Alumni Spotlight: Emma Doody-Stetson '11

When Emma graduated from Cornell, she earned her Master’s Degree in education with the plans of teaching high school English.  Though she did that for a couple of years, a chance encounter with Boston-based Chef Todd English coupled with her Near Eastern Studies experience led her in another direction.  She learned that he was opening a restaurant in Kuwait and offered her services.  She hoped that her knowledge of Arabic would be an asset and jumped at an opportunity to live abroad.  She joined the team there for a few months as Operations Manager, helping them launch the Figs brand in Kuwait.  While she enjoyed working at the restaurant, her favorite parts were exploring the country and meeting friends along the way.

Emma decided to enter the restaurant world upon return.  She discovered that one of her favorite parts of the job was crafting the wines lists, which reminded her of the days when she took the wines course at Cornell.  She ultimately went to work for a wine distributor.  She has been in the wine industry ever since, exploring all facets of it from distribution to retail to operations.  She earned her WSET Level 2 Award in Wine & Spirits and her WSET Level 3 Award in Wine from the International Wine Center in New York City.  Today, she is the Operations Assistant for a New Hampshire distributor.  She oversees day-to-day logistics like placing orders, communicating with suppliers, supporting the team, and pitching new products to the state.

Emma credits her time in Cornell’s Near Eastern Studies Department with giving her the courage to follow her career down all different paths.  They taught her to ask questions, travel to distant places, and embrace new experiences.  They’ve continued to be supportive of her to this day.

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Emma Doody behind a wine bar
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