30Under30 Nominee: Sarah Vasic

Great to hear from Global 30 Under 30 Nominee, Sara Vasic, a Senior Consultant in the Quant and Analytics team at Truth Consulting in London. Truth Consulting works with global brands, professional membership bodies, third-sector organisations, universities and more, so no two projects are ever the same! Sara is involved at every stage of the research process, from scoping and questionnaire design through scripting, fieldwork, analysis and reporting, and she works with clients on their challenges every step of the way.

How did you find your way into research, data and insights?

To be honest, coming out of university I’d never heard the term “market research”. I graduated wanting a job in marketing and spent over a year searching for a graduate scheme (a very tough time to be a Covid grad!) before I came across one in research. I’d studied Psychology and always loved the research and stats modules, so it sounded perfect for me. I applied, got the job and spent my first few years in the social research department of a big research organisation, working mixed method throughout. A couple of years ago I moved into market research at Truth, to try working with commercial clients and to get more experience of the consultative side that comes after delivering results. I now sit in the quant team, but I’m always trying to flex my “qual muscle” and figure out how we can work better across teams.

What part of your work are you most proud of and why?

The work I’m most proud of is a project stream I led for a global toy brand. It sized what children aged 6 to 12 are passionate about across multiple markets, speaking to more than 3,000 children and their parents.

What I’m proudest of is how much of the study we handed to the children themselves. Too often, research about children is really research about what parents think their children like. So, after a short set of parent questions, the survey passed to the child to tell us about their passions in their own words. We scaled the parent’s role to the child’s age: parents read aloud for the youngest, helped with reading for the middle group and just supervised the oldest. That way every child could take part and the answers stayed theirs.

To go deeper than a tick list, we used AI probing. A chatbot followed up on each child’s answer, asking what they loved about their passion and how they got into it. That meant making an AI conversation work for both a 6-year-old in China and a 12-year-old in the US, which took extensive testing to make sure it was child-friendly at every level. The result was a rich picture of the specific characters, games, music and worlds children love, and why, in their own language.

I led the kids’ stream from design through to delivery. That included localising the questionnaire and framework, working with fieldwork partners in both markets and turning the data into a story-led final report built around real words from real children.

It reinforced why I love working in insights. Children’s voices are often missing from the decisions made about them, and at its best, research puts them back in the room. It’s also refreshing to work with a brand that cares so much about the consumer’s life, not just what they buy.

What have you learned so far that you wish you’d known when you started your career?

I often struggle with imposter syndrome, especially as a more junior team member. I used to think that colleagues with more experience always knew better and that I shouldn’t question decisions, suggest alternatives or offer up my own ideas. I’ve learnt (or rather, I’m still learning) that this isn’t true. Sharing your ideas is always a good thing. Either they get implemented and you earn some brownie points, you learn why they wouldn’t work or you raise something nobody else had considered. Sometimes a fresh perspective is exactly what a project needs!

What excites you most about the future of insights and what would you like to help change?

I’m genuinely excited about what AI (used well) can do for our industry. It can speed up processes, take the less glamorous jobs off our plates, free up time for bigger-picture thinking and creativity, and act as a sounding board for ideas, and I’m sure it will soon do much more than that. But what excites me even more is the next wave of insight professionals. We recently opened our Truth Talent programme to people new to the workforce or looking for a career change and I was very impressed by the calibre of applicants. I can’t wait to see who joins us and more broadly where the next generation and their new perspectives take the industry. I’d love to be there as a mentor or buddy to some of them!

What advice would you give someone just starting out in the industry today?

Don’t be afraid to offer up ideas and solutions or to ask silly questions. It’s the best way to learn! I’d also encourage people to put their hand up for every client project or internal piece of work they can, even if they’re not sure they’re the right person. Any experience that’s different or completely new is invaluable when you’re starting out.

Who has helped you along the way?

Octavia, an Associate Director in our quant team, who taught me our data software from the ground up, answers all my silly questions and is always a positive, friendly face in the office. She’s an absolute data machine and I genuinely feel there’s nothing she couldn’t do if she put her mind to it! Working with her is the best.

And Maria, the head of our team, who is sometimes the busiest person in the world but never fails to make time for anyone who needs help or to remember a birthday (and provide cupcakes), which is extremely important of course.