Carly Presho-Dunne

University of Washington’s Foster School of Business

“Northwesterner whose penchant for laugh-out-loud ads turned her into a modern Mad (wo)Man.”

Hometown: Seattle, WA

Fun Fact About Yourself: My parents didn’t intend for me to have two last names but when a clerical error on my birth certificate came back with both they decided to roll with it.

Undergraduate School and Major: Occidental College

• Major: Economics

• Minor: Religious studies

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: 72andsunny, Senior Brand Strategist

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: My biggest accomplishment so far has been using out-of-the-box research to show my clients how ads with feminist subtext could make them relevant to young women at a critical moment before the 2016 presidential election. By staging a live panel discussion of feminist experts from different backgrounds and industries, I helped even my most senior and risk-averse clients understand feminism as an ideology and see how important it was to their millennial audience to know they supported it. The research helped us sell them better, more provocative work including a film about a transgender woman facing the stress of leaving her restroom stall, an ad that generated more earned media than ever before in the brand’s 50+ year history.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Foster’s reputation for facilitating collaboration and close relationships is based on its intellectually generous students. The students I have spoken to have shown me a willingness to share their time and knowledge that convinced me that I can be part of a team dynamic that helps each of us get the best out of each other and the best out of ourselves.

What makes Seattle such a great place to earn an MBA? I am a Seattle native so one of the best things about the city, to me, is that it’s home (in fact, my parents still live in the same Ravenna home where I was born). I grew up enjoying the region’s beauty – its spectacular mountains, lakes, oceans, and islands. The Pacific Northwest is an undeniably inspiring natural playground that balances the thriving tech economy that keeps the city humming during the week. I can’t think of a better place to earn my MBA because nowhere else that I know of can offer me such rich personal benefits so close to so many companies that are meaningfully impacting the way business is done around the world.

Aside from your classmates and location, 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? One of the most important reasons why I decided to pursue a full-time MBA program was to build a new professional community as I transition out of advertising – Foster’s core team structure meets and exceeds that fundamental requirement for me. The program’s emphasis on collaboration is one that builds community; replicates real, modern work environments; and gets to more surprising, interesting and innovative ideas. When I graduate, I know Foster’s curriculum will have amplified my professional skills, but I chose to be a part of their core dynamic so I can also cultivate the softer interpersonal skills that are increasingly valuable to me.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I can’t wait to join the Strategy Club! As a strategist in creative advertising, I craft insights to inspire ads that solve business problems. As an MBA graduate, I want to scale that thinking to have broader applications in the business world. I’m looking forward to joining the Strategy Club so I can exercise those muscles against new types of challenges that I haven’t faced before.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? Stanford’s primary essay prompt, “What matters most to you and why?” is notoriously challenging and was the most difficult question I faced. While it took me longer to plan and write than any other essay, it also helped me crystalize why and how my personal and professional histories have ignited my desire to take on problems beyond the advertising arena.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? My work in advertising has been rewarding, but it has also convinced me that corporations and their leadership need to change in profound ways. Across industries, I have seen my clients choose popularity over bravery and ease over ethics. Sometimes it makes sense to follow norms, but it’s important to know when and why it’s the right time to be bold and courageous. Traditional preconceptions of leadership were prominent in my industry and their failure to evolve and account for changing critical values prevented some companies I worked with from being able to lead by example, address unforeseen challenges, and prove their value through practices as much as products. These problems often have to do with more than marketing and realizing that I was often tasked with treating deeply rooted corporate problems with band-aid solutions was what prompted me to begin my MBA application process.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Harvard, Wharton, Stanford

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I started my MBA program research online, sorting many schools by their specialties; salary and employment data; class sizes and structures; locations; and finally, gender composition and support. Poets&Quants, Veritas Prep, US News and World Report, and self-reported data from schools helped me narrow down an initial list. From there, I spoke with friends, family, co-workers, current students and even clients to get more personal, anecdotal accounts of the programs I was looking at. Hearing individual stories about class dynamics, networking experiences, and post-MBA success really helped me decide where to direct my focus when it came to writing my applications.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? In 2014, my fiance and I realized that rising rent in Portland, Oregon made the cost of a mortgage more affordable than renewing our lease. It was just our luck that his grandparents were looking to offload a rental property that had been keeping them from fully retiring, and it was in our modest price range. They had been successful landlords by keeping the rent low and investing almost nothing in the property while they owned it. That meant that there was a lot of work to do from the very start.

YouTube was our master class. I drastically tailored instructions filmed in lavish woodworking studios to accommodate the starter toolbox my dad gave me for my 18th birthday. We didn’t have a significant budget to put towards labor, so I pushed myself to learn new skills. At first, it was intimidating to take on projects that I had only ever seen executed by men. When my hard work turned into noticeable improvements, I was inspired to try jobs that were increasingly out of my comfort zone. I got comfortable using a circular saw and made a storage bench. I learned to rewire electrical sockets and replaced light fixtures. I took out dead trees and built an edible rock garden.

Working on the duplex required me to expect more of myself than I thought I could and inspired the confidence to take on projects that do not fit neatly within my expertise. I realized that if I was patient, I could learn the skills and muster the effort to do just about anything.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? In ten years, I see myself running my own business in Seattle. After earning my MBA I plan to work in consulting so that I can survey the inner workings of a variety of industries, taking what I learn to build a company that I can parlay into a brand people love.