In this episode of Anthropology in Business, Brooke Gibbs speaks with Matt Artz about her career as a business anthropologist. The conversation covers Brooke's early work in market research, her decision to go back to UNT to get an applied anthropology graduate degree, and the work she is doing with her company ARTYFACT.About Brooke GibbsAs an Anthropologist with over 10 years of experience working with Fortune 50 companies, Brooke combines the analytical rigor of her background in social science with an innate curiosity and intuition about people. Brooke has extensive experience building brand purpose, driving organizational change, and uncovering insight on both the product and retail side. Brooke believes brands, organizations, and retailers have a responsibility to positively impact people and society. Her goal is to help organizations find their voice and identity within their communities, so they can better address the real issues impacting people.About ARTYFACTARTYFACT is a research, strategy, and innovation consultancy bringing clarity to business problems through human understanding. The name comes from the words ART and FACT, which represent the art and science of anthropology.Recommended Links

• ARTYFACT
• Brooke Gibbs on LinkedIn

Watch the Videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1200m0Fhyc

 Episode TranscriptPlease note this transcript is an automated transcription and may have some errors.

Matt Artz:

All right. Well, hi everyone. And welcome back. I'm Matt Artz and I'm today with Brooke Gibbs. Brooke is an applied anthropologist from UNT, same place I went and the co-founder of ARTYFACT previously at Proctor and Gamble for I believe, 11 years and a journalism background. So, I mean, I know I just covered a little bit of that, but maybe you want to give us like maybe tell us a little bit about why actually like me, why do you choose to go back for an anthropology degree when you started somewhere else and you know, what may maybe made you do that and how has that led to say ARTYFACT?

Brooke Gibbs:

Yeah. Thank you. First of all, for having me one of the things that has really guided my life, even from, you know, being in school has been a real interest for other people, other people that don't look, act, whatever, like me and people who, I don't know, I was always one of those people where it's like the person in the corner by themselves. I want to go over there and talk to that person and make sure they're okay. And then bring them into the fold. That's always been who I am. And so when I, from a journalism standpoint, you know, like, as you said, it was like, that was like where my, my bachelor's degree was in. And that was because I also like to be a storyteller. I want to hear people's stories, but then also share their stories. And so that's where that came from.

Brooke Gibbs:

But once I was in school getting my bachelor's, I started to get into some anthropology anthropology classes and it was like, Oh, this is an even better fit with who I am, what I like all those things. So I continued on the path that I was on, which was, I was getting my degree in journalism, but at the same time I had an internship with, at P and G doing market research, which was also a whole third thing. Right. But decided to go that route because Angie was a stable company. It had good benefits. I was fresh out of out of college. So I decided to go that route, but I, anthropology was always in the back of my mind, always like even the first year I was going to quit PNG and go back to school full-time to get my PhD in anthropology.

Brooke Gibbs:

I it's not that I decided not to do that. Actually the world God decided that was not the right timing for me. So I kept staying at P and G at that time, and then decided in 2014. So I had already been at P and G