Laura Emerson

University of Georgia, Terry College of Business

“Lover of travel, naps, dogs, yoga, and hiking. Outgoing. Enthusiastic. Ambitious. Reliable. Practical. Curious. Adaptable.”

Hometown: Malvern, PA

Fun fact about yourself: I love to hike! I’ve climbed Half Dome in Yosemite, as well as rim-to-rim of the Grand Canyon. I’ve got my sights on hiking Machu Pichu next.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Delaware, Bachelor of Arts in Secondary History Education

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Women’s Softgoods Buyer, Backcountry.com

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? AlixPartners; Los Angeles, CA

Where will you be working after graduation? AlixPartners; Vice President, Performance Improvement

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• President – Consulting Club
• Nonprofit Board Member – Athens Area Humane Society
• MBA Career Mentor
• MBA Ambassador
• Terry Leadership Fellow
• Scholarship Recipient – Terry Excellence Fund; International Residency
• Scholarship Recipient – AlixPartners

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I’m most proud of being asked to take on the role of President of the Graduate Consulting Club. While applying for my MBA, I felt that pursuing a position within consulting was a stretch goal. I thought that securing a consulting internship after my first year would be wishful thinking, but then I received an internship offer with AlixPartners in my first month of school! Following the internship, I landed a full-time offer after graduation. To be asked to be Consulting Club president, a role that shepherds others into the industry and helps them navigate a highly competitive market, felt (and still feels) like such a privilege. It brought me full circle and led me to reflect on the self-confidence this degree has helped me build throughout my MBA journey.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m most proud of the promotion I received while working at Forever 21, from Associate Buyer to Buyer. Previously, I had been working as a Merchandise Coordinator for Anthropologie in Philadelphia. In 2016, I took a big leap of faith, leaving my boyfriend and family behind, to follow a mentor out to Los Angeles to help her start Forever 21’s Home & Gift division. It was a very stressful, highly challenging experience. For the first time, I was responsible for many processes that I had no prior experience with. I juggled many priorities, came in early, stayed late, and learned a ton. The results spoke for themselves – we scaled an $8M annual business to $24M in the first year alone! Even after my mentor left the company, I stayed on for another year and refined the division we had built, maximizing it for operational efficiency and profitability. I was rewarded for my hard work with a promotion, which of course, was appreciated – but the reward for me was getting to see the growth and development of my hard work over the course of those two years.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose the University of Georgia because the admissions team took time to get to know me as a person – I was more than just a number to them. During my applicant interview, it was clear that they spent time thinking about my personal goals, dreams, and interests, and whether UGA was the right fit for me – and not the other way around. This personal touch really stood out and became something I looked for at other schools where I applied. It reflected what UGA messaged about their small class sizes, where cohorts could grow genuine connections and build a tight-knit community on or off campus. It supported what I heard from UGA students about the strong relationships students and professors build during class and many years after graduation. I hadn’t realized how much I valued this personal touch until I couldn’t find it elsewhere, and then I knew my decision was made!

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite course was Applied Business Statistics because it was the first course that taught me the power of regression in prediction and modeling. I’m not naturally inclined toward mathematics; in fact, I’d be lost without spreadsheets to help assist in my calculations. Despite all the statistical jargon and mathematical calculations required in this course (confidence intervals, p values, t-tests?!), I felt completely empowered. Learning to utilize regression as a tool helped me unlock a new understanding of the information and data analytics behind complex problems. Managers can work through difficult scenarios at work and make more informed business decisions as a result. Regression truly is a superpower.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite tradition here at UGA are the tailgates that the MBA students hold on Saturdays in the Fall, during home football games. To me, these tailgates reflect the fact that our program truly is so tight knit that we spend all week together and STILL want to hang out together on the weekend. During my first year, the tailgates were such a fun way to meet people in the MBA program. During my second year, the tailgates have continued to be a great way to build relationships outside of class, and they’ve evolved to help me network with the wider business community here at UGA. Our tailgates draw such a crowd that even our professors, career mentorship staff, and students in other master’s programs attend with their friends and family. I’ve found that our open attitude and friendly demeanor makes the events a fun way to network with the broader community in Athens.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Honestly, there is not a single thing that I regret about my MBA experience. As an older-than-average MBA candidate, I was sacrificing a lot to give up my salary, dip into my savings, and ask my fiancé to move across the country with me – to a new place where we had no family and no friends. I had to make this experience worthwhile, otherwise we would have given up a life we loved in Los Angeles for no reason. During my MBA, I signed up for every activity that remotely piqued my interest. I showed up to events when I was totally exhausted. I participated in things that were outside of my comfort zone. I followed up every lead and took advantage of every opportunity that came my way. My strategy was “go big or go home.” It helped make this experience even more valuable than I thought possible.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? I have several items: the quality and diversity of the food at local restaurants; the awesome music venues and ample outdoor free concerts; the packed calendar of super fun and sometimes totally quirky community events; and the friendliness and openness of Athens. It’s impossible to pick just one thing.

