Market Researcher: Sharing my daily learnings | 🎤 Speaker | ☕️ Coffee and 🍪 fan

Struggling to prove your research team’s value while juggling deadlines, budgets, and skeptical stakeholders?

Here’s the reality: 

Most organisations see research as a cost center. 

That won’t change, unless you do.

After 10+ years leading insight projects across agency, in-house, and SaaS, I’ve learned that real buy-in comes from translating “geek speak” into commercial impact.

What I do:

- Teach market researchers how to become commercially unmissable, not just “the KPI service desk.”

- Share frameworks for defending budgets, influencing decisions, and landing executive buy-in.

- Arm you with tactical playbooks, templates, and ROI scripts to use right away.

I help teams and leaders who want to:

1. Prove ROI to senior stakeholders
2. Get heard by the C-suite
3. Outperform the competition (without more budget)

Seen in: Forbes, Advertising Week, GreenBook, MRS, IBTM
Spoken at: MRS, Advertising Week, IBTM, corporate client offsites

How to connect:

Subscribe to the ResearchGeek Newsletter: 600+ researchers get short, actionable tips every Thursday

Follow for daily posts on LinkedIn (5x/week tactics you won’t see anywhere else)

Message if you want to collaborate or bring me in for your next event

P.S. If coffee is on the agenda… I’m in.

⚡️Jake Pryszlak

iris research & strategy

Lead business development and Fortune 50, global and domestic initiatives

iris is a boutique qualitative research and strategy firm specializing in uncovering deep insights into peoples’ needs, desires, values, and behaviors. Iris' unique approaches have helped clients unlock 
brand growth and innovation breakthroughs for nearly 20 years.

Iris partnerships continue growing because:
• Seeing Connections:  Experience with start-ups to Fortune 500 brands, multiple industries, B2C and B2B
• Research Agility: Easily pivot from large, foundational learning to quick-hit, pulse studies
• Focused Deliverables: Impactful deliverables with frameworks that make learning sticky, fueling strategies
• Foresight: Agency and client-side experience; Thinking 2-steps ahead for a seamless research experience

Industry expertise includes:
•  Food & Beverage
•  Natural & Organic 
•  Alcoholic Beverages 
•  Technology
•  Home Goods 
•  Hospitality
•  Financial
•  Manufacturing

Fractional Executive Vice President, Insights & Growth 

NEXT 5 TEAM, INC.

Focused on increasing in-person attendance for collegiate athletics to drive revenue though tickets, merchandise, and concessions, complement growing digital fandom, and increase overall fan engagement. 

Partnering with athletic departments to accelerate their efforts and leverage fan and market insights to drive strategic fan-building efforts partnering across marketing/promotions, game experience, ticketing, and media/sponsorships.

Founder

Sazerac Company

Established Sazerac's first Insights team, partnering with sales, marketing, distributors, retailers, and on-premise accounts to drive growth across all Spirits categories and Malt Beverages 

Established Consumer Insights, Shopper Insights, Category Development, and Space Planning capabilities, ways of working, and best practices.

Partnered with Sales to create Sazerac’s first-ever solution selling training for the Sales organization. Training the organization to leverage insight-driven, category and brand building strategies

Built portfolio of DIY and custom insights tools and resources for organization to guide brand development, sales materials, and identify innovation opportunities (product, messaging, go-to-market, etc.)

VP, Global Business Intelligence & Strategy

Conagra Brands

Providing Consumer Insight leadership for the shelf stable Grocery portfolio including brands such as Slim Jim, Orville Redenbacher's, PAM Cooking Spray, Hunt's, RoTel, and Swiss Miss.

Senior Director, Consumer Insights

Leading the charge to help the organization adopt digital and social media insights and measurement tools resulting in increased effectiveness and efficiency. Being a change agent in a hybrid role combining my Consumer Insights knowledge base with a passion for being ahead of the curve with research tools, innovation, trends (macro and micro), critical thinking, and predicting consumer behavior.

Director, Digital Insights & Analytics

Providing Consumer Insight leadership for Hunt's (canned tomatoes, pasta sauce, and ketchup), RoTel, Rosarita, Wolf Chili, Van Camps, and Gulden's Mustard.

Director, Consumer Insights for Shelf-Stable Ingredients

Director, Consumer Insights for Hunt's, PAM, and Wesson

Providing Consumer Insight leadership for Hunt's canned tomatoes and Hunt's ketchup

Senior Manager, Consumer Insights for Hunt's

Providing Consumer Insight leadership for Slim Jim, Snack Pack Pudding, Swiss Miss Cocoa, DAVID Seeds, and Andy Capp's.

