About
I have 27 years research experience and currently lead a talented insights team for Cargill Food North America after serving as the insights lead for the Protein – North America business for 7 years. After starting my career at The Kraft Heinz Company, I spent 16 years at General Mills where I held several innovation-focused roles developing innovation pipelines for multiple businesses as well as leading capability development for mobile research and in-context experimentation. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to create and build an insights function at Cargill. I currently lead a team of nine insights professionals focused on driving insight-led growth for Cargill Food NA and our customers across retail, foodservice, and food manufacturing channels. In addition to hiring and developing a talented team I've curated insights capabilities that blend DIY with research partners that enable our team to be agile as well as strategic.
Experience
Senior Director of Consumer Insights - Food North America
Present
Fortunate to have the opportunity to create an build an insights function that has proven valuable in differentiating Cargill with our customers. Currently lead a team of nine insights professionals focused on driving insight-led growth for Cargill Food NA and our customers across retail, foodservice, and food manufacturing channels. In addition to hiring and developing a talented team I've curated insights capabilities that blend DIY with research partners that enable our team to be agile as well as strategic. I have also served as the Insights Program Lead where I'm striving to elevate the insights capability across our global food business.
Sr. Global Consumer Insights Manager - U.S. Retail Innovation
Led a staff of 12 responsible for research influencing new product development across the Snacks, Cereal, Meals, Yogurt and Baking Operating Units as well as the Channel Acceleration Team and 301, Inc. Partnered with R&D VP to architect and teach Consumer First Design, an approach to innovation adopted by GMI globally. Taught principles to leadership teams and hundreds of cross-functional employees. Developed and ingrained new approaches to vetting the consumer appeal of new ideas as well as understanding their potential size Nominated for U.S. Retail Great Manager Award
Sr. Global Consumer Insights Manager - 301, Inc.
Influential member of cross-functional leadership team for centralized business unit exploring growth via category expansion and new business model development Successfully conducted regional tests for two direct-to-consumer businesses: nibblr.com (subscription snack service) and Betty Crocker Kitchens (home-delivered meals for seniors) Successfully partnered with external start-up Beyond Meat to develop a line of vegetarian frozen meals that resulted in GMI’s largest Whole Foods new product launch Led identification of future growth areas in food influencing team’s current investment strategy
Sr. Consumer Insights Manager - in-Context Experimentation
Led development and launch of industry lauded "Lemonade Stand" approach to transactional learning. Presented topic at 2016 Front End of Innovation conference and Berkeley Executive Education class. Led cross-functional team made up of Consumer Insights, R&D, and Sales members to integrate approach into the culture of GMI resulting in 40+ experiments/year conducted globally. Led strategy for the adoption and integration of learning via mobile devices with the goal of becoming the industry leader in mobile research. This goal was accomplished and attested to by leaders in the industry
Sr. Consumer Insights Manager - Brand Expansion
Led insights for newly created incubation team responsible for extending current brands to new categories. Gained experience learning in low knowledge areas which became foundation for Consumer First Design approach later embraced by company – key aspects included rapid prototyping and transactional learning. Forged a partnership with Coborn’s Delivers to test several new product ideas, the first time GMI had ever conducted an e-commerce experiment for new products.
Senior Consumer Insights Manager - Cereal New Products
Led development and launch of Chocolate Cheerios, the biggest launch in company history over the past 10 years achieving $67 million in year one sales and $129 million over the first three years Combined consumer needs assessment with future trends to influence new product strategy for the Adult Business Unit. The resulting strategy led to several successful launches over the next 3 years.
Consumer Insights Manager - Wholesome Snacks New Products
Developed and communicated a consumer-first new product strategy for Bars, which has been utilized for the past 10 years to fuel significant growth for Nature Valley and Fiber One. The strategy has propelled GMI granola bars to the market share leader in the category. Led research and development for the launch of Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Nut bars, which exceeded $60 million in year one sales and has grown to over $200 million in annual sales. Received a Champion’s Award, the highest award in the company.
Senior Consumer Insights Associate - Salty New Products
Led insights and development for several successful new products, notably the Sweet and Salty line of Chex Mix products that include Chocolate Chex Mix and Muddy Buddies, all of which still exist today
Consumer Insights Associate
Consumer Insights lead for Miracle Whip, Kraft Mayo as well as Convenient Family Dinners including Taco Bell Home Originals and DiGiorno Refrigerated Pasta.
Education
University of Wisconsin-Madison
M.S., Marketing Research
St. Cloud State University
B.S. Marketing
Berkeley Exec Education
Berkeley Exec Education
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