Chief Sustainability Officer, National Milk Producers Federation
While at the Friedman School, Nicole earned her MS in Nutrition with a focus on Agriculture, Food, and the Environment.
1. What do you love about your job?
I feel honored and lucky to be serving dairy farmers. The diversity of dairy farms – by geography, production style, size, and more – means sustainability issues and opportunities vary tremendously. I enjoy the challenge of building industry-wide programs that work across that diversity. I love the people I work with, both within my organization and throughout the dairy industry. And every day I get to work on making sustainability more accessible to dairy farmers, whether that’s upgrading our platform for environmental assessments or advocating for voluntary, incentive-based programs.
2. How did you get your first job after Friedman?
My first job after Friedman was with the consulting firm KCoe Isom (now called Pinion). I went through a standard application process. While networking and leaning on connections did not directly lead to that job, conversations with others helped me understand different career opportunities and how to focus my search.
3. Who/what was the most memorable course/professor at Friedman?
This is a challenging question to answer as I learned something valuable from every course and professor. Recognizing course names may have changed since I was there, the two Agriculture, Science, and Policy courses continue to be helpful in having an understanding of science and policy topics I encounter regularly. I also greatly enjoyed the Food Systems Modeling course for helping to frame systems thinking more broadly.
4. What lessons did you learn at Friedman that continue to influence you in your job and career?
Friedman showcased how a single issue can be viewed from so many different lenses – nutrition, sustainability, food security, and more – and how those lenses naturally shape opinions. It has been helpful for me to think critically about finding areas of alignment across those lenses to build consensus and momentum that creates impact.
5. What advice do you have for Friedman students as they embark on their careers? 
As you consider your first destination out of Friedman, keep in mind that the first career move / choice you make out of grad school does not lock you in for life to one industry, subject, job function, etc. It’s ok to use short-term goals to guide your initial job search – skills you want to keep building, sectors where you want experience, etc.
Lean on your network of fellow Friedman students throughout your career journey. Compare notes on job opportunities, career learnings, professional development, salary benchmarking, and more.
When exploring potential job shifts, try your hardest to think not only about things you don’t like in a job, but also critically assess and identify the things that you do like (e.g. job functions you enjoy, work style you value, independent / team balance that works for you, work-life balance culture, etc.).
Interested in connecting with Nicole? Find her HERE.
