Martin Dyer

University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business

“Spontaneous and outgoing socializer, striving to make a lasting impact on my community.”

Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA

Fun Fact About Yourself: I have attended over 3,000 live concerts in my life. If I could I live inside a music festival………I would.

Undergraduate School and Major: Louisiana State University, Finance

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Duff & Phelps, Analyst

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of the school’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you?

As someone who wants to work in music and film, Marshall’s strength and brand recognition in the entertainment industry is unmatched. Between Marshall’s reputation and location in Los Angeles, the choice was obvious for me. Also, every current student and alumni that I reached out to during my application process all showed a passion for driving change and challenging the status quo. The energy among people at Marshall is contagious, and I knew immediately it was the place that I wanted to spend my MBA experience.

What club or activity excites you most at this school? I am most excited about USC’s Challenge 4 Charity (C4C) organization. The Marshall community is very passionate about being involved with C4C fundraisers and events. A lot of schools talk the talk about giving back to community, but Marshall goes above and beyond to walk the walk and make a difference.

What was your first impression of USC Marshall? How has that changed or been reinforced since then? My first impression was that the “Trojan Community” was one of the most intense things I had ever seen. Once you are part of USC and Marshall, you become part of a family that will go the extra mile to help one another and you take pride in being a Trojan. In my first few months at Marshall, I have already seen the Trojan pride on full display. It is all around you and is contagious, I love it!

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: At my first job out of college, I was involved in the complete overhaul of the financial reporting system at my company. It was the biggest professional challenge I have yet to face, as I was a recent college graduate with limited work experience. I struggled to keep up with the pace of the project, and had to really grind and put in countless extra hours in order to get my assignments done. Looking back on the experience, it taught me how push through adversity and that hard work will always persevere.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I have spent most of my career working in corporate finance and consulting, but wanted to pivot into an industry that I was passionate about. This is what has led me to Marshall, in hopes of pursuing a career in finance/business development in the entertainment industry.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? The most challenging question I was asked was definitely the following: “What will you contribute to the Marshall community?” I knew I had several different personal and professional strengths that I could contribute, but it is hard to come up with a unique and well-articulated answer on the spot.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I determined my fit at various schools by looking for somewhere that I thought I could truly be myself. I didn’t want to go to a school that would make me feel like I had to change who I was in order to fit in. Not only did I visit the schools that I applied to, I connected with several alumni from each school to learn about the culture of each program.

What was your defining moment and how did it prepare you for business school? Living in Baton Rouge, Louisiana during Hurricane Katrina forever changed me as a person. Seeing the way that people in south Louisiana banded together to rebuild taught me the power of perseverance and overcoming adversity.

What is your favorite company and what could business students learn from them? My favorite company is Nike because they are not scared to embrace athletes that are working to bring awareness to social injustices. They use their platform to be a voice on issues that many large companies are too nervous to speak about.

Picture yourself in two years graduating from business school. Looking back, how would you know your experience has been a success? I will know my time at Marshall has been at success if me and classmates can sit around and talk about all the lasting impacts that we have made both at both Marshall and in Los Angeles community.

DON’T MISS: MEET USC MARSHALL’S MBA CLASS OF 2022