Our Story

Wynne Tyree and Radames Rodriguez co-founded Smarty Pants in 2005. She was a seasoned market researcher and former ad agency brand planner; he managed a qualitative research facility.

The two identified an industry opportunity to provide high quality research and insights to marketers targeting kids and families. They ideated, consulted with dozens of professionals, and ultimately took a leap of faith to quit their jobs and launch Smarty Pants – with a mission to become the go-to resource for youth and family intelligence.

After months of cold calls and emails (on dial-up internet that screeched when it connected!), they landed their first project. By year’s end, they had assembled a diverse team of freelancers to support growing demand. Now-EVP Stephanie Retblatt jumped in to moderate focus groups, lead ethnographies and write reports. Head of Qual Barbara Zamolsky came on board as the “Playground Coordinator” to help recruit participants and handle fieldwork logistics.

Fueled by creativity, passion, and entrepreneurial adrenaline, an impressive first year included seminal work for Microsoft, Girl Scouts of the USA, Hooked on Phonics, Cadbury Schweppes, Cadbury Adams, Hershey, VIZ Media, Procter & Gamble, and Clorox. (Not bad out of the gate!) It was exciting but terrifying. But we couldn’t have been happier to chase a dream as renegade researchers and budding industry leaders.

With a playful company mascot, a new website and a 1-800 number among our assets, we were headed for the big leagues. (Boy, have times changed!)

Hasbro toys & games became Smarty Pants’ biggest client, kicking off a close 19-year partnership. Disney/ABC Cable, Campbell’s, Unilever, Nestle, American Greetings, BBC Worldwide, and a handful of others joined the client portfolio.

Barbara Zamolsky and Stephanie Retblatt came on as full-time qual researchers, and Ricardo Maldonado began providing freelance support on quantitative projects. The company founders hired Terrance Kennedy as the firm’s first CFO.

Late in the year, Smarty Pants moved its legal headquarters from Norwalk, Connecticut, to Johnson City, TN.  Though most of our team remained in the NYC metro area, having a small presence in the South allowed us to keep a better pulse on America beyond the Northeast.

Smarty Pants’ expertise in children’s media/entertainment and food/beverage grew as Sesame Workshop, Schwab Learning, Lucas Arts, Nat Geo Kids, and General Mills, Topps, ConAgra, Aramark, Pepperidge Farm, McDonald’s, Dawn Foods, and Arby’s became new clients.

Our org chart swelled to six full-timers and five freelancers, and we cranked out conference brochures like these to spread the Smarty Pants word. We were proud to share our insights alongside “the big guys” at industry events like Kid Power and The Market Research Event.

Billings topped $1.8M, and you would have thought it was $1.8B.

We celebrated our success with a company trip to Cancun that we playfully dubbed a Smarty Party. We walked Mayan pyramids and contemplated the empire we were building, swam in cenotes as we marveled at Earth’s wonders, and played pool volleyball for countless hours as if we were on a family vacation – and we were.

Meredith Franck and Sara Beth (Hunter) Pegg were added to the team, as a client account manager and qualitative field support, respectively. We also hired two new junior moderators and partnered with thre

e new freelancers to head up our west coast operations.

Smarty Pants was honored to list Nickelodeon, EA (Electronic Arts), Kohl’s, Wrigley, Birds Eye Foods and 2U as new clients as the growing team expanded quant services and brought insights video production in-house.

We planted roots a little deeper in TN and expanded our philanthropic efforts by sponsoring sports teams like this fun-loving crew of future MLB stars.

At year end, we traveled to the Dominican Republic to sip mocktails by the ocean and toast four years of success.

Our children’s media and entertainment services expanded as Cartoon Network, Warner Bros., Konami, Crayola, and EA Mobile commissioned research from our growing team.

Services included more non-traditional research like riding roller coasters with tweens to better understand how to simulate thrills in video games and leading co-creation sessions that brought kids into the innovation process. Here we are preparing to whip up some new snack ideas with kids and parents at a quirky cooking school.

With a healthy roster of full-timers, specialized freelancers, and world-class clients, the first five years were marked by steady, organic growth and a tireless, entrepreneurial spirit.

Dr. Michelle Poris joined Smarty Pants’ talent roster in 2010, as did Emily (Owens) Young. The remain quant powerhouses of the organization.

We were proud to call the eclectic mix of ACCO, PBS, Philips, Frito-Lay, Reebok, Fisher-Price and Ripley Entertainment new client friends.

Smarty Pants launched a landmark study of children’s brand affinity, associations and use, entitled Young Love (later rebranded Brand Love). It measured more than 350 brands among kids 6-12 and their parents and became a flagship syndicated product.

Our brand logo evolved to include a family (which we spent far too much time obsessing over), and our Know-It-All panel of U.S. families swelled to include thousands, as we sought to keep recruiting in-house where possible.

We doubled down on Smarty Parties – a strategic planning event in New York City and then a fun-filled summer training session in Tennessee.

It was the year Wii topped the list of Kids’ Top 50 Brands according to our annual Young Love study. “Wii” had a terrific year, too. 🙂

Former Hasbro client partner Alisha Snow made the move to Smarty Pants and quickly took on a leadership role. Today, Alisha serves as an invaluable EVP who guides the strategic thinking, client impact and business operations of our organization.

New clients like Pepsico, Kellogg’s, DC Comics, Hilton Worldwide, Activision, and Coca-Cola began to rely on us for youth expertise. Zumba had us moving and grooving to build a kid fitness trend.

We schooled captive marketing audiences on the power of tween ethnographies at events like the Youth Mega Mash-up and were honored to present “Secretes to All-Family Success” at Kellogg’s Kid Fest.

The company introduced health care insurance to its 11 full-timers. Those same 11 people donated nearly $13,000 to charitable causes!

The study of Millennials was all the rage. We continued to shape the industry’s understanding of young people with presentations at events like the Millennial Mega Mash-Up and content contributions for print publications like Kidscreen magazine.

Target became one of our biggest clients, as did a leading manufacturer of playful construction bricks. New client Blue Bunny had us hopping with ice cream joy.

As our infrastructure and support teams expanded, we did wild things like create an Employee Handbook.

Our growing team returned to NYC for our annual Smarty Party, reimmersing the whole organization in all the city has to offer as we mapped out (research) world domination.

Our healthcare research expertise grew as we added Aetna and Medline to our roster. Viacom – and its family of teen and adult-targeted brands – also began to rely on us for entertainment insights among older demographics. BET became of one of our faves.

At The Market Research Event, we presented findings of the Young Love study and ensured attendees walked away with the data-driven recipe for creating successful kid-centric and all-family brands.

Up-and-comers Christina (Figueredo) Massey and Laura (Perkins) Munroe – both formerly at C Space – brought their passions and gifts to Smarty Pants. With a whopping 16 full-timers, we thought it was time for a funny school picture during our Charlotte, NC-based Smarty Party.

The Smarty Pants team continued its pursuit of industry leadership, having a presence at several conferences and events. Here, Ricardo Maldonado and Dr. Michelle Poris rep the Smarty Pants team at a booth that showed off our 2014 brand refresh. (Yes, we retired the little boy and his family in our company logo.)

Our diligence and research chops earned us partnership with Dick’s Sporting Goods, Netflix, Converse, Buffalo Wild Wings, and Nintendo. And we lead mixed-method initiatives in categories ranging from auto insurance to school supplies to the Olympics.

Smarty Pants’ Clicks, Taps & Swipes report of kids’ digital behaviors became a syndicated hit as marketers sought to better understand the next screen-obsessed generation.

Miami was home to our January Smarty Party… and boy were we excited for hot weather.

In January, we celebrated 10 years of business. No small feat for a privately owned firm committed to not taking on partners or investors… or allowing ourselves to be gobbled up by the “big guys” in an industry steeped in mergers and acquisitions.

We celebrated the milestone in the Bahamas, complete with an over-the-top marching band. Our small but mighty team later had a fun-filled summer event in Charlotte, NC, where we channeled our inner kids and took a school bus to a trampoline park!

The team spent time on the road with clients and at speaking engagements like the Marketing to Moms event, Brooklyn’s Quirk’s event and several universities across the country.

It was the first year we worked with HBO, Google, Friendly’s, Dunkin’, Johnson & Johnson, WWE and Mondelez.

In 2016, we dove into new waters, literally and figuratively. We kicked off the year with a well-deserved trip to Turks & Caicos for our annual strategic planning.

It was a media-heavy year, with new clients NBCUniversal, BET, Amazon Studios, and ScreenVision. More than 50 (yes 50!) other client partners commissioned custom research to answer their most pressing business questions. Our small but mighty team led more than $5M in project work.

Children’s media specialist Dr. Kara Liebeskind and seasoned qualitative pro and moderator Anne Knight joined the Smarty Pants team. We ended the year with 16 research professionals happy to call Smarty Pants their professional “home.”

It was a year we continued to get our house in order – standardizing processes, leaning into formal training, and creating more concrete teams and reporting structures.

Smarty Pants posted 35% YOY revenue growth in 2017, blowing past its financial KPIs as custom qualitative research expanded and new methods were added to the service portfolio. Mattel, Honda, Facebook, Sony Pictures, Sargento and more than 20 other world-class marketers became new Smarty Pants partners.

Custom quant services expanded as we leveraged new programming, fielding and tabbing partners and added three quant pros to our internal team. Significant investments were made in syndicated products.

After vetting 350 candidates, seven new hires joined the team – including Haley Kaiser, Alex (Quillin) Brizendine, Jennifer Dixon, Mara Singer and Suzanne Snapp. Three business units were created, and employee benefits expanded alongside professional development opportunities.

New York City was host to our annual Smarty Pants. We were delighted to be joined by guest presenters t-shirt “baker” and entrepreneur Johnny Cupcakes and team purpose finder and bridge builder Tru Pettigrew.

On the heels of 35% growth in 2017, Smarty Pants’ expansion of digital diaries/communities, custom quant services, and syndicated report sales helped drive 10% organic growth in 2018 and push us past the $50,000,000 milestone. Not too shabby for a boutique firm!

20 new giants, including CVS Health, MassMutual, Beiersdorf, Roblox, EA, Spin Master, General Mills, and Boston Consulting Group, became clients.

We rolled out a refreshed brand identity, brightened up our physical and digital presence, and increased our social media impressions and IRL visibility. (New tagline “curious minds. clever solutions.” replaced “the youth and family experts” as business expanded beyond the youth market.)

Ken Clark, Alyssa Wright, Danielle Place, Toni Green and Jen Petell brought their talents to Smarty Pants as headcount increased by 22%.

Smarty Pants was named a finalist in WIRe’s Best Places to Work competition.

Our talent roster swelled to 28 full-timers (ah, the memories) as we added three new hires in 2019.

Once again, Smarty Pants exceeded its revenue and profit goals as we added 13 new clients and produced more research per client partner. Our flagship Brand Love syndicated product complemented the growth in custom research services.

It was a big year for company visibility. We launched the Smarty Pants Library, leveraged social media in big ways, increased our mainstream press exposure, and generated considerable buzz via published articles and conference presentations. Our company president was named Empowering Woman of the Year by the YWCA, and Head of Happiness Jennifer Dixon was recognized as a regional 40 Under 40.

We introduced our IDEA team to the organization – a focused Inclusion, Diversity, Equity Academy.

Our philanthropic efforts included sponsorship of an entrepreneurial “shark tank” for teens and helping to launch a charter school for underserved youth in Houston’s third ward.

It was the year COVID wreaked havoc on the world. Businesses shuttered and brands lost their footing. Smarty Pants needed to pivot, leverage our strengths and get creative about meeting clients’ needs at a time when budgets were frozen and decision making came to a screeching halt.

We did just that. We rallied in innovative ways, demonstrated flexibility, offered new services, tapped our work-from-home expertise, and crushed all of our KPIs, all the while adding 13 new clients, running 155 projects, reducing operating costs, and becoming a more efficient organization. In fact, we posted our 4th consecutive year of growth, neared $10M in annual billings mark, and had our most profitable year to date.

