Meet Minnesota Carlson’s MBA Class Of 2021

Joe Martin 

University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management

“Honest, Ethical, Creative, Innovative, Leader.”

Hometown: Elk Grove, California

Fun Fact About Yourself: My favorite bagel is cinnamon raisin with peanut butter and banana, but I never eat bananas. I won’t eat them if they are even a little brown, so I almost never have my favorite bagel.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Arizona, Finance

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Milliman; Temporary Financial Analyst.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I interned at BlackRock in San Francisco in 2018. It was a great summer during which I met awesome people. At the end of the summer, I received a full-time offer which is a great accomplishment because BlackRock is an excellent company. I did not accept the offer because my goal is a career in equity research/business development and strategy. I spoke with my supervisor and team about this, and we agreed that BlackRock would not be a good fit for me at this point in my career. I am still very proud that I earned the respect of some of the best people in the business world.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Everyone is motivated to grow in the program. The students come from a wide range of backgrounds and cultures and are making efforts to learn from the experiences of others as we tackle the challenges.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you?  The quality of the faculty in the program was the key factor. I did not choose to pursue an MBA to check a box. I want to get real value from my time in an MBA program. I can read all of the books on the reading list, but I expect the faculty here to help me translate the text to real-world situations.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? The consulting and finance clubs. I believe both will complement the Funds Enterprise program.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? “Where did you like living the most?” I was in the Air Force and went to a lot of fun places overseas. My favorite is the UK. I was stationed there for five years.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? As a veteran for eight years and contractor for five, I gained a lot of experience working with changing technologies and different cultures around the world. The MBA is going to give me the skills to transfer my Air Force business sense to the corporate world.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? I only applied to the University of Minnesota.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? After looking at schools with strong faculty, I considered where I would want to stay after the program. Minneapolis fits the kind of city I wanted. It has career opportunities and I like the balanced city and outdoor activities.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? During my junior year in high school, my grades were low and I became ineligible to play football. This was devastating because football meant everything to me at the time. Not much was said when my coach took my pads, but I could tell it hurt him to do it as much as it hurt me. At that moment, I had to look at where I was in life and ask myself if I was doing what needed to be done or making excuses for being lazy. I never got to play high school football again, but I stopped being lazy.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I see myself working in a consulting company or a firm like Berkshire Hathaway making strategic long-term investment decisions.

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