Seth Waite

Schaefer

Schaefer is the only buyer psychology consultancy dedicated to the food & beverage industry. We help brands understand why people buy—then turn that insight into marketing strategies that drive sales. Our work supports marketing, brand, and growth leaders across CPG, manufacturing, foodservice, private equity, and every corner of the food & beverage value chain.

YOU MIGHT NEED US IF...
👉🏻 You can’t afford for your go-to-market approach to flop when you’re launching a new initiative.
👉🏻 You want to reach a new, untapped customer segment with an existing product.
👉🏻 You’re expanding and entering a new geographic market with an existing product.
👉🏻 You’re looking to develop and/or market a new product to an existing customer segment.
👉🏻 You’re unsure if a market exists for a potentially new yet-to-be-developed product.
👉🏻 You’re unsure (or unconvinced) where your highest potential growth opportunities lie.


WORKING TOGETHER
✨ A TEAM - Only senior-level talent. No bait and switch.
✨ EXPERTISE - Strategic, hard-working peers with hands-on experience.
✨ WHY FOCUSED - Pursue depth and action anchored in facts.
✨ TOP 1% - Unlike anyone you've ever worked with before.

Partner & Buyer Psychologist

Algrthm

Sold to investor to pursue opportunity more closely aligned with my personal mission.
Artificial Intelligence company focused on developing and researching new A.I. capabilities in real-world authentication of luxury goods and collectibles. Focused specifically on mobile device models that measure perception through multi-sensor, multi-modal methods. Developed 8 new patent-pending technologies.

Founder & CEO |  (Sold to Investor)

UniGroup

ACQUISITION: UniGroup acquired my startup Handled.
INTEGRATION: I was brought in to lead Technology & Growth across the United Van Lines and Mayflower moving ecosystem during the year-long integration period.

Teams reporting to me included: 
- Marketing, Brand, and Creative
- UX/UI & Product Design
- IT, Infrastructure, & Security
- Product Development & Engineering
- Data Science & Business Intelligence
- Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning

Chief Experience Officer & EVP (Leading Integration & Transformation)

Handled.

ACQUIRED by UniGroup. Disrupting the moving & storage industry and helping the world feel at home with industry-leading customer experience, product development, and cutting-edge computer vision and AI/ML.

Founder & CEO (Acquired by Strategic)

RevUnit

- Key strategist for corporate vision, M&A, and growth ventures
- Leader of Strategy Consulting practice & services
- Intellectual Property & Tools Development
- Value builder for transferrable assets

Chief Strategy Officer (Prepare for Private Equity Investment)

At RevUnit, my role as Chief Growth Officer includes the following key responsibilities:

- Growth Leader for all RevUnit marketing, sales, and public relations
- Key strategist for corporate vision, M&A, and growth ventures
- Led acquisition of Teamvvork

Product Development Studio
We DOUBLED our growth year-over-year and reached a ranking of #584 out of 5,000 on Inc's 5000 Fastest Growing Privately-Held Companies in America.

Chief Growth Officer (4x Inc 5000 Winner)

Lead all RevUnit marketing & public relations.

- DOUBLED growth every year for 4 years in a row at 95% CAGR
- Developed B2B lead generation for penetrating enterprise via (ABM) Account Based Marketing
- Sold millions of dollars personally and led the execution

Chief Marketing Officer (95% Year-Over-Year Revenue Growth)

RevUnit clients grew to include Walmart, Sam's Club, Mary Kay, Virgin, United Van Lines, and Mayflower.

Marketing & Analytics Lead

Acquisition Integration & New Sales Growth.

Sr. Strategist & Product Owner

SmashMetrics

ACQUIRED By RevUnit -- High-impact ecommerce marketing and product adoption agency. Using customer intent to isolate needs and objections, our industry-leading approach to conversion rate optimization and digital marketing creates more long-term revenue with fewer expenses.

Co-Founder, CEO (Acquired by RevUnit)

DrVita

Led DrVita e-commerce from $30k a month in revenues to over $1.2M in revenues per month in just 4 months. Total site re-platform and built and executed full suite of e-commerce marketing and growth strategies.

Director of Marketing (Jumpstart Growth)

Rockfish Interactive

I led all content strategy and production for Walmart's corporate website redesign, Sam's Club grocery program website & email broadcasts, mom blogger network, mother/baby microsites, and grocery apps. I also led Banfield/Petsmart's SEO & social strategy.

