top of page
TEAM_PALM_TREE_Background.jpg
Green_Tablet.png
TEAM_PEOPLE_Background.png

Talk Shoppe is an Ogilvy-award-winning, minority-owned consumer research agency founded by Liana Morgado and later joined by Ruth Behr. After spending over a decade in the one-size-fits-all world of consumer insights, they recognized a better approach.

 

Liana and Ruth founded Talk Shoppe on the belief that tailored approaches, thoughtful analysis, and an obsession with design and detail are the foundation of outstanding research. Fourteen years later, their world-class client list agrees.

 

Talk Shoppe’s research solutions are tailored to reflect your specific goals and challenges. We operate as an extension of your team to design and execute studies that align with your strategic objectives.

Our Story

Our Team

LIANA_WEB.jpg
Liana Morgado
Founding Partner

Liana founded Talk Shoppe in 2010. After spending 11 years in the world of consumer insights working as a strategic planner at McCann-Erickson LA, a youth insight specialist, a trend spotter at Look-Look, and a qualitative director at Hall & Partners, Liana had a vision for a new kind of agency: An agency in which dated models and methods of research would be replaced by more flexible and creative strategies, an agency in which the talent would not only achieve research objectives but go above and beyond, creating joy-sparking, creative, tailor-made solutions for her clients.

Liana inherited her pioneering spirit from her parents who immigrated to the U.S. from Cuba before she was born. In her 30s, Liana’s natural empathy for others increased exponentially when she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. (It has not slowed her down.) An unapologetic homebody, outside of work Liana can be found at home with her husband and young daughter where they are almost certainly dancing to Salsa music or Billy Joel.

RUTH_WEB.jpg
Ruth Behr
Managing Partner

Ruth joined Talk Shoppe as Managing Partner in 2011. She has extensive experience as a research client, having worked in advertising agencies before moving to the research-provider side and eventually serving as a Director at Nielsen. While she primarily manages qualitative research now, Ruth also moderates; recent clients include Netflix, Snapchat, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.

A self-proclaimed news junkie, Ruth enjoys deep diving into controversial current events, seeking out multiple perspectives to gain a better understanding of how a single event can produce multiple narratives and how an individual’s personal stories inform their reactions to politics, conflict, climate change, (and marketing!).

Outside of work, Ruth is a half-marathoner, a Pearl Jam superfan, loves hiking in LA with her family, and is quickly becoming a loyal fan of the LAFC (Los Angeles Football Club).

TAL_WEB.jpg
Tal Oren
Head of Growth and Learning

Tal Oren has been leading our quantitative research team since 2015. Before being tapped to lead at Talk Shoppe, Tal acquired over a decade of research experience working for Hall & Partners, Kelton Global, and Activision Blizzard. Tal is pleased to have curated insights for some of the most successful brands in the world, including Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Netflix, Comcast, Telemundo, and Target. Having lived in Israel, Argentina, Chile, and Canada, as well as being fluent in both Spanish and Hebrew, Tal is a natural resource for our international clients.
 

His passion for research is an elegant extension of Tal’s lifelong obsession with crossword puzzles. In research, as in puzzle solving, Tal turns away from seemingly obvious solutions, bending (and sometimes entirely breaking) the way he thinks to allow for new connections. In addition to crossword puzzles, Tal loves reading philosophy and history and grilling South-American meals for his wife and daughter. If you’re in LA, you might bump into him at a pub trivia night—look for team ‘Stephen Hawking's Karaoke Machine,’ on the leaderboard.

HEATHERS_WEB.jpg
Heather Spears
Chief Operations Officer

An accomplished marketing leader with extensive experience managing corporate and brand communications, Heather is at home on both sides of the research equation. On the agency side, Heather has worked for McCann-Erickson, Vitro Agency, and The Brand Amp; brands that have benefitted from Heather’s leadership include Adidas Golf, TaylorMade Golf, ASICS, Road Runner Sports, and 361 Degrees. With international knowledge of regional brand development, strategy creation, and execution, the value Heather brings to Talk Shoppe is limitless, as is her energy.

As COO, Heather ensures not only that the company is operating at its apex, but that Talk Shoppe talent are equally healthy and supported: “Our employees are the engine, heart, and soul of Talk Shoppe—making sure they are happy is a win-win, ultimately benefitting our clients with award-winning results.”
Always moving, it comes as no surprise that Heather is a Diet Coke addict and a fitness class devotee. When she does slow down, she relishes time with her husband, eleven-year-old daughter, and extended family at their lakeside cabin in Minnesota.

