Life After B School: Courtney Clark

It has been six months since I graduated from the UST MBA program and my career has taken an unexpected turn within that short time. In April I received and accepted a job offer with Miller Brewing Company in a regional sales office in Irvine, California, otherwise know as "The OC." Immediately after graduation in May, I packed up my apartment in downtown Minneapolis and drove back to my home state of California to start my job as a chain sales analyst in one of the most exciting CPG industries - the beer business. From the beginning, I loved the relaxed culture and perks that included professional sports tickets, special events and daily happy hours.

This may seem like the perfect job, but I had accepted the offer knowing that the company was going through a joint venture which would result in the formation of MillerCoors. With the start of my job came the realization that the organization was experiencing significant turmoil and my fellow employees were struggling with the unpleasant feeling of career instability. Since I was a new employee, and ironically the last employee hired before the official JV took place, I tried to stay positive and soak up all the knowledge and new experiences that were available to me. I learned how to use the Nielsen database to pull reports on market data and competitor pricing. I learned space management programs and went to grocery store re-sets where we took every item off the shelf of the beer aisle and re-arranged it according to our company's strategy. I used store-level databases to see how much of each of our products was selling in every store. I also had the opportunity to visit retail clients with account managers to see how buyers responded to our recommendations for the beer category.

My experience in the beer business was extremely valuable because it gave me insight in to a large CPG manufacturer. My specific position also challenged me to improve my analytical skills and especially my understanding of building relationships with customers. In the end, my office was closed and moved to Northern California and I received a severance package to support me while looking for a new job. Luckily, my new job at Catalina Marketing found me. After four rounds of interviews I received and accepted an offer as a manager of business development at a national marketing company that just happens to have a large regional office three blocks from my previous office!

Catalina Marketing is a complicated business to understand and explain because they provide a niche solution to grocery store chains and CPG manufacturers. They provide targeted marketing programs using customer data that is collected from store loyalty cards. This data enables Catalina to provide valuable insights to retail chains about their customers. These insights are used to build marketing programs that can actually measure customer buying patterns and purchase decisions and, most importantly, influence consumers to change how, what and when they buy certain products. Essentially, it is Customer Relationship Management at its best. Thanks to the CRM class I took during my UST MBA program, I am much better able to understand it!

Good luck with your job and internship searches, and remember to enjoy being a full-time student!!

Courtney Clark, UST MBA '08

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