Consumer Marketing Academy Student Members
The Consumer Marketing Academy typically includes 40 to 50 students per year. Here you'll meet several members of the classes of 2012 and 2013.Class of 2013 Student Members
 Meghan Ackerson“I loved my time in NYC, but Bloomington has everything I loved about New York on a much more affordable and accessible level. My PR agency experience prepared me well for the Consumer Marketing Academy by developing my communications skills, networking skills, and marketing gut. When I arrived at Kelley, however, I quickly realized how much I had to learn about all the different facets of brand management.” |
 Sanya Bhutani“Being an Indian with work experience in the consulting and IT industries gives me the opportunity to help fellow CMA members understand international markets and their cultural intricacies. With America’s ever-changing consumer profiles, a different perspective helps a marketer learn how to quickly adapt and act.” |
 Scott Brown“I bring over seven years of retail work experience to the CMA, including time spent as a campus recruiter for a Fortune 30 company. As my peers and I learn to excel in consumer marketing, I am able to share the retailer’s perspective, whose understanding is critical to successfully getting products to consumers. My recruiter background will also allow me to assist other members of the CMA as they prepare for internship and full time interviews on campus.” |
 Bryan Chu“As the first criminal justice and NBA reporter to pursue an MBA, I was seeking the type of education and training that would help me further build on my marketing foundation, supplement my previous skills as an influencer, storyteller and data miner, and bolster my confidence as I transition into a career in brand management. The CMA has afforded me the opportunity to do just that.” |
 Brandelyn Heath“Since I was making a switch from industrial engineering to marketing, I was concerned about being at a disadvantage from my peers who had a marketing background. However, the CMA puts everyone on a level playing field and even exposes those with marketing backgrounds to things they didn’t know. One of the reasons I chose Kelley was because of its reputation for supporting its students.” |
 Sara Kelly“Since I worked in product development for a small company that supplied pet products to Walmart and other mass retailers before business school, I’m looking forward to gaining the perspective of what it’s like to work on the retailer side of the business. More specifically, I want to learn how the merchandising, consumer insights, sourcing, distribution, marketing and legal departments all work together to get product on the shelves.” |
 A.J. Miller“Having lived my whole life in California, I wanted to see what other parts of the country were like. As I began my business school search, I noticed Kelley had everything I wanted in a program: a challenging and rigorous curriculum, international opportunities, and a world-renowned marketing program ... I had no formal marketing education coming into Kelley and I knew the CMA would help me develop the marketing acumen needed to be successful.” |
 Kat Poster“I started my career in the nonprofit and sports world—I was a program coordinator for the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project at Disabled Sports USA. I do feel a business background can aid nonprofits, from the overall background basics of creating an organization with a business plan and financials, to providing a different perspective on how to deal with competition and to grow the organization.” |
 Duke Rodda“I was looking to transition from nonprofit marketing to something a bit more corporate. I was interested in making the transition because I felt that my favorite aspects of my role at the ACLU required me to understand how people thought and acted, so that I could convince them to make a donation via email. Consumer marketing requires similar skills, but replaces donors with consumers and donations with purchases. I was ready for a bigger challenge than my job provided, and getting an MBA in consumer marketing seemed like a great way to get myself there.” |
 Jackson Shulman“After graduating from Brown University, I moved to Sao Paulo, Brazil. I spent three years in Brazil, working as a legal analyst, investment analyst, and assistant brand manager. I came to Kelley knowing that I wanted to work in consumer marketing upon graduation, so the CMA was a good fit. The CMA is fast-paced and challenging; to take advantage of all its offerings—academic training, coaching, career development, networking—you have to be 100 percent involved.” |
 Christine Thomson“Before I came to Kelley, I worked in finance at a large consumer packaged goods company where I learned Kelley was one of the top schools for marketing and the CMA was one of the main reasons. I came to Kelley to be part of the CMA and to make the switch from finance to marketing. I decided to switch from finance to marketing because I wanted to be more involved in the brands and categories that I was supporting. I wanted to become the driver, the individual to help shape the direction of the brand.” |
Class of 2012 Student Members