Content Strategy Manager for Walmart & Sam's Club

Journey Digital Media

As Marketing Manager, I lead the company's search engine optimization and marketing projects, including website design, conversion rate optimization, and lead generation.

Marketing & Lead Generation Expert

Partner at Schaefer / Buyer Psychology for Food & Beverage Brands

I study why people buy what they buy.

As a Partner at Schaefer, I decode the psychology behind consumer decisions in the food & beverage industry. My obsession? Understanding the invisible forces that make someone choose Poppi over 20 other soda brands, or why they'll pay $12 for artisanal ranch dressing.

Started at Sam's Club at 25, running digital strategy for grocery. That's where I discovered the magic number: show someone 7 ways to use a product, and the purchase barrier collapses. We weren't selling chicken. We were selling confidence.

Now I help brands understand what their customers actually want (hint: it's rarely what you think).

My approach is simple: Watch real behavior. Question everything. Find the job your product actually does. Because your competition isn't the brand next to you on the shelf - it's whatever solves the customer's problem faster.

I write daily about:
→ Buyer psychology patterns that drive billion-dollar brands
→ Why some products become movements while others just take up shelf space
→ The hidden strategies behind brands like Oreo ($3B), Reese's ($2.7B), and Fairlife ($6.2B)
→ Real stories from the grocery aisles that reveal how people actually shop

If you're building a food or beverage brand and want to understand your customers better than they understand themselves, let's talk.

Because sometimes your billion-dollar idea isn't your main product. It's the thing customers keep asking for that you're not paying attention to.


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Non-businessy stuff →

• I live in St. Louis and love the outdoors, basketball, and reading all kinds of books
• I’m a serious foodie and built a food influencer account with more than 1 million followers
• My wife and I have 3 beautiful, kind children whom we love to spend time with

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Thanks for stopping by.

Founder & CEO |  Exit Coach

I help business owners grow and sell their businesses with no regrets.

Last week I talked to a VP of Marketing who'd never segmented a single customer.

Her CEO pulled her into a meeting and said: "New customer growth is the #1 priority for 2026."

Over Zoom she asked me, "Where do we find them?"

I could've given her a safe answer. Something like, "Test new channels and scale what works."

Instead, I told her the truth. "Your first quarter is going to hurt."

Not because new channels don't work. But because you're guessing.

You'll launch campaigns in five channels.
You'll A/B test everything.
You'll compare your CAC to someone else's screenshots on LinkedIn.

And when Q1 ends and you've spent a lot of money but only have the same growth rate as last year to show for it, you'll think...

"Maybe we should try different channels."
"Maybe we need better creative."
"Maybe our product just doesn't resonate."

Meanwhile, the companies crushing their growth targets?

They're not testing channels. They're talking to customers.

Here's what kills me:

If you already knew exactly who your next customers were, your CFO would've approved more marketing budget yesterday because your scale issues were just related to more spend. But your CFO didn't. Which means you're hoping new channels or campaigns will magically find them.

But they won't.

You're doing the same targeting, same messaging, same positioning. Just in different places. And when "new customers are the #1 priority" doesn't happen? That's your job on the line.

I showed her what actually works:

→ 10 customer interviews = understand why they bought
→ 20 customer interviews = see the pattern
→ 30 customer interviews = know exactly where the next 10,000 are

Not demographics. Not "Gen Z" or "Millennial Moms". But understanding the exact moment someone decides they need what you sell.

Two "millennial moms" in the pasta sauce aisle at 8 pm might look identical on paper. But one's buying pasta sauce to rush home and feed her family a late, hurried dinner. The other is buying sauce for a dinner party with friends that weekend.

Same product. Completely different positioning.

When you know exactly why people buy:
- Positioning becomes obvious (you know the problem you solve)
- Pricing becomes clear (you know the value you create)
- Messaging writes itself (you use their actual words)
- Channel testing becomes irrelevant (you know where they already are)

The brutal truth: Most companies are so busy testing channels they never test their assumptions. 

Your customers already exist. They're already looking for solutions. You just don't know what problem they're actually trying to solve.

Stop guessing. Start asking.

Because when new customer acquisition really is your #1 priority, "we're still testing" won't save your job. 🔥

taplio

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