The Team

Rex Lawrence was born and raised in Salinas, CA. His extensive experience in the produce industry includes positions in Senior Sales, Marketing and Management for some of the industry’s most successful companies. As a leader, entrepreneur, and relationship-builder in the industry, his knowledge and network extends to all types of positions, sectors and levels in the produce business and beyond.

Rex’s role at Joe Produce Search is to lead his team in connecting produce industry companies with talented candidates. As a true “people person,” Rex has been building relationships and meeting new people at every point in his career. Rex loves the challenge of learning about his clients’ hiring needs, company culture and objectives, then finding the person who matches that criteria. “First and foremost, we are a produce company. There is nothing better than the feeling of helping a talented person and a great company come together. We really do change lives and make an impact on the industry on a very personal level.”

When Rex isn’t at the office, he enjoys tennis, working out, health & fitness, and spending time with his wife and daughter.

Julie grew up on the California Coast in the agriculture-rich community of Half Moon Bay. She is keenly aware that the produce industry is a unique career path and she welcomes the challenge of connecting companies with candidates who truly desire to work in this industry. Julie often tells candidates that produce is a lifestyle, and not just another job. She has enjoyed incredible success making quality matches for our clients and loves seeing what people can achieve when they are placed in the right employment situation.

Julie is a Certified Personnel Consultant and a member of the National Association of Personnel Services. With 15+ years of experience in executive recruiting, she is extremely knowledgeable in current, essential employment laws and practices. She has managed teams throughout her career, and understands the importance of a good hire from the perspective of both the candidate and the company.

Julie has two young children with her husband, who is also in the recruiting business. In her free time Julie enjoys family fun, yoga, cooking and entertaining friends and family. Julie speaks Danish fluently and has traveled extensively in the US, Europe and South America. She hopes to travel more as her kids grow older because she is passionate about meeting new people and learning about different cultures.

Jenn brings to our team 20 years of outstanding experience in Human Resources management. Jenn’s role at Joe Produce Search has helped our team place numerous successful candidates in new roles at companies of all sizes, and she looks forward to assisting more employers with their recruiting needs.

Jenn’s background includes a BA degree in Organizational Communications, executive-level recruiting for a nationally-recognized corporation, and expertise in employee training and development, HRIS management, retention strategies, screening, and selection. Jenn creates great relationships with her clients and is a responsive, attentive Search Consultant. She is a crucial member of our team who handles all aspects of the recruiting cycle, from job posting to interviewing to offer letter creation/delivery and new hire job offers/orientations.

Jenn and her husband enjoy raising their 3 children and being involved in their sports programs. She likes watching Sunday Night Football, scrap-booking, and volunteering at the school.

Erinn was born in Toronto, Ontario into a large family with roots in the retail produce world. Her uncles, and then her cousins, worked in produce stores for as long as she can remember and her mom has worked in the San Francisco produce market for over a decade. Erinn was relocated to the Bay Area in Northern California in 1993 with her parents and 2 younger brothers, where she remained until just recently.

Erinn started recruiting as a Candidate Specialist directly out of school in 1997, specializing in Administrative and Office Management roles. Over the years she has managed projects of all types in the tech world and has had the opportunity to recruit for Administrative, Healthcare, Software and Hardware (Tech/IT) industries; and now Produce.

Erinn and her husband Dominic have been together for over 23 years, and have 2 energetic, fun-loving, exhausting sons. In 2018 they decided to begin a new chapter and relocated the family out of the Bay Area and into Fair Oaks, California. Erinn wanted to get closer to her rural roots, with hopes of someday having even more land with animals and gardens to care for. They are an active family that loves the outdoors, traveling, camping, snowboarding, hiking, exploring and family time of any kind. She’s a self proclaimed “crafty person” who loves to update and refurbish old furniture pieces and pulls her kids into any one of her craft ideas as often as possible.

Amy brings over 20 years of diverse produce industry experience to our team. Amy truly values the time she has spent out in the fields and orchards experiencing the nuances of each crop. She has had the opportunity to gain first-hand exposure to the intricacies involved in the entire farm-to-fork process.

Amy’s experience includes working for a grower-shipper in sales, a national procurement company as a commodity and account manager, and most recently for a global reusable container company as an account manager. Her diverse experience gives her a broad perspective of the business, from field to end user and all points in between. Amy enjoys all the long-lasting relationships which she has built with growers, shippers, distributors, wholesalers, marketers, procurement professionals, and company leaders across North America.

Amy was born and raised in Salinas, CA. In addition to continuously growing her produce IQ, she enjoys cooking, entertaining, working out, and paddleboarding on the lake. Amy is busy raising her teenage son who plays Lacrosse. Her daughter Grace is in her first year of college studying to be a Nurse.

Born and Raised in the Salinas Valley, Diane is the daughter of two Boomers and first-generation Mexican Americans. Her father grew up picking strawberries until his teenage years. Her Mother worked in the Celery Packing sheds in Oxnard in the summers and was a migrant student throughout all her childhood.

Her first foray in produce was as a receptionist for Fleming Companies. It was, “a fun, crazy, intense and rewarding time,” of her life. She later moved to Mann Packing as a Sales Asst., where she eventually worked her way into a sales role, where she flourished. Diane feels fortunate to have been mentored by professionals, with positive empowerment, and mentored by other women in the industry while at Mann Packing.

Recently she married and moved to the San Joaquin Valley to start a new life. They actually managed to pull off the Dream Wedding right in the middle of the pandemic.

Time for more growth! Diane wanted to tap into her experience and at the same time help others, which led her to Joe Produce. After 20 years at Mann and readjusting to a whole new life, she knows firsthand how challenging it can be to make major career and life changes.

Diane enjoys her close relationship with her two grown children. Davina is in the produce Industry and Jacob drives for UPS. Diane loves to cook and is a self-proclaimed foodie.

Pam has been in the executive search industry for over 20 years. She began her career in commercial staffing and then moved into placing finance, accounting and technology professionals. With this foundation, Pam joined a small boutique agency and was devoted exclusively to recruiting for the staffing industry – predominantly leadership roles and C-level positions. She ultimately leveraged her success and started her own firm. 

Pam is a well rounded and highly respected executive search professional with extensive experience actively recruiting professional candidates while developing close partnerships with her client companies. She brings her experience in creating and maintaining long lasting relationships, based on performance and caring. She lives by this credo, “I will manage your search with energy and enthusiasm all the while providing the exceptional service and communication that I would expect for myself.” Her professionalism, wisdom and core values are a perfect match for Joe Produce Search and the industry we serve. 

Pam was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. She has always been active playing tennis and volleyball in her youth. As an adult, she became a certified scuba diver. She has dived in some amazing places and isn’t done yet! She now lives in Sarasota, Florida and spends her spare time at the gym. She strives to stay healthy all the while exploring all that Florida has to offer.