The Asarasi Paparazzi
Meet the Asarasi Team
Adam Lazar, Founder & CEO
Looking for a warm, fun activity to do with his daughter in the middle of a Vermont winter, Asarasi Founder and CEO Adam Lazar decided to attend a maple farm open house. As the farmer went through the process of producing maple syrups and maple products, Adam witnessed thousands of gallons of sugar-free maple sap water being discarded. After asking the farmer about why he wasn't utilizing this pure, tree-filtered water and why his hard work was being unnecessarily thrown away, he learned that maple syrup producers use only 3% of the sap collected to make syrup and maple products. The remaining 97% is pure tree-drawn water that is not utilized. The idea was born that tree water was a new plant-source of incredibly pure, organic water that had never been tapped and Asarasi was born. Asarasi has created the world’s only sustainable and renewable, sparkling water.
Aku Orraca-Tetteh - Co-Founder
Aku Orraca-Tetteh, is a multi-instrumentalist and primary member of the Grammy-nominated band Florence + The Machine, and co-founder of Asarasi infusing the brand with his electrifying creativity and passion for sustainability. Known for his captivating percussion, vocals, and keyboard performances with global icons like Florence Welch, Santigold and Saul Williams, Aku brings the same innovative energy from his music career—spanning the experimental rock band Dragons of Zynth to shaping NYC’s underground DJ scene—to Asarasi’s mission. Inspired by the company’s pioneering use of pure, tree-filtered maple tree water, Aku is driving Asarasi’s growth with bold marketing and eco-conscious collaborations, amplifying the world’s only sustainable, renewable sparkling water to new heights while championing environmental responsibility and creative excellence and leading the Asarasi Paparazzi!
Catherine Polisi
Catherine is the Founder and President of Polisi Jones Communications and a veteran strategic communications and marketing professional, having advised the largest and well-known global brands for more than two decades on their communications and business strategies. She is advising Asarasi's marketing and communications strategies and getting the word out about Asarasi's eco-conscious mission.
Brenda Morris - Advisor
Brenda is an operationally-focused board member, consultant, coach and executive, with extensive experience as a CFO/COO in public and private companies, including entrepreneurial start-ups, high-growth and mature organizations. Brenda has acquired deep experience in the areas of strategy, M&A, FP&A, accounting and treasury functions, optimization, systems, financings and IPOs. Brenda is an energetic and fun-loving executive who understands the business issues beyond the financials and focuses on leading by building relationships and collaborating at all levels. She's successful at managing and growing public, privately held and private equity owned companies with a strong execution record. Brenda enjoys working with authentic, trustworthy, collaborative and energetic partners who love to build, develop and nurture an organization for high performance and success.
Matthew Provencher - Advisor
Dr. Matthew Provencher, MD is an Orthopaedic Sports Surgeon who specializes in shoulder, knee and sports injuries/surgery. He is the former Head Team Physician / Medical Director of the New England Patriots, as well as Assistant Team Physician for the Boston Bruins and Boston Red Sox. In addition, he has served as the Team Orthopaedic Physician for Naval Special Warfare in Coronado, CA and served 26 years as a Navy Orthopaedic Surgeon. Connected to FOX Sports’ extensive NFL and college football coverage, Provencher appears on the new FOX Sports app, FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports social platforms where he delivers data-driven injury insights to football fans. In this first-of-a-kind role as Athlete Injury and Performance Analyst for the network’s digital platforms, Provencher provides important predictive player performance and recovery information about post-injury performance, the impact of weather, field conditions and more. He has conducted extensive research in sports injuries, treatment and prevention, with over 300 peer-reviewed publications and has authored six textbooks.
Luke Mansfield - Advisor
Luke Mansfield is the Chief Commercial Officer of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, responsible for leading business growth, revenue and profitability. Prior to Harley, Luke was VP of Innovation for PepsiCo where he launched multiple $Bn global beverage platforms. Before PepsiCo, Luke led Innovation for Samsung Electronics and developed many successful global products & services. Luke holds a master’s degree in chemistry from Oxford University and has lectured on Corporate growth at London Business School, Oxford University and London School of Economics.
Adam Von Gootkin- Advisor
A lifelong entrepreneur, Adam von Gootkin’s pedigree in the spirits industry has positioned him as a global innovator. He formed Highclere Castle Spirits in partnership with the 8th Earl & Countess of Carnarvon, the owners of Highclere Castle, known as the “Real Downton Abbey.” Together, they launched the award-winning Highclere Castle Gin and Highclere Castle Cigar. Adam has successfully launched and advises numerous companies. He is committed to sustainable agriculture and manufacturing processes. Adam has been featured on Bloomberg, Forbes, Fortune, NBC, ABC, and many other leading media platforms. He is exclusively represented by the Leading Authorities Speakers Bureau and he is an advisor to the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust where he works to guide strategic financing initiatives and direction to best serve and foster young entrepreneurs of the Commonwealth countries.
