My education and early career were a mash-up of art & science.

It’s only fitting that I became a consumer researcher.

Early Career as a Candle Scientist

I started out as a hands-on R&D chemist, benchtop creating and scaling up to production. I matched colors and fragrances. I blended new formulations. I visited production facilities in Guatemala and China. I found opportunities to change processes. I sold an invention.

During these R&D years, I experienced my first focus group and was immediately smitten. I wanted to be in the room where it was happening. That's where the hypotheses were created. That's where the mysteries started to be solved. I wanted to be a part of it.

A graduate degree, a decade in consulting, a decade in corporate, twelve patents, three kids, two dogs, several homes, and hundreds of focus groups, interviews, and surveys later, I've never ceased to be amazed by the power of asking questions and listening.