Research Team
Our Culture
The mission of the TrustRadius Research Team is to ensure that our review platform is the most useful, trustworthy, high quality information source for technology buyers. We seek to help technology buyers make more informed decisions with less stress.
We do this by:
Understanding and accurately covering hundreds of software categories - from listing new products to producing buyers’ guides Ensuring the authenticity and quality of the reviews and ratings we collect and publish Researching the technology buying process, recommending new site features to support the buyers’ journey, and advising tech vendors on how to earn the trust of their buyers
We know that buyers on our site are using reviews—trusted feedback from their peers—to make important decisions. From producing reports like category-level buyers’ guides and the B2B Disconnect, to verifying ratings and reviews (hundreds of thousands of them), we use our skills to support that process.
Meet the Research Team of TrustRadius
Megan Headley - VP of Research
Megan attended Washington University in St. Louis where she received her BA in Chemistry and Spanish and went on to receive her MA in Journalism and Latin American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. In her early years at TrustRadius, she wrote buyer’s guides for web analytics, A/B testing, enterprise social media management suites, and CRM software. She also wrote the first B2B Disconnect study in 2017 as well as our recent 163 Voices: Women in Tech Speak Up. Megan believes trust is the most important factor for a review platform, particularly for high stakes decisions such as business technology. As such, she has written many articles in the industry such as bias in star ratings, the anatomy of fake reviews, the positive impact of negative reviews, and why buyers hate marketing messaging.
Her mission as the leader of the team is to ensure that the team has a clear impact on the business at TrustRadius and delivers as much value as possible to site visitors. Not all tech companies have a Research function but at TrustRadius Research is a foundation of our business.
Mark Barrera - VP of Audience and Content Acquisition
Mark’s team at TrustRadius is responsible for growing the audience of buyers looking for software solutions as well as growing the quantity and quality of the reviews from software buyers. Mark is a veteran of digital marketing, having worked as an agency executive for a decade before moving to the brand side. Mark has a BA in Entrepreneurship and lives in Austin with his amazing family.
Kaylin Gilkey - Director, SEO & Engagement
Kaylin graduated from University of Arkansas with a BS in Food and Human Nutrition and a Minor in Marketing and has over 10 years of experience in SEO and over 4 years of experience in the B2B tech industry. During her time at TrustRadius she has worked with the Research, Product, and Engineering teams to improve the user experience on the TrustRadius website and improving discoverability of the site’s content on organic search engines.
Katie Kyle - Research Operations Manager
Katie graduated from Texas Lutheran University with a Bachelors of science in psychology, biology minoring in statistics and has over eight years in the tech industry including enterprise level companies Adobe and Magento. After three years at TrustRadius, Katie is currently managing our review moderation team of 30+, incentive program and assisting with our public facing helpdesk. Born and raised in Austin, Katie is a self declared pop music princess and data nerd who is always looking for ways to improve our processes.
Adrienne Hardin - Senior Customer Content Manager
Adrienne graduated from Buena Vista University with a BS in business and marketing, and has over twelve years of communications experience in non-profit, government, education, small business, and B2B tech. At TrustRadius, she leads review generation initiatives for customers, a process that begins with data analysis and ends with customer success.
Katie Allison - Research Manager
Katie is a double alum of the George Washington University with a BA in International Affairs and an MA in Forensic Psychology. At TrustRadius, she leads the team of analysts responsible for maintaining and expanding our taxonomy, and works with other departments to ensure the team’s research expertise is utilized to support our customers. When she’s not at work, you will either find her on an adventure with her two rescue dogs, or on the couch with a new book.
Rebecca Susko - Marketing Program Manager
Becky Susko is a marketing program specialist with a proven track record for driving business value. She’s passionate about pushing TrustRadius to achieve brand integrity and awareness goals. Ready to take on any obstacle, Becky transformed a program in its infancy into a very successful long-running campaign. She now focuses her time on strategizing and creating new campaigns from scratch. Using repeatable functions to scale success. Becky has a knack for relationship-building and being transparent. She is the self-proclaimed "TrustRadius Awards Guru". Becky is a mom/aunt of three and if you're lucky her littles will crash your meeting for funsies, banshee-style.
