About

As a veteran freelance journalist, I train my eyes, ears and typing fingers on the places where food and beverage intersect with business, culture, history, sustainability and identity. I often use liquid lubricants as a mirror to reflect broader societal trends, filing my stories from some of the world’s most colorful breweries, bars and boardrooms for my work as a regular beer and spirits contributor to Forbes and a writer for media outlets like USA Today and Food Network. 

 

I’ve been passionate about promoting women’s challenges and achievements since my earliest days as a TV news reporter in the 1990s. In September 2021, I published my first book, a history of women in beer entitled A Woman’s Place Is in the Brewhouse: A Forgotten History of Alewives, Brewsters, Witches, and CEOs, which won a first prize award from the North American Guild of Beer Writers. I’ve also volunteered with the Pink Boots Society, a non-profit for women in the alcoholic beverage industry, for more than a decade and founded Beer for Babes, New Jersey’s original beer education group for women.

 

I appear as a frequent host and featured guest on broadcasts and live panels presented by entities like the Smithsonian, Colonial Williamsburg and NBC Sports and am frequently quoted as a beverage expert in publications such as Wine Enthusiast and Food & Wine. 

 

In addition to public speaking and writing, I design and teach for-credit beer and spirits courses for Wilmington University (DE) and provide marketing consulting services for a client roster that has included Visit Philly and NZ Hops, Ltd. I’m also certified as a beer judge by the Beer Judge Certification Program. 

 

After spending my first 26 winters in Puerto Rico and residing in 11 states and countries (thanks to which I am trilingual) I’ve chosen to live as a home-owning urban pioneer on Camden, NJ’s riverfront just outside Philadelphia.