own Lifestyle Medicine consulting/coaching practice.

Michelle Alencar - PhD, CCN, CSCS, CNC, CMES, ACSM-EP,CPT

Michelle Alencar
PhD, CCN, CSCS, CNC, CMES,
ACSM-EP,CPT

Michelle Alencar, PhD, CCN, CSCS, CNC, CMES, ACSM-EP,CPT is co-founder and Chief Science Officer for inHealth Lifestyle Therapeutics, Inc and also serves as an Associate Professor at Long Beach State University. Dr. Alencar is certified as a clinical nutritionist, medical exercise specialist, nutrition coach, lifestyle therapeutics health coach, exercise physiologist, personal trainer, and strength & conditioning specialist. She is a clinical researcher having published over 40 peer-reviewed research publications in the areas of health coaching, mobile health technology, telemedicine, weight management, and body composition.

Dr. Alencar is an active speaker and advisor for several national organizations including The Obesity Medicine Association, IDEA Health and Fitness, and the American College of Sport Medicine. She applies her expertise using evidence-based principles into clinical practice, health plans, and medical device companies. She is passionate about tech-enabled services that can support individuals through their nutrition, fitness, and behavior modification journeys to ultimately empower them to live a healthy, vibrant, and active lifestyle.

David Pastrana - Advisor

David Pastrana
Advisor

David Pastrana is a transformational business leader internationally known for his keen acumen in product development and merchandising, operational optimization and brand innovation. Mr. Pastrana brings more than 18 years of experience in president and C-Level roles, leading global multi-billion-dollar consumer retailers and top industry brands through enterprise and digital transformations to deliver business growth.

Mr. Pastrana was most recently Jenny Craig’s CEO where he led the turnaround and growth of the business from 2020 to 2022, and now serves as an Advisor to the board. Before joining Jenny Craig, he was President of White House Black Market, where under his leadership, he successfully led the brand's repositioning and digital expansion, leading to double-digit sales growth. Before White House Black Market, he held leadership roles with global brands such as Zara parent Inditex, Topshop and Sears.

Mr. Pastrana holds an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid and a Master of Business Administration, Retail & Consumer Goods from INSEAD, Fontainebeau, France.

Patti Larchet

Patti Larchet
Advisor

Patti Larchet is an experienced Board Chair, Board Member and CEO with a demonstrated history of leadership in the health & wellness industry. She returns to Jenny Craig after an 11 year hiatus from the brand, as an Advisor.

Patti was part of the Jenny Craig family for 26 years, starting as a JC Consultant in 1985. Over the years, her roles and responsibilities grew as the Company expanded, from Center Director, Regional Director, Head of Sales Training North America, to Sales & Management Trainer in the UK in 1988 & 1989. In 1990 she moved to Australia and spent the next 10 years as Director of Operations, then Managing Director of Australia/New Zealand, leading that region to unprecedented growth. She then moved to California as President, then CEO and led the global Company to dramatic growth and expansion under three ownership groups from 2000-2011.

During her time away from the brand, Patti has served on Boards in weight loss, wellness, and stopping climate change. Patti is thrilled that her career has come 'full circle' and she is again working with the people and brand that are passionate about helping people reach their personal weight goals and achieve greater wellness.