Although the dairy industry is a “traditional” business, Miriam Erickson Brown, the president of Anderson Erickson Dairy, sees many opportunities for her company, especially with the vast amount of recent research establishing the value of milk and yogurt in producing weight loss, fighting obesity and preventing disease. Erickson Brown is the third generation to lead her family’s growing business, and is also the chairperson of two national industry organizations: the Milk Industry Foundation and the International Dairy Foods Association. She calls herself a “marketer at heart,” and although she once wanted to work in broadcasting, she said she has found marketing and product development as her creative outlets at AE.

When you were planning for your career, did you see yourself working in the family business?  I didn’t think that I would be here, actually. I wanted to get into broadcasting after college. I studied speech communications and marketing, the closest things at the time to broadcasting, at Wheaton College in Illinois. I had a lot of radio experience, and for a while, I was the voice of AE, and I really enjoyed it.

What changed your mind?  After college, I went to work for a small publishing house in the suburbs of Chicago. During that time, my father would call and ask me if I wanted to come work for AE, and I said, “Not right now.” But after a year at my job, in 1987, I came back here and worked as a marketing specialist. I like to think that my father took a chance on me and brought me in. I’d had my experience working somewhere else and came in and found that I loved working on the marketing side of the business. It really fit well with my journalism training and media experience.

As you began taking on more responsibility for the company, what else did you enjoy about working for AE?  I found that I really love product development and getting ideas for flavors. We have flavors that people dream about. Vanilla pear came from me shopping for bath and body products. When I’m shopping or dining out or playing, I’m thinking of different flavors. That’s the really fun part of my job. We get to dream a little.

What have been your goals since you took over the leadership role?  When I took this job, I really wanted to grow the family atmosphere here and have open communications with the employees. I also wanted to be sure to maintain our high level of quality in all our products because that’s the foundation of the company. I also wanted to build on our company’s history of innovation. My dad was an innovative leader, and that’s my personality, too. I want to continue to come up with new ideas and new ways of doing things – even if it’s just a new flavor – just to breathe excitement and freshness into the dairy industry.

Is marketing a traditional product like milk a challenge?  I’ve always looked at it as the possibilities being endless when you have that squeaky-clean foundation to start with.

Is it a good time to be in the dairy industry?  I think it’s a wonderful time to be in the dairy industry because there is so much to talk about. Who would have ever thought that drinking milk and eating yogurt speeds up your metabolism and helps you lose weight? With the fight against obesity, the products that are taking the biggest hit are sugary drinks like sodas, some vending machine products and fast foods. Milk has an enviable position there because of its nine essential nutrients, and we’re altogether healthy. We don’t have to spin it. It’s what we are.

How have your leadership responsibilities with national dairy groups shaped what you do as AE’s president?  The boards provide the foundation and wealth of information and then we shape it and insert those messages to our consumers. It keeps what we’re doing current. Our consumers want us to be the dairy experts, and this way, we have the freshest and most crucial information on dairy for consumers, and we try to filter that out.

What is it like to work with your family?  I love working with my family members, and we have a really strong team here. Because my brother, Warren (vice president and chief financial officier), and I were raised the same way and have the same foundation, and because our name is on the carton, we have a tremendous commitment to the company. My dad (Jim) is our CEO, and he keeps us all on our toes. He offers good advice, and we have family meetings every Thursday to discuss current issues and the direction of the company.

Do you take time for yourself outside work to do other things you enjoy?  I’m kind of living and breathing dairy right now. I live in Urbandale with my husband and I’m pretty active in the Des Moines affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation because I am a breast cancer survivor. I also do work with the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines and Keep Iowa Beautiful and am active in my church.

How did having breast cancer 10 years ago change how you look at life?  It taught me to work in an area that is my passion, which I am doing. And being diagnosed with a very serious disease and not knowing how all that’s going to turn out, it changes you definitely and makes you seek balance in your life and finding time to do things that you know you love and you can give back. Two years ago, research revealed that milk helps prevent breast cancer, and I thought, wow, I work in an industry and I can be here for such a wonderful message for milk. Everything came fullcircle for me.