MEET THE SPECIALISTS.
Consultants that you actually enjoy working with? Believe it!
We believe in a diverse team to deliver a diverse range of healthcare products.
The Specialists are a group of highly experienced professionals who have operated across many various areas within high pressure and high paced businesses in the Complementary Medicine, Functional Food and Cosmetic Industries. This makes us unique in that solutions brought to you by The Specialists are always timely, commercially driven, marketable, realistic, and compliant.
Simone Abaron
CEO
Simone is a naturopath, nutritionist and herbalist with 20 years experience in product development, regulatory affairs and effective business management. She is a serial entrepreneur having built and run multiple category-leading brands.
Simone heads up The Specialists’ with a uniquely human-centric leadership style, deep technical expertise, commercial aptitude, and a flair for problem-solving. She’s been fascinated by consumer behaviour since the very early days of her career, drilling into the ‘why’ behind consumer purchase of healthcare products and how that’s impacted by brand.
As a committee advisor for Australia’s peak industry body for complementary medicines, Simone has grown to be a figurehead and thought leader in the preventative healthcare, complementary medicine and functional food space.
Rhiona Robertson
General Manager
Rhiona is a naturopath, nutritionist, educator, innovator, product development and regulatory all-star.
Rhi uses her creativity in all facets of her work, including mounting excellent arguments to meet the TGA’s rigorous requirements, and when she’s writing technical marketing content. Rhi thinks big (and on her feet), always up for finding solutions, new ways or ways around.
Rhi’s been in the complementary medicine industry now for longer than she’d care to say, and she’s been an integral part of *many* successful product launches in Australia, and overseas, so it’s likely you’ve seen her work in action.
When she’s not working, she can be found lying under a tree reading a book with her dog, walking along the beach or hiking up mountains – well that’s where she’d love to be.
Sandra Velasquez
Head of Quality & Regulatory Affairs
Sandra is a Pharmaceutical Chemist specialising in Health Quality Management with over 20 years’ experience across Australia’s complementary medicines, food and cosmetics industries. She brings deep technical expertise and a practical approach to manufacturing, quality and regulatory functions.
She has led quality systems and regulatory strategy across the product lifecycle, from development to market approval and post-market compliance, across Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia, working with regulators to ensure GMP alignment.
Sandra is known for strategic thinking and translating complex requirements into clear, workable outcomes. Outside of work, she enjoys painting, the arts and bushwalking.
Dimity Chisholm
Head of Product Development
Dimity is a naturopath, nutritionist and herbalist with almost 20 years industry experience, the last 10 of these in product development. She holds a Masters in Public Health Nutrition and completed a dissertation looking at the experiences of immigrant groups and dietary acculturation.
Whilst her career working with major practitioner and retail brands has been deeply rewarding, she has found her passion working within the creative realms of consultancy. She is fluent in latin binomial and her signature herb is Matricaria chamomilla flowers.
Outside of work she is busy loving her two greatest achievements and she is always planning her next holiday away with her husband, kids and Daisy the Labrador.
Tatiana Jones
Senior Quality & Regulatory Affairs Specialist
Tatiana is a naturopath, massage therapist and ex-athlete, amongst other talents, with over 11 years’ experience in quality, regulatory affairs and product development.
She is HPS’ resident expert in raw materials, auditing and generally all things quality and regulatory affairs. Her attention to detail is almost (if not) obsessive-compulsive, she loves to navigate around regulatory grey areas, and enjoys rolling her sleeves up and getting the job done with her athletic determination, speed and precision.
She is at her happiest when she is in the kitchen or at the beach with her husband and four children which she had over a 2.5 year period (yes, this includes triplets!)
Jessica Palmer
Senior Regulatory and New Product Development Specialist
Jessica’s honours degree in Behavioural Health Science cultivated a natural interest & progression into the complementary medicine, functional food, and cosmetic arenas. Jessica has been formulating, developing and managing innovative and market-leading products and brands for over 13 years and has a keen interest in balancing a business’ needs with dynamic market demand.
With a creative flair and a keen eye for detail, Jessica comfortably navigates that niggly space between understanding the regulatory “must-haves” yet employing her marketing nous to cut through competitive noise.
Outside of HPS, you’ll find this mum-to-be hunting down great podcasts, walking with friends, or honing her home-barista skills.
Tammy Meyer
Operations & Customer Service
Tammy started her career working in one of Australia’s big 4 banks, and then moved onto some of Australia’s best finance institutions, working alongside some of Australia’s (and the world’s) biggest companies, in an Account Management and Client Services capacity.
She took a career break to travel the world, and returned to Australia just before the world turned upside down. Tammy was sweet talked into joining the HPS team after visiting the office one day for lunch, and hasn’t looked back.
She’s been known to forecast stock requirements with such precision that the rest of the team are convinced that she has a crystal ball in her desk drawer. No job is ever too hard or obscure for Tammy, our Jill-of-all-trades has a unique knack for “getting stuff done” with a healthy dose of humour and sleuth-like research skills.
Latoya Cruz
Quality & Regulatory Affairs Co-Ordinator
Latoya holds a health sciences degree and a qualification in nutrition, bringing deep expertise and a passion for wellbeing to HPS. Her drive and energy align perfectly with our high standards, making her a strong asset to our team.
Previously the in-house nutritionist at one of Australia’s top ingestible beauty brands, Latoya led customer advisory and education, translating science into real-life health wins. She also runs a successful online clinic offering personalised nutrition advice to help individuals take control of their wellbeing.
Outside work, Latoya is a proud wife and mum of two daughters. She enjoys hitting the gym, reading, and staying curious in her field. A true coffee lover, she rarely skips her daily almond latte. Her go-to nutrient? Magnesium for stress support, muscle recovery, and total wellness.
Jenica Ronquillo
Social Media and Digital Marketing Manager
As our Social and Digital Marketing Manager, Nica brings her creative vision and design expertise to transform concepts into compelling digital narratives. With extensive experience across multiple industries, she found her true calling in health, wellness, and beauty marketing, where she excels at crafting engaging content that resonates with audiences.
Known for her eye for design, Nica has a remarkable talent for elevating basic concepts into visually stunning and relatable campaigns. Her ability to blend strategic marketing insights with creative execution ensures our clients’ brands maintain a sharp, contemporary presence across all digital platforms.