Meet the founding team
OTO is a founder-led, mission-driven, product-obsessed business. So we wanted to introduce you to the founding team; Gemma, James, Rosie, Tom & Michael, who brought OTO to life and continuously trailblaze the CBD category with thoughtful, innovative & effective products that work.
Gemma Colao - Founder & Creative Director of OTO CBD
With more than 14 years of successful design and management experience, Gemma is passionate about creating products that people love and brands that people are inspired by. And going about it with value and responsibility. As Founder of OTO, she established the mission to help people discover the power of CBD through thoughtful and effective products that easily and enjoyably fit into their daily lives.
Her aim is to create the world’s finest CBD experience with optimum levels of CBD. Every step of her design process is taken with care, and uncompromising attention to detail – backed by her experience in design and fashion from Central St Martins, Esprit, DKNY, Sears and others.
James Henry Bagley - CEO
James has been CEO of OTO since 2020, leading it's most exciting year of growth alongside wife and founder, Gemma Colao. James was involved in OTO at its inception as a co-founder and helped raise capital and connect the founding team.
Prior to this, James was CEO of DMD Ventures, a leading retailer and wholesaler of luxury drinks in the UK. He’s no stranger to disrupting the drinks market, having worked as VP of Sales and Marketing in the UK and the USA for none other than Naked Wines, perhaps the most attention-grabbing and revolutionary wine company of recent years. During his time in California, James was involved in funding and founding California’s first legal online dispensary. Previously, he led strategy and planning for Sky, T-Mobile and Telstra, assuring his tech and media experience and grounding in fast growth, large corporates with ambitious plans and big budgets.
Tom Lorimer - Global Sales Director
Leading the global sales team, Tom is responsible for growing our presence in the UK, Europe and Asia. Having previously managed an events and music management company, he went on to build FMCG businesses, such as ice cream brand, POPS. Tom turned to CBD to help his sleep. Since then, he’s never looked back (or slept better), and joined the founding team to help more people realise CBD’s incredible power.
Rosie Joly - Beauty and Wellness Director
Rosie's career began as head of impulse sales at PROPER Snacks, where she helped grow the business to the largest independent UK snack brand over the course of 4 years. Next she helped launch Young Foodies, a community and services platform catering to the growing influx of start-up Food & Drink businesses in the UK. There is nothing she enjoys more than growing not only a business, but also a category from scratch.
Dr Michael Haslam: Scientist in residence
Michael co-founded OTO in 2018, moving from academia to the business world following a decades long friendship with James, and he has laid the company's scientific foundations from it's outset. He has a PhD in archaeology and ethnobotany from the University of Queensland and was a Senior Research Fellow at Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Michael has led archaeological and animal behaviour expeditions on most continents, and published over 60 research papers in the world’s leading academic journals. In 2020, his book 'The CBD Journey' was published, covering cannabidiol science, regulations and wellness, and he provides evidence-led CBD knowledge via his site at cbd.solar.
