Granablau Consulting

Founded in 2018 by Emile and Laura Avanessian, Granablau Consulting provides clients in the professional sports, culinary, gaming (casinos and video games) and private equity industries with top-flight industry-/company-level research and analysis, along with a comprehensive range of strategic and communications consulting. Emile Avanessian has nearly 15 years' experience in investment banking and research, financial analysis and risk management, gained at some of the world's leading companies, including Goldman Sachs, HSBC, Citi, Société Générale, PayPal and Take-2 Interactive Software. Also, for than a decade, Emile has worked as a freelance and independent writer, authored research reports, case studies and marketing materials, as well as original content focusing on NBA basketball, Spanish football (with a Barcelona lean) and the restaurant and culinary technology industries. In addition to his online home, Hardwood Hype, Emile's work has been featured at outlets including ESPN, Yahoo Sports, The Los Angeles Times, The Blizzard, Emerging.com, Sports Illustrated and SB Nation. Laura (Chef Laura Johnson to many), meanwhile, is a classically trained chef. A graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education (I.C.E.) in New York, she worked in some of New York's top restaurants, before a successful eight-year run as a Private Chef for clients in New York City, Connecticut, and the Hamptons. Laura is now Head Chef and Recipe Developer with planted-based food startup Bold Palate Foods, for whom she also provides social media strategy and content development services. Laura is also a regular contributor to Emerging.com, a culinary industry publication, and a freelance recipe developer and strategic and culinary consultant for cookbooks, podcasts, a children's book series, and a meal-delivery service.