In this episode, Rahul talks to Trinity McQueen’s Customer Director, Laura Morris, about how she transitioned from a research practitioner to a business developer.

Laura’s keen interest in economics at school led her down the path of business studies and a 20-year journey in consumer research. In this episode, she talks about her career choices and interests that spun her research role to business development. She emphasises the importance of networking and building relationships. Hear about her experience with domestic abuse and how she’s dedicating her time to help other victims, and she gives some valuable advice to new and junior researchers, all on today’s episode of Data Stories: Leaders at Work.

Highlights

• “If you want to learn the craft of research, go and spend some time in an agency. You’ll be working with all sorts of different clients, you will get those skills, and then come back to client-side and apply them.”
• “I honestly don’t think you can be a good business development person without also being a good researcher.”
• “This is a big industry. There are so many different types of roles out there, you might not be in the right role at the moment, but you will find your niche. You will find that thing that you are amazingly good at. Stick to that - don’t worry about what everybody else is doing or how good of a researcher they are. There are roles and space for every different type of person in this industry.”
• “Have that open-mindedness. Be open to learning things all the time. You never stop learning. The minute you think you’ve stopped, it’s a slippery slope.”
• “Build your network. It is the fundamental building blocks of your future career. You never know when you’re going to rely on your network for something.”
• “People have this image of the victim of domestic abuse being a certain type of person. It can happen to anybody. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t happen how senior you are in your professional career.”
• “It doesn’t necessarily matter if you’re not the expert person in a particular thing. Be the expert in building that client relationship upfront and an expert in helping them solve their problem.”

About - Laura Morris

Laura is the Customer Director at Trinity McQueen, one of the fastest-growing insight consultancies in the UK.

Her 20 years of experience spans diverse roles at Nestle, Nunwood, and Brass Insight. The focus of her career has been mainly on the agency-side, where she specialises in quantitative research, working with clients from retail, FMCG, and financial services. Her research with Moss Bros won an MRS Award for driving brand transformation.

She holds a Degree in International Business from Loughborough University, an Advanced Certificate from the Market Research Society, and a Professional Marketing Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Relevant Links

Website: https://www.trinitymcqueen.com

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/lauranhmorris

https://www.linkedin.com/company/trinity-mcqueen

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