What is your job/position?
Senior Product Marketing Manager at Adobe: I manage the strategic go-to-market for Adobe's Project Management Software called Workfront. I work on high-level strategy projects to understand where our business is doing well and where we can improve. I interact with customers and host educational webinars; I run high-visibility events and speak at customers conferences. Overall it's my job to understand what the market wants and how to position our product/business to win in that market.
Describe the path that took you from your American Studies degree to your current career or life situation.
During my American Studies degree, I became interested in Foodways. I loved this so much that, after school, I decided to pursue a culinary degree at Le Cordon Bleu in Boston. After working in the food industry for a few years, I needed a change and took a client manager job at a small MIT tech startup. This provided an introduction to a whole new world for me, which was full of excitement and innovation. A few years into tech, I decided to return to BYU for an MBA, after which I joined Adobe.
What are the specific competencies you cultivated as an American Studies student that you now use in your professional life and that set you apart from your colleagues?
My American Studies training taught me about people—from the stories we tell in our communities to maintain a collective identity to what we spend money on or how we create art. As a marketer, it's critical for me to get into the minds of those I'm selling to. As I try to create experiences for my customers, it's helpful to consider where they're coming from and how they experience life from their context.
What are some of the surprising ways in which your American Studies degree has helped you in your professional or personal life?
The multidisciplinary approach of American Studies is fantastic for making you an interesting person who is easy to connect with. I can easily make conversation with most people because I know enough about their discipline to ask good questions and share my own insights.
What do you wish you had known as an American Studies student? What advice would you share with current students?
An American Studies major is a great jumping off point for a career in management. If you're interested in that path, take the GMAT while you're in your senior year of undergrad (while your mind is still sharp from all that schoolwork—you may think you don't have time now, but trust me, you'll have less time later). Plan to apply to business school within 4 years of graduating. Also choose work experiences with your graduate school application in mind. If it's not going to benefit your application, pursue something else. If you're not sure what you want to do after school, interview people who you admire or who are doing something you'd like to learn more about. A 30-minute conversation with a professional can be more helpful than 30 hours of online research. Plus, you may gain a mentor or two along the way.
*You can contact Julie with questions about her American Studies story at julie.laird@gmail.com.