Emily joined the Smarty Pants team in early 2021 as an Insights Brainiac. She brought a wealth of client-side experience and research instinct into this senior analyst role. From observing kids candidly chatting about their favorite snacks, to conducting Millennial taste tests on a new brand of sparkling cocktails, to immersing hotel guests in lounge spaces using VR technology, Emily excels at creatively capturing insights from diverse consumers across categories. And, even more importantly, she knows how to seamlessly socialize those learnings throughout corporate organizations.
Emily began her market research career supporting the baby and beauty businesses at Johnson & Johnson, where her work spanned sales strategy, trade promotions and shopper insights. She then moved to Chicago to join Kraft Heinz as a management trainee. Her contributions to the brand and innovation teams led her to two promotions and a senior analyst of consumer insights title. She later parlayed her project management and innovation experience at Kraft Heinz into an associate insights manager role at MillerCoors. There she led countless white space initiatives designed to fuel brand growth.
Emily was most recently a senior manager of customer experience at Marriott International, where she developed strong leadership in hospitality research. She utilized advanced technology to virtually immerse guests into new hotel spaces leading to refined hotel design plans, and her cutting-edge copy testing research drove immediate creative impact.
Emily’s passion for research - and curiosity for all things consumer - sparked while she was in college. When she became fascinated by the correlations between consumer behaviors and business strategies, she knew she had found her career path. Since then, she has amassed an impressive research skill set – spanning both quantitative and qualitative methods – and has proven to be an exceptional point person on primary research initiatives. From scoping impactful studies and designing methods, to developing visually powerful deliverables, Emily is an invaluable contributor at every stage of the research lifecycle.
Emily is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing. In addition to her studies, Emily was highly involved in Penn State’s Dance Marathon event, volunteering her time to raise money for children with pediatric cancer.
Originally from Kennett Square, PA, Emily is happy to be back on the East Coast after her time in Chicago. She now resides outside of Washington, D.C., in Gaithersburg, MD.
When not obsessing over the consumer, Emily enjoys organizing and tidying up (yes, she’s a clean freak), reading thriller/suspense novels and soaking up the sun outside.
