Welcome.

 Lares Consulting Group is a consortium of experienced professionals driving client’s visions and organizations forward through research and strategy. Founded by Mira Lares, LCG has helped many businesses reach and exceed their goals in today’s competitive landscape. With us, your project gets attention. Here is our team.

Mira Lares, Researcher, Moderator

We are passionate about listening, human behavior, and bringing unheard voices into the boardroom. My first job out of school was working for a boutique research firm in Toronto. I didn’t realize when I originally took the position that this would be the industry with which I would fall in love. I quickly became fascinated with the fact that we could learn so much from customers and employees to help organizations better serve these groups. I dove into learning more about how to really listen intently to why people did, thought, and acted the way they did. I expanded my project skills working on qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic projects for clients in a wide array of industries, including healthcare to education to financial services to consumer goods. I’ve even done funeral planning research! The variety of the work is one of the things I love most. When my oldest son was born in 2015 I had past clients reach out for research support and on the spot decided to start LCG. Years later and small with integrity, flexibility, reliability and creativity and look forward to many more great projects in the future.

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Ami Whelan, Consumer Insights Expert, Moderator

With almost 20 years of qualitative work, Ami brings an unmatched depth of experience to each group she moderates. With a focus on the key objectives, she is able to uncover key insights to truly propel organizations forward. With extensive experience in industries such as consumer packaged goods, beverages, education, financial services and more, Ami has experience with audiences from consumers to C-suite executives and everything in between. Before becoming a consultant, Ami held a variety of roles in Sensory Science, Consumer Research, Innovation Process, and Global Project Management. 

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Erica McKinney, Social Media Marketing Manager, Researcher

Erica’s multi-faceted experiences within market research range from on-site management of focus groups to quantitative analysis of projects and social media. She has also navigated several marketing challenges within the early lifecycle of nonprofits. With a B.S in Psychology and Nonprofit Management from Clemson University, Erica brings a great perspective to the team. Her other past experience includes family coordination/patient housing support at Johns Hopkins, photography, technical writing, as well as clinical and management support within disability services, with special emphasis in behavior therapy and self-direction.

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