Autumn McDonald on Anthropology in Business with Matt Artz

In this episode of the Anthropology in Business podcast, Autumn McDonald speaks with Matt Artz about her career as a business anthropologist. The conversation covers Autumn's journey into anthropology after two decades at Fortune 500s in corporate America, and the starting of ADM Insights & Strategy, LLC.About Autumn McDonaldWith over 2 decades of experience in Research, Insights, and Analytics spanning 6 continents, Autumn D. McDonald is the owner of ADM Insights & Strategy, LLC. She leverages her multifaceted expertise to aid the clients of ADM Insights & Strategy, LLC in designing research organizations, developing research plans, harnessing impactful learnings, and identifying actionable paths forward. With diverse angles of expertise ADM Insights & Strategy is uniquely equipped to greatly illuminate insights. ADM Insights & Strategy, LLC utilizes mixed methods approaches that integrate market research with an anthropologically inspired lens for greater human-centricity and depth of understanding.Previously, she was the Senior Director Global Consumer Insights at The Hershey Company, leading the entire consumer research function worldwide. Autumn was responsible for spearheading the organization to provide consumer insights, tools, methodologies, models, and analyses needed in developing superior marketing, sales, and product strategies grounded in human understanding.In addition to her global research experience, Autumn has spearheaded over 500 research studies and secondary analyses focused on Black and Latinx constituents in the United States. These include, but are not limited to, the creation and validation of new research methods specifically designed for Latinx and Black consumers, quantitative habits and practices studies focused on multi-cultural populations, countless qualitative interviews with Black and Latinx constituents, in context participant observations with People of Color (POC), and new immigrant ethnographic studies.Autumn’s expertise in research, race, and culture, and has resulted in invited speaking engagements with the Advertising Research Foundation, the Black Family Digest, the American Marketing Association, and the Hispanic 360 Conference, to name a few.Autumn earned a Dual Degree in Mathematics and Spanish from the University of Texas at Austin and is currently developing her Master Thesis in Applied Anthropology at the University of North Texas. Her specialization is Socio-Cultural Anthropology, with an emphasis in intersections of race, ethnicity, and space.Recommended LinksAutumn McDonald on LinkedInAbout the Anthropology in Business PodcastThe Anthropology in Business podcast is for anthropologists and business leaders interested in learning more about the many ways anthropology is applied in business and why business anthropology is one of the most effective lenses for making sense of organizations and consumers. It is hosted by Matt Artz (https://mattartz.me), a business anthropologist specializing in design anthropology and working at the intersection of product management, user experience, and business strategy. To learn more about the Anthropology in Business podcast, please visit the website (https://www.mattartz.me/podcasts/anthropology-in-business-podcast/).