MBAs To Watch: Class Of 2020

Georgetown University’s Audrey del Rosario

FORGET PLASTICS. LARVAE IS THE FUTURE!

Some MBAs To Watch even ventured into creating programming for classmates and future MBAs at their schools. The University of Missouri’s Paige Dilmore, for one, developed a series of courses on Microsoft SQL to deepen her peers’ understanding of analytics. As a Vice President in Georgetown McDonough’s student government, Audrey del Rosario overhauled the internship recruiting curriculum for first-years. That meant adding a Linkedin workshop series, peer-to-peer speed networking event, and a weekly newsletter that reached every full-time-and part-time MBA student. Alongside her McCombs classmates and university centers, Amie Harris launched a Social Impact Case Program. Here, she was able to connect University of Texas students with Austin-area nonprofits and social enterprises.

“In our first year, we developed a 10-week extracurricular consulting program that matched eight graduate students with two mission-driven organizations,” Harris writes. “In our second year, we grew the program to nearly 20 students working at four different organizations. Our program demonstrated a growing demand from students who wanted to gain experience in social impact consulting, and subsequently, our learnings have been integrated into 3-credit hour classes and other extracurricular consulting programs.”

Not surprisingly, the Class of 2020 pursued their passions in business school…wherever they eventually led. In 2019, Notre Dame’s Peter Zanca was the co-winner of the NBA Hackathon’s analytics track. Sure enough, he became a person-to-know among league personnel looking to apply his findings. At the same time, Cambridge University’s Blerina Xhelilaj formed a team to compete in the prestigious Hult Competition. Their breakthrough innovation: an alternative protein source for dogs…made from Black Fly Larvae. One more thing: her team is trying out the concept in people and fish next.

BEATING THE WORLD’S BEST TENNIS PLAYER

The University of Wisconsin’s Kaitlyn Wilchynski prefers honey to larvae. Outside class, she keeps bees in the backyard and harvests honey. That’s just one interesting bit from this year’s MBAs To Watch. Take Dharmarraj Sunthar’s hobby. He photographs airport architecture and design, with an album packed with images from 50 sites. Speaking of flight, IE Business School’s Maximilian Noll actually learned how to fly planes before he could drive a car.

You’ll also find some intriguing bullets on the resumes of the MBAs To Watch. Babson College’s Katie Nicolle won Miss New Jersey in 2011 and competed to be Miss America. In high school, Zach Cook opened – and eventually sold – a lawn care company. Now, he manages 21 student contractors on his Vista Technologies startup. What is like to achieve fame when you’re five-years-old? Just ask John Chao, a child model for Lego and Jell-O. Alas, he was forced to retire “because I couldn’t read or do math.”

Speaking of peaking early, it’d be hard to top this tale from NYU Stern’s Jamison Alexander Friedland. “I played Maria Sharapova in tennis and won! When I was 10 years old and she was 8, as the two youngest members at the tennis academy, the coaches had us play a match. At the time I did not take any great pride in beating a younger girl. However, while my hard work allowed me to become the number one nationally ranked junior in USTA for my age, she went on to become the number one ranked female player in the world.”

AH, REGRETS

Chances are, the MBAs To Watch will go on to become leaders whose home offices are adorned with certificates, trophies, and mementos. For many, business school will be remembered as an airport layover before their next adventure… just with better company around them. It was a time to question and reflect, to test ideas and limits, and recharge for the long journey ahead. Looking back, the MBAs To Watch can be rightfully proud of their successes. That doesn’t mean they haven’t wondered “what if.”

Washington University’s Leslie Ann Ramey

That starts with preparing for business school. Reflecting on her time at Washington University, Leslie Ann Ramey wishes she had invested more time in laying out her goals and the extracurricular activities she planned to join before school started. “I didn’t realize how quickly we would hit the ground running, and I wish I had taken more time to reflect prior to arriving on campus. A full-time MBA is such a time-intensive experience, so taking time before you begin classes to plan out your goals for the program and how to reach them will help you feel more prepared.”

Alyssa Forbess made full use of her time at the University of Florida. She served as her cohort’s representative and the head ambassador for the MBA program. For her, the issue was the fear of taking risks, not understanding that business school is less about high accolades and more about happy accidents. “I would take courses that pushed me sooner,” she admits. “It wasn’t until the second half of the MBA program that I took courses that were completely out of my comfort zone. The MBA program is a unique learning experience designed to foster growth in a safe and supported environment. If you are not embracing discomfort, you are not doing it right.”

The same was true for Zara Mahmood at the University of Washington. Coming into the Foster School, she admittedly suffered from imposter syndrome. A media planner, Mahmood wondered if she could match up to peers with more technical and managerial experience – and whether she brought as much value to the classroom. Turns out, everyone brought something unique – integral even – to the class.

“I fear that I wasted too much time trying to compare myself to others and going after opportunities simply because I saw other people taking them,” she recalls. “Ultimately, it dawned on me that everyone was admitted into the program because their individual talents were helping to create the unique Foster tapestry. If I could go back and change one thing I would push myself to speak up earlier and fail often! One of the great advantages of returning to school is returning to the safety of an environment that encourages failure and iterative learning.”

Of course, Adedoyin Lawal’s advice could easily fit on a bumper sticker. “Less coffee chats, more happy hours,” jokes the Yale SOM grad.

ADVERSITY IS A GIVEN

For the MBAs To Watch, business school has represented the best and worst of times. During his internship, the University of Maryland’s Jeremy Stratton lost his father to suicide – an act that shook him to the core. His response? Stratton ran a marathon in his father’s honor as part of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention – and now volunteers in suicide prevention. Camila Scaranelo also faced her share of struggles at IMD. As a student, her son was diagnosed in the spectrum of autism. A year earlier, he had received a liver transplant. Sometimes, Scaranelo wondered how she would make it through. If there is anything you gain in business school, it is the resilience to push forward and an appreciation for the tribe who’ll drop everything to back you up.

“I will never forget being at the hospital watching the New Year’s fireworks while [my son] had pneumonia that required special attention and wondering if I could follow up the tight schedule of IMD and take care of my family at the same time,” she recalls. “Fortunately, everything went well, and with the support of my husband and my mother I was able to go through it with a solid academic performance, participating on extracurricular activities and achieving my goals.”

University of Maryland’s Snigdha Sinha

These ups-and-downs are one reason for the ‘work hard play hard’ ethos of MBA students. At the University of Maryland, Snigdha Sinha talks about the “party bus” tradition – where students hit DC after completing fall semester. Rather than being an exercise in boozing and cruising, the party bus represents something far more profound and lasting.

A BIG CHANGE

“The first semester is often termed as “drinking through a fire hose” and that is not an exaggeration by any means,” Sinha writes. “It truly tests you and sometimes can leave you down and out. The party bus is a celebration of not just surviving those brutal months, but also how we are all in this together and are each other’s safety nets. You look at the faces in that bus and realize –- we are part of one fabric, these are my people, and this is my family.”

As much as the MBAs To Watch bonded over the past two years, they also grew into the people they aspired to be. That’s what the experience so profound for Washington University’s Miguel Ferreyra de Bone, who heads back into the workforce as more than a graduate. Today, he is a leader.

“Being the president of the Business School Association taught me that you can create great impact if you build a good team and delegate, say no when appropriate, and understand that no matter what you do, somebody will criticize your work,” he says. “I am confident that one day I will be a successful CEO, and these same lessons will apply then as well. The important thing is that now, after Olin, I am comfortable with it.”

See pages 4-6 for 142 in-depth profiles of this year’s Best & Brightest MBAs.