Who we are

Chestnut Hill Advisors (CHA) is a specialized research firm focused on inspiring innovation through customer and market insights since 2007.  

CHA’s approach is uniquely designed to the specific learning objectives of our clients. Our seasoned professionals listen and focus on developing highly targeted research plans for understanding customer perception and experience, uncovering needs, and informing innovative solutions. Our clients are global and national leaders in business information and media, technology, healthcare, education, engineering and mobility.

  • Rita Bartczak, Founder and CEO

    Rita is a successful marketer, researcher and author. She founded Chestnut Hill Advisors to inspire organizations to embed customer insights in their innovative thinking and decisions.

    Previously, Rita founded Thomson Marketing Resources, an internal market research organization at Thomson Reuters that changed how businesses used the voice of the customer. She co-authored the Columbia Business School case study, “Building the Bloomberg Brand for Human Resources” and “Enhancing the SAE Brand as an Innovator.”

    She holds an MBA from Simmons College, a Master’s in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government and a BA in Economics from Wellesley College.

  • Brian D. Ottum, Ph.D., Innovation Guru

    Brian has been pushing the boundaries of what surveys can do for over 30 years. He starts by listening to what clients want to learn and the decisions they must make. Then he designs the custom survey that will give the necessary customer insights. He has executed over 300 surveys in many industries: consumer packaged goods, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, medical devices, chemicals, technology, law, energy, automotive, publishing, finance, and consumer durables.

    Brian is a frequent speaker on innovation topics at national conferences and at company sites. He has written chapters in four books on innovation tools. He created a Udemy.com course. He was selected for Marquis’ Who’s Who in America, 54th edition (2000), and is a member of Mensa.

    Brian is also an avid astronomer. He publishes his pictures of space, taken with his remote-control telescope on Instagram (“astropicsdaily”). He takes people on tours of the universe both in person and online.

  • Kathy Russell, Director and Storyteller

    Kathy is a versatile research and insights professional with 20+ years of experience helping Fortune 500 clients uncover customer needs, attitudes and behaviors to align new product development and decision-making. She is an expert in in-depth interviews, user experience research, and survey design and analysis. Prior to CHA, Kathy held senior positions at Thomson Reuters and Razorfish. She has a BA in Communication and French from the University of New Hampshire.