Welcome Poppy Rucki! A Q&A With HRA Global’s Research Executive
HRA Global would like to give a warm welcome to our newest team member, Poppy! She joins the HRA Global team as a Graduate Researcher and we can’t wait to work alongside her. Take a look at our question and answer article below to learn a bit more about our new employee!
What Has Your Career Path Been Up To This Point?
Prior to working for HRA, I’ve had a mixed range of roles, from sales-based positions, to working in education. My main fascination has however always been for human behaviour. Most recently I have completed my MSc in Behavioural Analysis, and prior to that I completed a Psychology degree at Bangor University.
Have You Worked In Food And Drink Before?
My longest job has been working for Hocking’ Dairy Cream Ices in North Devon. I worked here seasonally for 6 years and had such an incredible time. I absolutely loved the fast-paced nature of the role, as well as the communication aspect, where I would get to interact with so many wonderful customers- having the beach for an office view wasn’t too bad either!
What Are Your Main Interests In The Field Of Food & Drink?
Health and wellbeing is a big part of my life, and so my food and drink interests very much reflect this. I have a particular interest in the field of gut health, and the fermented food trend. As a keen gym goer, I am also very interested in sports nutrition. Given that I’m such a food lover, I think it will however be hard to find a topic in food and drink that doesn’t interest me!
What Excites You Most About The New Role?
I am particularly excited for the variation the role has to offer. I remember in my interview, it was mentioned that no two days would be the same at HRA, and so far, this is definitely proven true. I like to think of myself as someone who approaches everything with a positive, open mind, and so the prospect of getting stuck into such a varied range of projects is very exciting. With my behaviour analytic background, I’d like to think that I will be able to approach a problem or brief in a slightly different way, and hopefully offer a new degree of insight. I’ve no doubt that this role will enable me to meet some very interesting people along the way, and so it’s definitely an exciting time for me!
What Motivates You Professionally?
I like to think of myself as someone who is very ‘solution-orientated’. When a problem presents, I will always ask ‘why’, taking account of all potential variables at play, to ensure I seek out the root cause of the issue and come up with an effective solution. I can apply this in a professional sense-when companies approach HRA with a problem, perhaps, a new snack bar has come to market and is not performing well, I will look at this issue critically, and analyse all possible variables that may get to the root of this. Solutions are not solutions, if you cannot identify the root cause of the problem, and it is coming up with these solutions that really motivates me.
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