Kristin Luck serves as an advisor and growth strategist to a number of cutting-edge marketing and analytics technology and services firms through her consultancy, ScaleHouse. She is the founder of two marketing analytics companies that she led to successful exits. Kristin co-founded OTX, an online research business that was named the fastest growing research firm in the world in 2002 and 2003 and was subsequently acquired by Pilot Group and again by Ipsos in 2007. She then founded Forefront Consulting Group, a research technology firm that was acquired by Decipher. Decipher was acquired by FocusVision in 2014 after seven consecutive years of double- and triple-digit growth. FocusVision merged with Confirmit in 2021 to become Forsta, where she sat on the the Board of Directors until its recent acquisition by Press Ganey.
Kristin is a licensed investment banker with Oberon Securities and a founder focused on helping fellow founders and executive teams scale and monetize their businesses. Her deal expertise on both sides of transactions comes from participating in both acquisitions and exits from $30 million to $225 million. She is also passionate about supporting founders in international markets execute their entry into the U.S.Kristin regularly contributes to both the commercial (Fast Company, Forbes) and academic press (Research World, Journal of Brand Strategy) where she explores emerging marketing and research methods. She is consistently ranked as one of the top 100 sales and branding experts to follow on social media.
In addition to Founding, Women in Research, Kristin has also served on the board of ESOMAR, the global insights and analytics association, for eight years; including a two year term as Vice-President and a two year term as President.
Michelle Andre has held executive and management level positions in a variety of industries, from corporate to agency to nonprofit. As Managing Director of WIRe, Michelle is responsible for organizational development and oversight, fundraising, marketing, and assisting with strategic long-term planning. She holds an MS in integrated marketing communications from Golden Gate University and BAs in communications and in studio art from Santa Clara University. She also has an advanced certification in graphic design from U.C. Berkeley and is DMA certified in a variety of fields. Michelle is a recent recipient of the International Stevie Award for Women in Business and is a past recipient of the Women in Business and the Professions World Award and the Best in Biz Marketing Executive Award, and serves as a Judge for the annual Reggie Awards. A devoted proponent of the arts, Andre volunteers with a variety of community cultural activities and organizations.
Jessica oversees communications and programing designed with the 12,000+ members of the organization’s growing community in mind. She received her Masters in Critical Theory from Pacific Northwest College of Art where she served as a thesis advisor for graduate-level and bachelors-level students and her BA from Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. A lifelong proponent of slow and local food, she’s the co-founder of Person Street Market—a community farmer’s market hosted in Downtown Raleigh—and has worked with organizations such as the YWCA in the service of eliminating racism and empowering women. In her spare time she’s a freelance content and writing coach, a novice garment maker, and an overly-indulgent dog owner.
