I'm a researcher and creative strategist with an MS in Psychology and doctoral training in qualitative methods and behavioral science. I use human-centered research to understand how people engage with systems, products, and experiences — and translate those insights into clear, ethical, and impactful outcomes.
My approach blends rigorous qualitative inquiry with a designer's sensibility — I don't just find insights, I shape how they're communicated. I'm grounded in lived experience, equity-aware practice, and the belief that the best research tells a story that moves people to act.
Clarifying purpose, context, and constraints before touching data
Observing people, place, culture, and systems in context
Identifying patterns, meaning, and opportunity in the data
Turning insight into strategy, structure, or form
Evaluating impact and refining direction over time
Flourish Research was struggling with low clinical trial enrollment among Black patients and community members. Standard outreach wasn't working — and the question wasn't just how to reach people, but why they weren't engaging in the first place.
What are the real barriers preventing community members from participating in clinical research? What would it take to build enough trust for someone to say yes?
Through direct community engagement and qualitative observation, I identified three distinct and compounding barriers:
Rather than pushing harder with the same approach, I redesigned the engagement strategy around what the research was telling me:
Relationship before recruitment. I stopped leading with study information and started leading with conversation — meeting people where they were, listening first, and letting trust develop naturally before introducing clinical details.
Information without overwhelm. I developed a tiered communication approach: give people what they need to feel safe, not everything at once. Rapport first, context second, specifics only when invited.
Physical leave-behinds. I designed and distributed tangible marketing materials that people could take home, share with family, and reference later — giving them agency over the decision timeline instead of pressuring an immediate response.
Trust is not a byproduct of good information — it is a prerequisite for information to land at all. Participants who felt heard and respected before receiving study details were significantly more likely to engage, ask questions, and ultimately enroll.
Since the 2021 NCAA NIL ruling, Division I student-athletes can now profit from their name, image, and likeness for the first time. But very little qualitative research exists on how this change actually affects athletes' sense of identity, psychological wellbeing, and ability to perform — particularly for athletes at Power Four institutions navigating race, visibility, and commercial pressure simultaneously.
How do Division I student-athletes at Power Four institutions experience the NIL era? How does commercialization intersect with identity development, motivation, and cognitive demands? What structural and racial dynamics shape who benefits — and who doesn't?
As PI, I designed a full-cycle qualitative study grounded in six theoretical domains:
How athletes navigate brand deals, income, and public identity
Athletic vs. personal identity formation under commercial pressure
Mental health, stress, and motivational dynamics in the NIL era
Managing academic, athletic, and commercial responsibilities simultaneously
How race shapes NIL access, visibility, and opportunity distribution
Where existing literature falls short and what this study contributes
The study uses semi-structured interviews as the primary data collection method, allowing participants to speak in their own words about complex, lived experiences. Data will be analyzed using thematic analysis in NVivo and ATLAS.ti, with a reflexive approach that accounts for positionality and power dynamics throughout the research process.
Recruitment targets Division I student-athletes at Power Four institutions, with a purposive sampling strategy designed to capture range across sport, gender, race, and NIL engagement level.
Understanding the lived experience of athletes in the NIL era has implications beyond sport — it speaks to how institutions manage identity, labor, and equity when the rules change. The insights from this study are designed to inform policy, athlete support services, and future research on identity development in high-performance contexts.
Sabor Latin Grill was expanding across multiple Charlotte locations but lacked a consistent visual identity that honored Latin cultural heritage while remaining authentic to the distinct neighborhoods each restaurant occupied. Generic restaurant decor wasn't going to build community belonging.
Before picking up a brush, I treated each location as a research site. I conducted community and cultural observation — studying the surrounding neighborhood, the demographics of the dining community, the cultural symbols and visual language meaningful to Latin identity, and the physical architecture and movement patterns of each space.
Each mural concept was developed from this research, not from aesthetic preference alone. The question wasn't "what looks good?" — it was "what is true to this place and these people?"
Place identity is layered. Each Charlotte neighborhood had its own cultural texture — South Park and Indian Trail required different visual languages even within the same brand. A single mural system couldn't honor both without location-specific research.
Cultural symbols carry weight. Visual elements rooted in Latin heritage — color, pattern, imagery of food, movement, celebration — communicated belonging in ways that generic brand design couldn't. The murals became a signal to the community that the space was made for them.
The completed murals established a strong, culturally grounded visual identity across all Charlotte locations — reinforcing authenticity while giving each space a distinct sense of place. The artwork became a focal point within each restaurant, deepening community connection and supporting brand recognition through cultural resonance rather than corporate repetition.
Psychology and neuroscience students and early-career researchers face significant structural barriers to accessing research opportunities. Existing resources are fragmented, overly academic in tone, and largely disconnected from the lived experiences of students from underrepresented backgrounds — particularly those navigating both academic and community identities simultaneously.
I began by mapping the problem space through audience research and lived experience analysis — examining the specific needs of students, early-career researchers, and community members navigating academic research environments. This included identifying the gap between what institutions offer and what this audience actually needs to feel seen, supported, and prepared.
From this research foundation, I developed the platform's mission, values, and scope — ensuring every structural and content decision was grounded in observed audience need rather than assumption.
Access is not just informational — it's relational. Students weren't just missing information about research opportunities; they were missing mentorship, community, and models that looked like them and spoke their language.
Tone creates trust. The difference between content that lands and content that alienates isn't just what you say — it's how human, culturally responsive, and accessible the voice is. Academic register actively excludes the audience this platform was trying to serve.
The platform clarified mission, values, and audience positioning while establishing a research-informed framework for mentorship, education, and community engagement. The work laid the foundation for future research programming and partnerships grounded in the community's actual needs.
I'm interested in research-driven work that centers people, context, and ethical decision-making. If you're building systems, experiences, or spaces that require thoughtful inquiry — I'd love to talk.