Senior Manager Consumer Insights

Consumer Insight lead for Slim Jim, Snack Pack pudding, Swiss Miss Cocoa, and DAVID Seeds

Manager, Consumer Insights

General Mills

Building Affinity Communities to engage with consumers in meaningful dialogue. Evangelist for Web 2.0.  Qualitative researcher. Community Manager.Researcher. Faciltiation. Immersing cross functional brand teams in new product development

Sr. Consumer Insights Associate

*Conduct proprietary qualitative research to provide shoppers' perspectives to division brand teams.
* Review and integrate previous quantitative research projects to compliment qualitative themes

Consumer Insights Associate

Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport

* Conducted numerous quantitative, qualitative, and mixed method studies
* Received grant funding
* Published seven times in various academic journals
* Presented at 4 academic conferences multiple times and as an invited speaker twice

Research Assistant

University of Minnesota

University of Notre Dame

* Increased women's basketball attendance by 300%
* Achieved second and third sell-outs in the history of the women's basketball program
* Implemented initial season ticket holder plan and reserved seating
* Secured +55% increase in corporate sponsorships

Marketing and Promotions

Insights-driven brand builder and entrepreneurial leader with a track record of success in driving growth for Fortune 500 companies. With over 15 years experience leading insights teams for top-tier companies like Notre Dame, General Mills, Conagra Brands, and Sazerac Company, I've turned data into actionable strategies. 

My leadership style brings a fresh perspective from experiences across industries and roles. I believe in the power of the team working on business challenges together, leveraging everyone’s expertise. 
We > Me, People > Projects 

I’m a culture creator. I strive to make experiences better for everyone. I believe in the power of connectivity, especially in the workplace. We spend a lot of time together - let’s make it great! 💪🏼 

In short, if you want to maintain the status quo we probably aren’t a good fit. Optimization is always on my mind and in the action plan.

Heather Maxwell

I recently celebrated my 1st McAnniversary at McDonald's and what a year it has been! 💫 

Transformation at McDonald’s represents unbelievable scale and opportunity. Accepting a newly created role to lead Global Transformation Learning & Development unlocked an incredible career growth chapter and modernization accomplishments with so many incredible people.

The Top 5 for Year 1

🧩 Built the first-ever Global Transformation Learning & Development team, vision, strategy, and structure.

📠 Led L&D efforts for our Global Finance Modernization across 9 markets and counting ‒ the largest transformation effort in McDonald’s history.

🌍 Ensured work force readiness for our Global People Modernization, launching McDonald’s+Me in 13 markets and counting. 

💻 Led L&D efforts to stand-up our EDAA and Global Indirect Sourcing & Procurement functions, modernizing how we drive faster and better data-driven decision-making and creating a faster, smarter, “One McDonald’s Way” of buying, respectively. 

🚀 Led initial L&D efforts for corporate AI enablement increasing activated M365 Copilot Licenses by 300%, driving significant engagement with trainings and workshops, and significantly accelerating adoption.

Driving results is important and a Top 5 list is expected for an anniversary post. What was less expected? When you join a new company and take on a new role, even doing all the research possible there will still be surprises.

The people at McDonald’s were my big surprise. The people I work with make you want to keep getting better every day. The kind of people who spend the time to onboard people well because they know we go further faster together. They’re problem solvers and aren’t afraid to roll up their sleeves. They take care of people and this has become a differentiator in the marketplace. 

A big shout-out to my team. You’re incredible and leading learner-centric, game-changing, modernization efforts. None of this is possible without you: Sirin Abusamen, SHRM-CP, Jennifer Burgoon, Kassandra Blaschak, Amber Cochrane, Michael Hager, Lindsay Kacergis, Sabrina Miceli, Carlye Siegel, Ruthie Samonte #modland

Thank you to our partners across L&D, OA, Global People, Finance, EDAA, IS&P, and all our markets. Complex transformations at this scale are only possible with incredible partners.

Last but certainly not least, a note of gratitude and appreciation to the following leaders for their guidance and partnership: Skye Anderson, Tiffanie Boyd, Mattijs Backx, Joe Knytych, Danielle Harris, MBA, Pam Lins (Cook), CPA, Jason Cesta, Das Dasgupta, PhD, Laura Coogan, Ashish SyngalTroy Fahey, Jonathan Jones, Berube, Derek, Anna Martin, Jennifer W., Bridget "B" Szeluga, Shannon Mullaney, Sara Brown, Jessica Lopez, Kerri Petherick, Courtney McBurney

We’re a 70-year-old company, building on our legacy and preparing for the future. Our piping hot fries and diet coke are delicious, but dare I say the people and the potential are even better? Let's go!

