A little about me.

I graduated from Arizona State in 2005 with a BA in English Literature. I began my undergrad in the College of Business, but after taking a class on lit theory at the end of my second year, I discovered I had a talent for writing and an interest in gender and race theories, so I changed plans.  I usually credit (or blame) Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story The Yellow Wallpaper for altering my course so radically.  However, by the time I was ready to start a Lit grad program, I realized that the English department was not where I wanted to spend my career.  So I took a job serving coffee at Barnes & Noble to pay rent while I figured out what I wanted to do next.  That barista job turned out to be the start of my career, because currently I'm a Store Manager for Barnes & Noble in $5.2M store.  B&N was a great choice -- I've had the opportunity to refine my leadership skills and develop my business acumen, but I still get to talk about books on a daily basis. 

Between school and work, I don't end up with a lot of free time at the moment, but when it comes along, my favorite place to spend it is in my kitchen. I like to experiment with new recipes (then manipulate them to my taste), and I enjoy working to recreate dishes I've had at restaurants.  My truck-driving husband and 14 year-old boy are usually more than happy to participate in my test kitchen experiments, even if that means sometimes we eat the same thing several days in row while I try to work out the details of a recipe.  The other part of this blog is actually dedicated to showcasing recipes I've developed, although I haven't updated anything there in quite some time. 

So how did I end up in MIS?  I discovered program while researching the MBA program at Eller. The more I learned about MIS, the more it seemed like a better fit for me than a good old-fashioned MBA. I'm hoping to use my degree to alter my career path, and transition from front-of-house management to corporate leadership role.  I've spent a fair amount of time working with my Regional Director of Loss Prevention at B&N, which has exposed me to data analytics and information security in a retail environment.  I was first introduced to the details of LP during a three-year assignment at a store in an urban neighborhood, where I dealt with LP issues related to theft and quality of life on a daily basis.  I also learned that I as much as I enjoyed catching the bad guys, I also loved assembling the puzzle of various bits of information to build a compelling case.  During my time in that store, my company began to organize LP data at the store level to address issues such as organized retail crime, and I was in the right place to help pilot a number of programs and then teach others how to use them effectively.  I plan to leverage my on-the-job experience with my new degree to make this the purpose of my career rather than an aspect of my job.

This class in particular has been on my radar since I started the program last May.  The amount of data my company collects on a daily basis both in stores and on-line is astounding, and I've asked many questions over the years about accessing specific bits of information.  I'm excited to learn about how other organizations are putting big data to work, and hopeful that I can take an idea or two back to work with me immediately.  Whether the opportunity occurs with B&N or elsewhere, I'm ultimately hoping to become one of the 1.5M data-savvy managers described inTen IT-enabled business trends for the decade ahead from McKinsey.