MBA Voices: Planners, Doers, and Degrees: Celebrating the Vanderbilt Owen Journey

Graduation is a few weeks away, but the reality that the program is ending doesn’t feel real. Our new student orientation, which started in August 2024, now feels like just yesterday. Almost 634 days later, Vanderbilt’s MBA graduation date, May 8, 2026, nears.

While it’s easy to quickly move on to the next chapter, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the journey to this degree.

In my last article, I wrote about how this program has helped me grow both professionally and personally. An MBA offers you space to test ideas, fail fast, and experience multiple rejections, and in turn will make you into a more patient, resilient, and knowledgeable leader.

As the outgoing Owen Student Government Association president, I’ve been fortunate to get to know so many of the 600+ students who make up the Owen community. I wanted to summarize our collective experience through the eyes of the MBA Class of 2026, so I interviewed 18 of my classmates for their perspectives on the following eight categories: Coursework, Professors, Guest Speakers, Leadership, Networking, Group Work, Off-Campus Events, and Legacy.

While I wish I could interview all 170 people in my class, hopefully the following answers give you a perspective into our experience. A quote I’ve had hanging in my apartment puts this experience in a way I think often about:

“Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground.” – Wilferd Arlan Peterson

Here are the 8 areas covered in my interviews with Owen MBA students:

Coursework and Frameworks

Professors

Guest Speakers

Leadership

Networking

Group Work

Off-Campus Events

Legacy

COURSEWORK AND FRAMEWORKS

Cold calling and the case method are staples of any top business school. We’ve completed over 30 classes and 100+ cases featuring companies ranging from Microsoft to NASA. Our professors challenge us to think about and approach problems differently during class sessions. For my first question, I wanted to ask about this shift in thinking.

Which course forced you to fundamentally rethink your approach to a challenge you once thought you understood, and what was the immediate, tangible shift in your perspective?

Austin Cotton: “Strategy & Operations Consulting, taught by Professor Jon Lehman, was one of the first courses that really taught me how to tangibly approach problems in a structured way. In the course, we ran actual consulting projects for various businesses, most of which were healthcare startups in the Nashville area. The course taught me how to grow alongside my initial hypothesis: begin with an idea and test it, but then be willing to shift as you learn more. A favorite quote from this course was: “Make the strategy more achievable and the story more believable.” That should be your North Star guiding the process.”

Priscilla Agboada: “Leading Teams and Organizations (LTO), taught by Professor Timothy Vogus, was one of my first courses at Owen, and it forced me to rethink something I thought I’d already mastered: giving feedback. I remember times at my previous workplace when feedback I’d delivered landed poorly, but I’d always assumed I understood the mechanics. This course made me rethink that entirely. Learning frameworks around Radical Candor and the process of giving actionable feedback showed me the gap between what I once knew and what I know now. LTO has fundamentally changed how I plan to approach feedback as a leader.”

Barakat Olatinwo: “The course that genuinely upended my thinking was Managerial Decision Making, taught by Professor Brian McCann. I walked in believing good decisions followed good data: clean inputs, rational outputs. What I didn’t anticipate was confronting how systematically biased my “rational” thinking was. Suddenly, I stopped trusting my gut instincts at face value and started asking: “What cognitive bias is driving this decision?” That shift from confident to curious has been the most practically useful takeaway of my MBA experience.”

PROFESSORS

One of the best parts of Owen is the access to award-winning faculty whose research informs various industries. Their industry experience, academic research, and networks make class engaging and interesting. We not only benefit from their in-class lessons, but advice on any of our projects.

What’s the most memorable thing a professor said or taught that you still find yourself thinking about today?

Taiwo Olawehinmi: “Professor Ranga Ramanujam’s teaching on the growth mindset in Managerial & Organizational Effectiveness continues to stay with me. He framed it not just as a motivational concept, but as a disciplined pathway to mastery. What struck me most was his emphasis that a growth mindset is not about optimism; it is about a commitment to continuous improvement, especially when outcomes are uncertain or uncomfortable. It requires actively seeking challenges, inviting feedback, and being willing to confront one’s limitations. I now find myself applying this in high-stakes environments, whether preparing for consulting interviews or leading teams, by leaning into discomfort rather than avoiding it. It has shifted how I define progress: not by immediate success, but by how intentionally I am learning.”

