Phoebe’s passions for writing and products brought her to the e-commerce team at the publisher People Inc., where she is a senior commerce editor for Food & Wine, Allrecipes, and EatingWell. She works at the intersection of journalism and online shopping, helping lead a team dedicated to hunting down the best kitchen gear. TL;DR: You don’t need yet another trendy water bottle, but you should be swapping your plastic food storage containers for glass. 

Most recently, she’s dipped her toe into the world of wine and received her Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 1 Award in Wines, employing the same note-taking and studying skills she first learned from Jamie Wagner (History) in 7th grade — though wine isn’t nearly as interesting as Mesopotamia.

Although she has always loved words and writing, she credits Burroughs for teaching her how to make an effective argument, which she now uses to drive a sale. While there’s no direct throughline from a Burroughs class to online shopping (there were no laptops in class, after all), her history classes continue to shape her as a reader and a global citizen; most notably, Literature & History with Mark Nicholas and Sara Jay her senior year.

Phoebe holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology, American politics, and communication studies from Vanderbilt University, where she was deputy editor of the school paper’s Life section. She now resides in New York City.

Alums interested in talking to Phoebe about the e-commerce world can reach out to her at phoebesklansky@gmail.com.