Olivia Qi Zhang

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

“An adventurous, resilient, and motivated human being who sees every experience as a learning opportunity.”

Hometown: Shanxi, China

Fun fact about yourself: I spent two nights with two friends in the same tent at the altitude of 13,700 ft (over 4 kilometers) under 30°F (around -1°C) (more details below).

Undergraduate School and Degree: (Include Graduate Schools and Degrees If Applicable)

• A. Culture Business Management, Communication University of Zhejiang, China
• F.A Broadcast Journalism, Communication University of China (Beijing)
• A. International Broadcasting, Royal Holloway University of London

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school?

Chief US Correspondent, Caixin Media, a business publication headquartered in Beijing.

I covered the intersection of politics and business, including US-China trade negotiations, the 2020 US General Election, and the COVID-19 Pandemic, as a U.S.-based reporter.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2021? Amazon, Bay Area, Senior Program Manager

Where will you be working after graduation? McKinsey & Company, Associate

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• Graduate Assistant Peer Adviser, Georgetown University MBA Career Center
• Business for Impact Student Leader
• VP of Professional Development, Georgetown Women in Business
• Director of International Affairs, Georgetown Consulting Club
• VP of Social, Georgetown Tech Club
• VP of Event, Georgetown Great China Business Association

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? As an international student, female MBA candidate, and career switcher, I know what it takes to land a dream job. Through my different leadership roles at Georgetown, I have focused on empowering my colleagues and first-year students to prepare for their future professional careers.

In my capacity as a peer adviser with Georgetown Career Center, I coached 50+ students in 1:1s for career clarifications, resume reviews, and case interviews for those interested in the consulting and tech industry. As the Co-Vice President of Professional Development with Georgetown Women in Business (GWiB), I hosted the “Getting Ready for Your Summer Job” series with my Co-Vice President, Carla, and the amazing GWiB board. It which included technical skill training on the slide deck and Excel, as well as various panels to foster a safe environment for women to share experiences (e.g. Women in male-dominated industries).

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Reflecting on my previous career as a journalist, my proudest moment is not when I questioned a high-profile official or went to elite events such as the World Economic Forum, but rather those stories that I wrote through talking to ordinary people to hear their stories and perspectives. Empowering the unheard by giving them a voice was the driver of a lot of my stories.

I wrote a series of stories about China’s MeToo Movement, giving the alleged victim a voice to tell her side of the story when the power dynamic and information dynamic in China was overwhelmingly dominated by the other side. The stories gave her a more balanced exposure and helped her find the organization and support she needed to move forward.

Why did you choose this business school? As a former foreign correspondent navigating through different cultures, global mindsets, and perspectives is a very important part of my identity, which I wanted to continue to cultivate in the business context.

Georgetown caught my eyes with the Global Business Experience, a core curriculum in the second year where you utilize what you’ve learned to help a company in another country solve a real-world business problem. My GBE project is to help a telecom company in Chile with an optimal pricing structure. The more I learn about the industry and the client, the more fascinated I am by the complexity of the problems and the impact I can make by helping solve them.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Evelyn Williams. She is the lead faculty of Leadership Communications, my favorite class during my MBA that I know I will benefit from throughout my life. Professor Williams has such a delightful and charismatic personality and is a great communicator by example. You can feel that she deeply cares about our learning experiences, and constantly reminds us to look beyond the Quants in the MBA program and reflect on the Poets part of it as well – to develop as a whole person, a.k.a. concept of cura personalis.

Secondly, the course is so well designed, and the experiential learning was so challenging yet rewarding. We got to practice with real-world scenarios on how to influence, be assertive, (re)set expectations, and deal with conflicts. Not only was I able to apply those skill sets to my internship, but also my personal relationships.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? As a member of the Georgetown Explorers Club, I participated in a trekking trip to Mexico in January 2022. Our goal was to summit Pico de Orizaba (18,491 ft) – the highest mountain in Mexico and the third highest in North America. The condition was tough – at an altitude of 13,700 ft, suffering mountain sickness, and sleeping in a tent under 30°F (-1°C).

But what was so heartwarming was that even though each of us was trying to survive the tough natural conditions, I truly felt a strong sense of community that everyone took care of each other.

In the end, I did not summit the mountain – I reached my own summit at 15,700 ft. And it was not about summitting anymore, but about the precious friendship we were able to cultivate during the week-long trip. I would welcome anyone in the group to visit Denver (where I am going to be upon graduation) and hike mountains with me.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? First, I would be more intentional with what clubs and activities I am involved in to focus my time and energy on selected activities. I have, at times, felt that I spread myself too thin with the many things that I tried to involve myself in.

Second, I would love to have more one-on-one conversations with my colleagues and faculty members for coffee/lunch/dinner. Everyone at McDonough has such a different background and getting to know their stories inspires me. I was very intentional in this regard at the beginning of the program, but it fell off as recruiting and other activities picked up.

