In Their Own Words: Alumni in Business

Karen (Kramer) Mizell '06

I always had a strong interest in business, and knew even in college that I wanted to pursue a career in consumer packaged goods brand management.  My double major in Sociology and Economics gave me a great liberal arts foundation for understanding both the people and the number components of business and marketing.  Upon graduation from Dartmouth, I completed my Masters in Business Administration at University of Michigan, with an emphasis on strategy and general management.  After internships at Procter & Gamble and Kraft Foods, I joined the marketing team at E. & J. Gallo Winery in California.  In my 8+ years at Gallo so far, I've had the opportunity to branch out to a variety of exciting and challenging roles in other areas of the business, including Lean Six Sigma and Sales Planning.  I consider myself lucky to work at a great company, with great people, in an exciting industry.

When I started at Dartmouth, I had never heard of Sociology.  My freshman seminar (Poverty in America) piqued my interest, and led to a lifelong interest in issues of inequality.  That freshman seminar led me to volunteer at Head Start in Lebanon, NH for my entire time at Dartmouth, and I continue to be involved in youth education and mentoring organizations like Big Brothers Big Sisters.  Majoring in Sociology forever changed my outlook on issues of structural inequality, and I thank the Dartmouth Socy department for broadening my perspective and challenging my worldview.