Footsteps Consulting Group assists businesses, corporations and advertising and media agencies in gathering and interpreting consumer insights to determine the optimal multicultural segment mix and marketing approach to successfully grow their brands

I teach courses on Marketing, Advertising Essentials and Consumer Behavior.

Wrote article "The Black Middle Class: Perceptions & Reality," appearing in "Reaching Black Consumers: Shades of Green," a featured booklet in ANA magazine. Was Managing Editor of "In Plain Sight," a featured booklet appearing in Advertising Age on the state of the African American consumer. Wrote articles on business, cultural, social and interpersonal relationship issues for numerous publications, including Forbes, Black Enterprise, Essence, Savoy, Upscale, and Uptown. Was monthly columnist on multi-cultural advertising for Backstage Shoot. Was A&E editor for Jubilee, a monthly African American lifestyle magazine distributed by the Baltimore Sun. Wrote two plays produced at La MaMa's Experiments Play Reading Series: "Soul Window" and "Tri-band Streaming" (directed)Wrote book of short stories: "Relationships in the New Age: Ten Love Stories," 2000

FootstepsClient Industries: Home improvement, finance, health care, automotive, spirits, pharmaceuticals, dental equipment, food & beverage, HBS, education/career planning and convenience storesResearch: Account planning and strategy development for all agency clients and coordinating the planning department and creative department services. Planning responsibilities include: proposing studies, developing questionnaires, conducting field work and/or coordinating research suppliers, analyzing data, reporting and presenting the results of qualitative and quantitative research for clients including: copy testing, tracking studies, market segmentation, market analysis, focus groups, and ethnographic research. Use secondary data sources to provide market analysis. Creative relations responsibility includes: overseeing the relationship from the brief development throughout the creative development process coordinating and integrating the resources of the planning department and the creative department.New Product Development: Responsible for developing proprietary research tools such as FS Lifestyle Lab.

I teach a graduate course on Developmental Psychology.

Client Industries: alcohol, automobiles, food & beverage, health & beauty, financial, government, pharmaceuticals, magazine publishing, insurance, soft drinks, sports, tobacco, the armed services, educational institutions, toys, and telecommunicationsAnalysis - Conducted brainstorming sessions to assess and determine brand development and market opportunities. Analyzed secondary research, historical sources, and marketing literature to generate insights on consumer behavior.Qualitative Research - Was responsible for conducting/moderating qualitative interviews (focus groups, one-on-ones, ethnographic). Duties in service of the research project: developed the research design -- the research objectives, methodology, and respondent specifications; created guides and debriefing documents; wrote and presented reports; coordinated and facilitated client input on the research; managed the recruitment process and all facilities work conducted for the research effort; and verbally debriefed following the execution of the last component of the research. Strategic Planning - Provided input on strategic plans for revenue growth, for product and resource distribution, and to help determine new markets. Advised and helped clients develop marketing objectives to execute strategic plans.Creative development- Provided copywriting for projects oriented towards the African American consumer. Reports - Wrote and presented State-of-the-Consumer reports particularly regarding the African American market, the youth market and the urban market.

Client Industries: alcohol, food & beverage, financial, magazine publishing, insurance, soft drinks, and telecommunicationsClient Development: Primary responsibilities for developing client contacts and procuring new business for the agency.Strategic Analysis: Provided clients with a psycho/socio-cultural understanding of the African American consumer. Research: Developed proprietary research for discerning the media preferences, product usage and attitudes of the African American consumer. Conducted and/or supervised any qualitative research needed for creative development.Copywriter: Wrote copy for the print, radio, and television advertisements. Supervised production of agency's creative products: print, radio, television, and video. Video Director: Directed training and marketing video products for clients. Administrative : Primary staffing and P&L responsibilities for the fifteen person agency.

Ted Bates AdvertisingClient Industries: alcohol, armed forces, automobile, food & beverage, government, household goods, pharmaceuticals, insurance, television, tobacco, and telecommunicationsResearch: Proposed studies, developed questionnaires, conducted field work and/or coordinated research suppliers, analyzed data, reported and presented the results of qualitative and quantitative research for clients including: copy testing, tracking studies, market segmentation, market analysis, focus groups, and ethnographic research. Used secondary data sources to provide market analysis.New Product Development: Member of Ted Bates team of in-house researchers responsible for develop proprietary research tools for clients and client development such as brand essence, SCAN, and prime prospect analysis.Administrative: Cumulatively managed seven employees for the execution of research projects. Responsible for the training, growth, and development of the employees.

Client Industries: food & beverage, hardwareResearch: Proposed studies, developed questionnaires, conducted field work and/or coordinated research suppliers, analyzed data, reported and presented the results of qualitative and quantitative research for clients including: copy testing, tracking studies, market analysis, and focus groups. Used secondary data sources to provide market analysis.

Conducted group therapy among juveniles living in a halfway home who were re-entering society after incarceration.

Conducted psycho-social and marketing research at Lawrence Johnson & Associates, a consulting firm that worked on federal government contracts. Was project director on strategic studies for the Departments of the Army and Transportation.

Taught introductory psychology course to undergraduates.