What surprised you the most about business school? I was concerned about not being able to fit in and contribute. This was because I came from a non-traditional background and started business school during a time when the governments of the country I grew up in and the country I currently live in was in dispute.

But the nice surprise was that everyone has such a different background – I was able to contribute to class and my teams just as other colleagues do. Simply put, COVID-19 does influence my MBA experience, but my MBA enhanced my COVID-era experience.

What is one thing you did during the application process that gave you an edge at the school you chose? I think I took the time to get to know McDonough Business School. Taking advantage of already being in D.C., I went to visit the school and talked to the admission office, current students, and also attend information sessions. Throughout the process, I had a clearer idea of how my background fit the McDonough MBA profile and how I can leverage MBA to further my professional and personal growth. I made sure I articulated well in both my written essays and video essay.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Lauren Jordan. I first met her (virtually) when we formed a group for the Venture Capital Case Competition in late 2020. The only way we worked together was over Zoom. But she managed to serve the role as a team captain and lead the team with inclusivity, compassion, and full transparency. Without any previous background in the VC industry, we progressed to the second round.

I’ve later seen her on different occasions, either as a teaching assistant, organizer of different events, or just as a friend I am brunching with. She can always unite different groups of people and create a psychologically safe place to empower each other. I always feel inspired after talking with her.

Who most influenced your decision to pursue business in college? It was my former editor/boss, Shan Huang, at Caixin Media. I was debating whether to pursue an MBA and he was the one that encouraged me to move forward because he thought it would benefit me in the long run, even though it might cause trouble for him in the short-term in terms of hiring. Here I am, about to graduate from my MBA program. I was so grateful for the decision and never regretted it for a single second.

He inspires me to be the kind of leader he is – a great mentor and advocate for his team. More importantly, he is very compassionate, really values you as a person, and cares about your future and success, not just as an employee working for him.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? I want to work at a startup or start my own company at some point. I would also like to host a podcast on empowering women in China to pursue their dreams without any self-imposed restrictions.

How has the pandemic changed your view of a career? Before the pandemic, my upbring and culture have shaped my view on a career – you have to be successful in a career in order to have a happy and fulfilling life. I took pride in what I did and my job was a very big part of my identity. In many senses, I lived to work.

But the pandemic and business school forced me to slow down and pause to reflect. I discovered more outside of my work and professional life. Life is a long learning and exploratory process, not just professionally and outwardly. I have embarked on an inward journey of learning about myself and how the human mind works through yoga, meditation, reading, and therapies. I am still and will always be on my way to self-exploration.

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

“Olivia Qi Zhang is extremely deserving of recognition in Poets&Quants feature on Top MBA 2022 graduates to watch. Olivia was extremely engaged with the Georgetown MBA Career Center going all the way back to her participation in Welcome Weekend in the spring of 2020 prior to her enrollment. At that session, she asked an insightful question about consulting that distinguished her from other participants.  Later that summer, she had 100% attendance at the Career Center’s week-long Virtual Recruiting Summit. She was a consulting-focused MBA student from the outset. Her initial “Tell Me About Yourself” (TMAY) session that she recorded for her classmates came true. Olivia was planning to use her MBA to transition from a career as a D.C.-based international news reporter to a career in strategy consulting. For her post-MBA employment, Olivia selected McKinsey & Company’s Denver office over an opportunity to return to Amazon where she interned. This distinction is noteworthy because she is the first Georgetown McDonough MBA student from China to secure a full-time U.S.-based offer from McKinsey & Company. From all of these early interactions through the current school year, Olivia always impressed me with her exceptional dedication and commitment to her career activities, as well as her unmatched interpersonal skills.

Olivia’s entire career at Georgetown McDonough has been exceptional. She is a Forte Merit Scholar and was also an officer in four MBA student clubs: Graduate Women in Business (GWiB), the Georgetown Consulting Club (GCC), the Technology Club, and the Greater China Business Association (GCBA). In these roles, she successfully demonstrated her strong leadership skills and also demonstrated her passion for assisting underrepresented student groups. Olivia is also a very popular Peer Advisor in the MBA Career Center. In this role, she is paid at the graduate assistant rate, and she meets with students for career advice and assistance in the same capacity as the school’s full-time career advisors. Olivia is very well-known and liked by her classmates as well as by many of the first-year MBA students in the Class of 2023. She is also highly regarding by many Georgetown McDonough MBA alumni, with at least two MBA alumni having mentioned her to me.

In closing, Olivia Qi Zhang is very deserving of recognition in Poets&Quants. Her story will be a source of inspiration for any MBA candidate who reads it.”

Lawrence J. Verbiest
Director of Georgetown McDonough’s MBA Career Center, Consulting Industry 

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