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OUR TEAM
ANDREW
HITCHINGS
PRINCIPAL, CO-FOUNDER
Andrew is a Missouri native who brings 14 years of experience as a seasoned business and military leader with expertise in operations, strategy, and people management.
He served in the U.S. Army as an Armor officer for six years. During his service, he led recon platoons in combat operations for 15 months in Baghdad during Operation Iraqi Freedom and later commanded an Armor company as a captain. Using business school as a transition, he then spent six years as a management consultant, partnering with clients and leading consulting teams. He worked alongside them in boardrooms, power plants, oil refineries, manufacturing facilities, and construction sites to help improve operations, develop team members, increase earnings, and reach near and long-term goals. Never afraid to roll up his sleeves and work with the front line or senior leaders, Andrew decided to pursue business ownership rather than a career in advisory services.
Andrew earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Management from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a Masters of Science in Engineering Management from The Missouri University of Science & Technology, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
An avid motorcyclist, Andrew has managed the Harley-Davidson drivetrain assembly operation and has also toured 82 countries worldwide on motorcycles.
MARCELA
FERNANDEZ
PRINCIPAL, CO-FOUNDER
Marcela brings diverse experience in the food, travel, and hospitality industries, ranging from starting and growing a cidery business to leading teams in some of North America's largest customer-facing companies.
Marcela started her career in the food industry as a product engineer for Sigma Foods, where she collaborated in the development of over 30 new products. She then managed the continuous improvement program at GRUMA, Mexico’s largest corn flour producer, guiding operations teams in planning, funding, and executing innovative projects to increase productivity and safety in manufacturing facilities. In 2012 she founded Discordia Cidery, bringing the first craft hard cider to the Mexican market. In two years, she grew the kitchen experiment to an operation with the capacity to produce up to 10,000 liters per month. She has also worked in management consulting and later was Director of Customer Experience for City Express Hotels.
Within each role, she has strived to empower employees through compassionate leadership, interdisciplinary collaboration, and open innovation. She believes that healthy company culture is paramount, and happy employees make customers happy.
She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biotech Engineering from the Technological Institute of Monterrey, and an MBA from Stanford University.
MAX
WILLIAMS
PRINCIPAL
Max combines robust strategic experience with a consistent operational focus on process optimization through digital enablement and data management.
Before joining Olive Ridge, Max was a consultant at McKinsey and Company. His operational experiences range from governing enterprise-wide transformations to designing and implementing next-gen management methodologies, usually with a digital focus. He also worked to develop infrastructure investment strategies for clients, and advised M&A transactions in manufacturing, power generation, engineering services, and software.
Max is passionate about technology investment in physical industry, applying digital tools across the value chain to achieve operational improvement and enhanced customer and employee experience, from sales all the way through to field operations. Max works closely within daily activities of businesses to foster cross-functional collaboration and create ideal solutions for growing organizations.
Max obtained a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin, and is an avid supporter of Liverpool F.C. and Longhorn football.