New joiners at TPS in April and May

We’ve recently had some new joiners at The Planning Shop in late April and May, and despite the current COVID crisis, we’ve welcomed them with open (virtual) arms! Please find out about our new joiners below.

Phil Soanes – Innovation Director

Phil joined The Planning Shop at the end of April as our new Innovation Director while Emily South is on maternity leave.

As an insight, brand and innovation specialist, with a varied background of agency and client-side roles at companies such as MTV, The Futures Company, Clear Ideas, COI (part of UK government), TBWA and Ogilvy & Mather, Phil brings with him a proven track record of delivering cutting-edge insight that informs and shapes business success.

Phil’s key roles at THE PLANNING SHOP will be to attend proposal brainstorms, work on new innovations, continue the roll-out of our behavioural science offering and to work on updating our longstanding techniques.

Phil has a degree in Geography from Cambridge University and in his spare time likes to hang out with his two little girls who he sees once a fortnight, as well as enjoying independent cinema, modern art, swimming, fell and coastal walking, Thai cooking and politics (having worked with Tony Blair’s team on two General Elections). He is also a lifelong Norwich City FC supporter.

Cayla Milius – Senior Research Executive

Cayla has joined The Planning Shop as a Senior Research Executive, bringing with her four years of experience creating and conducting studies and analyzing data.

Previous roles for Cayla have included project management, data management, research and lab manager for the Schlesinger Group, Villanova University and George Mason University.

Local to the Philadelphia area, Cayla has started her role at The Planning Shop remotely. After COVID-19, she will be based at our Philadelphia office.

Cayla has a MSc in Experimental Psychology and a BA in Psychology. In her spare time, she likes to curl up with a book or practice her French for the next time she can travel to Paris.

Tatiana Abdulmanova – Research Manager

Tatiana joined The Planning Shop as a Research Manager on 13 May.

Her background is primarily in qualitative research, with nine years of experience across a variety of industries, including pharma, FMCG, retail, media and tech. Her skills include moderating focus-groups and IDIs, online research, ethnography and semiotics.

Tatiana specialised in Philology (Linguistics) from Moscow State University. In her spare time, she likes reading, travelling, exploring new cities and watching wildlife.

Kasia Jastrzębska – Senior Research Executive

Kasia joined The Planning Shop as a Senior Research Executive on 13 May.

As a creative, enthusiastic and analytically minded quantitative market research specialist, Kasia is passionate about presenting complex data in a visually appealing and easy to understand manner.

Kasia’s previous work experience includes working for IPSOS on a variety of projects from healthcare to FMCG. She has also worked with Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), exploring the market of diet supplements in Poland to generate market segmentation analysis and findings. 

Working across multiple geographies Kasia has developed skills in market forecasting, interpretation of statistical models and market simulations. Kasia specialised in Sociology from Warsaw University.