Katja Muller

University of North Carolina, Kenan-Flagler Business School

“A tender-hearted futurist, endlessly thinking about another way for humanity.”

Hometown: San Jose, California

Fun fact about yourself: I’ve conducted business in English, Spanish, French and Kinyarwanda.

Undergraduate School and Major: The Wharton School, BS in Economics, Double Concentrations in Finance and Social Impact

Last Employer: One Acre Fund, Director of Retail Business and Investments

Aside from your classmates, what was the key part of Kenan-Flagler’s MBA curriculum or programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you? I was certain I wanted to further pivot into investing, so I went into my school search focused on that outcome. At first, I went deep into the employment reports, but ultimately, it occurred to me that a lot of the people placing into investing roles out of school might have gone into business school already having had that experience. Of course. I couldn’t cut the data to look only at career pivoters. So I decided to focus instead on looking for the best set of experiential learning opportunities, complemented by a show of commitment from the finance and investing faculty to helping students achieve on their ambitions. I found both of those at UNC Kenan Flagler.

The list of relevant experiential opportunities seemed endless, from the Alpha Challenge (a stock pitch competition hosted at UNC Kenan-Flagler) to the KF Private Equity Fund to spring internships in investment management through the PRIME Program (Projects in Investment Management Experiential-Learning).

As for the demonstrated engagement from faculty, I appreciated that the Center for Excellence in Investment Management put on their own information session – more than just the admissions team was involved in recruiting students. I thought it was a solid indicator that staff would be engaged throughout my time in the program.

What are some advantages you’ve seen in earning your MBA in Chapel Hill? Getting to see my niece and nephew, who live nearby, is advantage #1 for this auntie! Not too far behind is the weather, which easily beats out New England and Midwest weather. Add to that: The beach isn’t too far away, cost of living is more reasonable than in other parts of the U.S., and southern food is unreal good. (Shout out to Bullock’s in Durham!)

What has been your first impression of the Kenan-Flagler MBA students and alumni you’ve met so far. Tell us your best Kenan-Flagler story so far. My impression has been that this is really a community united. Everyone I’ve cold emailed or asked for advice has been gracious and willing, and I get the sense it’s just a more down-to-earth place where people genuinely care about helping the person next to them.

My favorite story so far centers on a series of interactions with Pramita Saha, Executive Director of the Center for Excellence in Investment Management at UNC Kenan-Flagler. We first connected during a virtual information session, during which I asked a question about her opinion on the importance of MBA employment data. Her impassioned response made it clear that she too thought the topic was important to approach with nuance. When the session concluded, I couldn’t believe I had made a connection with a professor ― while on a Zoom call with hundreds of other prospective students, no less! Later in the process, as I was waffling on my decision of where to attend, I reached out and asked her for some additional data points about employment in my target industry. When I got her response, I couldn’t believe it. She had compiled a wealth of info for me and had even gone to the effort of writing descriptive snippets about the different funds that had hired UNC Kenan-Flagler MBAs. Never in my academic career had a professor exerted so much effort for my individual benefit… and I wasn’t even a paying student yet! The exchanges warmed my heart and ultimately played a significant role in my decision to enroll at UNC.

What course, club or activity excites you the most at Kenan-Flagler? I’m definitely hoping to earn a seat in the Kenan-Flagler Private Equity Fund to enhance my investing skillset. I’d also love to be a portfolio manager of the small cap fund.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I worked in Rwanda for six years at a social enterprise called One Acre Fund, leading the team that set up a nationwide chain of farm shops.

My biggest accomplishment was pitching our business unit’s work at different stages of maturity, and consistently receiving funding for growth. During my tenure, we grew from zero to 151 store locations, and supported our small-holder clients to generate $5M in incremental profits on their farms. To put that into context, the average GDP per capita in Rwanda is under $1,000 ― or looked at a different way, 75 times smaller than in the U.S.

What do you hope to do after graduation (at this point)? In the long term, my goal is to continue to bend the tools and forces of capitalism to a greater good, and specifically towards the growth and development of lower income economies and communities. I envision someday starting up my own private equity fund to deliver both competitive financial returns and generate significant ESG returns in targeted sectors and markets.

In the short term, I will be looking to join a traditional buyout shop focused on the middle market here in the U.S. Ideally, it would be one that gets its hands dirty improving operations, doesn’t fire folks en masse to drive returns, and is really instead about doing good business and driving true value generation. Bonus points go to an office location with good weather!