What surprised you the most about business school? I had no idea how customizable an MBA can be. I thought you had to pick a concentration (ex: Marketing, Finance, Operations, etc.) and commit to that track for the entirety of your two years in the program. Of course, picking a concentration is helpful, especially if you know what path you want to pursue. However, I was surprised to learn that UGA offers so many other classes that you try out, or even specialize in. In my case, Sustainability was a big personal passion that I wanted to find a way to make professional. UGA offers a Sustainability Certificate that I pursued, so I’m taking classes like “Food Systems Security and Resilience,” “Environmental Ethics,” and “People, Planet, Profit” in addition to “Corporate Social Responsibility” and “B Corp Consulting.” It has been rewarding to cross-pollinate my business perspective with these science-based classes. It has taken my understanding of the complex problems our planet is facing to a new level.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Ivey Tanner is the classmate from my MBA program that I most admire. Ivey goes above and beyond to make our MBA program great. As a part of the Graduate Business Association leadership team, Ivey plans weekly social and academic events which keep our program fun and engaging – events like our Diwali and Lunar New Year parties, Galentine’s Dinner, football tailgates, and Formal. On a more personal level, Ivey is incredibly intelligent, and has the rare ability to balance right-brain and left-brain strengths. She perfectly matches her rigorous data analytics skills with her creative idea generation, like it’s easy. Even with these great strengths, Ivey maintains a humble attitude and kind nature. She’s open, accepting, inclusive, and goes out of her way to help others. Plus, she’s quick-witted and can always crack a joke that will make you smile. She embodies true leadership inside and outside of our MBA program, and I’m grateful to call her a friend!

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? The top two items on my professional bucket list are, first, to become a partner at a consulting firm. Women are underrepresented in top leadership positions at most firms. Second, I want to be a part of profoundly changing the retail industry to be more sustainable. I realize that these are two VERY lofty goals, but I like to dream big. When I graduated from undergrad, I couldn’t have imagined achieving what I have thus far in my career, let alone graduate with a master’s degree! Life is full of surprises, and I can’t wait for what is next.

What made Laura such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2024?

“Laura came to the Georgia MBA as a slightly non-traditional student, with a background in the liberal arts and education. However, she converted the initial apprehension of starting an MBA program from a challenge to an opportunity. She embraced her coursework, much of which was completely new to her, was not afraid to ask questions, and “rolled up her sleeves” and got to work, approaching all challenges and opportunities with humility and an open mind, in the true tradition of a Georgia MBA. It was not surprising to see success come her way early in the program through a very selective internship with Alix Partners and then a conversion into a full-time role. Outside the classroom, she led the MBA Consulting Club and revitalized the club by organizing professional development workshops and speaker engagements for her peers. She was also part of the winning MBA team in the “Dawgs on Top” internal MBA case competition. We are lucky to have Laura in our program and she will be a role model for future students from non-traditional backgrounds who are looking to make a successful pivot in their careers.”

Santanu Chatterjee
Associate Dean for Diversity for International and Master’s Programs
Director of Full-Time MBA & M.S. Business Analytics Programs

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