New York high flyer has heart grounded in Toowoomba

Courtney Sullivan has clocked up more Frequent Flyer points than most people could hope to accumulate in a lifetime – and she hasn’t turned 30 yet.

The 29-year-old marketing researcher recently returned home to Toowoomba to visit family after spending almost three years travelling across the United States of America to conduct focus groups and interviews for the prestigious global marketing research firm, AC Nielsen.

'So much of my time has been spent in airports and planes that a colleague told me I’m just like George Clooney’s Up in the Air character [Ryan Bingham],' Courtney said with a laugh.

'It can be a lonely life, but a great way to meet people. This is the job that I’ve always wanted and I went into it with a lot of passion. I’ve been to 21 states in America and talked to people who hadn’t heard an Australian accent before.'

The USQ alumnus, who graduated in 2002 with a Bachelor of Arts (Public Relations and Media Communications and Studies) and Business (Marketing) double degree, believes her university studies helped secure her fulfilling, high-flying career.

'I chose to study at USQ rather than a Brisbane university because I knew that it had a friendly, country town feel and was internationally respected,” she said. “Plus, my grandparents lived here and I thought it would be good to be close to family. I lived in McGregor Residential College and have lots of good memories of campus life.'

Within a year of graduating, Courtney discovered the AC Nielsen were recruiting qualitative researchers in Brisbane and became a successful applicant.

'My employer really liked the fact that I had conducted a marketing research campaign as my final-year project at Uni, as other graduates from other universities hadn’t done that.'

While working at the AC Nielsen Brisbane office, Courtney was offered the opportunity to help establish a qualitative research office at the company’s headquarters in New York City.

'Of course I jumped at the chance,' she said.

With an apartment in Madison Avenue, near from Central Park, Courtney found herself enjoying the fast-paced lifestyle and also occasionally rubbing shoulders with international celebrities.

'The atmosphere in New York is like nowhere else; the smells, the people, the buildings and the routine.

'One rewarding activity that we participated in through Nielsen was spending one weekend painting murals throughout classrooms at a public primary school on the Lower East Side. The Anna Silver School is a largely multicultural school, so the aim was to create a more positive and inclusive environment for the students.'

In 2008, Courtney was awarded Associate of the Year within the Customised Research Division for the United States.
Courtney is now deciding whether to return to New York or continue working for AC Nielsen in Australia.

'I do miss New York, but it would be good to eventually return to Australia,' she said.