Meet Quantic’s MBA Class of 2022: Laura Reyna

Laura Reyna

Quantic School of Business and Technology

“I’m passionate about everything I do. I’m determined, driven, optimistic, and I thrive on challenges.”

City, State, Country: I live in Bellevue, WA, USA, but I was born in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, MX.

Fun Fact About Yourself: I can do spider walking and I sort of like doing it because it scares the hell out of my husband. I clean intensively when I get mad.

Undergraduate School and Major: Tecnológico de Monterrey. I earned a BS in Business Informatics.

Current Employer and Job Title: I work for Avanade as a Senior Consultant (Project/Program Manager)

Why did you choose an online format like Quantic? I wanted a program that gave me the flexibility to study at my own pace and could accommodate my work schedule. It was very important for me to be able to continue working. I love my job and I didn’t want to pause it to earn a degree.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Quantic’s MBA programming that led you to choose this business school, and why was it so important to you? I chose Quantic’s MBA program because of its disruptive pedagogical methodology and its technology-centric distribution model that promotes and fosters networking and collaboration with people from top world companies. Another factor that played a pivotal role in my decision was the concentrated curriculum with an extreme focus to provide the core business skills to accelerate my career.

Quantic is highly competitive and only about 10% of students who apply to the MBA program are admitted. What advice would you give to someone who intends to apply to Quantic to increase their odds of being accepted? For those who wish to apply to the program, I would recommend two things: identifying your top five selling points that make you unique and carefully selecting your references. The first one is an exercise that helps to identify and internalize the core competencies that distinguish you as an individual contributor. Having the ability to recognize them and communicate them distinctly will help you construct a stronger story when you apply to the program. The second one will aid in that it corroborates the story presented by you. Select those who know you deeply and who can convey your character and value.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I started working for Avanade when I moved to the United States in February of 2018. Although I was a Senior Business Analyst in Mexico, Avanade hired me as an Analyst (entry level position). I knew this was a small setback in my career. However, I was willing to take the job because I knew that with dedication and hard work, I would be able to grow into a Senior Analyst role in no time. It has been three-and-a-half years, and I have been promoted three times.

An important element of this journey has been the two years that I have been working for the Xbox Content Moderation project. I am extremely proud of the delivery, governance, operationalization, quality, and stability that I brought to this customer. When I started the project, I encountered a space where delivery was reactive, the applications were unstable, and there was a lack of communication and transparency among the engineering teams. The first seven months of the project were overwhelming and daunting, but I was determined to change the status quo. I look back with joy and satisfaction for what I have been able to accomplish for my customer. The Avanade presence in the Xbox, family, trust & safety space has doubled thanks to the tangible results of the teams that I lead.

What is your ultimate long-term professional goal and how will your MBA studies help you make progress in that area?  Ten years from now, I would like to start my own company with my husband. We work in the same industry, we share a work philosophy, and we make a great team. The MBA program will give me the skills and confidence I need to transform my vision into reality.

DON’T MISS: THE DISRUPTERS: MEET THE QUANTIC CLASS OF 2022