A successful growth strategy starts with clear, personal career vision. Our presenters will address the micro and macro aspects of being growth-minded: on the personal level, the network level, and the business level. Attendees of all levels will leave the presentation with actionable tactics for building career momentum from the inside-out.
Kristin Luck serves as an advisor and growth strategist to a number of cutting-edge marketing and analytics technology and services firms through her consultancy, ScaleHouse. She is the founder of two marketing analytics companies that she led to successful exits. Kristin co-founded OTX, an online research business that was named the fastest growing research firm in the world in 2002 and 2003 and was subsequently acquired by Pilot Group and again by Ipsos in 2007. She then founded Forefront Consulting Group, a research technology firm that was acquired by Decipher. Decipher was acquired by FocusVision in 2014 after seven consecutive years of double- and triple-digit growth. FocusVision merged with Confirmit in 2021 to become Forsta, where she sat on the the Board of Directors until its recent acquisition by Press Ganey.
Kristin is a licensed investment banker with Oberon Securities and a founder focused on helping fellow founders and executive teams scale and monetize their businesses. Her deal expertise on both sides of transactions comes from participating in both acquisitions and exits from $30 million to $225 million. She is also passionate about supporting founders in international markets execute their entry into the U.S.Kristin regularly contributes to both the commercial (Fast Company, Forbes) and academic press (Research World, Journal of Brand Strategy) where she explores emerging marketing and research methods. She is consistently ranked as one of the top 100 sales and branding experts to follow on social media.
In addition to Founding, Women in Research, Kristin has also served on the board of ESOMAR, the global insights and analytics association, for eight years; including a two year term as Vice-President and a two year term as President.
Tiffany Hays is a life-long market researcher, starting her career while in college at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After moving to Nashville, she took over the reins of 20/20 Research’s facility operations, where she identified a need in the industry for hands-on global logistics.
In 2006, Tiffany set out to independently launch her first global logistics firm, and in 2008 acquired Greenberg Studios in San Francisco, a partner relationship, to form watchLAB.
After making the decision to exit watchLAB in 2014 – Tiffany, with a ‘no fear’ attitude, a passion for startups, and a strong desire to support female entrepreneurship within the global market research industry, founded FUEL.
In late 2014, to further support the needs of FUEL’s growing global and domestic client base, she purchased The Focus Room in New York City, and in 2019 expanded to the West Coast with The Focus Room in Orange County, CA.
In her career tenure, Tiffany has headed research for the largest global ad campaign launch in history, working with Crispin Porter + Bogusky and Microsoft on the 8-country Windows 7 ‘My Idea’ campaign. She plays an active role in numerous industry organizations through serving on boards, sponsoring and supporting those making a difference in the research community, along with sharing her years of knowledge and experience through various panel and podcast speaking engagements.
While a love for research and innovation has kept her in the market research industry, it’s her passion for global entrepreneurship and excitement of growing a startup from ground zero to a multi-million-dollar operation that truly charges her.
Katja Cahoon, LCSW, MBA is a psychotherapist with a previous career in consumer insights. Her passion in life is to empower others to grow, change, and find meaning and joy. After a successful career in market research focused on understanding why people do what they do, including corporate, consulting, and entrepreneurship, she decided to utilize this learning and understanding to help people feel and perform better. She trained as a psychotherapist and works mainly with executives and other highly accomplished professionals in Silicon Valley, CA. She helps clients with stress, burn-out, anxiety, depression, and how the past impacts how they feel and act today. Katja is also a certified yoga teacher (RYT-200), meditation teacher, and sports nutrition coach. Katja has taught at Williams James College, Stephen's College, spoken at conferences like IIEX, ESOMAR, Insights Association, and has trained companies all over the world.
