About
When this small town girl from Rural Route 3 in eastern Washington ended up on Madison Avenue learning the fundamentals of market research, I knew I’d found my professional purpose: using research to help companies create winning strategies. Since that first internship, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute on both the agency and client side, uncovering actionable insights and representing the voice of the customer to business decision makers at a wide range of companies from startups to financial institutions to multinational tech conglomerates. I am driven by curiosity, which is probably no surprise since I love posing questions and digging into data! I have advanced skills in both quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. When it comes to managing people, I am all about lifting people up. I have seen people do amazing things when they believe in their own abilities.My career took me from New York City to the Golden Gate City and eventually back to my Pacific Northwest ro…
Experience
Independent Contractor
Self-Employed · West Bend, Wisconsin, United States
Offered research and strategic planning services to agencies and technology companies. Provided project support across various domains, including questionnaire development, online survey quality assurance, quota and field management, recruiting, quantitative data analysis, qualitative moderation, qualitative analysis, and report writing. • Developed a drop-in tool to calculate and track annual indices from a twenty-two-country online study, enhancing data analysis efficiency. • Moderated an online diary study on AI characters, fostering participant engagement. Compiled, organized, and analyzed qualitative data (text, photos, and videos), leading to AI character updates and platform presentation enhancements. • Collaborated on questionnaire design for a four-country study assessing brand perceptions, product ownership, purchase motivations, and intentions for a home security product. Analyzed data to generate individual country reports and a comprehensive comparison report, shaping a ne…
Associate Planning Director
Chapter & Verse (C&V) · Spokane, Washington, United States
At Chapter & Verse, I designed and delivered end-to-end market research that helped answer clients’ pressing business questions and surfaced actionable insights. A few highlights: • Refined a brand tracking study and conducted a comprehensive website audit delivering insights needed to optimize the user experience and boost conversion rates; presented analysis to the board of directors and C-suite. • Conducted employee interviews to identify learning styles and training challenges, informing guidelines for a global annual mandatory training program. Authored knowledge checks and program modules, including code of conduct, privacy, security, and human rights, resulting in a highly effective program recognized by The Wall Street Journal. • Designed and analyzed a comprehensive member survey to inform strategic planning. • Used social listening and competitive audits to identify a strategy our client could use to better leverage their social media platforms for promoting high-profile spon…
Innovation Lead / Innovation Specialist
F'inn · Half Moon Bay, California, United States
Hired for do-it-all versatility at this extremely fast-paced innovation research agency. Provided expert end-to-end primary research to powerhouse clients. • Assisted clients on product development research and go-to-market strategies for initiatives with high-level visibility. • Turned rough ideas into fully designed and executed research programs. • Translated complex data into clear insights and conveyed them through compelling visuals and written reports that are c-suite ready. • Demonstrated advanced proficiency in a wide array of quantitative (e.g., MaxDiff, discrete choice, TURF, global tracking studies, segmentation, correspondence analysis) and qualitative (e.g., in-depth interviews, focus groups, online communities / diaries) methods and tools. • Served as the primary contact for vendors, monitored budgets, and ensured project timelines were met. We worked fast. We thought big. We had fun!
Private Investigator
TJM Enterprises · Spokane-Coeur d'Alene Area
When financial pressures forced Coldwater Creek to close down in 2014, I was one of the last employees to be laid off. Around that time, I was presented with an unexpected opportunity to use my data analysis and interviewing skills in a new way: as a private investigator for defense attorneys in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. • Used TransUnion and IRBfocus databases to track down witnesses and uncover potential assets. • Organized and conducted witness interviews, ensuring thorough case preparation. • Reviewed and summarized discovery documents to create trial exhibits for compelling courtroom presentations. • Testified as a summary witness in federal court, presenting an analysis of phone records that proved critical to a complex drug conspiracy case. • Demonstrated meticulous financial management by overseeing monthly billing and handling quarterly tax filings. Around the same time, I was also busy launching Dirt Market Research and working with a group of former colleagues t…
Founder and Principal
Dirt Market Research
I founded Dirt Market Research believing firmly that quality market research should be attainable to smaller players with big potential. Taking a scrappy and no-nonsense approach, I designed and executed custom research solutions.
Customer Insights Manager
Coldwater Creek · Sandpoint, ID
Coldwater Creek—a women’s fashion retailer—hired me to launch a in-house market research group to surface strategic insights and represent the voice of the customer to senior leadership. It was an opportunity to move to the client side, where I was able to introduce state-of-the-art research tools that delivered actionable data while collaborating with customer service, merchandising, and other cross-functional teams. In addition to supervising a small team, I managed multimillion-dollar national advertising campaigns and a $425k annual research budget. A few achievements: • Slashed costs by about $600k each year by replacing a time-consuming, expensive secret shopper program with a standardized retail purchaser satisfaction survey that allowed store-by-store comparisons and tracking of customer satisfaction over time. • Realized savings of $10M+ and generated an additional $110M in inventory booster buys for the 2009 season by developing a merchandise testing strategy. • Created a Fac…
Research Manager
Landor Associates · San Francisco
Joining this west coast branding agency allowed me to strengthen foundational market research skills. I continued to use the BAV to help clients develop a nuanced understanding of their brand and trained Landor’s Mexico City office on how to use the tool with their clients. I routinely designed, proposed, fielded, analyzed, and presented qualitative and quantitative research while representing the consumer voice throughout Landor’s creative and strategic processes. I also monitored client/vendor relationships and conducted interviews with customers, clients, and executives in the banking industry.
Associate Brand Analyst
Young & Rubicam, Inc. (DBA Y&R) · New York
For this internship, I developed fluency with comprehensive brand analysis using the company’s proprietary BrandAsset® Valuator (BAV), helping clients from fast food chains to major airlines understand overall brand health (brand strength drivers, cost of entry, life cycle positioning, brand extendibility), brand equities (leveragability), brand imagery/personality (ownership quintile, changes over time, brand similarities), brand preference and usage (brand loyalty), market segments, category segments, consumer segment (constituency analysis), market trends (trended category analytics), partnership/alliance selection, and media strategies.
Education
Hofstra University
MA, Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Washington State University
BS, Psychology
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