About Us
Meet the Team
Jean M. Harrison
Founder & CEO
Jean grew up raising championship dairy goats. Her first business enterprise, Coastside Dairy Goats, played a pivotal role in developing the LaMancha breed in the US. Although the herd was sold in 1993, animals with Coastside bloodlines are still coveted today.
Upon leaving the family ranch as a young adult, Jean managed a 60-head herd of dairy goats in Oregon, after which she enjoyed an impressive military career until an injury forced retirement. Graduating Summa Cum Laude from the University of Utah, she went on to a career as a software product and project manager, culminating in a Director of Engineering position with a cutting edge San Francisco based digital engagement firm.
In the course of developing software-as-a-service (SaaS) websites for clients, the idea of EasyKeeper was conceived. It seemed a natural fit, combining Jean's passion for animal husbandry and knowledge of livestock management with her ability to envision and create high quality web applications.
Thomas Burnham, Ph.D.
Chief Marketing Officer
Thomas is passionate about marketing and customer service. He has been instrumental in the growth of two Reno, NV-area technology start-ups: TerraCore International, which provides hyperspectral drill core imaging services and Spot Devices, which he co-founded in the Bay Area and sold nearly a decade later. Spot Devices designed, manufactured and distributed Internet-enabled crosswalk and school zone safety systems nationwide.
Thomas has been a U.S. Peace Corps management consultant volunteer in rural Paraguay, a Key Metrics Analyst with MCI Telecommunications, and a Professor of Marketing at Santa Clara University, where he published an award winning academic article on the loyalty effects of consumer switching costs. He holds a B.A. from Rice University and a Ph.D. in Marketing Strategy from the University of Texas at Austin. Thomas is currently a visiting professor at the University of Nevada, Reno in the School of Business.
Brian Payne
Advisor
Brian began his career in the feed industry, progressing from territory sales and marketing to sales management, and finally to managing feed mills. His love for livestock and an ambitious search for new opportunities led to production, sales, and public relations positions in the hybrid swine industry (Pig Improvement Canada).
The growth of ethnic markets in North America created a demand for goat meat, prompting Brian to form Keri-Rose, a consultancy that introduced Landcorp's Boer goat to North America in 1993. Further consultancies in North Carolina, New York and Bermuda expanded Brian’s experience to include pasture poultry, vegetables and direct marketing through farmer's markets.
Brian’s current passion is Savannah goats, a breed he established in North America using the embryo transplant process. Brian is the Managing Director of the North American Savannah Association, the first goat registry in North America to use a DNA system to authenticate pedigrees.
Dr. Frank Pinkerton
Advisor
Dr. Pinkerton is an East Texas native who earned his Ph.D. in ruminant nutrition from Texas A&M University in 1967. After a storied career as an animal science professor and researcher in the U.S. and Asia, Frank retired from academia in 1993. After retiring, Dr. Pinkerton managed his own meat goat herd in east Texas until 2004, while undertaking intermittent extension and research assignments with the USDA Ag Marketing Service, Prairie View A&M in Texas and LSU.
Frank, fondly known in the industry as “The Goat Man”, is one of America’s best-known writers and speakers on meat goat nutrition, marketing, and management. While his current focus is on meat goats, he has extensive experience with dairy and Angora goats. His monthly column “Frankly Speaking” is one of the most read items in Goat Rancher magazine.
Norman Smith
Advisor
Norman has founded nine successful startups in the past thirty years, growing their annual revenue to over $100 million each. He has raised over $250 million in startup funding and has executive management experience in several fields including retail, technology, manufacturing, and international business development. Norman also started several successful joint ventures in Hong Kong, Thailand, and China.
As a member of the Contra Costa Software Business Incubator Board and as a University Regent, Norman was nationally recognized for innovative programs and job growth.
Norman has degrees in Economics, Journalism, Linguistics, Near Eastern Studies, Theology and Physiology from UC Berkeley.