Defined as the systematic collection and the analysis of data market research and data analysis is a branch where the data regarding a specific target market or even a defined segment is collected for review. This can include the information of your competition, or the information related to your business needs like supply and demand, products and consumers.
Collecting of this data and representing it in a way that is easy for the investors or the stakeholders to explain is a skill donned by just a few.
Featuring for The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Most Successful Business Leaders to Watch Out is Patti Brownsord, Partner at Grounded With Data, who is making lives easier with her accurate information and representation of data.
In this interview with her, let us know more about the journey of the Grounded With Data.
Brief us about your company, what inspired you to start the company?
Grounded With Data is a market research and data analysis consulting firm. Grounded With Data work with businesses to help them figure out what they’re leaving on the table by not using their data and how they can start making better data-driven decisions.
My business partner and I both come from agency backgrounds where every day was different, and we had to learn fast about various industries to become effective with our recommendations. We pride ourselves on quickly getting up to speed with clients and bringing them new insights and ah-ha moments. One of our favorite things to hear is, “well, I never thought about it that way before .” We wanted to start Grounded With Data for the freedom of being our own bosses, working for clients we love, and growing a team that felt supported and inspired by their work.
What are the products or services Grounded With Data focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?
Grounded With Data typically works with clients still learning about data and how it can be used. Grounded With Data focus on third-party research projects, surveys, and setting up data processes; additional tasks such as focus groups, asset analysis, marketing analysis, and dashboards/reporting blossom from the initial work.
Grounded With Data is the Approachable Data Folks. We want our clients to feel comfortable with their data and create presentations, dashboards, and reports that are easy enough for them to present to others and look like rockstars. I’ve seen many consultants come in to build dashboards and reports that become so elaborate that the end-user scraps them. If our clients don’t use it, it wastes everyone’s time, and we never want that.
Most non-profits and foundations we work with come to us with a problem to solve, and then we start building more long-term relationships with them as their go-to data people. For small and medium-sized businesses, we either help them prepare for growth or figure out their capacity issues since they grew too fast and hadn’t prepared for it. It’s usually a combination of system congestion and culture shift, so we always mix training and process improvements.
Please tell us about your team.
I am essentially the Co-CEO, CMO, in charge of sales and stay directly connected with the clients as their representative. My experience in media, marketing, business intelligence, and general strategy has put me in a unique position to help clients consistently steer themselves to the best outcomes.
My business partner, Dr. Jack Slingluff, Jr., is the other Co-CEO and COO and is in charge of the outcome of the projects. He has experience working with large casinos for their Customer Experience and Satisfaction. He knows surveys, focus groups, and the best way to tackle big market research projects. He also loves advanced statistics.
When we take on market research projects, we always create a team of senior leaders and creative thinkers from different generations and backgrounds to help build collaborative reports. It always leads to innovative insights that leave our clients delighted.
Grounded With Data’s team consists of an executive administrator, who keeps Jack and me in line, plus is our editor and gut-check to ensure that we never sound wonky to clients. In addition, we have a project manager who acts as our senior market researcher. And we have various other friends we work with that help with our market research, data integration, data analysis, and data visualization projects. We pull them in as needed, depending on the assignment.
Please brief us about your professional experience.
I started at an advertising agency for seven and a half years, where I was a media planner and supervisor. I helped win various clients for the agency, my favourite being the St. Augustine-Ponte Vedra Visitor and Convention Bureau, which we later re-branded Florida’s Historic Coast.
After finishing my master’s degree at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, I became the Digital Media Manager for Clear Channel Outdoor, where I managed the digital billboards in the area. This experience gave me a better understanding of the value of money for small businesses, and I became friends with many non-profits I helped with fundraising by putting them on my digi-boards. After that, I had a small stint as a Media Director for JWT Inside (J. Walter Thompson’s recruitment division).
I then left media for Business Intelligence at the AAA National Office in Heathrow, Florida. I received a crash course in proper data visualizations and dashboarding and then moved to the Strategy, Insights, & Experience department as the Association Strategy & Special Projects Manager. This position helped increase my strategy, Grounded With Data’s goal setting, and leadership knowledge. When I left JWT Inside for AAA, they asked me if I could work on a few things for them since no one else could do it. I obliged and started this company! I was finally able to go full-time in July of 2021.
What are the key achievements of your business journey?
My first achievement was winning the Orange County Regional History Centre for its media planning and data analysis. This win was the first contract we received where it wasn’t a pick-up job from my old client. The second achievement was winning the Winter Park Health Foundation’s data analysis and market research. They are now our oldest and dearest client. They are continually finding more things we can help with, and we couldn’t be happier! The third achievement was my ability to leave my corporate job and turn my side hustle into a thriving business. We still have a way to go to be wildly successful, but we’re thriving.
Any client experience you would like to highlight?
We love working with foundations because they can help many non-profits and individuals become more successful through their grants. We also love working with non-profits because of their impact on the community. And we enjoy working with small and medium-sized businesses because if they can grow and be successful, that helps their team be happier, and that also can help the community.
Which one is your favourite quote?
“Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Willing is not enough; we must do.” – Bruce Lee
