ALLEN SASS
(B.S. ’05, MBA ’10)
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llen Sass knows mustard. After working at Kraft Foods and then earning his MBA in brand and product management, he joined Wisconsin Spice, a family-run business in Berlin, Wis., founded by his father. Sass serves as director of business development and vice president of operations for their firm, which manufactures mustard products for distribution around the globe. Since Sass joined the company four years ago, Wisconsin Spice’s sales have more than doubled. Part of this is due to a 40 percent increase in international sales— growth so significant that Wisconsin Spice is a finalist for the 2015 Governor’s Export Achievement Award. Sass is proud of the company’s employee-development initiatives. “Since we are a small niche company in a rural town, we need to develop our employees as best as possible,” says Sass. “We’ve established several unique employee-development programs to deepen the skills in our local talent pool. It’s exciting to see our investments in HR make it possible for us to promote employees from within the company.” Sass believes that one of the most valuable aspects of his education at the Wisconsin School of Business has been the emphasis on strategy. “It is critical that businesses, especially small businesses, focus their limited time, energy, and resources on projects that are aligned with their strategy,” says Sass. “My experience at the WSB helped instill this philosophy—establish a strategy and make sure that all aspects of the business are closely aligned to that strategy.”
“It is critical that businesses, especially small businesses, focus their limited time, energy, and resources on projects that are aligned with their strategy.” —ALLEN SASS (B.S. ’05, MBA ’10)
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eather Holtsberg Smith is responsible for some of the innovative new products on your grocery list, including Quaker’s Real Medleys SuperGrains, Warm & Crunchy Granola, and Chewy Yogurt Granola Bars. In 2010, after graduating with an MBA in brand and product management, Holtsberg Smith accepted a position with PepsiCo, parent company of Quaker Foods North America. She supported several Quaker products before being promoted to the Grains Division of PepsiCo’s Global Nutrition Group in Chicago in 2013. “Each innovation holds a special place in my heart,” she says. “Seeing a project start in consumer research, progress through testing, and then evolve to a live product on the shelves in a grocery store, is a pretty amazing experience!” Holtsberg Smith, named one of Crain’s Chicago Business’s “40 under 40” in 2013, was recently promoted to senior marketing manager for the Fruit and Vegetable Division, where she is responsible for developing the next generation of functional nutrition juices for global markets. To others, such a transition might seem daunting, but she was up for the challenge. “The opportunity to continue to grow and expand my learning is incredibly energizing,” she says. She adds that the School prepared her well. “The brand management-specific courses, as well as the interaction with the superb board members, provided me the best foundation for a long and successful career in brand management,” she says.
20 | UW–Madison Wisconsin School of Business
Heather Holtsberg Smith photos by Bruce Fritz; Allen Sass photos by Rick Marolt.
HEATHER HOLTSBERG SMITH (MBA ’09)