Harvey Hartman
Founder & Chairman

Harvey changed the way companies approached understanding consumer behavior. He pioneered employing fulltime social scientists to develop innovative research techniques that integrated anthropologic methods with quantitative surveys. Since founding the company in 1989, Harvey has grown The Hartman Group into the food and beverage industry's leading authority on consumer culture. Clients rely on Harvey for his fearless strategic counsel, sage marketing advice and business savvy.

Laurie Demeritt
Chief Executive Officer

As CEO, Laurie drives the vision, strategy, operations and results-oriented culture for the company's associates as The Hartman Group furthers its offerings of tactical thinking, consumer and market intelligence, cultural competency and innovative intellectual capital to a global marketplace.

A nationally recognized authority on consumer behavior and culture, Laurie received her MBA in Marketing and Environmental Management from the University of Washington and her BA in Political Science from Cornell University.

Shelley Balanko, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President

With a first love in understanding people, Shelley relishes her role in guiding business development efforts, fostering client relationships across the food and beverage industry landscape and matching clients' business needs to The Hartman Group's customized solutions-oriented offerings.

Shelley graduated from the University of Windsor with a Ph.D. in Applied Social Psychology. She has a MA in Applied Social Psychology from the University of Saskatchewan and a BA in Psychology from the University of British Columbia.

Melissa Abbott
Vice President, Hartman Retainer Services

Melissa has tracked trends in the health, wellness, food and retail industries for over 15 years and has developed a deep understanding of retail and cultural trends across a wide array of products. She has appeared on The Food Network and numerous national media annually. She has an MS in Food Marketing from the National University of Ireland, Cork and a BS in Political Communication from Emerson College.

Tamara Barnett
Vice President, Strategic Insights

Tamara has a versatile background in communication and a broad interest in how individuals construct and reflect various facets of identity in culturally significant ways. During her tenure at The Hartman Group, Tamara has overseen and fielded a wide variety of exploratory ethnographic research projects as well as focused qualitative work. Tamara has an MA in Communications from the University of Washington

Davey McHenry
Vice President, Consulting

Davey fosters partnerships with Hartman Group's key clients, providing business solutions and thought leadership to guarantee client engagements are well executed and exceed expectations. Davey has an MBA from the Foster School of Business at the University of Washington and a BA in International Studies from Willamette University.

David Feit
Vice President, Strategic Insights

David's background includes both academic and a business-centered explorations of cuisine, retailing and the culture of consumption. David has delivered insights to guide brand strategy, advertising and product development. David has a BA from Princeton University.