I am a June child. Even though I didn’t always get along with my name during my teenage years, I have always loved June 28, 1977—my birthday. Strangely enough, I have always felt proud of being a summer person. Somehow, I believed it made me more genuine, relaxed, and approachable.

I first opened my eyes to life in Istanbul, the city I am still in love with today. Seagulls, simit sellers, blooming redbuds, the sounds of small fishing boats, and cobblestone streets have always been close to my heart. Perhaps this is why I now choose to live in Kanlıca, one of the most modest and charming neighborhoods along the Bosphorus.

I spent all of my childhood, youth, and adulthood in Istanbul. I began my education halfway through my fifth year and went on to attend Hasan Ali Yücel Elementary School, Cağaloğlu Anatolian High School, and Istanbul University’s Faculty of Political Science, completing this adventure by graduating at the age of 21. Immediately afterward, I sat for the entrance exams for a Master’s in Journalism. Listening to people, understanding them, uncovering the truths beneath their words, researching, knowing something before anyone else, and sharing what I knew had always been my passion. Perhaps it was fate—or some cosmic coincidence—that the exam results list with my name was posted on another wall, causing me to miss the oral interview. By another twist of destiny, through a family friend’s reference, I found myself at Infratest Burke, then under the general management of Temel Aksoy.

My research journey began on a cold January day in 1999, when my then-manager, Dilek Kayın, asked me: “Are you ready to carry the bag to learn this job?” My wholehearted “yes” was the beginning. And it wasn’t just a story—I truly started working that very day! From then on, I spent nearly 11 years with the same management team under the names Infratest Burke, NFO Infratest, NFO, Plus Remark, and Synovate. During those years, I advanced from a qualitative research assistant to research specialist, then research manager, qualitative team manager, and finally research director. In my last year and a half at Synovate, I served on the executive board and, before leaving, worked as a consultant. Those 11 years brought me new people, new business areas, experiences, teams, responsibilities, different job definitions, brands, and clients. I embraced them all wholeheartedly.

In early 2006, right in the middle of my career, I met the love of my life, my partner and husband, Atilla Bıyıklı. By the time the first leaves began to turn yellow that same year, we were married.

And one day, with the great support of my husband and family, I decided to carve my own path. Together with my partners Hüseyin, Didem, and Nurdan—friends with whom I had built long-standing professional and personal bonds—we came together to create Sia. We gave life to Sia, we became its breath, its water, its roots. Today, we continue to nurture it and help it grow with joy.

At Sia Insight, we are a team of thinkers who research in order to create. We seek to uncover the consumer and what lies hidden deep within. Our intuition is strong, and we strive to reflect the intellectual capital we have accumulated into our work. With a young and dynamic approach, we prefer not to define ourselves by norms and boundaries, but by creativity and expertise.

Welcome to the World of Sia...