Wilson Sithole: “Professor Yasin Alan. The Supply Chain Management course fundamentally changed how I see the connection between supply chain and finance. Most people think of supply chain as procurement and logistics, but he showed us how deeply it is tied to a company’s balance sheet. His own published research demonstrated that investors could generate significant returns simply by analyzing retailers’ inventory levels. When a company carries excess inventory, it signals future trouble because those goods inevitably lose value. That insight was eye-opening. It made me rethink supply chain not as an isolated function, but as a direct driver of a company’s broader financial performance.”

Dale Anderson: “We spend a significant amount of time with our professors, and it’s been great to get to know them as more than just instructors. Outside of office hours, I would visit professors to discuss topics adjacent to their courses; however, through these conversations, I’ve found commonality outside of the teacher-student dynamic. One of my professors enjoys building houses, which is something I did throughout high school and college. Another professor is a talented mixologist, a fact I discovered while attending a dinner hosted by the faculty. I’ve valued these connections and hope to continue these relationships after graduation.”

GUEST SPEAKERS

Moving beyond the traditional classroom setting, Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School provides us with an opportunity to engage with global leaders through intimate, behind-the-scenes discussions. We gain invaluable perspectives from Owen alumni like Sarah Trahern (CEO of the Country Music Association), Andrew Watterson (COO of Southwest Airlines), and Amelia Generalis (CPO of id.me). The school also hosts high-profile guest speakers, such as Mark Cuban, Rob Gronkowski, and Ilona Maher, offering us direct access to insights from the C-suite and beyond.

Which guest speaker’s story felt most honest or unfiltered, and what did they say that you won’t find in any business book?

Alexis Caddell: “I really enjoyed hearing Chef Sean Brock talk about opening restaurants in Nashville and his approach as both a chef and an entrepreneur. What you won’t find in any business book are his personal restaurant recommendations for Nashville; when I tried one of his spots, it ended up being my favorite meal in the city!”

Mengyang He: “During the Healthcare Immersion at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), I observed an orthopedic surgery in the operating room. The surgeon asked me, “What’s the most expensive thing in this room?” I pointed to the machines. He said, “It’s time.” That moment stuck with me. It reframed how I think about efficiency and decision-making; it is not just about optimizing resources, but about respecting time as the scarcest asset.”

Jacob Stolar: “Vanderbilt Chancellor Daniel Diermeier came to speak to our class, and his discussion on managing under extreme uncertainty throughout his leadership career was incredibly insightful. His use of frameworks in the crisis landscape and his discussion on building and maintaining trust, specifically when the media is involved, taught me a lot about the importance of credibility, accountability, and transparency.”

LEADERSHIP

MBA programs are synonymous with everything related to leadership. Theories are put into action. We study how strong leaders stay adaptable, learning as much from their failures as their successes. These lessons let us shape our own leadership philosophy and perspectives.

How has your definition of leadership evolved from day one of the program to now?

Cory Fetterolf: “My thoughts on leadership shifted from mastering a specific domain to mastering the ability to lead through ambiguity. Instead of leaders needing total expertise in their field, I realize leadership is rooted in the confidence to make sound decisions and delegate effectively, regardless of the subject matter. Because of this, I have intentionally sought leadership roles in unfamiliar areas to strengthen my weaknesses. I encourage future MBAs to step outside their comfort zones. True leadership isn’t about knowing everything, it’s about leveraging your team’s collective intelligence and trusting your own judgment in the face of the unknown.”

Aurora Fleming: “Walking into this program, I believed leadership meant being the most visible presence in the room. Serving as a VP of Communications for the Owen Student Government Association challenged and reshaped that. Managing communications across emails and events for hundreds of classmates taught me that leadership also lives in delivering clear information, and that how you say something is just as powerful as what you say. More importantly, I discovered that some of the most impactful leadership happens quietly or “behind the scenes,” and that should also be celebrated.”

Nicholas Dailey: “When I started the program, I believed great leadership was fundamentally about leading by example and earning respect through your actions. Talking with classmates from vastly different industries, cultures, and career paths, I realized that “respect” isn’t a universal currency. What earns it in one context, can undermine it in another. I used to associate asking questions with signaling uncertainty or weakness. What I’ve learned is almost the opposite: people tend to respect a leader more for asking thoughtful questions than for projecting omniscience.”

Next Page: Owen MBAs share their thoughts on networking, teamwork, off-campus opportunities, and more.

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