<p><span class="p-body">Just like a book, Mindy Stockfield's professional background has many chapters. However, not just one genre can define its plot. It's partially a romance that describes how she discovered her true career love, but also an adventure of how she transitioned from different industries while living in the north, south, and west coast. Finally, it's a bit of a history book—as it also covers years of emerging media.</span></p>

<p><span class="p-body">Stockfield graduated from the Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University and began her career at a small, start-up agency focused on digital marketing during the early days of the Internet. If you were to Google “Who created the first banner ad?,” you could learn how Stockfield was part of the agency that launched the same digital approaches that are still used today in marketing.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">&quot;It was an exciting time as the new technologies being applied in marketing were at its infancy,&quot; she recalls. &quot;I wore many hats and was part of a culture where you were encouraged to experiment.&quot;</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Stockfield was soon able to position herself into larger corporations and roles thanks to this experience. She went on to work for Disney, building solid experience in digital promotions and media, working on campaigns for their animated films as well as sweepstakes for Disney Parks.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">From there, she made a move to Atlanta, where she was part of the inaugural digital team at Cartoon Network. She helped launch many of their iconic shows and brands, like the Powerpuff Girls and Teen Titans. However, her priority was reaching an emerging audience of kids on the web, as eyeballs were moving away from traditional TV screens to computer screens.</span></p>

<p><span class="p-body">A few years later, she was offered a true &quot;dream job&quot;—a position in the new leadership team at Disney Channel Worldwide.&nbsp; She became the vice president of digital media. This was around the time when Miley Cyrus was making her debut as Hannah Montana and Zac Efron had just gained fame in High School Musical.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">&quot;Disney's strong investment in experimenting with new formats allowed us to create some of the most popular digital content for kids at the time and afforded my team winning an Emmy award for digital content,&quot; shared Stockbridge.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">She then transitioned into publishing and decided to move to New York City, partly to be closer to family. Disney then offered her an exciting role running the marketing team for Hyperion, their adult book publishing division.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">&quot;This opened so many new doors for me career-wise,&quot; explained Stockbridge. &quot;My introduction to NYU SPS came from my boss at the time, Ellen Archer, who was the president and publisher at Hyperion. She was an advisor for the MS in Publishing program at NYU SPS and asked me to attend a meeting in her place.&nbsp; At this meeting, I met Andrea Chambers, who inquired if I would have interest in teaching for their program one day. I didn't hesitate to say yes.&quot;</span></p>

<p><span class="p-body">After some years at Hyperion, Stockbridge wound up making a move back to TV by joining MTV (part of Paramount) as the senior vice-president of consumer marketing. This was an exciting time as the network had just picked up rights to the Shannara book series, and she had the opportunity to work with Del Rey, the publishing partner as they launched a TV series.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">&quot;I knew books were still in my DNA and a few years later, I returned to the publishing industry working as the senior vice-president for marketing, creative, and digital at Scholastic,&quot; she revealed. &quot;Being part of such a purpose-driven company was truly remarkable.&quot;</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">Yet her passion for teaching never dissipated. In 2019, she decided to commit more time to teaching. She is now an adjunct instructor for NYU SPS, and also teaches courses that are part of the master's program at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University and serves as faculty at Marist College.</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">When asked about the genesis of her passion for teaching, she cites a family history. &quot;My mother and sister were both educators, so I have always had so much respect for those who teach,&quot; she intimates. &quot;However, I never considered it a career for me—at first, anyway. I believe it was the outstanding people who I had the good fortune of working with in my career who drew me into teaching—but they may not have realized it.&quot;</span></p>

<p><span class="p-body">Stockbridge shares that she would often receive feedback from these peers on how much they learned from her. Fast forward to today, her focus as an educator is to empower those that she works with to be their best self.  &quot;I always thought 'teaching' was about sharing knowledge, but realized it was so much more,&quot; she explains. &quot;By helping others find their passion and learning how to use their own curiosity to ask the right questions to build confidence and grow, I discovered that my natural managerial style actually aligned more to teaching than I recognized.&quot;</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">As she teaches today, she becomes even more curious to learn more and dive into certain subject matter. She feels that teaching in fact makes her a smarter human and also provides incredible joy. &quot;As an instructor, there's a misperception that only the students learn. But the truth is that I learn so much from my students. I see the passion of a generation.&quot;</span></p>

<p><span class="p-body">Her favorite observation is seeing students evolve from the beginning of the semester to the end. According to Stockbridge, her courses are more like workshops than traditional lectures, and she wants students to understand how concepts are applied rather than just hear about the concepts alone. Simulations from actual experiences at past jobs in publishing are common, in which she provides students a problem to solve and has them work as teams to do so—just like they would on a job..</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">&quot;I am always amazed at their bright ideas and approaches,&quot; she beams. &quot;It's important that the assignment work also reflects the work done on the job. The most rewarding moments are when your students truly find their happiness in doing so. This generation is filled with natural promoters. Providing them simple immersive ways to leverage their skills and seeing those connections come to life is amazing.&quot;</span></p> <p><span class="p-body">An <a href="/content/sps-nyu/explore/degrees-and-programs/ms-in-publishing.html" title="MS in Publishing">MS in Publishing</a> from NYU SPS can open doors that you may have never imagined were possible. See where you can start the next chapter of your career with a degree from the Center for Publishing, Writing, and Media.</span></p>