Meet The Oxford Saïd MBA Class Of 2017

Taylor Markham 

University of Oxford, Saïd Business School

Describe yourself in 15 words or less: Arizona desert native with a passion for traveling and exploring new cultures.

Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona

Fun Fact About Yourself: I once hitchhiked from Bangkok, Thailand to Siem Reap, Cambodia in order to see the ancient ruins of Angkor Wat.

Undergraduate School and Major: Arizona State University, Accountancy

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation: After graduating from ASU, I began as a Consultant at Deloitte and was then promoted to Senior Consultant before joining Oxford SBS.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Helping analyze a client’s supply chain process, which ultimately led to uncovering millions of dollars in fraudulent vendor transactions.

Looking back on your experience, what advice would you give to future business school applicants? My advice would be to be very deliberate in exploring who you are and what you want to accomplish with an MBA before writing your essays or doing any interviews. This takes a lot of time and effort, but is worth it in the long run!

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA? Having lived and worked in Arizona for most of my life, I wanted to put myself in an entirely new environment where I would be surrounded by interesting people from all over the world. I also had visited Oxford and the Said Business School before applying and was blown away by both the unique culture of the university and the down-to-earth nature of the faculty and students.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point in your life? After graduating from Oxford, I would love to join a competitive MBA management program such as at Amazon or Alibaba that is at the cutting edge of their industry and looking to expand their presence outside of their home countries.

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from this program? I am surrounded by some of the most intelligent and fun people I have ever met in my life who are constantly teaching me something new and challenging my beliefs. My hope is that they learn and have as much fun with me as I have with them.