Barbara is the CEO and Co-Owner of Paradise Advertising & Marketing, Inc., an award-winning, full-service marketing agency specializing in tourism and hospitality, and notably, A Partner for GoodSM for the livelihoods and communities served. Before acquiring Paradise with her husband in January 2018, Barbara had lived in eight countries and traveled to more than 20 countries while leading global brand and consumer marketing, sponsorship, entertainment, e-commerce, licensing, operations, and consumer products divisions for companies such as SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, PGA TOUR, NASCAR, and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. She has negotiated more than $485 million in global partnership contracts. She also held a sales and marketing role with a prominent African-American-owned clothing manufacturer located in Los Angeles, allowing her to manage brand, licensing, and retail sales and marketing programs for many urban and hip-hop artists and music industry entities.
Traveling and working abroad for global brands was the BEST foundation for her as a businesswoman. “Dot Connector” is her superpower, which aptly puts her at the helm of solving business problems and ideating global sales and marketing solutions.
A Tampa native, Barbara is a graduate of Furman University -- where she attended on a Division I volleyball scholarship. Barbara earned a master’s degree in mass communication from the University of South Florida, which honored her with an Outstanding Alumnus award, is Six Sigma Certified, and is a graduate of Harvard Business School Strategic Marketing Management course.

She serves on various industry thought leadership councils and social inclusion thought leadership outlets, and is a marketing awards judge for PR News, National Grocers Association, Sports Fitness Industry Association, and Web Marketing Association. Barbara is an active member of the National Diversity Council and Destinations International, where she is a New Member Mentor and Conference Ambassador, and serves on the Social Inclusion Committee, and Accessibility and Membership Subcommittees. Barbara was recently recognized as one of the ‘Top 25’ Extraordinary Minds in Sales, Marketing, Revenue Optimization and Distribution by the Hospitality Sales & Marketing Association International (HSMAI) for 2023.

In 2023, Barbara was named to the Advisory Panel for The Tourism Academy, a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving lives through travel and doing so by providing tourism professionals with the skills they need to advance their careers and grow their businesses. Barbara passionately supports Rethreaded, a non-profit whose mission is to harness the power of business, time, and community to create choices for 500 survivors of human trafficking by 2033. To date, Rethreaded has employed 85 survivors, contributed to the support of over 4,000 women globally, and collaborated with over 200 companies.

Paradise is the flagship acquisition for Barbara and Tony, her husband and former pro basketball player. Barbara and Tony are purpose-driven and recently invested in CERES, a soon-to-launch bespoke socially inclusive, culinary-centric community being developed in Chattahoochee Hills, GA. Barbara and Tony stay busy with traveling the world, skiing, mountain hikes, periodic digital detoxing, philanthropy, and never-ending searches for the perfect sunrise, sunset, and fishing spot.