2022 MBA To Watch: Jazz Naglee, University of Florida (Hough)

Jazz Naglee

University of Florida, Hough College of Business

“Dedicated and empathy-driven with a passion for helping others, fitness, food, and travel.”

Hometown: Gainesville, Florida

Fun fact about yourself: My first career was as a hairstylist and I’m still a licensed cosmetologist!

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Florida, B.S. Business Administration – Management (2014)

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? AdventHealth, Project Manager – Marketing Strategy & Planning

Where did you intern during the summer of 2021? Cigna, MBA Summer Associate – Marketing Leadership Development Program, Remote

Where will you be working after graduation? Cigna, MBA Associate – Marketing Leadership Development Program

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

* Leadership Roles: Vice President of Professional Development – MBA Student Association (2021-2022); Alumni Mentorship Program Student Coordinator (Summer 2021); Class of 2022 Cohort Representative (2020-2021); President of GatorFit – MBA Student Association (2020-2021)

* Awards & Honors: Member of 2nd Place Team – National Race & Case Competition (2022); Recipient of individual “Best Presenter” award – UF MBA Internal Case Competition (2022); Recipient of individual “Best Presenter” award – UF MBA Internal Case Competition (2021)

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of the work I’ve done as the MBA Student Association’s Vice President of Professional Development. In my role, I led a team comprised of five club presidents (Marketing, Finance, Human Capital, Strategy & Consulting, and Data & Analytics) and two club chairs (CSR and Case Competition). In addition to supporting my team members with their club events and initiatives, I focused my efforts on enhancing the interview prep resources available to students during the career search.

The job search process is such a critical, yet stressful part of the MBA and I wanted to help support my peers by alleviating some of the logistical work associated with it. I hosted several interactive events that helped students hone their interview skills and explore different career paths, including “interview speed dating” and Q&A sessions with second-year students and alumni. I also collaborated with Business Career Services to create a series of mock-interview videos that will allow students to better understand what a good interview response looks like. It has been rewarding to receive positive feedback from my peers that these events contributed to their success, even if that contribution was in a small way.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of the work I was involved with at AdventHealth during a multi-year, company-wide rebrand that brought together several individually-branded hospital systems under one, overarching name and brand. I was involved in many aspects of the project, including budgeting, co-managing external signage conversions, creating dashboards, building and maintaining deployment plans, organizing events, and managing communication across a multitude of departments. It was exciting to be involved with a major project that would impact every employee at the company and improve the lives of the patients AdventHealth served.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose the University of Florida MBA primarily due to the small program size. The full-time program is filled with so many bright individuals with interesting backgrounds, and the small size enabled me to build meaningful relationships with almost everyone. Additionally, it allowed for more individualized attention and support from Business Career Services during the post-MBA job search process, which I found to be a unique benefit compared to other MBA programs I considered.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Dr. Klodiana Lanaj was my favorite MBA professor. Dr. Lanaj taught Developing Leadership Skills and created a dynamic learning environment that inspired students to engage with the material in an unparalleled way to many other courses I took. Dr. Lanaj led with openness and honesty, which was reciprocated by the students during class discussion. By designing the course around research-backed methodologies combined with real-world case studies, students could more easily understand the concepts and make the connection to how they could be applied in their future careers.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA tradition at the University of Florida was our annual internal case competition. It’s a rare opportunity to work with a team comprised of students from each of the four, full-time cohorts. The competition is also one of the only times when everyone in the program is working on the exact same project, which fosters a sense of community that differs from any other MBA activity I’ve participated in. I’ve found case competitions to be an incredible learning experience and appreciate that the program provides students with an opportunity to compete in at least one during their MBA career.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could do one thing differently, it would be to worry less and enjoy the moment more. I eventually learned this lesson but wish I did so sooner as the two years goes by so fast.

What surprised you the most about business school? What surprised me most about business school was the personal growth I experienced. I expected to grow professionally and build business acumen, but I didn’t expect such a transformation in personal growth. For example, I have improved the way I articulate my thoughts, approach problems, and balance my time. The personal growth was of the many great, unexpected surprises I’ve enjoyed in pursuit of my MBA.

