Bryan Munoz

Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

“A curious, data-driven, dynamic leader who leverages military expertise, and is passionate about analytical innovations.”

Hometown: Silver Spring, MD

Fun fact about yourself: I love cars. I am in the process of rebuilding a 1998 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution rally car for track competitions.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of Maryland Global Campus, BS in Business Administration

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? (List Company and Role) I spent six years in the United States Air Force as a Security Forces Craftsman, which is a military police role. After military service, I became the operations manager for a commercial cleaning company owned and operated by my parents. The company contracts with new home builders throughout Maryland. I oversaw the day-to-day operations of four service teams and during the COVID pandemic we expanded to provide disinfection services for offices with confirmed cases.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2023? During the summer, I interned with EY as an enterprise risk intern based out of the company’s Tysons/McLean office in Northern Virginia.

Where will you be working after graduation? I’ll be joining the merchandising leadership development program at Walmart based in northwest Arkansas. The role is focused on operations and involves opportunities for data analysis.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: I’m proud of my work in engaging the veteran community at Carey Business School and connecting that community with other veterans at Johns Hopkins University. I worked with other veterans to develop a network of veterans and military-affiliated students across the different Johns Hopkins schools. We are a very tight-knit community, whether you’ve served or you’re a spouse or a child of a military member, we typically render a lot of support to each other.

During my second year, we orchestrated two Veteran’s Day events for the community. One event featured a ropes obstacle course to expose non-veterans to key military leadership traits. Our goal was to help them see the value of military experience in transitioning to civilian work culture. When our fellow graduates become hiring managers, they can understand the value military or ex-military members can bring to their organizations. Later in the day, we held a bonfire and barbecue with local American Legion members. Again, the goal was to try and expose participants to what transitioning out of the military really looks like for us and how those key traits and experiences play out throughout our careers.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I participated in two Leadership Development experiences run by Carey’s Center for Innovative Leadership. One was the two-day crisis leadership response, and another was the Belize Expedition. Both experiences were amazing because of their very much hands-on architecture. They pushed me out of my comfort zone to a point where I feel more prepared to go out and do some real work in a real-stakes environment. The Belize expedition took us to several islands in the ocean elevating the stakes from our traditional academic environment. During this expedition, you are with your team for 10 straight days living in the sand with finite resources. You are unable to go home and complain about what you had to do or the people you had to work with. As a result, you are actively trying to continuously manage those relationships 24/7 and developing skills to understand and work well with others. We made some lifelong bonds on this trip.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I think there are different moments from my professional career that I am proud of. In my military experience and performance, I am proud of the rank I achieved in a short amount of time. I became a staff sergeant within four years of military service while earning my associate’s degree at the same time.

I am also proud of the transformational impact I left on some of my subordinates in service. I had individuals come into my unit certain they would be terminating their military career upon their contract end date. After having them under my leadership for roughly two years, I could see the transformation go to “Hey, perhaps I can do 20 years of service” or at the very least be willing to devote more of their time and career to military service. They were amazing team members and would achieve greatness but also needed to find their job satisfaction.

Why did you choose this business school? There are so many factors for why I chose Carey Business School. For one, Johns Hopkins has global recognition. I think I’ve been on a global mindset since my military service took me overseas. More importantly, I liked the fact that Carey Business School was a young school compared to many others. That allows me to establish my own legacy, and to be able to shape the way the school will be tomorrow. I think that’s something that you can’t really do at older schools. Those schools have such a history that anything you try to do just won’t change much. Meanwhile, at Carey, the things you do, the bonds you make, and the initiative you take actively create a long-lasting history for the institution.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? This one’s easy for me, it’s Professor Mohammed Yazdi. He has technical experience and a very hands-on approach to business analytics. He’s the only professor that I’ve taken more than once because he teaches very practical skills with every course. For example, he doesn’t just teach you how to use R or Tableau, he shares little tricks and little keyboard shortcuts that make it easier to work through problems and perform the work.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite MBA course was the Big Data Consulting Project. It was one of several experiential learning courses in our MBA program. The course was a very analytical and technical experience involving group work like actual business environments. For the course, we were provided a large data set from McCormick Spice Company. Each team analyzed the data to find trends and make recommendations based on those findings. It was very practical knowledge that I definitely needed coming out of the military.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? Carey Business School provides many opportunities to network. There are always events with food or whatever that create an environment to meet and connect. Every first Tuesday of the month, there are themed social networking events that are really helpful for building camaraderie within the Carey network while learning about the different social groups and initiatives.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I wish I had taken even more advantage of the extracurricular experiential opportunities. Carey offers several opportunities for us to gain skills at our own pace outside of class which would have helped me push my comfort around coding sooner. Additionally, I would have sought more opportunities to interact with my peers. They are all extremely knowledgeable around different industries or skills and focused on some of the same career goals. Ultimately, these connections helps us grow as a network and individually.

What is the biggest myth about your school? I’m not sure it’s a myth, but I was definitely surprised by the breadth of our alumni community and where our alumni have gone. When I go on LinkedIn and look at companies I’m interested in or just looking at our alumni, we’re pretty spread out all over the place. I don’t think I’ve found a single company that I’m interested in where there hasn’t been someone who either worked there or has a connection to someone who works there. So, our network is pretty big despite being a young institution.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? I grew up in the suburbs near Washington, D.C. Although it’s very close to Baltimore and in the same state, I didn’t visit much growing up. The two cities are very different. I think the people in Baltimore are friendlier saying “hello” when you pass them in the street rather than bustling from building to building.

What surprised you the most about business school? I was most surprised about the number of new opportunities available to gain hands-on experience. I was seeking these opportunities to really bridge the gaps in my resume as I transitioned but received much more than anticipated. These opportunities are much more practical and provide frameworks for real world challenges.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? This one is quite difficult for me given my classmates come from various parts of the world while facing various challenges and excelling in different ways. I would like to highlight Dinaryati Aminda, who made the jump to Baltimore with her entire family. Not only is she taking on the challenge of advancing her education, but she is also navigating a new environment, raising her young daughter, and devoting quality time to continuously performing in whatever challenge our course work throws at us. She has always pushed our teams and challenged us to providing quality and valuable deliverables.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? I want to get back to leading people and getting back to leading in a civilian environment. Leading and interacting with people in civilian life is a different experience and requires a couple of different skills. I think the value you get from interacting with people outside of the military is also different. These ideas were really reinforced in our ethical leadership classes, as well as the experiential learning trip I took to Belize. In Belize, we each took turns leading for the day. You had to practice those skills of how to motivate the team, how to manage what we’re going to do, and the traits you use at given moments.

I also want to be in a director role leading an initiative or project. The leadership development program I’ll be taking after graduation is taking me in that direction. I don’t really know what to expect, but everybody’s been telling me that going from being a manager or an employee to being a director is the biggest jump in your career.

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

“From day one, Bryan Munoz has been a leader in his cohort and encouraging others. People in the MBA class and at Carey Business School can rely on Bryan for steadfast determination.”

Stacey B. Lee
Professor of Practice
Academic Program Director, Full-Time MBA
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2024