HEATHER_WEB.jpg
Heather McKinney
Group Director

Heather brings over 13 years of consumer insight experience to Talk Shoppe, most recently leading strategic research for WarnerMedia (TBS, TNT, and HBO Max). She earned her Bachelor's in Telecommunications and her MBA from the University of Georgia (Go Dawgs!).

Obsessed with puzzles and crime-solving since childhood, Heather is a bulldog (yep, we just did that) when it comes to demystifying human behavior, capturing actionable consumer insights, and helping her clients best use those insights to drive business growth.
 

At home in Atlanta, Heather is most likely chasing a new badge on Peloton or chasing after her two young boys who are probably chasing Peggy, their rescued Beagle-Dachshund mix.

ALEX_WEB.jpg
Alex Tobin
Director

Alex brings organic and robust international experience to the director role. Serving as Vice President of Research Operations for FACTA, she directed Latin American qualitative and quantitative operations for clients such as Pfizer, Novartis, and Astra Zeneca. As Head of the Automotive Division for Synovate, Alex led the Latin American Regional Automotive Group, conducting research studies on a global scale for clients such as GM and Toyota.
 

Her passion for listening to people’s stories, coupled with her desire to understand how lived experiences inform how we interact with the world, makes Alex a natural researcher. The words of Iris Apfel, “In order to be interesting, you have to be interested,” drive Alex in both her professional and personal life.
 

With an eclectic love of music—everything from the Bossa Novas and Sambas she listened to growing up in Rio, to Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, and electronic dance—Alex is happiest when singing and dancing. Most Thursday nights you can find her engaged in “karaoke therapy,” in her new hometown of Miami.

MARIA_WEB.jpg
Maria Demas Goodin
Field Director

Maria has been managing qualitative research projects for twenty-five years. Her innate curiosity about the world, the people in it, and the psychology behind the choices they make first drew Maria to research, and it is her easy rapport with consumers that has helped brands such as Disney, Facebook, YouTube, and Reddit make meaningful connections with new audiences.
 

Maria lives in Las Vegas, and in her spare time, she enjoys volunteering at an equine-assisted therapy center and helping her autistic son navigate the “exciting” world of high school.

RACHEL_WEB.jpg
Rachel Licata Antczak
Senior Director

Rachel has over 8 years of experience in the world of consumer insights. Before joining Talk Shoppe, she was a researcher at Kelton Global and Hypothesis Group and has worked with premier brands such as, Facebook, Google, YouTube, and Pandora.

Rachel discovered her passion for polling and statistics while earning her Bachelor’s in Government and her love of analyzing human behavior while earning her minor in Anthropology at Smith College. An avid reader, Rachel enjoys staying informed on current events and trends to ensure they inform research approaches, particularly the reflection of demographic shifts in sample/study design.
 

Rachel is a proud dog mom to a sweet Pitbull named Eliza. She’s also a Philadelphia sports fan, despite the regular heartbreak.

DANIEL_WEB.jpg
Daniel Spadaro
Senior Director

One of our lead moderators, Daniel has been with Talk Shoppe since 2016. Before joining Talk Shoppe, Daniel worked as a brand strategist for some of the most respected names in advertising, including Arnold Worldwide, Leo Burnett, and Deutsch LA.

With 12 years of combined experience in market research and brand strategy, Daniel brings empathy and a sincere desire to understand the consumer voice to every project, most recently working with clients such as Google, Facebook, Grindr, Netflix, Pandora, YouTube, and Reddit. Daniel holds a B.A. in Fashion Marketing from LIM College.
 

Living in New York, Boston, and Chicago before settling in Los Angeles, Daniel inherited his spirit for adventure from his family—his dad, grandfather, grandmother, and aunt are all pilots! In his spare time, you can find Daniel running, hiking, sampling some of L.A.’s best food, and volunteering for The Trevor Project, a crisis hotline for LGBTQ youth.

JOYCE_WEB.jpg
Joyce Chuinkam
Senior Manager

Joyce brings a wealth of leadership experience to Talk Shoppe. Having previously conducted research for companies within the CPG, food service, tech, and social media spaces, Joyce’s passion for crafting consumer insights into actionable data has benefitted some of the world’s leading brands, including Google, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Kimberly Clark, Coca-Cola, Pandora, Disney, and Tamagotchi. Achieving a truly distinguished education, Joyce holds a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Penn State University, studied Politics Philosophy and Economics (PPE) at Oxford University, holds an MSc in MSc in Global Media from the London School of Economics (LSE), and an M.A. in Global Communications from the University of Southern California.


