Mara is a consumer psychologist, creative problem-solver and lover of all things kids. As an Insights Know-It-All, she plays an integral role in the success of custom qualitative and quantitative initiatives—as data analyst, storyteller and results driver. Her work spans Smarty Pants’ key entertainment, retail, tech, and CPG clients. Mara also leverages her trend expertise and cross-category savvy as a co-author of many of Smarty Pants’ syndicated offerings. 

Mara began her career as a media buyer at Mediavest in NYC, where she served clients such as Walmart and Sprint on national advertising initiatives. Four years later, she seized the opportunity to move across the world and work in the company’s Sydney, Australia, office. There, she quickly adapted to the new media landscape and gained invaluable global experience while supporting the CPG brands of clients like Mars and Wrigley. In 2014, Mara returned to New York to assume the role of senior manager at Carat global media agency, where she supported the General Motors account. Her wide-ranging client experience—from retail and CPG to telecom and auto—makes her a versatile team player and an
industry brainiac.

Mara graduated magna cum laude from Colgate University with a BA in psychology. She has her master’s degree in social and consumer psychology from NYU.