It’s been a wild ride.
This is where it all started
How did I come to be named “The Wine Psychologist”? It all started over 20 years ago, to where I am today.
1996-2000
University of Toronto
My marketing career began over 20 years ago when I worked in sales and marketing while I was a student at the University of Toronto. As a student, I was so intrigued by the work of Elizabeth Loftus on false memory. Do you know about those famous car accident studies? Where, the way people were questioned influenced what they remembered?
2000-2002
Simon Fraser University
I moved out west and lived in Vancouver for 6 years (when I completed my Masters & PhD in cognitive psychology). While there, I got to meet my idol, the famous Beth Loftus (who was at the University of Washington at the time). My research was about how people remember and make decisions based on their memory, whether it’s an accurate memory or a false memory. Have you ever had the feeling of, did I take my medication once today? Or did I take it twice? We’ve all experienced these kinds of illusory memories, and my research program centered around those feelings. I spoke at many conferences about my research findings and grew to love sharing this knowledge.
2002-2006
Simon Fraser University
After my Masters, I taught Psychology at several colleges, and I noticed that my PhD advisor was often asked to speak at Unilever, Proctor and Gamble and other large consumer goods companies about his research findings. I realized there was a need for more research on how consumers think, feel and make decisions about consumer products. As part of my PhD, I studied how consumers falsely remember brands. Have you ever seen an ad for laundry detergent, and then later assumed the ad was for Tide? My brand research showed that when consumers see lower market share brands, they will misremember seeing the high share brand. I was invited to Breakfast Television (Vancouver) to talk about this work, and it was the start of many media interviews and appearances.
2006-2011
Assistant Professor, Brock University Faculty of Business
In 2006, after I was hired at The Goodman School of Business, I did a brief Post-doc at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. While in Chicago, with my passion for wine, I took wine appreciation courses and started to learn about this beautiful wine region in Niagara, Ontario. When I arrived at Brock, I was encouraged by my colleagues to continue my consumer research, but to focus on the wine industry. Soon I was invited to speak about my research at wine conferences, and to host wine workshops. I later learned that I was one of the youngest professors in Canada, and the first to be awarded 2 Tri-Council grants (SSHRC & NSERC) in her first year applying.
2011-2013
Harvard Business School
Although I learned quite a bit about case teaching while at the University of Chicago, I enrolled at Harvard Business School for their seminars in case teaching. Now who wouldn’t want a chance to go to Harvard!? This training elevated my speaking talents and helped refresh my skills not only in the classroom, but also at marketing conferences, for wine seminars, and other invited speaking engagements.
2011–2019
Associate Professor, Goodman School of Business
Although friends and family started to think my job was all about drinking wine, it wasn’t. I published many articles on how consumers think and how they make decisions… and it just so happened that the product category I focussed on was wine. Given this, I was being noticed as the go-to person for how consumers think about wine labels, make decisions surrounding wine tastings, and wine purchasing behaviour. I was even contacted by the producers of the original ABC television show, “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” to help develop a question about the consumer psychology of wine. So more and more people started referring to me as “The Wine Psychologist”.
2019-Present
Professor of Marketing and Consumer Psychology, Goodman School of Business.
While most of what I do involves carrying out scientific research, I’m passionate about teaching courses on Consumer Behaviour, Wine Marketing, and Intro to Marketing. I’m honoured to be the only female full professor in the marketing department at the Goodman School of Business, and to be a Fellow at the Cool Climate Oenology and Viticulture Institute, where I am a regular speaker in CCOVI’s Lecture Series. I’m also an expert instructor for the Goodman Group’s Wine Business Management program.
It’s time to put on your game face.
Let’s build something together.
Throughout my career, I’ve developed an in-depth understanding of the human mind, and how people think and make decisions, especially when it comes to wine. Are you ready to learn more about how this knowledge can help your business?