Through qualitative research, Joyce feeds her inner storyteller, “I get to connect with people and hear their stories. Report writing is more than just a memo - it is an opportunity to give consumers a voice and represent them in a way that clients can act upon.”
 

To relax, Joyce reads nonfiction, blogs, and travels. There was also that one time when she rocked a bodybuilding competition.

LINDSAY_WEB.jpg
Lindsay Clark
Senior Manager

Lindsay brings a decade of research experience to Talk Shoppe. Beginning her career in operations at Lightspeed Research (now part of Kantar) and Toluna, she switched to quantitative research in 2017 and knew she’d found her home. Lindsay’s innate curiosity in human behavior, and her passion for finding meaning and patterns within complex data, have made her a powerful partner to clients such as Comcast, Allstate, Pfizer, Blue Cross Blue Shield, and Bank of America. Lindsay holds a B.A. in Communication Processes and Spanish from UConn, and an M.S. in Communication Sciences and Disorders from William Paterson University. Also a licensed speech-language pathologist, Lindsay has worked with language-delayed toddlers, where she discovered she enjoyed solving “pint-sized people puzzles,” by analyzing collected data to identify patterns that would determine a diagnosis and treatment.

 

Outside of work, you’ll find Lindsay hiking, cycling, or traveling—folding two of her favorite pastimes into one grand adventure, she recently hiked Kauai’s NaPali coastline. Her at-home fitness routine includes jockeying for position on her office chair with her partner’s rescue cat, Felix, and her rescue dog, Cashew.

DWIGHT_WEB.jpg
Dwight Ragland
Senior Manager

Before joining Talk Shoppe, Dwight led research in the healthcare, automotive, CPG, QSR, and social media spaces. His expertise has made an impact with brands such as Coca-Cola, Disney, YouTube, FedEx, and US Bank. Inquisitive and empathetic,

 

Dwight is passionate about understanding what drives consumer behavior and turning those insights into a narrative that earns the attention of the consumer and inspires brand loyalty. Dwight holds a Bachelor’s in Communication from Oakland University.

Moderating has filtered into Dwight’s life outside of work, “As a researcher, I’m less likely to assume things or put people in a box, rather I allow them to surprise me as the complex individuals that they are. I’m also much more empathetic and am compelled to see things from others’ perspectives.”

A proud Detroit resident, a gamer, craft beer lover, and an avid reader, Dwight is also a (barely) recovering sneaker addict.

JOANNA_WEB.jpg
Joanna Jara
Manager

Joanna has over a decade of research experience. Before joining Talk Shoppe, Joanna worked at Nielsen, Maru/Matchbox, and Screen Engine where she oversaw research projects testing television pilots, series concepts, and accompanying promotional content. Clients Joanna has worked with include, ABC, CBS, Comcast, Comedy Central, FOX, Showtime, Telemundo, and Univision. Joanna earned her Bachelor’s in Film and Electronic Arts from California State Long Beach.


Joanna finds that the skills she’s acquired via her love of cycling and yoga translate perfectly to the research world—some projects require speed, others require patience but all require close attention and the ability to interpret and act on cues.

Living in Los Angeles, Joanna paddleboards, kayaks, and rock climbs on the weekends. She also relishes couch potato status on fall Sundays when her family stays in to root for the New England Patriots.

MEG_WEB.jpg
Meg DiRutigliano
Designer

Having worked for design houses across the country, including, Seven Design in San Francisco,  Selbert Perkins in Chicago, and MSA Design in Cincinnati, Meg’s experience is both expansive and fresh. While she loves all things design, her true passion is converting data into visualized and engaging stories. Brands Meg has designed for include Coca-Cola, Kellogg, P&G, Mars, Visa, and Stellantis (formerly Fiat Chrysler Automobiles).


For Meg, “Research has always been a huge part of my design process. I love working on a new subject and immersing myself in the platform, the user experience, and understanding the customer’s journey. Putting the whole story together is a fun and complex process; having thoughtfully interpreted research to inform the design makes the outcome so much stronger.”

Let’s Connect

bottom of page