Tom Moak Jr.

Emory University, Goizueta Business School

“Mary Edwin’s dad… thanks Mary Rose! Football Guy. Part-time Pirate – 200 years too late.”

Hometown: Atlanta, GA

Fun fact about yourself: When I was a Graduate Assistant Football Coach at Georgia State University, I had the chance to coach against Nick Saban and the #1 ranked, eventual national champion, Alabama Crimson Tide. It did not go well.

Undergraduate School and Degree:

Georgia State University – M.Ed. in Sports Administration

Princeton University – BA American History with a Certificate in American Studies

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Wesleyan School – Assistant Athletic Director, Teacher, & Varsity Football Coach

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? Boston Consulting Group – Atlanta, GA

Where will you be working after graduation? Boston Consulting Group – Consultant – Atlanta, GA

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

Co-President – Goizueta Consulting Association

Social Enterprise Fellow – Business and Society Institute

Delta Leadership Coaching Fellow

Coach – 21st Century Leaders

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Earning Dean’s List was fulfilling because I came to school without any business training or experience and was worried about my ability to compete in the classroom. That personal recognition is a testament to the professors at Emory who made coursework appropriately rigorous, reasonably accessible, and answered all of my sometimes-dumb questions along the way. They do a tremendous job of teaching individuals, not just classes.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? When I was Dean of Students at a local High School, we polled the student body to see which adult on campus they trusted most. For the four years we asked that question, my name was the most frequent response, which served as an affirmation of my beliefs about leadership and mentorship. Meet people where they are and do your best to love them.  The rest will sort itself out with time, thought, and effort.

Why did you choose this business school? Goizueta is an intentionally high-touch, high-caring community. I spent the first 22 years of my life developing through schools that prioritized student experience, opportunity, and outcomes by hiring people who genuinely cared about their students. I spent the next 10 years trying to pay that experience forward. Goizueta fit perfectly into my vision of what a school should be. I knew that level of support would be necessary as I attempted a career-180 while learning to be a father — to my now 2-year-old daughter Mary Edwin. My expectations and lived experience have lined up, for which I’m exceedingly grateful to Goizueta Business School.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Lynne Segall and Renee Dye. Even though their styles can be different, the things that make them impactful professors are quite similar. They are both confidently themselves. They believe their work is important, so they put in countless unseen hours to be excellent. They measure their impact in our ability to excel on the job, and they build their classes to make it so. They believe in their students, so their classes are rigorous – but fair. They challenge our ideas and push us to think more deeply and clearly. They teach us to speak with intent and impact. They help us to find structure in ambiguity, and how to tell that story. They model leadership and presence. They make time for students and rarely expect a thank you.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? Bias in the Workplace taught by Dr. Erika Hall. Studying and teaching the story of civil rights through American History always lit my fire as a student and teacher. Learning about the psychological underpinnings of bias and its impact in business and society through a research-driven class was a special experience. The conversations in that classroom felt more real and important than your standard MBA course and the principles learned have already made me be a more thoughtful leader.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? I would have spent more time socializing with my classmates beyond the confines of business school programming. Balancing my family and the business school experience has been a fun challenge to navigate. My classmates would be the first to tell you they don’t see me at many of the social events because I prefer to go home and hang out with my (saint of a) wife Mary Rose and my little girl Mary Edwin. While I wouldn’t trade those moments at home for anything, I wish I had a few more hours in the day to hang out with my classmates.

And spend more time in Excel.

What is the biggest myth about your school? That we’re only a consulting school. While we send a large number of graduates into consulting, we have brilliant and talented students who find success in Finance, Marketing, General Management, Tech, and seemingly every other avenue out there. The most inspiring part of that is seeing the work 2nd-Year students put into training and mentoring 1st-Year students through the recruiting process via our various professional clubs. Learning from my peers and then paying that mentorship forward has been the highlight of my time at Goizueta – it’s the standard expectation here.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Atlanta is the business and cultural capital of the South. We have a little bit of everybody, a little bit of everything, and we’re the only place that has turned traffic into a party.

What movie or television show (e.g. The Big Short, The Founder, Mad Men, House of Lies)

best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? With 10 whole weeks of “corporate experience” under my belt, I think I’ll pass on this one.  Hopefully not Office Space or Wolf of Wall Street.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? In a module course I took called Lessons in Leadership from American Literature, our final assignment was to draft a short story that conveys a leadership lesson in the style of one of the authors we studied. We had the option to draft the story using GenAI, which I exercised… just to see what it was capable of. I left that experience feeling inadequate and unfulfilled. It deterred me from wanting to write, creatively or otherwise, because there’s something out there that is just better than me, so what’s the point?

I may be an old man yelling at clouds, but I think most folks use GenAI out of laziness and sacrifice the opportunity to do the mental gymnastics required to learn. Learning is inherently experiential – you learn by doing. You grow by learning. You separate yourself by growing.  You might not be as fast as AI (ever) – and you might not be as good as AI (yet) – but you did the work and exerted the effort and that made you grow. Stacking growth opportunities builds proficiency, talent, and eventually creativity. This process takes time, commitment, effort, and there are rarely worthwhile shortcuts. Sometimes, the journey is the destination? Who knows.  I’m sure ChatGPT has a better answer.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Connor Dalton. He’s dedicated his time to others and himself in business school admirably. As an Army Veteran, his sense of commitment and service to others instinctively shines through. As VP in the Consulting Club, he has mentored 1st Year students and made a significant impact in their recruiting outcomes and overall sense of community. He’s made time for vets and other students when he doesn’t have time himself because he wants to be a small part of their success stories.

As a student, he has taken the hardest classes he can to develop himself completely for the job that lies ahead. His growth in knowledge and skills has been tremendous. He curated opportunities to achieve that growth carefully, committing to the process of learning through constant effort, willingness to fail, and the conviction that he can do what he sets his mind to – like super forecasting and multivariate regressions. The guy studies 10-K’s and runs DCF’s on the weekend “just for the practice,” noting that “it’s fun, and “not that bad once you get the hang of it.” He then turns around and uses that experience to help folks like me figure it out.

Connor is always positive, he seeks and creates fun, he looks out for folks, he always does what he says he will do, he sets high bars and then inspires — sometimes carries – classmates to clear that bar. His determination reminds me that I need to work harder, his curiosity and growth mindset drive the ship, his resilience taps a deep well, and his future will be bright!

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

• Do my best. Help others do the same.
• Acquire a ship.

What made Tom such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“It gives me great pleasure to recommend Tom. Tom serves as an ideal model for a balanced leader by achieving academic success and creating an enduring impact among his peers. He has taken exceptional steps as Vice President of the Goizueta Consulting Association to help students find internships and jobs by utilizing his professional knowledge to improve their career development options. Tom fosters inclusivity as he introduces international students and others to sports to help them engage with the community meaningfully. He shows exceptional character and leadership, enhancing both the personal and professional environments for others.”

Vernon Smith
Senior Associate Director of Student Life & Engagement
Emory University’s Goizueta Business School

DON’T MISS: MBAS TO WATCH: CLASS OF 2025

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