Q:Where is your hometown?
A:Lancaster, Massachusetts
Q:What did you study at the D'Amore-McKim School of Business and what is your graduation year?
A:Entrepreneurship, MBA class of 2018
Q:What did you do in your corporate residency? What were your responsibilities? How did you impact the business?
A:As a product manager at a tech start-up I will be working across all phases of our product lifecycle including beta testing, design, development, and launch, as well as managing the corporate marketing and sales efforts. With a lean team of executives, I will play a vital role in the development of strategic targets and initiatives, management of product rolls outs and sales pitches, and the cultivation of client relationships.
Q:What skills did you build at D'Amore-McKim that you used in your corporate residency or will use in your future career?
A:D'Amore-McKim professors truly challenge you to not only make managerial decisions, but to support thesis', recommendations, and decisions with quantitative facts and data analysis. Throughout the program, you are challenged to build financial models, run scenario analysis, and quantify market projections so that as professional you can make practical and researched backed decisions that financially enhance bottom line results. Understanding how to build market and financial models and the impact that various trends and growth projections have on business processes has truly helped me to add value to annual budget planning, product launch proposals, and product development strategies.
Q:What has been the biggest take-away from working toward your MBA at Northeastern? What can you do today that you couldn't do before you started your MBA?
A:Case-based learning has truly taught me to take a holistic and data-backed view when making managerial decision; something I would not have learned through a textbook/literature alone. As professors continuously challenge me to justify my recommendations with data and financial projections — and to consider the “big picture story” — I am now keener on analyzing the strategic and financial implications decisions have on all parts of a firm. Through live cases we learn that planning, executing, and implementing business decisions effects far more than a single department or product line, and that the ability to use data to make executive level decisions is necessary for financial and strategic success.
Q:What was your most valuable experience?
A:Managing an interdisciplinary project plan for a live start-up company quickly and effectively taught me the realities of new business ventures and project planning in the entrepreneurial world. With limited historical data, scarce financial and managerial resources, and arbitrary growth projections, I gained new insight and understanding as to how entrepreneurial management is conducted, and the true optimism, risk, and strategy that is involved in new venture analysis.
Q:Why did you choose D'Amore-McKim?
A:As a double Husky, I knew that Northeastern would provide a practical, career-focused, an entrepreneurial education that is unmatched by other MBA programs. With its global network, cases-based classes, extensive group work, and six-month residency, D'Amore-McKim provides an accelerated and challenging opportunity to learn far beyond the walls of a classroom; something necessary for entrepreneurial, agile, and global managers.
Q:What would you say to a prospective student considering D'Amore-McKim for their business degree?
A:If you are looking for a program that challenges you to think far beyond the context of a textbook while empowering you with the resources, know-how, and experience to succeed beyond the walls of a classroom, then D'Amore-McKim is where you should be.
Q:Where do you see yourself in 5 – 10 years?
A:I hope to continue with product management in the tech industry where I can merge my passion for solving business problems through analysis, modeling, and design with effectively building lasting business pipelines through sales and marketing efforts. I truly feel that through product management you become the vital link between engineering, sales, marketing, and finance, which provides you with a powerful foundation to succeed at the executive level.
Q:How has D'Amore-McKim helped you to become more?
A:D'Amore-McKim has allowed me to step up as a leader while encouraging me to learn from the vast background of professionals around me. By giving me to opportunity to work with students from various countries, professions, and backgrounds and providing me access to panels and professors from diverse industries, I have truly realized the advantages of embodying a global perspective.