We asked W. P. Carey Alumni: What do you feel you have benefitted from most from the W. P. Carey MBA?
Here is what they shared:
- Decision-Making Skills
- Entrepreneurship Skills
- Ability to Thrive In The Virtual World of Work
- Continual Learning
- The Chance to Make a Career Pivot
- Confidence
- Financial Management Skills
- Prioritization Mastery
- Agility and Posture of Flexibility
Decision-Making Skills
I took the same “Decision Analysis” course twice at Arizona State University, once in the undergrad (business) program and in my MBA program. I am a professional licensed fiduciary; a fiduciary is (simply) a surrogate decision-maker, so it follows that my ability to make sound financial and life/death decisions is critical. It has also benefited me in virtually every other aspect of my life because the insights and tools I learned can be applied to most problems.
I have taught my staff the same principles and recently recommended a book that goes very deep into the subject of thinking and decision-making, it is called “Thinking, Fast and Slow”; I highly recommend it. I offered my staff a $200 incentive if they read the book (which I have provided) and can pass a quiz afterward.
Roger Coventry, MBA ‘01, Managing Member and Partner at Childers & Coventry, LLC
Entrepreneurship Skills
My success in founding my e-commerce urn company, Welkin Memorials, is very much attributed to my time in W. P. Carey’s MBA program — specifically the Entrepreneurship skills I developed. During that time, we were taught everything from how to link your passions to business opportunities, how to create and manage a P&L (a critical component to running a successful business), creatively thinking about your customers, defining segmentation, and my personal favorite how Arizona natives have found their success in the world of entrepreneurship. The skills gained gave me the courage to finally make my ‘passion project’ a reality and for that I will be forever grateful.
Kate Anderson, MBA ‘20, Founder of Welkin Memorials
Ability to Thrive In The Virtual World of Work
I was fortunate to get the best of both worlds through W. P. Carey’s highly-ranked evening and online MBA programs. I began my MBA in-person but a job promotion required me to relocate midway so I transferred. It was a blessing in disguise because the online program required the same rigorous teamwork in each of the courses and capstone projects, and I had executives from all over the country on my team. We were able to build and hone our project management skill set required in today’s world full of virtual cross-site teams with people around the country. I feel I was able to thrive at my job during the pandemic which forced everyone home, because I was already comfortable managing projects, teams, and high quality outputs virtually.
Jason Parker, MBA, CFP®, RICP®, MBA ‘11, Financial Planner at Parker Planning
Continual Learning
From day one of the Arizona State University MBA program, it was clear we were there to innovate by learning the latest business skills and collaborating to come up with the best solutions. It was also clear that we would spend the rest of our careers continuously updating our skills to maintain the innovation momentum. To innovate you must continue to learn and grow.
David Farias, MBA ‘06, General Manager at AZRP Inc.
The Chance to Make a Career Pivot
By far, the most valuable part of the W. P. Carey program was the chance to make a career pivot. The full-time MBA gave me a chance to develop the skills and the network to make a successful transition. Now, four years out, I work at a company aligned to my values and interests and I credit my time in the MBA program for being the first step in making this possible.
Simone Michalek Helton, MBA ‘18, Consultant at Slalom
Confidence
The most transformative part of going through an MBA Program was the ability to believe in myself. When I started the program I was scared, nervous, and constantly questioning why I was there and if I would succeed. However, through my learnings in the classroom, various development workshops/events outside the classroom, support from the best classmates, and a great internship experience, I was able to gain the confidence I needed to make it.
A full-time MBA program is more than just the pursuit of a degree. It’s a journey of self-reflection and validation that you have what it takes to make an impact no matter where you go.
Elvis Diaz, MBA ‘19, Finance Specialist at Intel Corporation
Financial Management Skills
My W. P. Carey MBA program gave me the essential financial background to excel in executive roles. While my goal is not to become a CFO, my MBA gave me the necessary skills to understand and participate in the financial management of my organization. I learned the basics of accounting. More importantly, the program prepared me to manage budgets and to understand financial analytics and data management.
Mary Cianfrocca, MBA ‘17, Senior Medical Director at City of Hope
Prioritization Mastery
In the MBA program, we were consistently juggling multiple deadlines, team meetings, project deliverables, and extracurricular activities. It can be overwhelming at first, but the program does an excellent job of teaching you how to prioritize your tasks and time to successfully manage the aforementioned commitments.
Additionally, the practical experience of implementing those tools during the 2-year program truly prepares you for life post-graduation. My role as an Associate Marketing Manager is heavily dependent on this skill and I lean on the tools and tactics I learned at W. P. Carey daily.
Simone Bayfield, MBA ‘21, Associate Marketing Manager at The Clorox Company
Agility and Posture of Flexibility
While being at W. P. Carey, we were often challenged to be agile and think outside the box when it came to problem solving. As I stepped into my new career, I found that being flexible to changing conditions, considerations, and budgets is not only an asset but an expectation in unpredictable business environments.
Being able to plan for a given strategy and then re-strategize based on new inputs is something that allows me to make quicker decisions even as the way we work continues to evolve. Even when I think about my latest role – where as a company we bring SaaS software to a more traditional industry like brand marketing – agility allows us to apply bold, innovative ways of thinking to business problems and tie business KPIs to brand value.
At this point in my career, my role and industry of choice would not be the same without a posture of flexibility and agility towards everything we do in business.
Cynthia Wilson Johnson, MBA Marketing and Startegic Leadership, Principal Account Director at BERA
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