Monica Fine was born the youngest of four girls on a farm in Moulton, Iowa (population 525), where she learned the value and satisfaction that comes from a hard day’s work. Fine got a taste of entrepreneurship at a young age, working in her father’s tankwagon business at a young age. After high school, she earned her Associate’s while working full-time, then transferred to Northwest Missouri State University. Fine earned her MBA from NWMSU after undergrad, and accepted a teaching position in the marketing and management department after graduation.

This teaching experience would prove to be seminal, whetting Monica’s appetite for post-secondary education. She relocated to Florida to pursue a Ph.D. in Marketing at Florida Atlantic University. Her dissertation focused on marketing-related post-IPO performance indicators, and she parlayed her research into a full-time professorship at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, SC. In 2011, Monica became an Assistant Professor of marketing at Coastal Carolina University. Professor Fine served as the Department Chair of the Marketing and Hospitality department for five years until starting her role as the Associate Dean of Student Success for the Wall College of Business.

In the marketing courses she instructs, Fine coordinates volunteer consulting for Myrtle Beach-area businesses. Student teams provide marketing, sales, and social media guidance over the course of a 16-week semester. The value that this real-world experience provides, both for students (particularly during their job search) and small businesses, makes teaching especially rewarding.

Monica stays active in her community, including as a member of the Leadership Grand Strand Class 37, organized by the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. She also advises Coastal Carolina University’s chapter of the American Marketing Association, and guides the AMA’s work with nonprofits throughout Horry and Georgetown counties.

She founded B. Fine Consulting in 2012 to advise small- to medium-sized businesses throughout the South. Her clients’ industries include high-end commercial/residential construction, healthcare, food service, nightlife, and retail conglomerates.

In her free time, she enjoys CrossFit, tennis, beach volleyball, and spending time with her miniature schnauzer Carter, her family, and friends across the country.