She's always liked marketing, but Pamela Neferkara never knew she'd be so good at it.

A category director at Bristol-Myers Squibb in New York, Pamela is one of the most successful marketing executives in the field of brand management. She's handled such nationally known brands as Keri lotion, Nice'n Easy hair coloring, Windex and Sea Breeze, managing budgets of up to $200 million.

"I'm responsible for the strategic planning and day-to-day operation of the businesses, including managing advertising development, promotions and packaging designs," she explained. A native of Washington, D.C., Pamela has worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb for 13 years since completing her college education. At Old Dominion, she earned a bachelor's degree in business with an emphasis in marketing and went on to receive an M.B.A. from Syracuse University, also with a concentration in marketing. It was there that she worked in internships at IBM and Bristol-Myers Squibb, which led to her current position.

"I've always been interested in how companies talk to people and how they persuade them to buy their goods and services," she said. Pamela noted that her experience in college has been integral to her success. "I enjoyed Old Dominion very much. What I enjoyed most was the fact that I got a great education in and outside of the classroom."

A resident adviser for two years and president of her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, Pamela believes extracurricular activities are important to a college student's development. "I think it's critical when I look at what I do now. I could have as many as 50 people taking their direction from me. You don't always get those kinds of teamwork and leadership experiences in the classroom. The classroom gives you the theory but I think it was the outside activities that really helped me to hone my leadership skills. "I have a tremendous amount of responsibility, but I always laugh and say that I don't really do anything. My job is to get other people to do what needs to be done." Old Dominion's mentorship programs also contributed to her development.

"Dr. Lenora Thompson in the Counseling Center was actually a pretty big influence on me," she said. "So was Al Haynes, who ran the Multicultural Student Services Center. The center was a gather-ing place for African-Americans on campus. Al, as the director, was a great mentor to black leaders. He helped us find a voice and taught us how to speak up and stand up for ourselves and really lead the other students. It was a great training ground for real life . . . for the real world."

After more than a dozen years in the real world, Pamela is now pausing to consider her next career move. "I need to take some time off to figure out what I want to be when I grow up," she said, laughing. "The only thing I know for sure is that I will stay in marketing. But what form of marketing and what kind of job I'll have, I still haven't decided yet. I really want to take some time with that decision."

Pamela expects her sabbatical to last at least through the summer. She'll be using much of this time helping her husband, Laushon, restore an old house they recently purchased and brushing up on her gourmet vegetarian cooking.

Although she values the opportunity to take time off this summer, Pamela said she has received too much satisfaction from her job to stray too far from marketing for very long. "The best part of what I do is being able to see my work in public. I can turn on the television and see a commercial that I worked on or walk into a drug store and see a product that I know I was responsible for from concept to launch. It is a very nice way of getting some satisfaction."