BACKGROUND
I finished my undergraduate degree in 2009 and was promoted to store manager of a local lingerie shop I had worked at during my college career. Managing a small business exposed me to a variety of unique experiences that taught me valuable lessons about entrepreneurship. After working for the company for almost 6 years, I decided it was time to spread my wings and soar into the bright uncertainty that is small business ownership!
My love of pinup and vintage fashion lead me to open up my own boutique in 2011. This venture was the most challenging and rewarding experience of my life, but the hardships that the boutique faced was another valuable lesson in itself.
My shop operated until 2015 when I shifted from small business vintage reproduction retail to high volume textbook sales! I was hired as district textbook manager at Pellissippi State Community College, the largest community college in the southeast. While I was the district manager over the five area campuses I decided to pursue my M.B.A. After completing my executive M.B.A. I was unsure what I wanted to do! Go back into industry, teach, or take my education even further by obtaining my Ph.D…
Ultimately, thanks to happy accident, the perfect program appeared and showed me the way! I started my PhD journey at the University of Tennessee in 2017. Retail, Hospitality and Tourism Management has given me an opportunity to utilize my years of retail experience and my desire to explore research into the weird world of consumerism! Subcultures and anti-consumption are two areas I am most focused on within my research. I have been able to bring an ‘insider’ perspective to the tattooed community and therefore a majority of my research has stemmed from this… but don’t let that fool you! I love anything that is truly outrageous!
