15 Questions Celebrating 15 Years: A Conversation with Mae Atwood

If you’ve worked with Hypothesis for any length of time, there’s a decent chance you’ve had the good fortune to work with Mae Atwood. For those who haven’t met her yet, it’s no doubt because she’s in high demand; clients are consistently enamored by her impressive intelligence and uncanny ability to make a sea of complex findings both navigable and actionable.  

The good fortune is really ours, however, as Mae celebrates her 15th anniversary working at Hypothesis this year. One of our first employees, she's had a front row seat to our trajectory from a handful of pioneers to a well-known firm sought out by the world’s most disruptive brands. We recently sat down with Mae to talk about her career, and her experience of growing professionally alongside a changing company.  

Read on to learn about Mae’s journey to becoming an expert in her field, her approach to raising a family while continuing to cultivate an impressive career, and her advice on what companies can do to better support Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the workplace. 

1. How did you first discover insights as a career? 2. Did you always intend to work in this industry? 

My journey to insights was very unconventional! I actually majored in Biology in undergrad. I was pre-med and had been studying chemistry, physics, physiology, and the like. I didn’t take a single class in marketing, advertising, or market research while in college.  

By my Junior year, I had finished all my Bio requirements, so I ended up taking statistics and found it to be interesting. I ended up accepting an internship at a consulting company after that, which sparked my interest in insights. After college, I started out in advertising research and learned about the world of copy testing and ad tracking. I really loved the work and my interest in the broader world of insights grew from there.  

3. We know you aren't one to brag about this, so we’ll brag for you: you graduated from Harvard? 

I did, yes. 😊  

4. That’s no small accomplishment. Can you tell us more about your journey to being pre-med at Harvard?  

I'm an immigrant. My family immigrated from the Philippines when I was 14. As immigrants, my parents didn’t know about the many career options that were available in the US, so they encouraged me to become a doctor. I think it's kind of cultural. As a child of Filipino parents when you go to college, they often want you to be a doctor or a lawyer instead of pursuing something like business, which can sometimes be viewed as a riskier career choice.  

Lucky for us (and our clients), it sounds like you made a bold choice to follow your own path. 

5. Jumping back to your early career, can you describe what Hypothesis was like when you first started at the company? 

I joined as Hypothesis’ 9th employee, so the agency was still small when I came on board. It was my third job out of college, but I had been working in research for 14 years at that point. The organization was relatively flat at that time. We didn’t even have titles back then!  

I hadn’t been looking for a new job, but a headhunter called me about the position. At that time, I had a four-year-old at home and my commute to work was an hour and a half each way. The Hypothesis office was just downstairs from the Metro Blue Line, so it was an easier commute. I had been wanting to do more custom research as well, so I took it as a sign.  

6. What did your responsibilities look like in the beginning?  

When I started, there were two to three people in the office who were focused on operations, while the rest of us made up the Project team. The Project team did everything from start to finish, from questionnaire writing to analysis and creating our reports. The only thing we outsourced were survey programming and data collection. 

7. What was it like for you rising up in the insights profession, while also raising a child?  

My son was a busy kid with extracurricular activities ranging from baseball, soccer, robotics, and scouting. I didn’t want him to miss out on being able to do those things because my husband and I were both working. I was happy that working at Hypothesis allowed me to be there for my son, while continuing my career.  

8. It seems like Hypothesis offers a flexible environment for working parents. Was that your experience? 

Yes! We really strive for a good work life balance here. Our leadership has been great about, and supportive of, creating space for both work and family. Sometimes I get busy and have a lot of projects going on, but we take turns supporting one another when that happens.  

9. What is your main focus now, in your current role?  

Present day, I’m focused on maintaining client relationships and managing accounts while helping junior project team members develop their skills. I find it really rewarding to help guide those just starting out in the industry, such as new analysts and interns. That, along with the distinctly interesting work we do for our clients, keeps me engaged with my job. I really love it.  

10. What are some of the things that you do to support new insights professionals on their career journey? 

I think for those in management roles at Hypothesis, whenever we onboard a new hire to a new project, we want to make sure they understand the research objectives. Doing so just makes every task more meaningful.  

I also like to encourage new insights professionals to get the most out of every task they do, whether it’s learning about new methodologies or the latest trends in our clients’ category. I try to underscore the importance of reflecting, listening, and learning from every task or project. Further down the line, they will be carrying the torch for the type of work that we do. It's important to keep them engaged with insights as a profession and deepen their understanding how we at Hypothesis help brands utilize research in their business decisions. 

11. While we're on the subject of mentors, have you had any formal or informal mentors during your career? 

I didn't have formal mentors, but I received a broader, more informal mentorship through Hypothesis' open-door policy. Our physical workspaces were intentionally open so that it was easy to brainstorm with others over a particular question or challenge. I was able to grow as a researcher and insights professional through that level of access. Even now in a more hybrid-remote environment, we still work to keep the “open door” culture alive via Slack and other means.  

12. What do you love the most about your career as an Insights professional? 

We work with the most amazing clients and brands. The companies that we work with are typically industry leaders in whatever space they occupy. I really love being able to help them address their bigger strategic questions or the more focused tactical ones.  

At some points the question may even be something like, ‘Should that be pink, or blue?’ It may seem silly, but there could be major ramifications if a client chooses one over the other. Seeing the results of the work that we do featured in TV advertising, showcased on a shelf out in the marketplace, or talked about on the news or written about online, is really rewarding. All of it is evidence that what we do at Hypothesis helps shape the future. We may not be saving lives, but we are helping important companies do amazing things. 

As you know, Hypothesis has been doing a lot of work around increasing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Access. While AAPI employees are well represented across the professional services industry, research tells us that disproportionally few AAPI workers get promoted to leadership roles.

13. In your opinion, what can businesses be doing to better support AAPI staff interested in moving into leadership positions?  

Let me start by saying: representation matters. Seeing someone from the AAPI community rise to the top and become CEO, for example – it's inspiring.  

I think there can be cultural hurdles – especially for immigrants. It could be a lack of confidence or a communication barrier due to accents. Businesses can support their staff by creating opportunities – programs, platforms – to understand why fewer AAPI professionals are up in the ranks, providing leadership training to help AAPI professionals overcome culturally-based obstacles and expose them to other AAPI professionals who can talk about their successes and how they’ve overcome similar challenges. 

14. How do you think companies benefit when they hire AAPI and BIPOC individuals to leadership roles? 

Brands and agencies can get a lot out of hiring leaders with diverse perspectives, including those from the many cultures under the AAPI umbrella. We bring different worldviews, and we represent a lot of people in the US. It's an important group of people for businesses to understand, so having representation in the room, people who can relate to AAPI consumer experiences firsthand, is very important. 

15. How can non-minority employees better support and champion their AAPI colleagues at work? 

Being aware of the broad diversity within the AAPI community is key. There are a lot of shared values across Asian and Pacific Islander cultures, but there are also differences in norms and traditions that make each one unique. 

There are many resources available online to learn more about AAPI Americans. One such resource is an organization called LEAP – Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics – it offers workshops for people to learn about the different histories and cultures of AAPI groups. Advocating for these kinds of workshops within your organization is a great start.