Profile: Marketing Degree Takes Her to Unexpected Places

From a high-rise office building to an island in the Caribbean to a distribution center in her own living room, Angela (Naylor) Gustafson, BBA ‘91, has followed her own path.

Gustafson graduated with a major in marketing and joined the St. Paul-based Minnesota Life Insurance Company. Although on a promising management-track program, Gustafson wanted to experience life in another part of the world.

Angela and Brian Gustafson, shown here outside their home in the Dominican Republic in 1995, now live in Minneapolis with their four children.

“After three years, I left the company to join the Peace Corps. It was a world away from corporate life in St. Paul,” Gustafson recalled. She and her husband, Brian, traveled to the Dominican Republic, and were stationed in a community near Haiti, where they worked primarily in small business development and education. “As a side project, we began gathering information on world cultures and creating fun ways to share what we found,” said Gustafson. “For most of the kids we were working with, these activities became the first ‘trip’ out of their home villages.”

When Gustafson returned to St. Paul—and to Minnesota Life—two years later, she wanted to build on the experience of being immersed in another culture and the enjoyment she gained from teaching children about other areas of the world.

Building on a life-long interest in education, and skills in marketing and management, Gustafson set out to develop a series of educational materials aimed at introducing audiences to new parts of the world. Two years ago, she left Minnesota Life for good and began work on her first book, “Imagine a House - A Journey to Fascinating Houses Around the World.” The book contains pictures and information about houses around the world, from nomadic tents to houses on stilts.

“Houses, with their broad appeal, became topic number one,” said Gustafson. The book, the first in a proposed series, was self-published. Gustafson managed every aspect of the project from start to finish. She wrote the text, contracted with photographers from around the world, hired illustrators and designers, coordinated printing, and—when bookstores place an order—distributes the books from her home.

Since the book was released last fall, Gustafson has put her marketing background to work creating and distributing press kits, attending bookstore events and finding national distribution channels. Gustafson’s networking skills also play an important role. From meeting with librarians to visiting schools to traveling to children’s festivals, she’s working to get her book in as many hands as possible.

Her efforts are paying off—she sold more than 1,300 copies in the first six months. Although her path to business success might be unconventional, Gustafson wouldn’t have it any other way. “Life’s too short,” she said. “If you can muster the resources—and having a husband with a shared goal certainly helps—it’s wonderfully gratifying to fulfill a dream. Just go for it, and then don’t give up.”

—Rebecca Smith, associate director of alumni relations