The Glass-Ceiling-Shattering Story Behind “Your Opinion Counts”
Hoosier native and female entrepreneur Tommie Walker’s legacy as a market research pioneer
Written by: Lauren K. Howard, APR | Indy Word Nerd Writing + Marketing
When Dorothy Mae, known as “Tommie,” was born in 1908, the industry in which she would make her mark didn’t exist. It was 1930s necessity that brought Tommie Cole Walker to market research. It was determination and skill that would help her transform the field into what it is today.
Opportunity Knocks
The 1930s saw an explosion of new companies dedicated to research—most exclusively run by men. Awareness of the new field eventually reached the American National Bank in Indianapolis in 1939. The bank wanted to know if anyone would listen to a classical music radio program they were considering sponsoring. They were willing to pay someone $0.50 an hour to make phone calls to find out.
Tommie took the job as a side hustle to earn extra money for her family. She selected random numbers from the phone book. Whoever answered heard Tommie’s voice say, “Did you have your radio on last night? What station?”
Those phone calls were the first step in a life-changing career. By the end of her first year, she secured four research studies worth $500.
The first few projects entailed door-to-door interviews; a technique started by the Chicago Tribune in 1916. She sometimes recruited other women to help—usually friends with the freedom to work while children attended school.
To gain a contract with 125 A&P groceries, the business quickly evolved from “Tommie and the girls” to Walker Research Services. With that step, Tommie was founder of a legitimate business.
As the company continued growing, Tommie needed staff. She found them in the vast numbers of women, who like her, had families, and needed additional household income. However, due to their education level or biases of the times, they had limited opportunities to earn money.
Tommie told a newspaper reporter, “Give me a woman with a dozen irons in the fire—she makes the best researcher because she likes people.”
Your Opinion Counts
Within five years, Tommie was considered a market research expert. A 1945 Indianapolis Star article described her work during the war years:
Her research has covered such a wide variety of subjects that she cannot even remember all of them, and each one took special training. For one on lighting, she learned all the intricacies of electricity. For one on postwar radios, she had to delve into frequency modulation and television. Rugs, vacuum sweepers, greeting cards, vitamins, helicopters, theaters, and whether children know brand names all have been the subjects of studies.
By 1951, Tommie had grown the company into its own office. Her knack for understanding people’s motivations delivered valuable information to grocers, food companies, and product manufacturers. More importantly, Tommie put the needs of women, who she called “executives of the home,” at the center of consumer research for the first time.
Tommie said, “Ask a woman what she thinks about a product and she’ll start, ‘My husband says…’ or ‘My children didn’t like…’ When we explain that it is her personal opinion we want, it sometimes comes as something of a shock. Then, she blossoms…”
To encourage more women to participate in her studies, she coined the famous research phrase “Your opinion counts”—an expression still used today. Tommie later shared the slogan trademark-free with the broader market research industry. The expression now appears everywhere from simple surveys to the hallways of Harvard.
A Revolutionary Idea
When confronted with the loss of her husband in 1952, Tommie faced a pivotal choice. Pursue a steady-income job to provide for her family or continue investing in her business. She chose to bet on herself. By 1957 she grew the company to $40,000 in billings, an impressive list of clients, and 60 part-time employees.
In 1958, Tommie launched a revolutionary idea—the country’s first test kitchen designed to remove bias, anxiety, and distractions from consumer research. The center became an instant success for its innovation. Tommie’s work predicted with uncanny accuracy the expansion of gourmet foods, an increasing variety of frozen salads, and more direct freezer-to-table foods. If your meals involve the microwave today, thank Tommie.
Rather than using the information solely for personal enrichment, Tommie welcomed outside researchers to the center. She generously shared her practices and research methods with the goal of advancing the industry long-term.
From Tomboy to Trendsetter
In 1962, Tommie was the only female on the board of directors for the Better Business Bureau. When the Indianapolis Times ran a series to inspire young people, she was the only woman of the 25 business leaders featured.
By 1968 the company hit $1 million. Within 10 years, the renamed Walker Research Inc. would be one of the 20 largest businesses in the market research field nationwide.
Tommie founded her company less than 25 years after the 19th amendment gave women the right to vote. She ran a business before most females dared to, employed women looking for economic opportunity, and championed work-life balance long before the concept had a name.
Tommie passed away in 1992 a month shy of her 84th birthday. Her legacy includes pioneering new methods of market research, sharing her intellectual capital to advance the industry, and building a multi-million-dollar business from her kitchen table.
When asked for the secret to her success, she said:
- Ask yourself if you wake up with enthusiasm to get to work.
- Keep a healthy body and mind to meet challenges.
- Write down personal goals often and read them back.
- Most of all, LISTEN!
Tommie described market research as the “newest of sciences and the oldest of arts.” Her groundbreaking work identifying and understanding people’s needs and wants remains a core practice of public relations and marketing today.
She followed a mantra throughout her life that is good advice for every PR practitioner: “Forget yourself in your interest in those around you.”
This Women’s History Month, join us in honoring Tommie Walker—a fierce female entrepreneur, industry trailblazer, and inspiration behind the now fourth-generation global business that is Walker Information, still headquartered in Indianapolis.
