Behind the Team
Divya Gugnani
CEO and Founder, Culinary Expert
Divya Gugnani acquired a taste for her future in culinary arts while building a career in finance. In addition to a B.S. from Cornell University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, Divya holds a degree from the French Culinary Institute, where she discovered her inner chef. Divya started her business career at Goldman Sachs and then moved on to Investcorp International and Millennium Technology Ventures. Most recently, as a venture capitalist and Principal at FirstMark Capital, Divya provided companies with strategic and operational guidance to achieve their visions. Additionally, Divya has catered numerous events and worked in several restaurant kitchens while managing her corporate boardroom responsibilities. With the creation of Behind the Burner, Divya blends her long-time passion for culinary arts with her expertise in business ventures.
Divya currently advises several startups and established brands with board level roles. She appears on MSNBC: Your Business, NBC The Weekend in New York and NBC New York Nonstop. She also has been a guest on FOX & FRIENDS and has been featured in BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal, The Deal, Crains, Hi!Blitz, Khabar, Eat.Drink.Better, among several other publications. She is also working on the launch of the online lifestyle media property What Not To Do 101.
Mona Buehler
Online Managing Editor, Food & Drink Enthusiast
Mona was born in Germany, raised in California and now calls Park Slope, Brooklyn home. She adores food, wine, travel, adventure, healthy living and is obsessed with Trader Joes. Her passion for food began in childhood when she accompanied her father to the local German bakeries and markets on Saturdays and then helped him cook delicious Euro-inspired meals. Later, she honed her baking skills in her American grandmother's kitchen and learned to make the perfect oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Once she began earning a paycheck, she happily spent her money in restaurants, gourmet food shops, bars and exquisite eateries at home and abroad.
She studied at the University of California at Davis, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and Communications. In addition to her undergraduate degrees, she holds a Professional Sequence in Editing from the University of California at Berkeley and is pursuing professional study in Magazine Publishing/New Media at New York University. A New York-based freelance lifestyle writer and editor, she has worked in book, magazine and Web publishing and has contributed to CBS Watch! Magazine, CLEAR Magazine, Simply the Best magazine, Peachpit Press, among other websites and publications. As a deputy editor at CBS Watch! Magazine, she manages and writes for their unique IN THE NOW section, which infuses lifestyle with celebrity and TV.
At Behind the Burner, she sets the editorial direction for the site, where she gets to mix her two great loves: food and words. Besides enjoying the editorial side of life, Mona delights in long walks, biking, urban recreational sports, yoga/pilates, music, Kaffeeklatsching in German, amateur home mixology and spending time with loved ones.
Alix Weiner
Marketing Coordinator, Health Advocate
Alix studied at the University of Maryland, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications. She is currently a candidate for a Masters degree in Food Studies at New York University.
A dedicated Pesco-Vegetarian (mostly vegetarian diet, with some seafood), her interest in food and healthy living developed in her early teens. Her love for animals and strong sense of responsibility for our planet inspired the lifestyle shift and she makes conscious food choices daily and regularly seeks wholesome cuisine, sustainable food and vegetarian-friendly dining experiences.
At Behind the Burner, she works on promoting and expanding our reach. She cannot imagine a more perfect environment in which to grow. She feels fortunate to work in such an exciting atmosphere where she is contributing and actively involved in what goes on behind the scenes in the food world. When Alix isn't keeping the trains running at the office, she enjoys her daily runs, pilates/yoga classes at the gym, spending countless hours watching The Food Network and reading the latest health and food publications.
Aditi Malhotra
Creative & Branding Consultant, Foodie/Fashionista Mom
For those who know, Indian homes, especially their kitchens, are generally quite traditional, leaving the elder daughters to hone their skills from their formative years. Between long summers and action-packed winter breaks in India, Aditi not only gained insight, but also embraced the flavors, aromas and textures of the East. This was a huge contrast to those pasta meals made babysitting for neighbors back in New York.
It was a fusion of cultural influences and exposure that inspired Aditi to dabble in the kitchen throughout her years at business school -- continuing to impress guests with multi-course plated meals set on a table, with flowers to accent the curry. In later years, it was a dash of practicality with aesthetic to please her own senses. The kitchen continues to be the source of experimentation -- raising two kids in New York City, Aditi yo-yo's between serving up Eastern and Western cuisine.
Aditi's presentation and style skills were honed via years of merchandising, production and accounting at Mary McFadden, Dennis Basso, Ann Taylor and Ralph Lauren. Prior, she received a Bachelors degree from Wharton and an Associates degree from FIT.
