Amy Basile Related Seminars and Products

Associate Director

Qualitative Research at MDRG

Amy Basile is the Associate Director of Qualitative Research at MDRG with more than 15 years of experience uncovering deep consumer insights across technology, retail, CPG, and food & beverage industries. Known for combining scientific rigor with genuine human connection, Amy developed her expertise at companies like Little Caesars and The Boston Beer Company and has a passion for translating consumer behavior into actionable insights that help brands drive strategic action through consumer understanding. 

Zontziry Johnson Related Seminars and Products

Z Johnson started her career in market research as a survey programmer over 20 years ago in the basement of a United States national laboratory. Since then, she has held leadership roles supplier-side, brand-side, and with market research technology firms. Her broad experience has provided her unique perspectives on the industry. She pulls these perspectives into play when working with customers through MRXplorer, where she helps companies confidently buy market research technology. In her spare time, she enjoys as wide a range of hobbies as her career experience: reading, watercolor painting, boardgames, piano playing, calligraphy, and, on occasion, 3D printing. 

Emily Breay Related Seminars and Products

Research Coordinator

KNow Research

Emily is a rising qualitative researcher and skilled logistics specialist. As KNow Research's Coordinator since 2021, she discovered her passion for logistics and research management, skillfully supporting clients and strategists, while working with participants throughout projects. In her role as co-chair of QRCA's Young Professional's Committee for over two years, Emily has supported numerous emerging professionals launching their qualitative research careers. Recently recognized with QRCA's 2025 Rising Star Award, she represents the next generation of innovative qualitative researchers. Outside of work, Emily enjoys hosting trivia nights in San Francisco, running along the Golden Gate Bridge, and exploring nature in California. 

Silvana di Gregorio Related Seminars and Products

Research Director

Lumivero

Silvana di Gregorio, PhD is Product Research Director and Head of Qualitative Research at Lumivero, the developers of NVivo. She is a sociologist and former academic. She has been training, consulting, and publishing about qualitative data analysis software since 1995. For 16 years she had her own training and consulting business, SdG Associates. She is part of the Product Team at Lumivero. 

Justin Hendricks Related Seminars and Products

Watch Me Think, Inc.

Justin Hendricks is just a guy who likes doing qualitative video research. He started his journey studying, writing about, and experimenting with new methods for doing video research at the University of Florida, getting a PhD along the way. For the past four years he's been employing whatever wild, new ideas he can at Watch Me Think, a video ethnography agency. 

Marilisa Beatty, MA Related Seminars and Products

Founder and Principal

KJT Group

Marilisa is the Vice President and Head of Qualitative Research at KJT, with more than 18 years of experience in qualitative research, specializing in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Known for her innovative leadership and problem-solving skills, Marilisa combines a deep understanding of the research landscape with a warm, approachable moderation style that allows her to connect with any audience. Her philosophy of 'work hard, play hard' is not just a personal mantra, it drives her passion for creating dynamic learning environments. By gamifying the learning process, Marilisa empowers others to integrate new technologies and methodologies in ways that are both engaging and effective. 

Ivayana Abdi Related Seminars and Products

Culturati Research & Consulting

Ivayana Abdi is a RIVA-trained moderator and seasoned project manager with over seven years of experience in qualitative research operations. She’s worked across the entire research lifecycle—recruitment, platform vetting, client management, and fieldwork logistics. With a multicultural lens and a passion for inclusive, tech-savvy processes, Ivayana focuses on building strong participant relationships from the very first click. She currently serves as Group Manager of Research Operations and Logistics at Culturati Research and was a recipient of QRCA’s 2025 Lloyd Memorial Scholarship award.

Rocio Barraza Related Seminars and Products

Self Employed

Rocio “Rosie” Karina Barraza is a versatile and insightful professional with a strong background in market research, project management, and client communications. Holding a bachelor’s degree in Sociology, Rosie has led complex research projects from proposal to execution, often navigating difficult client dynamics, tight timelines, and challenging recruitment goals. She is highly skilled in aligning client expectations with methodological rigor and actionable insights.

Rosie’s strengths lie in her ability to lead with empathy, confidence, and strategic clarity. Her passion for empowering others has led her to develop and deliver training programs for project and program managers, equipping them with tools to handle high-pressure client interactions, push back diplomatically when needed, and build strong, data-supported cases.

In her consulting work, Rosie focuses on improving communication between teams and clients, fostering a culture of preparedness, mutual respect, and self-assurance. She is deeply committed to helping professionals become more confident in their roles by combining human connection with smart processes. 

Shelly Singh Related Seminars and Products

Research consultant

SOUPinsights inc.

Shelly is a research consultant who dives deep into customer experiences to capture insights and create compelling, actionable stories for her clients. Over the past 15 years, she has worked globally across categories, specializing in food and beverage and technology.

Shelly delivers data-driven, customer-centric insights that help clients understand how their customers behave (when nobody is looking). She regularly moderates in-depth interviews and focus groups and is a pioneer in the online community space. Additionally, she conducts ethnography, journey-mapping and persona development.
Shelly graduated from the University of British Columbia where she studied anthropogeography, or the relationship between humans, communities, culture, environment, and economics. She is a RIVA-trained moderator, winner of the Lloyd J. Harris Memorial Scholarship, 2023 Qually Award finalist and the Qualitative Research Consultants’ Association’s Pacific Northwest Chapter Co-Chair.

When she is not observing customers in their natural habitat, Shelly enjoys eating pizza, hiking and learning all there is to know about dinosaurs with her little boy. She is based in Vancouver, BC Canada. 

Karin McCutcheon Related Seminars and Products

Principal

ETS

Karin McCutcheon has over 15 years of experience as a qualitative and quantitative market researcher providing solutions for clients in education, consumer, technology, non-profit, healthcare, pharmaceutical, and financial sectors. Her most recent position was as Senior Market Research Manager at Educational Testing Services (ETS) where she drove project management and new product development for the higher education, international education, and career and workforce divisions. While at ETS Karin led AI innovation in new methodologies, analysis, and moderation tools for the Customer Insights department. Karin received her MS in Consumer Marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her BS with Distinction in Human Ecology from The Ohio State University. 

Jonathan Schneider Related Seminars and Products

Candorist

The Candor Company

Jonathan is a veteran qualitative researcher who specializes in bringing customers to life with documentary style films.

Together with his partner of more than two decades, Liz Moore, Jonathan has continually embraced new technologies and inventive
methods to push the boundaries of qualitative research. They named their firm “The Candor Company” to emphasize the importance of authenticity in all of their work - whether it be their approach or the environment in which they conduct their work.

Jonathan started the path toward qualitative research after graduating from the University of Virginia by working in the advertising industry. He saw his first focus group and thought he would be a natural at it. He was right but it took him some time to get there with stops at Emory University for business school and a job in GE’s marketing research department along the way.

His affinity for video dates back to childhood, when he would spend hours creating home movies and watching television. That same passion now fuels his approach to qualitative storytelling, blending curiosity, empathy, and craft to create research that’s as insightful as it is entertaining.