Like many students who undergo a career pivot, Dr. Amanda Ledet followed a nontraditional path into marketing. With an undergraduate degree in accounting, she spent 10 years working in both public and private accounting before realizing that the part of her work she enjoyed most had very little to do with balancing the books.
Today, she is a senior instructor in the Department of Marketing of the LSU E.J. Ourso College of Business, where she teaches several courses including Marketing Management, Digital Strategies for Sports Business, Principles of Marketing, and Consumer Behavior.
Her path from accounting to marketing shaped the way she teaches by giving her a perspective that combines analytical thinking with a curiosity about why people make the decisions they do.
"My time spent in accounting has led me to have an analytical viewpoint on marketing," Dr. Ledet said. "I teach my students how to tell a story from the data they can gather about consumers."
This teaching approach grew out of her own career transition.
On Finding Her Fit
"When I was an accountant, I was never a bad accountant. I was good at my job...but my heart just wasn't in it," she said.
As her responsibilities began moving toward marketing and business development, she found herself trying to understand the reasons customers behaved in certain ways and how stronger relationships with those customers could contribute to business success.
"Once I started performing job duties that focused on solving problems by looking at underlying motives of our customer, it was like the world opened up," she reflected.
"Marketing draws on many concepts from psychology and applies to everyone and everything around us," Dr. Ledet said. "As I started learning more and more about marketing concepts, I began to thrive."
This interest eventually led her to pursue a PhD in Business with a concentration in Marketing.
"I was at the top of my class in my PhD program, and it was easy, because I was so fascinated in what I was researching," she said. "Work started feeling a lot less like work because it was so much fun."
Marketing Isn't Just for Marketers
Now, this enthusiasm carries into Dr. Ledet's classrooms. To her, one of the most compelling aspects of the field is that multiple personality types can thrive within it.
"I am a firm believer that you do not have to be an extrovert to be in sales or marketing," she said. "In fact, some of the best marketers are introverts because they know how to listen."
That idea can challenge one of the common assumptions students bring into marketing courses. Success isn't necessarily about being the loudest person in the room or having a naturally outgoing personality. Listening, understanding people, recognizing patterns, and building relationships can be just as important.
Dr. Ledet also sees marketing as a skill set that extends beyond a traditional marketing job. "Most students love my class because even if your end goal is not to pursue a career in marketing, you can still apply the concepts you learn in my classes to any job," she said. "I love exciting students and uncovering potential interest in marketing that they didn't know existed until being exposed to some of the concepts I teach."
Turning the Online Classroom Into a Real-World Experience
Teaching online doesn't mean keeping students at a distance from the work itself. Dr. Ledet uses hands-on learning and current examples to connect course concepts to situations students may encounter outside the classroom.
Her capstone projects give students an opportunity to take that learning beyond assignments and into practical applications. Depending on the course, students can earn a practical certificate to add to their resumes or work remotely with local businesses to develop strategic marketing campaigns.
"I try to incorporate current events and campaigns that I see into my lectures to give a clear example of what we are learning," she said. Connection between classroom concepts and everyday life is intentional.
Additionally, marketing isn't something students only encounter when they see an advertisement. According to Dr. Ledet, "Most marketing concepts can be applied to numerous situations in life...After all, what is the number one thing we are all selling? Ourselves."
Developing a strong personal brand can have value long after a student finishes a course or earns a degree. In fact, "developing a clear, strong personal brand will benefit you for life."
The Students Who Get the Most Out of Marketing
Dr. Ledet believes students get more from the program when they stop treating coursework as something to complete and start looking for ways to apply it.
"Students who really dig deep into the concepts and think about how they can apply them to their jobs and their lives instead of just completing the assignments" tend to thrive, she said.
That mindset can change the way students approach everything from customer relationships to their own purchasing decisions. Marketing education can help students understand how companies use consumer data, how brands position themselves, and why certain messages influence their decisions.
It can also make students more thoughtful consumers. As Dr. Ledet asserts, "Understanding how companies should use your customer data ethically and why you may choose to add to cart or select a certain brand over another will help you to make enlightened decisions."
Why AI Won't Replace the Human Side of Marketing
Artificial intelligence is changing how marketers work, from campaign development to workflow automation, but Dr. Ledet doesn't see AI eliminating the need for marketers.
Instead, she sees an opportunity to focus even more on the part of marketing that technology can't replace: connecting to the people you’re trying to reach. AI can help marketers improve campaigns and streamline repetitive work, but relationships still require people.
"While AI is an amazing way to enhance our campaigns and streamline workflows, it still does not replace human connection.”
That may mean marketers need to think beyond automated digital communication. For example, "If a company sent you a beautifully packaged piece of snail mail or invited you to a local, in person event, you'd probably take notice," she said. "Whereas an AI generated email campaign will most likely never get opened because it will get lost in the sea of eternal emails."
As marketing becomes more automated, knowing when to step away from the technology and create a meaningful human interaction could become an increasingly valuable skill.
An Education That Extends Beyond the Job
Dr. Ledet's own career demonstrates how skills can move across fields. She started in accounting, discovered an interest in customer behavior and business development, and eventually built a career around understanding how people, data, brands, and relationships intersect.
Now, she hopes students use what they learn in similar ways. "This program will teach you concepts that you can use to enhance many areas of your life," she said.
That might mean developing a personal brand, building stronger relationships with future clients, becoming a more informed consumer, or learning to think more critically about how companies use customer information.
For Dr. Ledet, marketing is ultimately about understanding people. Her journey from accounting to marketing is proof that an unexpected career background can become an advantage when it brings a different way of looking at a problem.
Build Your Marketing Skills with the online Bachelor of Science in Marketing from LSU
Dr. Ledet's career is a strong example of how marketing can complement an existing skill set or open the door to an entirely new direction. As an instructor for the Bachelor of Science in Marketing courses, she brings a combination of analytical thinking, consumer insight, and real-world application into the classroom.
Along with offering access to instructors like Dr. Ledet, the online Bachelor of Science in Marketing from LSU can help students develop an understanding of consumer behavior, marketing strategy, digital strategies, and the relationships that drive business success. The BS in Marketing degree offers multiple concentrations including:
Whether you're hoping to gain career-facing skills, looking to strengthen your current business abilities, or interested in understanding how consumers and brands interact, this program provides an education you can use well beyond a traditional marketing role.
Explore LSU's online marketing degree, and apply today.