Harry Lees - Research Content Team Lead
Harry graduated with comprehensive honors from the University of Wisconsin, earning a degree in Political Science and Journalism. He has been at TrustRadius for a little over a year. Harry writes, edits, and publishes content for the buyer blog. The content focuses on informing and educating buyers by arming them with the best information possible while cutting through the noise, ideally in a way that is enjoyable to read.
Camara McClellan - Project Manager - Review Generation
Camara graduated from Marymount Manhattan College with a BA in Art History. She has 18 years of experience in customer service. At TrustRadius, she engages with vendors addressing the best approach for generating reviews, heads the Omdia-TrustRadius partnership, and has a project focus on how to continuously improve the vendor experience.
Kayla Hutchinson - Marketing Campaign Specialist
Kayla graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BA in Print Journalism and Minors in Sociology and French. She has 11 years of experience in writing, as well as 6 years of experience in email marketing and community engagement. At TrustRadius, Kayla drives reviews from the community of reviewers to provide a better experience for software buyers.
Paul Ladd - Senior Research Analyst
Paul earned a Bachelors of Science in Technical Communications and a minor in Mathematics from Texas Tech University. With over 10 years in the tech industry, Paul has used, documented, developed, and taught all kinds of software. With their technical expertise and learner-first mindset, they help TrustRadius keep its IT and development content accurate, relevant, and approachable.
Zara Hanif - Research Content Editor & Writer
Zara has an English BA 2018 and Web Page Development and Design AS 2022. Her job is to write about softwares for potential buyers. She enjoys the creativity and freedom technology provides, and spends her time learning as many new programs as possible.
Alex Diaz - Research Operations Associate
Alex Diaz has been with TrustRadius for just over a year and leads our helpdesk and support function. Our helpdesk is the first and best resource for reviewers, vendors, and buyers to contact for technical support, as well as questions about our processes or partnerships.
Aidan Kennedy - Research Analyst
Aidan has a Master’s in Library and Information Science from the University of Pittsburgh and a Bachelor’s in English from the University of North Carolina Asheville. At TrustRadius, they help develop and maintain content in the vertical-specific and collaborative territories. Other research interests include natural language processing, the digital humanities, and other intersections of the technical and the human.
Neil Chandavarkar - Research Analyst
Neil holds a BA in International Relations and Political Science from the State University of New York at Geneseo, as well as an MBA in Finance and Risk Management from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. Wiith over 10 years of experience in research and writing in the tech, education, and environmental fields, he is responsible for software content updates and creation in the sales and marketing territory, and contributes regularly to the Buyer Blog.
Ryan Padgett - Data Analyst, Audience
Ryan graduated with honors in 2020 with a BBA in Business Information Systems and a minor in Spanish and Hispanic Studies from Texas Christian University. He has been at TrustRadius for almost a year, and has focused primarily on supporting various teams at TrustRadius with traffic-related data and reporting needs. When not at work, you can find him at an Austin brewery or coffee shop or escaping the Texas heat to visit family in Colorado.
Mark Thomas - Research Analyst
Mark is an analyst on the research team at TrustRadius. He holds a BE in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University. When he’s not working, he enjoys running long distances to go nowhere, overanalyzing small pieces of his daily life, and reading about ancient and medieval battle tactics.
Chris Wattles - Research Analyst
Christopher Wattles is a Research Analyst with TrustRadius. He has a BS in Health Services Administration from the University of Central Florida, and is working towards a second BS in Computer Science from Valencia College. When he’s not working he enjoys traveling, photography and editing, crafting, anime, and spending time outdoors.
Rebecca Kimber - Marketing Specialist
Rebecca Kimber is a marketing specialist focused on awards at TrustRadius. She believes trustworthiness is an essential ingredient in brands that stand the test of time. She has a degree in journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, but she’s spent the majority of her career working in digital marketing. She lives in San Jose, California, and loves being a mom, outdoor activities, and learning about cleantech.
Shea Cohorn - Email Campaign Specialist
Shea earned a BA in Broadcasting and Electronic Media, but immediately fell in love with the world of marketing and research. At TrustRadius, she handles review generation campaigns for customers to drive new reviews. Her hobbies include reading fiction books, gaming and weight lifting. When Shea is not working, you can probably find her at Target or a coffee shop.