From PepsiCo to Ocean Spray: How Alumna Utilized Smith MBA to Pivot to Consumer Products

“As my career path grew, I wanted to shift gears and have more ownership, and broaden my opportunities,” said Monisha Dabek, MBA ’06. After working for four years in consulting, Dabek was looking to make a move. She turned to an MBA from the Robert H. Smith School of Business to help propel her to a career in consumer products. That decision certainly played a role in shaping where she is today—Chief Operating Officer with Ocean Spray.

When looking back on her MBA experience, one of the things Dabek values most is the network that she created. The Smith network helped Dabek begin her post-MBA career at PepsiCo, where she spent five years. “During my time in Maryland, PepsiCo had a sales intern program where they would recruit from the Smith School,” Dabek said. University of Maryland alumnus Al Carey ’74, a senior executive at PepsiCo at the time, was instrumental in connecting Smith students with this program.

She said her time at PepsiCo “more than delivered” in giving her the opportunity to gain valuable experience in the consumer products industry. She then joined White Wave Foods, which helped her transition from a Sales focus to Brand Marketing. Dabek spent 10 years with WhiteWave Foods (pre- and post-Danone acquisition) increasing her leadership responsibilities, working with larger teams, launching new brands, leading established brands, and moving into general management roles.

Dabek is proud that she made the leap into marketing. “I don’t believe my career path would have progressed the way it did had I not successfully pushed to make that move into a new arena. 

The changes and new challenges she has pursued throughout her career were also made possible because of a strong village of support, including her parents and husband. With two successful careers and two young children in the house, “each person can’t do everything they want, in a given moment, in the same year. It takes careful planning and sometimes sacrifice,” she said. Ensuring other women in business are supported, inspired and have opportunities for career development is another area that Dabek is passionate about through her work as a board member for the Massachusetts Conference for Women.

When the opportunity at Ocean Spray came along for this Smith Terp, one of the unique aspects that interested Dabek was that the company is an agricultural cooperative—owned by farmers. “The co-op structure is very unique to Ocean Spray. That purpose to support family farms is a huge reason why people work here. It is wonderful to know that 100 percent of our profits go back to the cranberry farmers who own this cooperative.

Leading across multiple functions is something Dabek has been working toward throughout her career. “To be a successful business leader, you have to understand the other functions well enough to know how to interpret what they’re doing, see the value and encourage effective collaboration,” she said. “Connecting people and functions together either on projects or initiatives and ramping up for the next 100 years for this historic cooperative, that’s what I’m looking forward to most.”