Danielle Sturgeon '19

Danielle Sturgeon ’19, a transfer student, is grateful for the advantage her Bryant education has given her. “My management professor, Chris Ratcliffe, is so knowledgeable in the industry,” she says. “I learned so much from his Management Principles and Practices course, where I worked with a team of other students on a project for Big Brothers, Big Sisters."

Learning how the established nonprofit organization managed budgets and volunteers helped her run Granby Farmers Market, which she created from the ground up with her friend, Amanda Zyzdorf. 

“We did a lot of outreach to the community, talking to the people around us and figuring out what it was that they wanted at the market. We also worked to make connections with local farmers and local vendors,” she says.

“It’s a full-time unpaid job,” says Sturgeon, "but it’s really enjoyable.”

Today, she is the Marketing Manager for Zen Restaurant Group based in Granby.

She believes strongly in the work she did to bring her town together through the market. “The unique thing about a farmers market is that it’s a place where people make connections with each other: with the farmers, with the vendors, and with their neighbors.”

“I really like that management is about helping other people achieve their best success,” Sturgeon says. The skills she’s learning are helping her to achieve a larger goal: helping people. “I came to Bryant to be a successful businesswoman,” she says, “but I also wanted to make a difference.”

Real World Experience