Linda Bolton, founder and co-owner of TOP Nutritionals, has announced the appointment of John Halbert as CEO, effective October 3, 2016.
After more than 10 years at the helm, having effectively created a market for magnesium supplements in Canada, Linda Bolton is stepping down as CEO.
“When I first brought Natural Calm into the country, there was very little awareness of the need for magnesium. People just didn’t know that magnesium deficiency was at the root of their sleeplessness, stress, muscle pain, headaches, and disease. I poured all of my energy into educating the public on how much better they could feel with a magnesium that really works. Now, that awareness exists, and Natural Calm is a household name in Canada.”
Bolton will continue to play a strategic advisory role, but will pour her entrepreneurial energies into Organics 4 Orphans (O4O), the not-for-profit Bolton founded with her husband, Dale. O4O has long been at the very heart of Natural Calm and part of what sets the company apart.
“When Natural Calm sales took off, Dale and I made an agreement. We couldn’t see ourselves growing a business just for the sake of profit; it had to be a business with a difference. And that’s how we became a social enterprise.”
O4O is headquartered out of an innovative training centre in Kitale, Kenya, where the indigenous-led team teaches organic gardening, nutrition, natural medicine, and garden-based income generation. The Boltons are excited at the momentum gathering behind O4O and together will broker new partnerships and expansion into previously unreached areas of the developing world.
John Halbert has been a champion of O4O throughout his six-year tenure as Vice President, Operations, TOP Nutritionals. His commitment to the cause, his strategic vision, and his demonstrated leadership made Halbert a natural choice to scale up the growing company.
Prior to joining TOP Nutritionals, Halbert worked in the software industry, serving the last 10 years as Vice President, Development at i2 Technologies.
Says Halbert, “What Linda and Dale have done with Natural Calm and O4O is unprecedented. They demonstrated to the industry how business can make an outsized impact. It is an honour to take on the leadership of one of the best social enterprises in the country. And just as we changed the health landscape in Canada with a magnesium product that people just love to take, we plan to keep introducing products that meet unfilled needs and change Canadians’ health. It will be an exciting time to lead.”
Natural Calm Canada was founded in 2005 by Linda Bolton as the exclusive Canadian distributor of Natural Vitality’s Natural Calm magnesium products. From the start, Natural Calm was established as a social enterprise, and in 2015 reached a milestone in giving at $1 million. The company’s rapid growth and sound financials earned Bolton a place in the PROFIT/Chatelaine rankings of Canada’s Top Female Entrepreneurs 2014, 2015 and 2016. Natural Calm’s popularity with consumers and retailers garnered the company two prestigious gold alive Awards in 2014 and a silver in 2015. In 2014, Natural Calm joined a new line of superfood Moringa oleifera products, now branded SuperLeaf Moringa, under the TOP Nutritionals banner. Visit topnutritionals.ca, naturalcalm.ca, or superleaf.ca for more information