What is one thing you did during the application process that gave you an edge at the school you chose? During the application process, I made sure to understand what extracurricular involvement opportunities the program offered and came prepared to discuss them in my interviews. I knew I wanted to get involved and give back to whatever MBA program I chose, and believe my emphasis on this point gave me an edge.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I’m fortunate to be surrounded by so many classmates worthy of admiration, which makes this a hard question. However, the classmate who stands out to me most is Hae Jin So. Hae Jin is a bright light in the program. She is humble, genuine, leads by example, and has a unique ability to lift up those who are around her. I’ve admired how she handles adversity with grace and always perseveres. I know Hae Jin will be successful in any future endeavor she pursues and am honored to have been on the MBA journey with her.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? My husband, Stefan, was the biggest influence in my decision to pursue an MBA. We joke that he knew I’d get an MBA before I did. He has been my biggest supporter, a constant source of encouragement, and by my side every step of the way.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

  • Lead a transformational healthcare project that significantly improves the customer/patient experience at the organization I’m working with.
  • Serve as keynote speaker at a major conference.

How has the pandemic changed your view of a career? I am building my career on the business side of healthcare and the pandemic only strengthened my desire to remain in that field. Not only did the pandemic amplify the weak points of the healthcare system, but it also served as a catalyst for change. I am especially passionate about the customer experience side of healthcare and believe a positive outcome of the pandemic is the heightened focus on improving the customer experience.

What made Jazz such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2022?

“Jazz Naglee is a second year MBA student and Vice President of Professional Development for the student governing UF MBA Association (MBAA). After being appointed, she quickly assumed responsibility to oversee 8 clubs as they began developing programming and leadership opportunities for students. Jazz works diligently to make sure these clubs are running smoothly by ensuring they are regularly communicating with one another and keeping to their intended timelines. Jazz works seamlessly between these clubs and the UF MBA programs office to not only keep everyone informed but also identify opportunities for collaboration. She identified a potential overlap with guest speakers and proactively brought all parties together to get them scheduled on the right day, time and location to maximize student participation. She also makes sure that certain MBAA opportunities get in front of our professional MBA population to enrich their overall MBA experience as well.

Jazz is an advocate for her classmates in various ways. She first took the lead on the Alumni Mentorship Program, which aligns 1st year students preparing for internship with recent alumni. Students have benefited by being better prepared and supported during their internship and employers have benefited by having more confident and prepared interns. Jazz has made recommendations around the application process, program structure and meeting requirements to make the program run even more smoothly this year. She also started a LinkedIn Endorsement Campaign to encourage students to endorse their peers’ skills on LinkedIn. After consulting with me and our Director of Business Career services, she created a comprehensive training deck and delivered it to her classmates with resources and examples they could use immediately. Lastly, Jazz initiated an Interview Video Project to help provide real life examples to students preparing for the MBA recruitment season. She recruited a team of student volunteers and oversaw all operational aspects for the video series which will serve as an onboarding tool for all future full-time MBA students at UF.

Jazz is an advocate for case competitions, encouraging her classmates to participate by regularly highlighting their benefits and directly supporting the Case Competition Club. She has very strong presentation skills and has won Best Presenter during our annual UF MBA Internal Case Competition for 2 years in a row. In 2021, Jazz was a member of our inaugural team representing UF MBA at the Diamond Dollars Case Competition hosted by the Society for American Baseball Research. This competition provides our students a valuable learning experience around business analytics. Her feedback from that experience and partnership with the Case Competition Club Chair has resulted in a dynamic team participating this year that consists of not only full-time MBAs, but also students from other program formats who bring additional analytical skillsets. Jazz recently participated in the 2022 Race and Case Competition hosted by the University of Denver with 3 of her classmates and came home with a 2nd place win. Go Gators!

Jazz interned at Cigna last summer and upon graduation, will join them as an MBA Associate in their Marketing Leadership Development program.”

Meghan Blake
Assistant Director, Training and Professional Development
UF MBA Programs

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2022