Word & Mouth Blog

Where food, hospitality, branding, and human behavior all crash into each other. I write about restaurants, wine, placemaking, customer experience, and the small details that make people talk about a business long after they leave.

For even more snarky takes on marketing, pop culture, branding, and the internet, visit my Substack, Burnt Popcorn & Branding: Substack

  • A mix of hospitality, branding, customer psychology, hospitality culture, and internet behavior from someone who’s worked behind the scenes in marketing long enough to know what feels authentic and what feels painfully forced.

  • Yes. Especially if your marketing currently sounds like ChatGPT wrote it.

  • No LinkedIn thought leadership energy here. Just strategy, storytelling, and occasional side-eye toward trends, Chat-GPT written branding advice, and “disruptive” ideas that all look the same.

  • People in marketing, hospitality, branding, retail, wine, or anyone who secretly judges restaurants by their menu design before reading the food list.

Wine Country Afternoon, Wine County Shana Bull Wine Country Afternoon, Wine County Shana Bull

Calistoga Girls Weekend {Advice for planning a trip to Napa Valley with Friends}

Spend time in Napa Valley’s rustic town for a Calistoga Girls Weekend is the mini-staycation or vacation you need. Especially great for moms or a Calistoga bachelorette party to enjoy Napa or Sonoma County wine county! Wine tasting, cocktails, relaxing by a mineral pool, great food, and dancing the night away at a local pub on Main Street - seriously, this is my go-to wine country destination for a girl’s weekend.

Read More