Samantha Sutton           

Georgia Institute of Technology – Scheller College of Business

“Lover of fashion, technology, animals, nature, comedy, drag queens, 90s-00s cartoons, crafting, and jingles.”

Hometown: Montclair, NJ

Fun Fact About Yourself: In middle school, I made it to the states level in the National Spelling Bee and I was crying in my photo for the newspaper because I thought kids at school would laugh at me for being in the spelling bee – well, joke was on me because they laughed at me for crying in my photo for the newspaper.

Undergraduate School and Major: Fashion Institute of Technology, International Fashion Business Management

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Tradesy, Product Catalog Specialist

When you think of Georgia Tech, what are the first things that come to mind? How have your experiences with the Scheller MBA and the larger university thus far reinforced or upended these early impressions? When I think of Georgia Tech, I think of technology and innovation. Since starting at Scheller, I’d say that that idea has not only been reinforced, but also expanded. We have amazing speakers and so many blueprints for successful and innovative entrepreneurs, but also what I’ve learned about traditional business has been invaluable. It has really given me more of a full picture perspective of business and the business landscape.

What has been your favorite part of Atlanta so far? What has made it such a great place to earn an MBA? What I love about Atlanta is that it’s definitely a city, but one that has the charm and energy of a smaller town. It also has incredible cultural diversity, and it has been invigorating and enriching to be around such a mix of people, perspectives, and ideas. This all feeds into the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that is present in Atlanta, and Scheller is a microcosm of that – I have met the most brilliant, hard-working, interesting, but also, humble people, here. Being in Tech Square provides us with incredible access to the tech industry.

Aside from your classmates and location, what was the key part of the Scheller MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? When applying for business schools, I specifically looked for programs that had a heavy focus in technology. I want to be part of the future of fashion tech and I believe that will take both a deep understanding of fashion retail and the technology landscape. I’ve spent most of my life working retail and got an incredible education at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT), but there’s still a lot for me to learn about technology and the technology business. Scheller was the perfect place to bridge that knowledge gap. The tagline is literally where technology meets business – there was no better place for me to do that than Scheller!

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Georgia Tech Scheller? Ah, don’t make me choose there are so many incredible learning opportunities I’ve had! I honestly feel so fortunate every day for the community, exposure, and opportunities we have access to as Scheller students – but if I can only pick one, I really enjoyed the Exactimo Digital Boot Camp that the Career Development team organized. It was such an awesome opportunity to learn exactly how the Big Tech firms operate.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: In my last role, I proposed and executed an analysis of the top buyers on our platform in anticipation of a possible loyalty program. I was able to glean insights that hadn’t been previously been made about our user base and provide a great foundation for the program going forward. It was a real accomplishment for me on both a career level and human being level because I wasn’t always a person that always felt confident in my ideas and contributions on a team. In this case, I trusted myself and created something innovative and ultimately, helpful to the business. That experience really helped me to recognize the value in my ideas and individual perspective and it was an impetus behind me applying for business school to invest in myself.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: Getting into the Technology Innovation: Generating Economic Results (TI:GER) program. I’m really excited by new technology and learning how to commercialize technology is going to be both a fun and invaluable learning experience.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into the Scheller MBA program? Be yourself! I think sometimes when you’re applying to business school it’s tempting to try to emulate what you believe a business school candidate should be, but it’s important to remember you bring something valuable just by being yourself, offering your unique perspective, and genuine interests.

DON’T MISS: MEET GEORGIA TECH’S MBA CLASS OF 2023 AT SCHELLER COLLEGE