Missy Preston

Washington University in St. Louis, Olin Business School

“A Canadian-American, first-generation college student with a passion for driving positive change in my communities.”

Hometown: Born in Pembroke, Ontario, and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Fun Fact About Yourself: I helped restore a 70-year-old classic wooden yacht and developed an interest maritime history while cruising the BC coast.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Minnesota–Twin Cities, kinesiology

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Lyric Asset Management and Consulting Services

What has been your favorite part of St. Louis so far? What has made it such a great place to earn an MBA? I’ve really enjoyed the brick buildings and history throughout the entire city, the different personality that each neighborhood brings, how many free activities there are to experience (museums, zoo, etc), and that the majority of my bicycle commute to campus is through a beautiful park in the middle of the city.

You’ll be completing your global immersion next spring (update: the class of ’23 is scheduled now to travel in fall ’22). What excites you most about this excursion overseas? The pandemic delays have certainly added a layer of anticipation to the global immersion, but I am most excited to travel and learn with classmates who can all add different perspectives and enrich what I would experience during my own travel.

Aside from your classmates, global immersion and location, what was the key part of the Olin MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? It is a combination of the experiential learning opportunities (such as consulting projects, Board Fellows, community service clubs, and more) and the entrepreneurial resources really drew me in. Being involved in local communities has always been important to me and I wanted to actively strengthen my entrepreneurial skills while in the MBA program.

What course, club or activity have you enjoyed the most so far at Olin. It is a tie between our Olin Women in Business Club, which has held a variety of wonderful speakers, workshops and community building events, our Latin America Business Association for their dance lessons and having the most fun, and Consortium for being the best support network.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Building and implementing cloud-based technology infrastructure organization-wide while working with a large gymnastics club in Vancouver, BC. The process required learning new software, diagnosing the needs to be met with the new structure, coordinating with all stakeholders of the organization, and training all users how to effectively use the new systems.

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far: It was keeping up with orientation week and back-to-back conferences and adapting to a new city all while my cat was diagnosed with a rare near-fatal disease in the week that I arrived to begin the program. It was a stressful series of events, but he is doing much better now.

What has been your best memory as an MBA student so far: The Diwali Celebration was a night of amazing food, performances, and laughter. I am grateful that our Olin India Club hosted such a meaningful event for everyone to enjoy.

What advice would you give to help potential applicants gain admission into the Olin MBA program? Be authentic in your interactions and open to all the value St. Louis has to offer—especially the benefits it can afford to students in terms of its accessibility and affordability. Find out what makes St. Louis and WashU special. Ask about favorite local activities when having informational conversations so that you can demonstrate your interest in the city at the interview stage. You will likely find out why it is a great program to be a part of in the process, too!

DON’T MISS: MEET THE OLIN BUSINESS SCHOOL MBA CLASS OF 2023 AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS