The Square Holes team are made up of a cohort of researchers and inquisitive minds, poised to sink their teeth into the complex problems of our clients, to deliver insights and a roadmap forward for brands and organisations alike.

We are pleased to announce that we recently added another member to the Square Holes team, Aye Thu Thu Ko in the role of Research Analyst. A true data gun, Thu Thu spent 5 years working in FMCG retail research at Nielsen IQ (Myanmar), where she was promoted to a Senior Executive in 2021. As a part of the customer success team, her main responsibilities included client management as well as data analysis, reporting, and presentation. She has worked with several FMCG clients including Nestle, Unilever and Japan Tobacco International. Thu Thu moved to South Australia in mid-2022 to study a Master of Business Analytics at Kaplan Business School.

SH: What drew you to this sort of work?

My career in market research started almost ten years ago as an intern at a local market research company back in my home country. Inspired by my mentor at the time, I first learned to appreciate the value of doing market research and found my passion in this field. That experience played a major role when I later decided to focus and grow in this industry. After moving to South Australia for study, I was fortunate to connect with Jason and thrilled to add new experiences from Square Holes to my life story. Looking back, it is fascinating to record my first internship, my first full time position and now again, my first job in Australia as a research analyst.

SH: What aspect of your job do you enjoy the most?

Getting to know different types of people, work and industry here in Australia – especially getting to know more about Adelaide and South Australia. I enjoy working on different projects and find it meaningful to be able to contribute in helping the city I live in becoming a better place through our insights. As I work on one project to the next, I felt more involved as one of the South Australians. As I know more about Adelaide city and its people, I am grow happier with the decision of choosing it as my destination city for my study.

SH: What do you find most challenging?

One thing I find most challenging, but in a positive way, is staying alert to be able to focus on different types of projects, and organising and keeping up with the incoming new information through each project. As an international student who is still new to South Australia, I always find myself absorbing heaps of information and experiences every single day.

SH: What’s a current obsession you have?

I’m currently obsessed with doing Yoga every evening. I see Yoga as a good combination of physical and mental workout. When wrapping up a day of stress and pressures from the outside world, yoga creates time and space to take care of my mind and body. As I am mostly on my computer the majority of the day, whether working or studying, it is very important to stretch out my tense muscles. It becomes the most effective when a 15-minute mindfulness meditation is added at the end of the Yoga session to calm and clean up the busy mind.

SH: What would you like to learn more about?

Anything and everything. I am very fortunate to be a part of the talented team at Square Holes where I get to not only increase my professional knowledge in market research, but expand my knowledge of Adelaide as a city as well. I will continue to explore more about the city, the state and its culture.

Enjoyed this chat? You can find out more about the Square Holes team here.