TEAM TUKÃ

Valerie has worked in the real estate industry since the late 1970’s. After assisting Jim Costello in the negotiation and purchase of the Chileno Bay acreage in Los Cabos, Mexico, Valerie served for almost a decade as a member of Chileno Bay Club’s executive team, where she managed the company’s US, Mexican and cross-border legal needs. She had previously worked for McDonald’s Corporation, first in site acquisition in the San Francisco Bay area, followed two years later by a stint as Real Estate Manager in the company’s newly opened Sacramento office. Two years later she again relocated to expand the company’s presence in Mexico as Director of Real Estate in its Mexico City office. In the latter part of her 11-year career with McDonald’s, she was Real Estate Director for Latin America & the Caribbean, liaising with each country’s JV Partner/Operations Manager/Franchisees; training executive, management and development personnel; and managing the real estate acquisition and development activities of 45 employees in 14 regional offices throughout Central America, South America and the Caribbean islands. Valerie first came to enjoy yerba mate during her time in South America and is excited to be a member of the team bringing such a high-quality offering to market.

Carey graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in Finance and four years of Division 1 golf to his credit. But it was the challenge, theater and diversity in the retail industry that would fuel a 32-year career. While training at the May Co. in Los Angeles, he realized a smaller company in a growing market would offer more  opportunity. So, Carey became the newest trainee at Burdine’s Florida, a division of Federated Department Stores, with sales of $350 million and 10 stores. In eight years, he progressed through the merchandising and store management ranks to become a vice president. Four years later he was named Senior Vice President of Marketing, which included leading the Federated marketing team for three years. When Carey retired Burdine’s had 70 stores and sales had grown to $1.4 billion. Today Carey is consulting with small and medium sized companies to help them carve out more competitive positions in their markets. Carey describes yerba mate as a subtle energy source and has been won over by Tukã’s approach to using only sustainably grown and harvested yerba mate in its product offerings.

Leslie was born in San Francisco and raised “across the Bay” in Orinda, where she still resides. She attended Stanford, later transferring to what is now known as UC “Berkeley Law” (but she still roots for Stanford in the Big Game). Following graduation, she joined Miller Starr and Regalia, and feels fortunate to have worked under Marv Starr, who along with his partner literally wrote the book on California real estate law. Leslie became a partner after four years, and it was early in her 35-year tenure that she began representing Jim Costello. She since co-founded Timkin Johnson LP and has continued to structure and advise Jim and other clients on all manner of real estate transactions and ownership structures. Since 2006 Leslie has also served as trustee for the Mullin Trust, overseeing significant real estate holdings in California and Georgia. She credits Jim Costello for introducing her to yerba mate, a beverage that she claims not only tastes great but also makes her feel more alive, all while significantly reducing her well-entrenched coffee habit.

John began his career with a major accounting firm in San Francisco, after having graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Marriot School of Business at Brigham Young University. He then took a position as Business Manager for a law firm in Los Angeles, before again pursuing his public accounting career with regional firms in West Covina and Modesto. He later became CFO for a real estate development group in Santa Rosa that included Jim Costello and three additional partners. John subsequently opened his own Santa Rosa based practice where he continued to provide accounting and tax consultation to Jim and other prior clients. It was during this time that he also became CFO for a two-county waste management company, where he played a major role over the last 30 years in assisting them to grow from modest beginnings to over $100 million in annual revenue. Moreover, he set up the tax structure and executed the plan to transition this same company into ownership and management of a diverse portfolio of multi-family residential, mobile home, commercial office and industrial properties, and is currently assisting their continued expansion into a major natural resource operation. John became proficient at Spanish while serving his church in Mexico early in his career and looks forward to using these language skills in his advisory role with Team Tukã.

Dan currently resides in Sebastopol, California with his wife Robbin, and is the third generation of his family to do so. From an early age, his goal was to improve the world for children, which drove him to pursue a degree in Education from UC Davis. Then, the summer before entering grad school, he worked for a demolition contractor and was immediately struck by the tremendous opportunities in that business. By the time the company folded upon the death of its owner some two years later, Dan’s career aspirations had changed. He returned to school and, in 1978, acquired a real estate license, as well as a general engineering and demolition contractor’s license. With a shovel and wheelbarrow, he went to work creating what is now a large recycling business with 45 employees, selling used building materials and crushing concrete for rock products, as well as United Forest Products, selling wholesale and retail landscaping. A long-time friend of the Costello family, he was one of the original founders of Kosta Brown. In his own words, “if Jim wanted to invest in used bubble gum, [he] would be right there” … and he believes that “this whole Tukã adventure is magical and very special. What a great group of people! What a great product! It’s going to be a great ride!”