FOMO to JOMO Team Bios

Steven S. Chan, PhD

Steven is a consumer and social psychology researcher and Assistant Professor of Marketing at Thomas Jefferson University (visiting). His research includes the following areas: mindfulness, social comparison biases, culture, and food well-being. His research has been published in a number of top research publications including Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Consumer Affairs, and Journal of Business Research. Steve received his Ph.D. in Marketing from NYU’s Stern School of Business. He helped co-author the award-wining paper, Mindfulness: Its Transformative Potential for Consumer, Societal, and Environmental Well-Being, published in the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing (Bahl et al., 2016). He also volunteered from 2015 - 2020 as a host for the New York City chapter of Awakin.org, a mindfulness community, to facilitate weekly community meditation circles.

Ellen Campos Sousa, PhD, Gardner-Webb University 

Ellen is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Godbold College of Business at Gardner-Webb University. She is a transformative consumer researcher, developing solutions for positive societal impact. She combines her expertise as a mindfulness facilitator and marketing researcher to  study the impact of mindfulness on consumer well-being across different countries and contexts. Ellen is an expert in mindfulness programs, serving as both a developer and a facilitator. Her experience in business, education, and women empowerment gave her the expertise to build programs focusing on these 3 key areas. She developed and teaches the ‘Mindfulness and Happiness in Management’ undergraduate course in the College of Business at GWU. During the last 2 years, she has been introducing mindfulness activities into her marketing courses. Ellen holds a PhD in Marketing from Florida International University, and a MS in Business Administration  and a BA in Business Administration from Universidade Estadual do Ceará, Brazil.

Shalini Bahl, PhD, KnowYourMind.training

Shalini Bahl, Ph.D., is an award-winning researcher and Certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction consultant and teacher. Based on 15 years of research and professional training in mindfulness, Dr. Bahl offers evidence-based solutions to business, education, and political clients to disrupt harmful habits, become more resilient to life’s obstacles, and live with empowered choices for personal and collective fulfillment. She received her PhD in marketing from the Isenberg School of Management, UMass and has published in premier journals including the Journal of Consumer Research, JPP&M, and Journal of Advertising. Dr. Bahl is a keynote speaker, has three TEDx talks, and her guided meditations and programs have had over 250,000 plays on the Insight Timer and Simple Habit app. She is currently serving as guest editor for a forthcoming special issue on “Mindfulness and Consumer Well-Being” in the Journal of Consumer Affairs. As District 5 Councilor in Amherst, MA, she has been applying tools of mindfulness to political and civic engagement.

Michelle Van Solt, PhD, Valparaiso University

Michelle is a consumer psychology researcher and an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Valparaiso University. Her research interests focus on social media including the fear of missing out, as well as in the area of transformative consumer research with a particular focus on mindfulness and consumer wellbeing. Michelle also researches women empowerment and serves as the faculty advisor for Society of Women in Business. Michelle won the Best Paper in the Social Media track award at the Marketing Management Association 2022 Spring Conference and the Research award at the College of Business at Valparaiso. Her research has been published in Journal of Consumer Affairs, Marketing Letters, and Journal of Consumer Marketing. Michelle obtained her Masters of International Business and Ph.D. from Florida International University and her Bachelors in Marketing at Florida State University. 

George R. Milne, PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst

George R. Milne, PhD is the  Edward D. Shirley ’78 Endowed Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean for Research and Doctoral Programs at the Isenberg School of Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst.   Professor Milne has authored more than 180 journal articles, books, chapters, and conference papers on topics that include consumer privacy protection, interactive marketing, mindfulness, consumer behavior, and public policy.  Outlets for this research include:  Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Affairs, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Marketing Letters, Industrial Marketing Management, Journal of Business Research and others. In 2019 he and his coauthors received the  Thomas C. Kinnear Award for Outstanding Article in Journal of Public Policy and Marketing (Mindfulness: Its Transformative Potential for Consumer, Societal, and Environmental Well-Being).    In 2012, he was awarded the Robert B. Clarke Outstanding Educator Award.  He has received the Isenberg outstanding researcher award for the years 2016-17 and 2008-9.  He was awarded  the outstanding college teaching award in 1993-4.   Professor Milne has over 30 years of teaching experience in marketing research, internet marketing, and marketing management in both live and online formats and with graduate and undergraduate students.