Rock n' Roll Research Podcast

Jim Lake is President of Michael Walters Advertising where he has been for over 30 years. MWA boasts an impressive client list including Hunter Douglas, Paul Mitchell and the Chicago Cubs.

But Jim is also a fellow drummer who discovered his penchant for songwriting in his 50s and in 2023 was named a Songwriter to Watch by the Nashville Songwriters Association.

We discuss his career, the heartwarming inspiration for his first song and the enduring importance of making emotional connections with advertising. You can find Jim’s music here: lakecountrysongs.com. 

Second time’s a charm. 

After starting out in banking, Dr. Rachel Baghelai pivoted and has thrived in her career as Industrial/Organizational psychologist and business consultant focused on employee research. She is currently VP of Assessment and Analytics and The Kaleidoscope Group, a leading DEI consultancy based in Chicago.

We discuss Rachel’s career journey and her perspective on research, her passion for riding horses and dressage, and our shared love of punk rock.

Rob and his business partner / wife, Toni, are giving new meaning to the term ‘house band.’

After starting his insights career with classic firms like Market Strategies Int’l and Elrick & Lavidge, Rob has been running his own firm, Klein & Partners, for over 20 years focused exclusively on supporting healthcare clients.

Rob and Toni are partners in the business and may soon become bandmates with Rob on guitar and Toni holding it down on the drums.

We discuss Rob’s research journey and the lessons he’s learned from the greats. And, of course, we talk some rock n’ roll along the way.

Victoria Sakal is currently the Head of Growth for the on-demand research platform company called Wonder (askwonder.com), who is applying AI and a whole lot of innovation to secondary research. Really cool stuff!

But, if you would have told a young Victoria she would make a career in research, she most certainly would not have believed you. Much of her spare time as a kid was spent helping out in and around her mother’s bakery and becoming a highly competitive track athlete.

Victoria and I chat about her upbringing, how she initially made the leap to research with Kantar and the dynamics of owning/managing a vacation rental property on the side. She also shares the music she would want to keep her company if stranded on a desert island.

“Let’s not burn through technology again. Let’s not just rip a path through AI.”

 Eddie Accomando is one of my favorite researchers to talk shop with. With his academic background in anthropology, moderator certification from RIVA and deep knowledge of quantitative methodologies, Eddie can cover it all from theory to practice to the political dynamics of making insights land.

 His career spans roles at Verizon, Texas Instruments and Qualtrics among others. But he’s equally as well-versed when it comes to writing and performing original music.

 We discuss Eddie’s thoughts on market research including the potential hazards of AI mismanagement. Eddie also shares his journey through music including his album, his radio show on KNON NOW in Dallas and the gig we played together earlier this month.

Fail we may, sail we must.

Ian Pierpoint is Founder and CEO of the intrepid human insights agency, Further&Further Strategies. 

Ian’s unique perspective on understanding people and culture is an outgrowth of his journey, from the UK acid house scene, to corporate youth researcher, to documentary filmmaking, to CMO.

We discuss Ian’s improbable route to research, the lessons he’s learned along the way and his apprehensions about the potential future of insights.

Jeff Reesing, is SVP of Corporate Sales and Customer Experience at Dynata, the world’s largest first party data platform and a company that powers so much of what we do in research and insights.

He has built himself an impressive professional career, but music was his first love and it is easy to understand why. Back in high school, Jeff found himself in marching band, hanging out and playing in bands with none other than Dave Navarro and Stephen Perkins, two founding members of the legendary band, Jane’s Addiction.

Jeff shares his journey from his early days in music to how he transitioned to build a career in business. We also discuss the current structure of the insights industry and how it might evolve before Jeff surprises me with what he’d like to be listening to if stranded on a desert island.

Do surveys make good bedtime stories for kids? It worked for Kai Fuentes!

Kai is a second-generation market researcher. While many of us were running around causing trouble as kids, Kai was helping her mom’s family business by stapling surveys and even intercepting respondents at the mall.

Kai followed in her mother’s footsteps by founding Ebony Marketing Systems over 20 years ago, and today she is one of our industry’s foremost experts in conducting multicultural research.

But she hasn’t stopped there. Kai has recently taken on the challenge of stand-up comedy. She shares her journey through insights, why stand-up is like qualitative research and the music she’d choose if stranded on a desert island.

London Brinkman is one year out of school as a Qualitative Market Research Analyst and my colleague at MarketVision Research. While working a project together, I learned she is also the lead singer for a notable cover band in Cincinnati. But not only that, she is an award-winning body builder!

London discusses her decision to shift her career focus from musical theater to market research during the pandemic; the role of discipline in helping her excel in each of her passions; and the enduring importance of face-to-face research.

I also kick off my new routine with Magic Mind, a mental performance shot that I’ve really been digging. Podcast listeners can use the code ROCKNROLL20 at https://www.magicmind.com/rocknroll to get 48% off an initial subscription or 20% off a one-time purchase. Highly recommend for staying focused, motivated and productive! \m/

Recorded live on the Purple Stage at the IIEX conference in Austin, TX on April 18!

Nicholas Jayanty, Principal User Experience Researcher at IBM’s Red Hat, traces his path from making sketch comedy pilots on MTV to producing award-winning films to researching and designing digital user experiences.

Nicholas contrasts the supply chains of the independent film industry and software design, discusses how UX can reduce its dependency on software engineering, the roadmap to a world without work and his love of the Austin music scene.