Most importantly, we retained our full headcount, added Molly Jackson, and donated more than $25,000 to those in need. We expanded our IDEA efforts – tackling transgender issues and racial inequality – and did more than ever to support mental health and wellbeing.

And did we mention it was our 15th anniversary?

Another stellar year for Smarty Pants at 52% YOY billings growth across 192 custom projects for 74 world-class clients. Publix, Apple, Nike, ESPN, Prudential, Fidelity, Door Dash, Chase, Keurig Dr Pepper, UNICEF and Willow became new partners as we returned to in-person fieldwork that complemented our expanded virtual methods and advanced analytics.

Like the rest of the world, our lives remained entrenched in Zoom and Teams meetings like these. But Smarty Pants also opened its first physical office to house growing HR, legal and financial operations as it expanded its two core business units to six.

Amanda Allen, Emily Arbour, Emily Contino, Paige Davis, Tess Davison, Olivia Denton Smith, Michael Desmarais, Nadia Bernal, Jennifer Ginelli, Alejandro Hernandez, Jethro Israel, Sara (Cruz) Luzinski, Jennifer Mellett, Maty Nelson, Kayla Parker, Dr. Jordan Powers, Sabrina Roth, Emily Rowe, Ashley (Olde) Sutton and Lizanne Woodson joined our ranks!

Alex Brizendine was appointed Creative Catalyst to ensure deliverables continue to dazzle, while Jennifer Dixon was named Head of Happiness, tasked with safeguarding our boutique culture as our business scales. And senior analyst Toni Green was named Young Researcher of the Year by QRCA.

Record-breaking billings led to record-breaking charitable giving!

An overdue hiring burst led to research pros Shirley Shi, Clarissa Rivera, Beth Klingele, Czarmyne Jo, Liz Dibley, Sam Davis, LC Cabrera, Megan Bowling, Elizabeth Aparicio and Fey Adebiyi bringing their talents to Smarty Pants. Fourteen other team members were promoted to new positions, and Jethro Israel was named Young Researcher of the Year by the MRII.

We introduced our new Mission Statement, grew our IDEA (D&I) impact, expanded our Smarty Pants University program, and graciously took a “positive pass” on more than 40 new clients as we focused on meeting the needs of our existing client partners.

And we gave generously to 106 charities while adding a much-needed Smarty Pants Paid Family Leave Plan to our benefits portfolio!

Scottsdale, Arizona was home to our annual strategic planning Smarty Party. A Tennessee-based summer Smarty Party followed that included a belated grand opening of our operational headquarters. (Yes, the mayor was at the ribbon cutting. Gotta love a small town flex.)

Multicultural expert Lluvia Carrillo joined the team this year, expanded our multilingual, global and cross-cultural capabilities. A mind-boggling 17 more were promoted to new roles!

The company surpassed more than $100,000,000 in billings while adding impressive new clients like The Harlem Globetrotters, Jordan’s Furniture, Barilla, Chobani, Welch’s, Kind, Greenlight and Five Below.

The Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) certified Smarty Pants as a woman-owned and led business.

We made waves at industry conferences as we presented on the future of niche audiences and how best to protect children’s privacy.

Our inaugural Summit on Boys made industry waves and while spurring critical business dialogue. Me, Myself and Identity, a flagship, mixed-method study of identity in the U.S. was unveiled at year’s end.

We held our annual Smarty Pants strategic planning event in sunny San Diego, CA.

What a year! As client partnerships grew, so did our Smarty Pants family. We welcomed six brilliant new team members this spring and three rockstar interns over the summer – adding fresh talent and brainpower to support our clients’ toughest business challenges.

We’re beyond proud to share that 2024 was not only our best year ever across all success metrics, but we were also honored to win the Quirk’s Best Place to Work 2024 award. It’s a testament to our people-first culture, where innovation, collaboration, and passion fuel everything we do. The future? So bright, it’s practically glowing.

In January, we were thrilled to celebrate our 20th year in business.  Yes, we’ve been changing the research and consulting game for two decades now!

To commemorate this milestone, our team of global researchers and execs ventured to Rome to soak in the history and splendor of the Eternal City.

We’re excited for 2025 and all that the next 20 years will bring.