Episode Details

Maria Vorovich and Holland Martini are the co-founders of GoodQues, the “anti-research” research company built around the idea that rigor and creativity shouldn’t be opposites. Maria serves as Chief Strategy Officer and Holland as Chief Insights Officer, combining strategy, psychology, analytics and research to better understand what people actually think, feel and do.

Maria spent much of her career on the receiving end of consumer research and saw the same problem: companies had more data than ever, but the questions and answers had become predictable. Before co-founding GoodQues in 2019, she was Chief Strategy Officer at Air Paris and Global Strategy Director at Grey Group. Her work blends creative strategy, psychology and storytelling to make research more useful and memorable.

Holland comes at the problem from the data side, focused on making research more actionable and human without sacrificing precision. Before GoodQues, she built and led Grey New York’s Data Strategy team and later its Data Center of Excellence. She previously led advanced analytics and business strategy for Johnson & Johnson brands at J3/UM. At GoodQues, she challenges the conventions of research, including whether companies are asking the right questions in the first place.

Together, they’ve built GoodQues into one of ADWEEK’s Fastest Growing Agencies for 2026, working with brands including Adobe, TikTok, PepsiCo, P&G, Mars, PayPal and Unilever. GoodQues grew 2,082% in three years and has appeared multiple times on the Inc. 5000. Their work can mean borrowing techniques from psychology, replacing obvious questions with creative exercises or turning research into a podcast instead of another deck.

What connects Maria and Holland is a belief that better research starts with being more human. They push against an industry that often prioritizes faster and cheaper instead of asking whether the research itself is getting better. For GoodQues, creativity isn’t the enemy of rigor. It’s often what gets a more honest answer, uncovers something the obvious question missed and turns data into an insight people actually remember.