Paying it Forward: LRW’s Julia Garcia on Learning — and Teaching — as a Senior Research Manager
A few months into her fourth role in less than four years, Julia Garcia is no stranger to growth. For her and her colleagues at LRW, it’s a team sport — one that allows them to evolve not only as individuals, but as a company. Below, Julia discusses the resources and mindsets that set the company apart, explains why learning is critical to LRW’s work and culture, and shares what she’s excited about in her latest role.
Tell us about your path at LRW so far.
I joined the team about three-and-a-half years ago as a research associate, then became a research manager, and a couple of years ago, a senior research manager, or SRM. That was an especially exciting transition for me because it meant being responsible for more projects — it’s less about doing it all yourself, and more about overseeing the work of a team and deciding how you’re going to divide and conquer.
The SRM role was also my first experience in a formal people management role, and I’ve really enjoyed helping my direct reports grow in terms of their overall careers, rather than just on specific projects. A couple of months ago, I was promoted to research director. This role is a nice mix, too — I get to continue helping people pursue their individual goals while still exercising my project management skills.
Why did you decide to join LRW?
One thing that really set LRW apart for me was what we call “So What?” thinking. We operate as consultants as well as market researchers; we want to offer clients something truly meaningful for their business, rather than just regurgitating facts and observations. Data is useful because it helps us tell stories. That mindset is a good fit for me, because while I love math and science, I have a more creative side, too — I actually minored in playwriting in college.
“LRW has a very entrepreneurial mindset, more like a startup, which definitely appealed to me.”
We’re also different from your typical market research firm in that we put a lot of emphasis on evolving as a company and making sure we keep up with the times. We have a Pragmatic Brain Science team looking at new psychological frameworks we might be able to use to better understand what motivates consumers. And our Digital Analytics team is exploring ways to integrate modern data analytics with traditional research, so we can learn from people’s day-to-day interactions with their devices rather than just having them take a survey. LRW has a very entrepreneurial mindset, more like a startup, which definitely appealed to me.
What else is different about market research at LRW?
One big difference is the internal resources we have access to here. There’s a Programming team, a Design team, a Data Collection team, a Marketing and Data Science team. Because we work with those specialists, we can focus on the research itself rather than worrying about gathering information or putting a deck together. The first time a new employee works with our Design team, I always tell them, “You’re going to love this. They’re going to make your work look so good!” We can just give them a written outline of a report and they’ll take it from there, which is so nice. At a lot of companies, you’d either have to do that work yourself or you’d outsource it — and maybe end up wishing you’d done it yourself. Because our support teams are integrated within LRW, everything is much more streamlined.
Another thing I really like is the unique framework we use to guide our research. It mirrors the thinking many researchers do intuitively, but I think having the formalized process is such a good safeguard that also enables us to put new researchers in a position to master the skill themselves. It takes you all the way from initial study design to what you want to deliver to the client at the end, and it makes sure you’re mapping back to that end goal every step of the way.
What’s the company culture like?
There’s a lot of value placed on diverse perspectives, from who we hire to how we encourage people to speak up. That’s especially important as a researcher, because if you work only with people who think like you do, you’re inevitably going to miss things. We tell people from the day they start, “If you have an idea, even if you’re not sure it’s right, just say it!” I’ve always felt like I had a seat at the table.
“There’s a lot of value placed on diverse perspectives, from who we hire to how we encourage people to speak up.”
Now that I’m overseeing projects, I try to make sure the junior people I work with feel the same way. Before I put something in front of a client, I always ask my team to brainstorm with me or read through a deliverable and let me know if there’s anything they think we should change. I had a research associate in her first month raise an issue that was spot-on that I hadn’t even thought about. But even if someone makes a suggestion we don’t end up following, it’s a good opportunity to have a conversation that can help them grow.
Something else I really appreciate about LRW’s culture is the way we recognize wins. We really value them — we have a celebration budget and an internal website where we can acknowledge people for going above and beyond.
How does LRW help team members grow?
In terms of formal training, there are a ton of offerings through what we call LRW University. Every new employee goes through certain courses as part of onboarding, to introduce them to the specific frameworks and technical tools we use. And once a quarter, all the new hires gather in LA for a weeklong program called Immersion. It’s partly training, but also a chance to get to know your colleagues better, which is especially nice for our remote team members.
We also have enrichment-type courses every quarter — you can learn a new methodology from the Marketing and Data Science team to help with an upcoming project, or brush up on a tool you haven’t used in a while. I just took a 12-week management training course our Talent team developed, which had a bunch of great frameworks I can use for that part of my job.
But learning doesn’t have to be formal — people are also happy to answer questions as things come up. The first time I did an employee review, I set up a meeting with someone on the Talent team just to make sure I understood the process. There’s support available whenever you need it; all you have to do is ask.
What’s challenging about your work?
I’m still settling into the research director role, but when I was an SRM, I think the biggest challenge was striking a balance between the hands-on work required to keep a project moving forward and doing more high-level analysis. There’s always a push-pull. We’re all one team, working toward the same goal. If no one’s available to do a program check, I’m going to jump in and fill that gap. But the more I can teach my team and help them build those skills themselves, the more opportunities they’ll have — and the more I’ll be able to focus on the big picture.
What are you most excited about right now?
I get excited every time we complete a project that helps our clients, but right now I’m especially enjoying watching my direct reports learn and grow. A research manager on my team just finished her first project. It was a very complex global study in the healthcare space — and she nailed it. She completely understood the big picture of what the client was trying to do. Seeing something like that is really exciting. I’ve had so much support and mentorship from my own manager, and I love being able to pay that forward.
Interested in joining the LRW team?
Get in touch or read more about the Senior Research Manager position.