Bringing a spark to everything | Business leader + revenue generator fueled by insights and strategy | McDonald’s, General Mills, Conagra, Sazerac

I was so excited for my first Employee Appreciation Day at McDonald's this year and then it didn’t happen.

It’s such a big day at McDonald’s and so much care is put into the event around the world. Headquarters was set up on Wednesday as different functions host ther celebrations Wed-Fri.

I was looking forward to our matching team shirts, the McDonald’s Characters, the balloons, and celebrating everyone’s hard work.

So what happened?

The flu. It took me down Wednesday night and our celebration was Friday. At least I snagged a couple early photos before the flu remained undefeated.

Thursday morning I still felt terrible. Each hour I kept hoping I would miraculously turn the corner so I wouldn’t have to miss Friday’s celebration.

It didn’t happen. I was barely functioning Thursday and Friday. Started recovering Saturday afternoon. 

I’d missed the big day.

I guess that’s the point of this post. 

I was looking forward to a work event. 
I had FOMO from a work event.
I was really sad to miss this event.

When was the last time you could say that about a work celebration? It had been awhile for me. 

This bittersweet experience reminded me how important people and culture are to creating something special, something beyond the simple transactions of work.

Happy Employee Appreciation Day everyone! I hope to celebrate with you in-person next year. ♥️🍟

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AI is just another tool in our portfolio of resources.

Sure, its absolutely gamechanging but just like any other tool, if we don’t understand when and how best to leverage it, we fall short.

Every morning I put a note in my daughter’s lunch. 

AI can’t replace our family inside jokes, my handwriting, sometimes kooky drawings, surprise stickers, etc. 

I’m sure some are sitting there thinking, “Well, Heather, AI actually could learn your inside family jokes and language.” 

And I’d say, “Great. That’s not for me. I want the loving imperfections and the handwriting is key.”

It’s always been a question of what we decide to outsource and why. 

Even if we aren’t consciously choosing to outsource, the decision was made.

As new technology and options continue to join our lives, we must own these decisions.

Be intentional. Otherwise, your “handwriting memories” may end up being Arial, Speede, Calibri, Times New Roman, or pick your default font. 

Maybe clear to read but completely unoriginal and definitely not tattoo worthy. 😆

With Ai, do any boundaries exist for you?

Why is AI adoption challenging at the enterprise level (non-technologists)?
I've been reflecting a lot on this topic as my personal AI development journey has accelerated.

I've spent a significant amount of time connecting with external AI literacy experts across the globe to better understand the challenges for those ahead of us on this journey.

I've spent a lot of time listening to a range of adopters from AI-resistant to AI-power users....actual end-users, not just leaders sharing their takes on their teams. To understand learners, we must listen to and have empathy with learners.

A 6-pack of top challenges for AI adoption:
1. Most don't have to use AI in their day-to-day jobs. There isn't a penalty to not using AI and the incentive isn't always obvious. Most can continue operating as they always have and still deliver good enough results. The growing skill gaps silently grow until it may be too late to recover vs peers/competition. 

2. AI is most powerful when we treat AI as a thought partner, iterating to continue to refine with back and forth dialogue vs "one and done questions" that look more like search.  To do this, we must leverage our expertise to iterate with AI, remaining curious with great questions, and constructively challenging.

4. We're not great at providing important guidance (e.g., providing helpful context, providing the brief/task for what we need) nor asking great questions. This can often point to our challenges as being effective people leaders too. Providing guidance and asking helpful questions is an important part of leading people effectively and if we struggle to lead people, we'll struggle to lead AI interactions effectively too.

5. Adopting AI is truly a change management exercise. It's redefining how we work, our processes, our thought processes, etc. We must plan learning efforts to help people navigate change management and support integrating AI into their work flows vs one-off, prompt and use case sessions shoehorned into spare minutes between minutes. It's bigger than this. We must address how adults learn and change psychologically and behaviorally vs defaulting to simple AI activities. 

6. Learning new skills requires vulnerability and commitment from the top down. In a job market where lay-offs at scale have become the norm, there's less psychological security associated with learning these skills that can seem daunting for many. It's uncomfy but necessary. We need to create a culture of "in this together" and provide the experiences to help people upskill. The benefits of an upskilled workforce will provide significant advantages for individuals and the enterprise.

The irony: The more I improve working with AI, the better I've become in providing guidance, asking better questions, and iterating with human teammates. My world has expanded to a hybrid world of AI and humans building better solutions, faster. 

Recognizing the potential and limitations of both has been the unlock.

taplio

The Battle

⚡️Jake Pryszlak

Heather Maxwell

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taplio

The Battle

⚡️Jake Pryszlak

Heather Maxwell

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Heather Maxwell's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreHeather Maxwell's LinkedIn Performance