Elaine approaches accessing the Core Voice from the perspective of her psychology and healthcare backgrounds. Experience with people in a variety of extreme situations—from women in labor to military brass under pressure—has enhanced her already extraordinary empathy and adaptability. Clients credit her with an uncanny ability to make consumers comfortable—even eager—to tell her their most challenging stories.

While she is a comfortable improviser and innovator, her eye is always steadily on the end purpose of each study. Further, her innate vision of the overall strategic environment in which study findings will be applied leads to exact and expansive recommendations and an objectivity clients rely on to keep passionate teams on track.

Prior to Primary Insights, her professional experiences prepared her well for qualitative innovation in sensitive topics. She has served in the US Air Force, taught sex education classes to students of all ages, and managed teams in several varied work environments. Her education includes a Masters degree in Nursing and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.

Barbara's education and experience tie directly into the process of unearthing and analyzing consumers’ stories. Her degree in Comparative Literature with an emphasis on narrative analysis allows her to see the shape of a story and know when a participant has found his or her Core Voice. As an award-winning children’s author, Barbara extends her feel for the Core Voice into her work with children and teens, letting them tell their stories in the ways that make them most comfortable and yield the greatest discovery.

Among clients, Barbara is known as an exceptional analyst and writer as well as an innovator of qualitative methods including Rapid Innovation and Girl Talk. Her work with metaphor—both with consumers and in reports—is valued for capturing the intangible but critical aspects of study findings. Further, her past work as a product developer and marketing/concept writer enriches her understanding of what teams need in order to move forward and adds impact to her study recommendations.

Primary Insights' pursuit of the Core Voice extends to the screening and project management phase via Kerri, our Field Manager. Kerri’s background in psychology and social work fostered her sensitivity to the language and tone of screener questions. Further, her expertise helps recruiters and facility staff prepare for consumers who may have physical, mental, or emotional challenges.

Clients love interacting with Kerri, as she is quick to grasp the objectives of the research at hand and manages each study with an eye for detail. Further, her memory of and attention to the specifics of client preferences and travel schedules leads to studies that are planned with maximum team productivity and comfort in mind.

Kris has been keeping the Primary Insights story on track since joining the company in 1997. As our Operations Manager—as well as a field services expert—Kris is responsible for a wide variety of functions within the company, including human resources, project billing, web site maintenance, and information systems.

Kris attended Kent State University and has worked for several organizations including the American Nuclear Society—where she honed her editing, project management, and computer skills.