"If you don't listen to your customers, someone else will." - Sam Walton. Mike Berendes is a 20-year veteran of the insights industry. Born and raised in the Minneapolis area, he studied marketing at St. John's University near St. Cloud, and holds an MBA in Marketing from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. His experience includes positions at The Pillsbury Company, General Mills, Activision Video Games, Energizer Battery and Omnicom Media. He is currently chief evangelist at Custom Intercept Solutions, an onsite-insight market research agency. When not espousing the virtues of listening to customers, Berendes can be found at the local dance studio, where his three daughters have taken up semi-residency.