This winter marked a full-circle return for alumna Meaghan Kiernan Sparkman ’05, who was invited to serve as a guest judge for the Entrepreneurship, Finance, Economics, and Business (EFEB) concentration’s mock Shark Tank competition. Her expertise in long-term business strategy, brand growth, marketing, and commercial development offered EFEB students the opportunity to pitch their ideas to an experienced business leader in exchange for valuable feedback. In her professional career, Meaghan currently serves as Head of Strategy and Transformation for the Americas at Nestlé Waters and Premium Beverages and as Head of Marketing for Essentia Water. Her return to Potomac provided students with the chance to connect with an accomplished alumna whose continued involvement with the Upper School community reflects the enduring ties between Potomac and its alumni.

After graduating from Potomac in 2005, Meaghan studied art history at Wake Forest University before continuing to the University of Virginia to pursue a PhD in art and architectural history. After completing her master’s, Meaghan pivoted, crossing the grounds to UVA’s Darden School of Business to earn her MBA. From there, she entered the consumer goods industry, working in marketing and strategy at Campbell Soup Company before joining Nestlé.

As a seasoned business strategist, Meaghan evaluated student pitches using the same three-step framework she applies to professional business proposals: “Should we do it? Can we do it? And can we make money?” These questions determine whether a product addresses a meaningful problem, can be realistically executed, and has long- term potential—what she considers the “three most essential components of creating a strong business.” Passion and team commitment, she added, are equally critical, because they generate the “momentum behind a priority,” a collective drive to get things done.

EFEB teams were challenged to meet this rigorous standard, and according to Meaghan, they delivered. She praised students for their dedication to market research, knowing their consumers, and how “they found a compelling pain point for consumers within the marketplace that wasn’t served by another product.” Equally impressive was their willingness to refine their ideas through trial and error. Several teams demonstrated how “it wasn’t prototype one that worked,” walking the judges through the lessons they learned from early setbacks and the product iterations that followed. By the end of the event, Meaghan noted, teams had “really brought to life their ideas in a really strong way,” turning ideas into well-executed business models.