April Bell, Principal and Founder
April is naturally curious. Curious about what make people tick. Curious about all things marketing. And, even more curious about research. Having lived and breathed research on both sides of the business for more than 20 years, she has a unique combination of foundational knowledge and strategic discipline to put both quantitative and qualitative insights into context for you.
April’s passion lies in studies focused on concept and new product development, in-context research, and client ideation. In addition to moderating hundreds of focus groups, IDI’s, ethnographies and concept development projects, she has led brand positioning research projects and concept development processes for brands big and small, including many Fortune 100 clients.
Prior to founding April Bell Research Group, April worked for research giant, Ipsos, as a qualitative research consultant. Her strong business acumen also includes prior marketing and research experience at TXU Energy as a Marketing Manager, at Cargill Grain Co. trading commodities, and at John Deere Co. building relationship marketing programs.
April holds an Executive MBA from the SMU Cox School of Business, and she has worked internationally in the U.K., Peru, and The Netherlands. While most of her experience lies in asking the tough questions, her equally curious 3-year old daughter is now giving her lots of experience answering them.
Shelley Miller, Account Manager
Shelley’s desire to learn is the driving force behind her role as Account Manager at April Bell Research Group. Her passion to learn and build close relationships with others helps her solve problems for clients and provide actionable insights.
Shelley recently received her MBA with a concentration in Marketing from the SMU Cox School of Business. During this time, she realized her interest in consumer and shopper insights was driven by her inquisitive mind and would allow her to do what she loves. In March 2014, Shelley started as an intern for ABRG where she gained valuable experience in the world of qualitative research and now, as an Account Manager, she supports ABRG’s clients by providing front to end service to ensure our clients are getting exactly what they need…and more!
She loves learning about the individuality of each person and aims to understand how each and every one of our client’s unique qualities can be identified to achieve overall successful projects – just for them!
Before coming to ABRG, Shelley worked in the insurance industry where she managed multiple client accounts. It was here that she realized her natural ability to build relationships and communicate with new and established clients was exciting and fun. As Account Manager at ABRG her passion to learn by solving problems shines through in every research project.
Maileen Tolentino, Operations Manager
Maileen has a desire for learning and exploring new things, which drove her eventually to Dallas, Texas and April Bell Research Group as Operations Manager. Her thirst for discovering and love for “everything efficient” enables her to manage each research project from inception to completion as smoothly as possible.
Her vast experience, primarily in quantitative consumer research, spans 10 years and several countries and continents. Working for companies such as Nielsen, Pfizer, Millward Brown, and Mondelēz International has given her both breadth and depth in the food, automotive, and pharmaceutical industries.
Motivated by the journey from the unfamiliar to competence and driven by her constant need for achievement, she explored outside her quantitative comfort zone to the world of qualitative when joining April Bell Research Group at the beginning of 2015.
Given her extensive exposure working as both client and supplier in Southeast Asia, she brings with her her expertise in planning, organizing, and systematizing processes.