In this Member Spotlight, we get to know more about Carolyn Popp Garrity, Assistant Professor of Business at Birmingham-Southern College and VP of Collegiate Relations for AMA Birmingham.

Carolyn received her Bachelor of Business Administration degree in marketing and management from the University of Cincinnati and her Master in Business Administration degree in marketing and nonprofit management from American University.  After graduating, Carolyn worked for nonprofit, community building organizations in North Carolina and Georgia before becoming the Director of Marketing for Aslan Training.  She then became the Vice President for Client Services at The Entrepreneurial Center.  In this position, she was responsible for providing consulting services to 60+ high-tech and biotech firms in the business incubator.

Carolyn Popp Garrity then moved to Baton Rouge, LA to pursue a Ph.D. at Louisiana State University.   After first working as an Assistant Professor of Marketing at McNeese State University, she began teaching as an Assistant Professor of Business at Birmingham-Southern College in August 2012.  Carolyn enjoys researching several areas of marketing, but her primary focus is on entrepreneurship, new product introduction, non-profit marketing and social media.  Her research has been presented at several marketing conferences including the American Marketing Association, Society for Marketing Advances, the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship and the Society for Consumer Psychology.

What do you like most about your job?

I love teaching, and for me it is a calling and a passion.  I love the moments when students catch on!  There is something amazing about witnessing the moment when the connection is made.  The sparks fly, and the faces light up.  Students’ confidence and competence grows, and I get to be a part of that.  I also love helping them look at real-world problems through a variety of lenses to become change agents.  It’s incredible to watch them learn to be critical thinkers and apply their knowledge to make an impact.

One of the best parts of teaching at BSC, I get to teach the students over the course of several semesters, and I can watch their development unfold.  I especially like when I see them recognize what they really want to do when they grow up (particularly when it’s a career in Marketing).  I love working with students through their majors and mentoring students both in school and after they graduate.

What do you value most about AMA?

AMA offers so many great resources!  The obvious best part is networking with other marketing professionals in the local business community!  I’m very passionate about marketing, and I love to be around other people who are as excited about it as I am.  This networking also helps me find opportunities for my students to connect with real-world experience.  And the networking events and other educational offerings help keep me current with changes in the field.  I also regularly use the AMA Marketer’s Toolkit to find useful templates and resources for concepts I teach in class. Finally, the national resources give me access to current research and also provides opportunities to publish my research.

What is a fun fact most people wouldn’t know about you?

I come from a large family in Cincinnati, Ohio.  I am one of seven kids, but I am the only girl.  I have four older brothers, a twin brother, and a younger brother, and all are still in Cincinnati.  Growing up, it definitely made dating interesting–but I always knew they had my back!