Greenbook Future List Spotlight: Elizabeth Kadrich

Editor’s Note: The following interview features a 2024 Greenbook Future List honoree, Elizabeth Kadrich. The Greenbook Future List recognizes leadership, professional growth, personal integrity, passion, and excellence in the next generation of consumer insights and marketing professionals within the first 10 years of their careers.

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Introducing Elizabeth Kadrich, Senior Manager at SKIM

Elizabeth Kadrich, a dynamic researcher at SKIM, has been at the forefront of innovative eCommerce methodologies through her leadership of the Digishop tool. This cutting-edge solution replicates the online shopping experience for respondents, providing valuable insights into consumer behavior and preferences. Elizabeth's strategic guidance has empowered both internal teams and clients, ensuring adaptability in the face of disruptions in the consumer landscape. 

Her commitment to mentoring, inspiring peers, and fostering a culture of continuous learning exemplifies her leadership. Recognized for her passion for uncovering actionable insights and innovative thinking, Elizabeth's contributions to the marketing research industry and SKIM's growth make her a standout candidate for the Greenbook Future List. Elizabeth Kadrich's dedication to pushing boundaries and delivering exceptional insights positions her as a leader in the field.

Outside of insights, what are your passions and interests?

My passion pretty much centers around all things food. Cooking is therapeutic and so fun for me after sitting at my desk for most of the day. I love to try new recipes and have a pretty stacked cookbook and kitchen appliance collection. When I'm not cooking at home I love to try new restaurants. It is really great to be in Chicago where the food and restaurant scene is so exciting and always evolving. One of my favorite apps on my phone is the Beli app which essentially consists tradeoff questions to help keep a running ranked list of the restaurants you've tried; still kicking myself for not coming up with this idea myself! And lastly I absolutely love to travel the world and try new and interesting cuisines that I can't get at home. 

What advice do you have for folks hoping to start a career in insights?

For anyone new to insights on the agency or supplier side, I find that it is so important to constantly be raising your hand to do things that are new and out of your comfort zone. While it would be amazing to always work on projects that we're passionate about, I found that pushing myself and working on clients or industries outside of my comfort zone forced me to grow and learn at an even quicker pace. I also would encourage those new to insights to get involved in internal projects or initiatives at your company. That is where you can be more picky and find an area in MR that excites you to have as a passion project outside of your external project work. This type of internal work allows you to constantly be doing something you're interested in but also gaining visibility at your company and working with colleagues you may never interact with.

How do you advocate for others on your team or your customers?

I think I have the ability to advocate for my team members because I was in their role not many years ago. I am able to step into their shoes and think about how I might have felt during certain situations and even changes in our organization or industry. I feel that having this mindset and shared experience also makes me more approachable as a leader where my team can feel comfortable to come to me with questions and concerns or big wins and achievements. Providing praise and recognition of success is also key in advocating for my team in order to keep them motivated to continue growing and pushing themselves.

What challenges do you see facing newer MRX professionals as technology advances?

While AI is going to help us and have a positive impact in many ways, I foresee there may be some challenges that come with it in terms of developing and growing certain skills. While it would be much faster and easier to upload a slide or deck and have AI generate key insights and recommendations, making sense of data and pulling together a story is a vital skill that wouldn't be sharpened in this situation. This is just an example, but I feel that as AI advances I could see it becoming a crutch for newer MRX professionals that truly need to get their hands dirty and work through some of these challenges that AI may be able to tackle.