Meet the Team

Adrian Roelands— Owner

Adrian is co-founder and owner of Roelands Plant. He oversees management, production and growing. He’s a farmer from way back, and greenhouse guy from (only slightly) less way back. He thinks big, but isn’t afraid to get his hands dirty. Adrian will take a vacation every now and then, but if truth be told, he not-so-secretly prefers to spend his days cruising his longboard in the perfect sunny plant-growing conditions of his greenhouse. Ride and shine, Adrian, ride and shine.

Jodi Roelands— Owner

Jodi is co-founder and owner of Roelands Plant. She’s an energetic and tireless force that has shaped the company from day one into the dynamic enterprise it is today. She considers hiring an awesome management team as one of her greatest skills. She’s a podcast junky, an advocate for agriculture, and will talk about her handful of kids to anyone who will listen.

Ryan Jasevicius— General Manager

Ryan started in the early days at RPF doing crop work, and as quick as a cucumber plant, grew through the ranks, excelling at every task he took on; from warehouse manager, to quality specialist, to account manager, to GSPP manager, to guy who should probably learn to say “No” more often.

He’s a guy who cares deeply about people and plants. We think “Nice” is his middle name (okay, it’s actually Martin), and we’re lucky to have him leading our team…even if he did manage to avoid the photographer.

Jigar Joshi— Director of Operations

Jigar takes organization to a whole new level. With extensive experience in horticulture management, he joins the RPF team with an eye on constant improvement. He’s a force to be reckoned with, but his ever calm demeanour makes him a favourite around the greenhouse. If Jigar were a vegetable, he’d be one cool cucumber.

Ed Thoren— Head Grower

Ed runs the greenhouse like he runs his desk, so we have the cleanest in the business! Ed’s background in marine biology makes him super smart, but it also gives him rare insight into watery type topics. For example, he knows that humans are made up of over 60% water, meaning we’re all basically lettuce and cucumbers. He has rapidly become a growing expert and a leader in his field, and we’re tickled green about it!

Juan Rodriguez— Operations Manager

As famous for his friendly smile as he is for his competitive streak, Juan is driven to succeed in all he does. Whether memorizing our core values on his first day of work, or going for gold at the annual soccer tournament, he always sets the standard for performance higher than a 40-day old tomato plant. He’s skilled at managing people and systems, and he’s as charismatic as he is efficient. We fear Juan may one day leave us to become a soccer pro, but if he does, we’ll be his number one fans!

Alicia Medina— HR Manager

Alicia is a little bit like the Clark Kent of Human Resources. She might look like an ordinary HR Manager, but she’s secretly a super-phenom dancing-queen, trilingual world-traveling smarty pants, who can also do a perfect smoky-eye. We’d be jealous if we didn’t like her so much. Did we mention she’s an approachable and resourceful HR star too?
Alicia is #lifegoals.

Emily Regan— Finance Controller

Like a cucumber plant in June, Emily has grown quickly within our company to become the head of our finance team. Fun fact, Emily’s first role at RPF was in social media! She traded in her hashtags for spreadsheets, bringing her expertise to our finance team with meticulous ease.
With her zen-like laid-back vibe, Emily’s the chill presence that keeps us all grounded. When she’s not crunching numbers, you’ll find her sprinting through half-marathons, coaching volleyball and rocking out at concerts.

Michelle Van Lieshout— Retail Manager

When asking ourselves, who is the best person for (_insert literally any job title_), the obvious choice is Michelle! The ultra-multi-talented leader of our Plantables division, is a hot commodity around the office, with everyone scheming to steal her for their department. Her skillset lends itself not only to growing our Plantables program, but also tackling an uncannily wide range of other projects in her ‘spare time’. Always ready with a smile, a wise word, and an ‘Hola!’, Michelle is equal parts lemon balm, sage, and mojito mint.

Sarah Miner— Account Manager and Sales

With her go-getter attitude and unwavering dedication to her customers, she’s the ultimate advocate you want in your corner. Always up for a chat, especially if it’s about plants or farming, and even better if it’s in person! And let’s not forget one of her most appreciated talents – bringing baked goods to work on the regular makes our days even brighter. Our only complaint about Sarah is that she has yet to make us a vegetable flavoured cookie. Challenge issued!

Jocelyn Sheppard— Account Manager and Sales

Jocelyn, the reigning monarch of organization! With three kids and their whirlwind of sports schedules, she’s practically the CEO of busy moms. Ask her what’s for dinner a month from now, and she’ll have a menu ready to impress. Given her talent for keeping everything in meticulous order, it was a no-brainer to entrust her with our customers’ needs. With her friendly and calm demeanour, Jocelyn makes the chaos of a full and busy greenhouse…and a full and busy life…look like a breeze!

Kim Bryce— Logistics Manager

We can’t get by without Kim, really. She has a knack for keeping track of everything for everyone, which is a sweet deal for the rest of us. She believes in learning by doing, and is game for any task (even if it means taking on trucks and the Dutch computer systems!). She was once overheard saying this job is “the chance of a lifetime”, and we hope that means she’ll be here for a lifetime.

Bryan Soetemans— Grower

Originally we thought Bryan was brought in because Adrian only trusts University of Guelph alumni to care for the plants, but as it turns out, he’s actually ridiculously smart. B-R-Y-A-N is a little bit like a honey-flavoured jalapeño pepper (if that was a thing). He’s mild-mannered enough to not be upset that we spelt his name wrong on the website for a couple years, but not so mild-mannered that he’d share his hot and science-y growing secrets with you.

Arun Mirok— Grower

Like a perfectly grafted plant, Arun is the perfect balance of easy-going calm, and go-getter clever. He kicked off his company journey in operations but is now rooted in deeply with the growing team. His claim to fame is that he is a real Excel wizard; we suspect actual magical powers. With his knack for numbers and his horticultural know-how, he is taking data-driven growth to a whole new level!