Class Note 2011
Issue
November-December 2022
We are sad to learn of the death of our classmate John McInerney “Mac” Morris on August 8. More details will be available in an obituary to be published on the Dartmouth Alumni Magazine’s website.
In happier news, Bryan Alston’s ecommerce startup Greater Than (DrinkGT.com) ranked as the No. 1 fastest-growing hydration brand on this year’s Inc5000 list (and is the #198th fastest-growing private company in the United States).
Bryan joined the failing sports drink company as a consultant who noticed something interesting in the data: Pregnant and breastfeeding moms were using the drink to increase milk supply, soothe muscle cramps, fight fatigue, and more. After going all-in on this highly overlooked group, the company grew sales by 27 times in three years. Bryan joined full-time in 2020 as chief marketing officer and has since been promoted to cofounder.
Bryan writes, “Pivoting from a healthy (but struggling) sports drink to now being the top hydration brand for breastfeeding moms has been a very exciting business journey during the past three years.
“The explosive grassroots growth Greater Than has seen among new moms is a true testament to what happens when we focus on solving big problems for an overlooked customer group. I can’t wait to share more about this crazy journey in the next Class Notes column!”
The lack of voluntary updates for the April submission (published in the July/August issue) prompted classmates to write in. Without further ado, here are the updates! And please, continue writing with more!
John Lee wrote to say, “It’s my first time writing in with an update for the Class Notes. I got married on July 9 to Hannah Kim (University of California, Berkeley, class of 2014). Leonard Chang was, I think, the only Dartmouth guest at our wedding. Hannah and I will be settling in San Francisco (where we’ve both been working in tech) for now, but we plan to move to Southeast Asia for at least a couple years before we start a family. I’d love to hear from any of our classmates who’ve moved to or are in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia or Singapore!” Congratulations to John and good luck with the international move!
After taking note that zero new updates were submitted for the July/August issue, Marjorie Chelius took pity on me and wrote in with an update. After cutting her teeth at Booth getting an M.B.A. and managing your favorite billion-dollar brands at P&G, Marjorie is now doing what she loves most: leading growth at an early-stage startup. Mockingbird was designed to bring high-quality, stylish baby goods to expecting parents at prices that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Marjorie would like our whole child-bearing-age class to know that you can purchase Mockingbird products, including its No. 1-rated single-to-double stroller at www.hellomockingbird.com or in your local Target store! She’s also hiring on her team, so drop her a note at mche@hellomockingbird.com if you’re in the job market.
And shortly after I finished drafting the last Class Notes column, Shanel Balloo added, “Andrea Imhof and Lars Osterberg—in attendance at Erin (Jaeger) Gunaratna’s wedding—had a baby boy last July. Genevieve O’Mara also had a baby last year.” Congratulations to all the new parents!
Another followup to that column: Amanda Devine wrote back to say, “I got married to Jacob Wexler (not a Dartmouth alum) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, during Memorial Day Weekend. In attendance were Allison Lure, Kevin Liao, Kathryn Arion, Stephanie Han, Jennifer Fownes, and Nozomi Hitomi!”
Write me with more updates; we’ll publish them in the submission following Bryan’s guest column!
—Hillary S. Cheng, 26611 La Roda, Mission Viejo, CA 92691; (603) 546-8452; hillary.s.cheng@dartmouth.edu
In happier news, Bryan Alston’s ecommerce startup Greater Than (DrinkGT.com) ranked as the No. 1 fastest-growing hydration brand on this year’s Inc5000 list (and is the #198th fastest-growing private company in the United States).
Bryan joined the failing sports drink company as a consultant who noticed something interesting in the data: Pregnant and breastfeeding moms were using the drink to increase milk supply, soothe muscle cramps, fight fatigue, and more. After going all-in on this highly overlooked group, the company grew sales by 27 times in three years. Bryan joined full-time in 2020 as chief marketing officer and has since been promoted to cofounder.
Bryan writes, “Pivoting from a healthy (but struggling) sports drink to now being the top hydration brand for breastfeeding moms has been a very exciting business journey during the past three years.
“The explosive grassroots growth Greater Than has seen among new moms is a true testament to what happens when we focus on solving big problems for an overlooked customer group. I can’t wait to share more about this crazy journey in the next Class Notes column!”
The lack of voluntary updates for the April submission (published in the July/August issue) prompted classmates to write in. Without further ado, here are the updates! And please, continue writing with more!
John Lee wrote to say, “It’s my first time writing in with an update for the Class Notes. I got married on July 9 to Hannah Kim (University of California, Berkeley, class of 2014). Leonard Chang was, I think, the only Dartmouth guest at our wedding. Hannah and I will be settling in San Francisco (where we’ve both been working in tech) for now, but we plan to move to Southeast Asia for at least a couple years before we start a family. I’d love to hear from any of our classmates who’ve moved to or are in Southeast Asia, especially Malaysia or Singapore!” Congratulations to John and good luck with the international move!
After taking note that zero new updates were submitted for the July/August issue, Marjorie Chelius took pity on me and wrote in with an update. After cutting her teeth at Booth getting an M.B.A. and managing your favorite billion-dollar brands at P&G, Marjorie is now doing what she loves most: leading growth at an early-stage startup. Mockingbird was designed to bring high-quality, stylish baby goods to expecting parents at prices that don’t cost an arm and a leg. Marjorie would like our whole child-bearing-age class to know that you can purchase Mockingbird products, including its No. 1-rated single-to-double stroller at www.hellomockingbird.com or in your local Target store! She’s also hiring on her team, so drop her a note at mche@hellomockingbird.com if you’re in the job market.
And shortly after I finished drafting the last Class Notes column, Shanel Balloo added, “Andrea Imhof and Lars Osterberg—in attendance at Erin (Jaeger) Gunaratna’s wedding—had a baby boy last July. Genevieve O’Mara also had a baby last year.” Congratulations to all the new parents!
Another followup to that column: Amanda Devine wrote back to say, “I got married to Jacob Wexler (not a Dartmouth alum) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, during Memorial Day Weekend. In attendance were Allison Lure, Kevin Liao, Kathryn Arion, Stephanie Han, Jennifer Fownes, and Nozomi Hitomi!”
Write me with more updates; we’ll publish them in the submission following Bryan’s guest column!
—Hillary S. Cheng, 26611 La Roda, Mission Viejo, CA 92691; (603) 546-8452; hillary.s.cheng@dartmouth.edu