Cultural intelligence
Strategist &
Beauty Anthropologist
I decode cultural signals — and build brand worlds with strategic clarity.
I decode what the culture says — and build brand worlds that resonate.
My work sits at the intersection of anthropological research, cultural intelligence, and brand strategy. With a Ph.D. in American Studies and a decade as a beauty founder, I’ve spent my career doing the same thing: identifying the signals others miss, understanding what they mean, and translating that intelligence into strategy that actually lands.
I developed three proprietary frameworks — Beauty Semiosis®, Beauty Ethnoscapes®, and Sensory Logic® — that formalize how identity, ritual, aesthetics, and consumer behavior intersect to create meaning. I built and validated them on my own brand. I’ve applied them through consulting. I’m now codifying them into curriculum.
What I bring isn’t just a point of view — it’s a methodology. One that moves between ethnographic research and executive strategy, cultural theory, and commercial outcomes.
SELECT PARTNERSHIPS:
Director of Brand, DEHIYA Beauty
Built and scaled a culturally rooted skincare brand from concept to market, formalizing proprietary frameworks and translating cultural research into product, narrative, and ecosystem strategy.
Previous leadership includes brand and creative direction roles across fashion and cultural institutions.
Strategic Leadership
Long form cultural writing on how identity, practices and objects, travel and carry meaning. Published on Substack The Social Life of Beauty and applied through consulting and teaching.
Here are a few examples:
The anti-Starbucks: how Aesop built a $2.5B brand through radical inconsistency
Beauty semiosis®: Heritage brands, symbolic codes, and the work of cultural integrity
Cultural Analysis & Intellectual Output
My areas of expertise—Ph.D., American Studies
Dissertation: “Browngirl Narratives: Coming of Age in the Golden Era of Hip Hop (1986–1996).”
Cultural theory, Black popular culture, diaspora studies, ethnographic research methods, focus groups, and the politics of aesthetics.
Research & Academic Foundation
Advisory & Consulting
I advise brands and institutions on cultural positioning, foresight strategy, and meaning systems — helping organizations anticipate behavioral shifts and build durable relevance.
Get to know me.
🌊 I’m a Pisces water lover — being near it resets everything.
✍️ My favorite topic I’ll never get tired of writing about? Beauty—the history, the politics, the culture. Like… capital B Beauty.
🧠 Enneagram 7. ADHD polymath. Also: PhD in American Studies. So, yes, layered.
🐾 My Boston Terrier, Goliath is my work husband. Boy mom (x2).
🎬 I think White Chicks deserved an Oscar. Don’t @ me.
👖I believe in brunch, creating an experience, and the undeniable power of a well-executed Canadian tuxedo.
📍SoCal-based, but often found in Marrakech, Mexico, or wherever the mint tea is strong.