Sarah Amini

I would say a lot of things contribute to my success, but the foundation really comes from the work ethic that being raised by my parents instilled in me. My parents are both immigrants, and I think having to kind of pick myself up by my bootstraps and learn from them has been huge. They've inspired me a lot and taught me to just go for it, instilling in me this type of initiative that's really driven me throughout my career. It was a tough love type of foundation, but it was definitely effective. I'm like, they kind of kicked my butt a little bit, but thanks, it works! I finished my undergraduate and got my master's when I was 21, so I've been going through life a little quickly. Beyond that foundation, I think having the rigorous master's program and all the great research experiences I've had, including working with an amazing professor at the University of Oregon who believed in me and let me dive deep into research, have all shaped my journey. But really, it all comes back to that work ethic and drive my parents gave me.

The best career advice I've ever received came from my current manager when I first started at YouGov. She challenged me to ask for a raise, and I was so scared to ask for one. She said, 'No, you know, women don't do this enough. I didn't even negotiate for a higher salary when I started.' I think it's something that a lot of women specifically don't feel comfortable doing - standing up for and advocating for themselves. It's definitely something that I try to instill upon the people that work for me now. And it's not just about raises and salaries, but advocating for yourself in general. Not only does that help you, but it helps others around you do their jobs. When you need help and you're not asking for it, things fall apart, and ultimately that not only hurts you, it can hurt your team too. I've definitely had to learn that the hard way at times, so it's advice I should have listened to earlier in my career, and I definitely want others to hear that. Maybe it's a little cliche, but it's been really helpful for me.

My advice would be similar to what I mentioned about self-advocacy: don't wait for permission. I think for a long time, I was just waiting to speak or waiting for my turn, and people around me were not - they were just kind of going for it. Especially as younger women start joining the workforce for the first time, they really need to go for it and just start reaching out to random people. I see people starting to reach out as third or fourth connections on LinkedIn, for example, trying to get their foot in the door at different companies. I know it's tough these days, especially now, so it's okay - go for it. It's normal. You're not a weirdo for doing that. Having been there myself, I know that it can be a little nerve-wracking, but it's okay. You don't need to wait for permission.

The biggest challenge in my field right now is definitely AI. Specifically within market research, there are a lot of challenges to quality in research. I do a lot of online surveys, and that can be challenged by bots and artificial data coming through. Trying to capture or clean that out is getting increasingly difficult, and data quality is being constantly challenged. Also, certain jobs are being considered redundant or just kicked out altogether because of AI. I think that's been the biggest challenge that has been going on, and I think it's going to continue. I don't know, we'll see - it's just evolving. I know there's a lot of smart people in the field constantly trying to keep up with all of these evolving data quality issues and stay one step ahead of the evolution of AI and keep themselves important and useful. I don't think researchers are going anywhere by any means, but these technologies are definitely just posing new issues.

Transparency has been a big value for me, especially as a leader. I think that's come up more recently with leadership and getting into the politics of the role, and also just with my friends - being honest. I guess it's kind of the same thing, transparency and honesty. I don't want to ever hide anything from my staff, my friends, or loved ones. It gives me a lot of anxiety when things are not straightforward, and it causes a lot of downstream issues when people are not forward or straightforward with their feelings or what the issues are. In the end of the day, it's easier to just be forthright with the concerns that people are having. I've seen teams kind of fall apart, or have issues, and friendships as well, when they're just quietly building resentment instead of just addressing issues head-on, or rumors start brewing instead of just coming clean and talking about what is actually going on. I'd rather avoid that. Being myself authentically is also really important to me. A lot of the time I felt like it was not good to be myself, and that might come from having immigrant parents and that background. But having grown up a bit and come into my own these days, I think now it's really important to me to embrace myself and create an environment where other people also feel comfortable being themselves authentically. Obviously not being unprofessional or anything like that, but just creating that space. That's very important to me, not just at work but with friends and family as well.