Darouny PhouybanhdytGraduate Studentshe/her/hers

My interest lie in understanding the impact sustainable products, materials, and practices have on consumers when choosing brands and companies to interact with. I am looking to dive deeper into the “what,” “why,” and “how” as it relates to sustainability and consumer behavior. “What is the reason why a consumer chooses one brand over another?” “How can companies implement new practices that truly align with the consumer today and help the company itself work towards a more sustainable future?”

What attracted me the most to the MS Human Ecology program is that I have the ability to combine my passions and experience together to uncover the answers to what I am most curious about. I can really hone in on having each of my passions work hand in hand.

I received my bachelor’s degree in both Retailing & Consumer Behavior and Economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I started off my career in the retail/e-commerce industry working for Macy’s and Mack Weldon. There, I gained experience in buying, planning, merchandising, account management, and product development. Though I loved obsessing over apparel, accessories, and consumer behavior, I was yearning to expand my knowledge base more to find ways to improve the industry even further. I believed that a strong foundation in data science would provide me with the tools to take data further and automate processes. So, I moved to London to work on a postgraduate certificate in data science at Birkbeck, University of London.

To help me improve my skills in data science, I worked for various companies in ticketing and entertainment, travel, food, women’s health, and procurement before I returned to my true passion: retail/e-commerce. I am now back working for brands in the retail and e-commerce space, specializing in marketing, analytics, and engineering. As the head of data and analytics at the consulting firm I work for, I am always thinking of ways we can grow as a team and leave a lasting impact in the industry and on the world. Being that I am passionate about what the natural world has to offer and is constantly trying to adopt more sustainable practices in my personal life, I hope to help my brands add in more best practices when it comes to sustainability and the environment, as well as bring in more brands specializing in it already.