Lauren Grimshaw

Rochester Institute of Technology’s Saunders College of Business Online Executive MBA

 “A woman becoming a little better, a little braver every day!”

Age: 33

Hometown: Morro Bay, California

Fun fact about yourself: All three of my boys were born in different states, with the youngest being born overseas.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Virginia, B.S. in Systems and Information Engineering

Where are you currently working? Chief Operations Officer for The Paradigm Switch

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Starting my own company. It’s kicked off a journey of self-discovery and growth that I never could have imagined. I love the ride I’m on now!

Why did you choose this school’s online MBA program? There are three reasons I picked RIT. First, RIT’s admissions team focused on me as a person, not as a number. Second, the educational value for your money is excellent. Third, it came highly recommended from an extremely intelligent and successful friend of mine who had been through that exact program.

What was your favorite part of being in an online MBA program? Flexibility! As a military spouse, that flexibility was so important because it meant I could accomplish my goals no matter where I ended up in the world. Thanks to the remote format, I was able to move our whole family from California to Italy early in the program, take all my remaining classes from overseas, and give birth to our third child. Flexibility wasn’t just a nice-to-have, it was a must.

What was the most surprising thing about an online learning environment? The online format meant that we had a greater diversity of both geography and experience in the cohorts. I hadn’t specifically considered that benefit but discovered it to be a delightful surprise once in the environment.

How did your online experience compare with your in-the-classroom experience as an undergraduate student? I will always prefer in-the-classroom learning because I’m an extrovert. However, the reality is that waiting for the stars to align for the perfect in-the-classroom experience would hold me up in my life and career. This was absolutely the right time in my life to make this investment, and the online experience gave me the opportunity to do it!

What is your best piece of advice to an applicant for thriving in an online MBA program? Design the program you need by creating in-person growth opportunities that complement what you’re learning online. For example, the online curriculum does a fantastic job on the education front but doesn’t help a whole lot with public speaking or local networking. Find ways to add in-person growth into the equation so you can thrive overall.

What would you change about an online MBA Program? I’d love to see enhancements around fostering community amongst the cohort and with the wider university & alumni community. For example, my firm is a big user of Slack. I could see plenty of applications for a tool like Slack to improving connectedness for any group that’s distributed.

How has your online education helped you in your current job? I quite literally apply what I learned in my MBA to my job every day as COO of The Paradigm Switch. The two have reinforced and built upon one another in a beautiful way! It’s given me the knowledge I needed to know which questions to ask and where to start!

If you had to do it all over again, would you? Why? Absolutely. I feel better equipped to go after my professional goals than ever before, and I’m so glad I didn’t wait a minute longer.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I want to build and lead a fearless organization working on a mission that truly matters.

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