Executive Insider: Mike O’Brien

Born and raised in Missouri, Mike O’Brien’s career – starting with several years of military duty with the U.S. Marine Corps – took him out of the Show Me State for decades. But the opportunity to work with Vital Farms Inc. (Nasdaq: VITL) and make good on a desire to return to his former home state was too good to pass up, he says.

O’Brien began in December as the Austin, Texas-based company’s new director of plant operations at its egg washing and packing facility, called Egg Central Station, in Springfield’s Partnership Industrial Center West.

“Missouri is the most important place in my heart, so it’s good to be back,” O’Brien says, noting he was born in Liberty but largely split time with family growing up between the Rolla area and St. Louis. “That was a big driver. I was specifically looking for opportunities to bring me home.”

O’Brien previously worked for the last 14 years at MillerKnoll Inc. (Nasdaq: MLKN), which does business as Herman Miller, a Zeeland, Michigan-based manufacturer of office furniture. There, he had leadership positions including director of operations and director of manufacturing transformation. O’Brien says Vital Farms ticked several boxes for him, including being a company that prioritizes its employees and is focused on bringing ethical food to the table through farming practices.

“I was blown away by the onboarding process, what it took to get in the door and what a premium they put on what we call our crew, our people,” he says. “It’s absolutely true that we walk the talk of our core values that it’s centered on people.”

Considering himself a people person, O’Brien says the Marine Corps, which he joined in 1983 at the age of 20, provided him with a great introduction to the importance of people. He served in the Marines for five years, reaching the rank of sergeant, with time served in Japan, Thailand, Korea and the Philippines, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“Have the right people, give them the tools that they need, empower them with the best training you can possibly provide them, consider them to be part of your family or your crew,” he says. “I firmly believe that people want to expand. They want their skill base to grow, and it’s our job as leaders to do that.”

In his first few months at Egg Central Station, which employs around 355, O’Brien says his focus has been getting to know the crew, understand the team dynamics, and learn all he can about the equipment and facilities.

“I would say be a silent observer and learn. That’s been my No. 1 thing,” he says, adding that includes learning from other company leaders such as Chris Bryan, vice president of production operations, who hired O’Brien.

Bryan says O’Brien has been a great fit and easy to work with.

“He leads with a growth mindset,” Bryan says, adding O’Brien fully understands the concept of prioritization. “Not all companies prioritize as well as they should, but it’s people first, and then it’s safety, quality service and then cost. When you look at Mike, he spends a tremendous amount of time out in the plant talking to crew and making sure that they are comfortable in learning and bringing them along with the process.”

O’Brien says he’s building upon what’s been established at Vital Farms and standing on Bryan’s shoulders.

“They built some amazing things here, and I have the luxury of bringing my expertise to that and then taking us with Chris to the next level,” he says.

Vital Farms produces pasture-raised eggs and butter and has a network of 425 family farms in several states, mostly Missouri and Arkansas, O’Brien says.

“If you think about where grass grows most of the year where it doesn’t get too terribly hot, doesn’t get too terribly cold, we want our girls to be happy,” he says, referring to its hens that are raised with room to roam on the farms.

Vital Farms cut the ribbon on its Springfield plant in October 2017. The facility originally measured 85,000 square feet and nearly doubled to 150,000 square feet following a 2022 expansion, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.

“We process close to 4 million eggs a day,” O’Brien says. “But what makes it really dynamic is we bring those eggs in from our farmer partners. We clean, we weigh them, we inspect them, size them, and then they go into the right cartons. And we have a multitude of different kinds of eggs that we do, which is a really challenging but exciting environment to be in.

“That 4 million can be comprised of regenerative eggs, organic eggs, conventional eggs, all from pasture-raised animals, but going to a lot of different cartons that we then ship everywhere in the country.”

Erin Krenek, senior manager of communications, says Vital Farms eggs are sold in every U.S. state except Hawaii, although its butter is available in the Aloha State.

O’Brien’s arrival comes as company net revenue jumped nearly 30% in 2024 from the prior year. Vital Farms revenue last year was $606.3 million, up from $471.8 million in 2023, according to its 2024 earnings report. Company officials last summer announced expansion plans into Indiana, where Vital Farms will add its second egg washing and packing facility. The 72-acre facility in Seymour is projected to open in 2027, as the company targets $1 billion in annual net revenue by that year, according to a news release.

As for the Springfield plant, O’Brien says a third egg grading system is in the construction phase. Manufactured by Moba Group, the system is expected to be producing eggs by October. Officials project it will improve production capacity and efficiency by 30%. O’Brien expects 60-80 employees will be hired this year as a result.

At a foundational level, O’Brien says his grandfather, Clarence Newberry – who moved to St. Louis as a young man living in the small rural town of Altenburg to become a small-business owner – inspired him at a young age. He also counts Steve Gane, who he worked with for nearly a decade with at Herman Miller, as a professional influence.

Gane, who retired from Herman Miller in 2019, says O’Brien was a natural leader at his former employer and expects he also will stand out at Vital Farms. He calls O’Brien “a get it done leader and a very, very smart guy.”

“He naturally gets followership, but he has that type of personality. The reason he gets followership is he’s also a good team player,” Gane says, adding O’Brien understands the importance of making work enjoyable. “He’s not an authoritarian to the point that he alienates people.”

O’Brien credits his time in the Marine Corps as foundational for his professional career path, which included working for Michigan-based trucking company USF Holland as director of facilities development.

“That was a great job because it allowed me to really hone some skills in what it means to manage complex projects, a lot of different disciplines of people, finance, construction, engineering, accounting, things of those nature,” he says.

Noting he grew up on a cattle farm, O’Brien also spent nearly eight years before Herman Miller farming full time in Michigan on his own property. The chance to become involved in farming again also was an attractor to his new employer.

“We did beef, lamb, pork, chickens and turkeys. Now some of those critters got feed as well, but they were all out on pasture,” he says. “So really it was basically the same proposition as what Vital Farms stands for.

“Getting back home to Missouri and being able to leverage my working experience, I haven’t looked back one minute.”

Now residing in a state that ranks second nationally in the number of farms, O’Brien says a return to farming is on his to-do list. He’s also an avid fisherman who already has hit Bennett Spring State Park, James River and Lake Taneycomo since coming to town.

“My goal is to find a little piece of land here,” O’Brien says, adding he wants to purchase cattle and horses. “If all goes well, that’ll be part of the retirement program at some point.”