Alma Mater: Brandeis University
A quote or motto you live by: “This above all: to thine own self be true.” – Shakespeare
Horowitz Research has long devoted itself to finding out more about young and multicultural audiences, and Waterston has been firmly part of that charge since joining the firm in 2001. A native of San Juan, Puerto Rico, she oversees multicultural and Latinx research endeavors, in addition to handling project management for select clients. Her focus can be seen through Horowitz’s handful of FOCUS reports on specific demographic groups, as well as the State of Media, Entertainment & Tech reports, which cover topics like advertising, social and cultural shifts, viewing behaviors and more.
Impact Factor: Waterston has moderated hundreds of group discussions, molded online research communities on topics that range from traditional and new media consumption to lifestyles/family dynamics, and conducted in-home ethnographic research. By being fully bilingual, it’s helped her further examine Spanish-dominant, bilingual and English-oriented Latinos and their respective media consumption habits.
Where do you see the biggest opportunities to make an impact in the next few years? It’s no secret that in today’s socio-political environment DEI initiatives are being abandoned by many corporations. But championing diversity, embracing different cultures, and helping people from disadvantaged communities overcome obstacles to success has been my mission for my entire career and is integral to who I am as a Latina. I will continue to do what I do—developing talent and providing opportunity for qualified people to get ahead in their careers—no matter who they are or where they came from.
How do you amplify the voices of others around you? At Horowitz, we firmly believe that in order to deliver great research among diverse, multicultural, and intersectional audiences, we need to be diverse, multicultural, and intersectional ourselves. So we are always looking for untapped, raw talent who represent the communities we research. Many of the staff at Horowitz came to us with little to no research experience but a ton of lived experiences from within their communities and cultures, and we have trained and mentored them into seasoned researchers with both, a great skillset AND great perspective! It makes me so proud to know that some of our most tenured staff are people who I have helped mentor and develop, and who now interface directly with our clients, handle complex projects, and even take the stage at industry events! This mentoring piece is one of the biggest joys I have gotten from my career. Recently, I had a lunch date with one of my mentees who came to us right out of college and worked for us for a decade. She is now a VP at a competing research firm, and I could not be more proud!
If you weren’t in this business, what career might you have pursued? Well, I had wanted to be a singer, but I was discouraged from that pursuit given my lack of talent in that area.
Who or what had the biggest impact on your leadership journey? I had the incredible fortune of being mentored by my sister and renowned anthropologist, Alisse Waterston, and her husband Howard Horowitz, the founder of Horowitz Research. They are two of the smartest, most intellectual people you could ever meet and taught me everything I know about research, insights, analysis, and how to bring perspective—the human approach— to the work we do. I use the lessons learned from them every single day. Now, I been given another incredible opportunity to learn from the CEO of M/A/R/C Research, Merrill Dubrow, who is an incredible businessperson. I did not think I had more to learn at this stage of my career, but the reality is that we are all constantly evolving and improving. I am excited to see what lies ahead for me, which I hope to also pass on to the people who work with me.
Where do you find energy and inspiration outside the office? I am a single mother (by choice) of an amazing young woman, my daughter Micaela. She makes me proud every single day! She is a second-year student at Tufts University where she is somewhat following in my footsteps studying Sociology. She inspires me to always be my best self, and keeps me on my toes intellectually by sharing all the things she is learning at school. I love hearing her perspective on things. This next generation gives me hope for the future! I also enjoy cooking, gardening, and doing artwork. And, I am very involved in community-building both here in the states and in my hometown of San Juan, Puerto Rico.
If your colleagues had to describe you in three words, what would they say: I would hope they would say: Creative, collaborative, and supportive!