Meet The McCombs’ MBA Class of 2018

Stephanie Hobart

The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business

Hometown: Fairfax, Virginia

Pre-MBA Location: West Hartford, CT

Fun fact about me: I have traveled to Hobart, Tasmania, and everyone there thought I was joking when I told them my last name!

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Virginia, Commerce Major

Employers and Job Titles Since Graduation:

• Pratt & Whitney, a United Technologies Corporation division (East Hartford, CT)
• Sales Director – Europe, Middle East, Africa & Russia region
• Financial Fleet Manager – Asia Pacific region
• Account Contracts Manager – Aircraft Leasing Companies

• Rolls-Royce North America, Inc. (Reston, VA)
• Account Contracts Specialist – Asia Pacific & Middle East region
• Customer Business Rotational Program Associate

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Getting a promotion to a sales director position in the aviation industry, overseeing customers in countries in Europe, including Greece, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Czech Republic.  I enjoyed the opportunity to work with airline customers in that region of the world and the ability to work with a team to develop sales strategies for those various airlines.

What advice do you have for applicants in actually applying to a school, writing essays, doing admission interviews, and getting recommenders to write letters on your behalf?  Applying to full-time MBA programs is an incredibly reflective process. Once all of the applications, essays, and interviews are done, take a moment and look at the new outline of yourself that you’ve created. This is going to be useful when networking, meeting new people and classmates, and preparing for the next stage of your career.

What led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA?  McCombs did a brilliant job throughout the application process, and I was really impressed with the people that I met, including my future classmates. The McCombs and Austin communities provide a wealth of opportunities for projects and community events, and I am very excited to have the opportunity lead and participate in them, as well as to eventually be able to give back to those communities. The combination of people and professional opportunities is ultimately what led me to choose McCombs.

Tell us about your dream job or dream employer at this point: I have always appreciated nature and being outdoors. My dream job would combine the opportunity to work outdoors or in an outdoor lifestyle industry, as well as provide the opportunity to work with a fun and diverse team, where I am valued for my input and respected as a leader. One of my reasons for getting my MBA was to explore new opportunities in different industries, and I plan to use the next two years as part of that exploration process!

What would you like your business school peers to say about you after you graduate from the program? What excites me most about McCombs is the variety and diversity of my classmates’ backgrounds and experiences. I believe that every person has something valuable to contribute in society, and I want to get to know everyone in my class to understand their perspectives and help them be their best. I also love laughing, so if I can get a few people to laugh at some jokes, even better!

What would you ultimately like to achieve before you graduate?  I’m looking forward to meeting new people outside of my current industry, understanding their ways of thinking about and resolving problems, strengthening my networking skills, and getting the McCombs MBA experience.