Debbie is Chairman of CarterJMRN (The Carter Group - Japan Market Resource Network), a Tokyo-based market research consultancy that advises multi-national companies on their marketing strategies in Japan.After founding Japan Market Resource Network (JMRN) in Tokyo in 1989 - and navigating for 23 years as a female entrepreneur in this notoriously male-dominated society - she found like-minded people with whom to amplify her know-how in helping multinational companies succeed in Japan and other markets. CarterJMRN was formed, and the rest is history.Headed up by Australian Dominic Carter, CarterJMRN is the largest independently owned foreign-managed custom market research firm in Japan, and it continues to serve clients with progressive qualitative and quantitative research approaches adapted for the Japanese market and mind.

The firm plays a leadership role in the age-tech arena, publishing a white paper (Japan: The World's Real-time Laboratory for Age-tech) and conducting bespoke educational events. Together with Dominic Carter, Debbie helped launch and serves as co-founder for The Carter Group's Living Best Professional and User Communities, which seek to supercharge the development and distribution of age-tech products that improve the lives of ageing adults (and those who care for them).Debbie has lived and worked in Japan for 35+ years, and these days divides her time between Tokyo, Japan and Wimberley, Texas, a small town just outside of Austin that has been called the “gateway to the Hill Country.”

Debbie is a former long distance and live-in family caregiver, who moved back to South Carolina when her Mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer, from Tokyo (where she had been living and working).Since then, Debbie’s had a passion for improving the plight of family caregivers - and the companies they work for - globally. With the launch of AMI (Aging Matters International) and TheCaregivingJourney.com (http://www.thecaregivingjourney.com/) in 2016, she combined her personal caregiving experience with her market research expertise to:• Assist companies in providing better resources for their working caregiving employees, for improved productivity, retention, and even recruiting; and• Support individual caregivers in navigating their caregiving journeys with more ease and grace.Debbie’s first book (The Caregiving Journey: Information. Guidance. Inspiration) is based on personal experience and interviews with 200+ caregivers, and helps caregivers prepare for and navigate their caregiving experiences with better balance.https://www.amazon.com/Caregiving-Journey-Information-Guidance-Inspiration/dp/069242931XHer second book (The Caregiving Crisis: What It Costs Your Business and How You Can Fix It) helps companies create more caregiver-friendly workplaces through practical supports for employees who also care for aging loved ones - 30% of every workforce!https://www.amazon.com/Caregiving-Crisis-What-Costs-Business/dp/B09WPVJD6FShe regularly speaks and leads workshops on caregiving topics, including: workplace support of caregivers, age-tech, caregiving from afar, self-care while caregiving, and relaunching once caregiving is done.She serves as co-host for two weekly Clubhouse shows under the Rethinking Aging Club (News for the Ages (Tuesdays) and Age-Friendly Product Alliance (Thursdays).

In 2004 and 2005, Debbie was elected as the first female President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ), Japan’s most influential international business organization.Debbie served two terms as President and was then selected to serve as Chairman in 2006 and 2007; she continues to serve as President Emeritus. She has been an ACCJ member since 1991, and has served on the Board of Governors since 1999.The ACCJ, established in 1948, today represents over 3,000 individual members and more than 1,000 companies, with offices in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya. Its mission is to further the development of commerce between the United States of America and Japan, promote the interests of U.S. companies and members, and improve the international business environment in Japan.

As a Visiting Professor at Tokyo’s Sophia University, Debbie taught the Graduate Marketing Course for two semesters, and was inspired by some of the brightest international graduate marketing students around.