 Christian Badger“As I started looking at MBA programs, I realized the Kelley culture had attracted the type of people I wanted to spend two years with. Coming off the pressure of being a campaign manager for an election in Missouri and working at an advertising agency, a supportive community really mattered to me. I found that the faculty members care—whether it’s about what they’re teaching or their students’ lives. A personal touch is woven throughout everything in the program. You can’t sneak by without being noticed here. People support each other and push each other.” |
 Bryan Cheng“With three years each in strategy consulting and sales, I was grateful for my varied experiences. I knew it was time to put it all together and understand my experience from an academic perspective. That’s why I joined the Consumer Marketing Academy. I’m learning how to better understand consumer behavior and how companies turn consumer insights into action and opportunity.” |
 Melanie Griesser“After a semester in the academy, I landed an internship at my top company. Growing up in Ohio, I’ve always wanted to work at P&G. I considered it the gold standard of companies for marketers. I felt so prepared when I interviewed. This is largely due to the preparation I received from the CMA and all of the help I received from my second-year classmates.” |
 Scott Hartlieb“I had heard so many good things about the Kelley culture, and the CMA showed me that it’s for real. It’s hard to put your finger on it until you experience it. It’s a sense of belonging that shows you aren’t alone in what you’re learning. There is a huge alumni network to support you.” |
 Samyukta Markley“Before applying to Kelley, I actually moved to Bloomington with my husband and worked at an Internet marketing agency. I was always working with clients and their brand managers and I realized that I wanted their jobs. I felt that brand management at Kelley was the way to develop more in-depth business knowledge and expand my professional skills.” |
 Adam Marriott“Instead of waiting until second semester or a year in, from the first week we were meeting as prospective marketers and seeing real brand managers doing their jobs. We visited companies in Chicago, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati. Those visits helped me understand what’s out there and what fits with my skills and personality.” |
 Hemali Mehta“My finance background has been a great foundation for me. I know how to tell a story with numbers. I was working in corporate finance when I realized I wanted to be closer to the brand, to see how it connects to the consumer. My next step was an MBA, and I chose IU for its collaborative yet challenging culture. A year in, the CMA has encouraged my educational and leadership growth. The Academy is a unique tool that other schools don’t have.” |
 William Melendez“When the directors talk about how you can land your dream internship, they’re not kidding. I had a huge transition from public service to marketing, but the CMA made that possible. I’m beaming because I got exactly what I wanted for the summer internship, working for a company that develops both food and personal care products.” |
 Paul Rabaut“The Kelley faculty is so plugged in to the industry today, and I can easily reach out to alumni. The best piece of advice I’ve gotten came from an alumnus who works in sports marketing. That would be a dream job for me. He said he tries to become the best marketer he can be. I want to do that—develop in all areas. I’ll learn 360 degrees of marketing and that will make me a better overall sports marketer.” |
 Christine Robinson“Most recently I was managing a limited service hotel in Indianapolis. As we were going through a brand relaunch, the process opened my eyes to the world of marketing. I realized how much I cared about the guest’s entire experience. I could see myself doing marketing, and I needed more education to learn the skills I needed. When I started to research Kelley, I realized how strong its marketing program is, and I valued its consumer focus.” |
 Jeremy Truxal“The CMA jumped out of the page at me as a real differentiator for Kelley when I was looking at other top-ranked marketing MBA programs. It promised a solid education while also giving me the opportunity to take advantage of its well-established corporate partnerships with many of the top consumer marketing companies in the U.S. and the world.” |
 Ryan Watson“I’m a big-city person who loves the energy of Bloomington. I know I can work beyond the Midwest if I choose. Companies that recruit here come from all over. I’ve even been able to take on a leadership role as the Vice President for Professional Development in our class. I wanted to help other classmates land internships, so a group of students and I organized a crash course on interview preparation. We developed a buddy system that paired students who had internships with students who were still looking, and it’s been incredibly successful.” |
 Carol White“As I started to look around, I realized the Consumer Marketing Academy was exactly what I was looking for. I even chose Kelley over my alma mater. My internship this summer proves the value of Kelley’s education. The CMA knows how to groom students to become true brand managers.” |
