Not Your Typical MBA Story: Meet Students Turning The Road Less Travelled Into New Opportunities

For many professionals, the appeal of an online MBA is clear. It offers the flexibility to keep working full-time while building new skills. What’s less obvious is that flexibility doesn’t have to come at the expense of in-person connection, hands-on learning, or career support.

At the University of Washington Foster School of Business, the Hybrid MBA program combines the flexibility of online learning with in-person engagement. Students complete 95% of their coursework online and come to Seattle four times a year for short immersions that connect them to classmates, alumni, faculty, and industry.

For some students, the hybrid format is a perfect fit.

A Flexible MBA That Supports Career Transitions

Jeff Martino began the Foster Hybrid MBA while serving as a U.S. Navy supply officer, where he led logistics operations supporting aviation units and international missions. Based in San Diego with a demanding schedule, he needed flexibility—but still wanted the in-person connection that comes with an MBA experience.

Foster’s hybrid format made it possible. Classes met in the evening, and quarterly MBA immersions brought him to Seattle. He completed the program as he transitioned out of the Navy and into civilian life.

Foster’s MBA career coaching played a critical role in that transition. The career management team helped him translate his military experience for a civilian market and build a structured approach to exploring industries and building relationships.

“The Hybrid MBA program gave me the space to explore different paths while also building the relationships and perspective to move forward with confidence,” he said.

Over the course of the program, Martino evaluated multiple career options, including supply chain roles in large organizations, before choosing real estate. Today, he is based in Albany, New York, where he is a commercial real estate broker.

“If you’re thinking about what’s next after the military, I can’t recommend Foster’s Hybrid MBA enough,” Martino said. “It’s the perfect balance. You can be stationed anywhere in the U.S. and still be fully engaged.”

The Seattle Campus Immersion Experience

Emma Willoughby enrolled in Foster’s Hybrid MBA while working at National Geographic Expeditions in Washington, D.C. It was 2021, and the pandemic was causing massive disruptions to the global travel industry.

“I found myself in rooms where big decisions were being made, and I wanted to contribute at that level with more confidence,” she said. “The Foster Hybrid MBA gave me the language and perspective to do that.”

The program’s structure allowed her to keep working full-time, even as she relocated from the East Coast to the West Coast. The immersions on the University of Washington campus and networking in Seattle also played a defining role in shaping the experience.

“Being on campus and engaging directly with classmates and faculty deepened the learning,” Willoughby said. “It changed how we collaborated and how we challenged each other.”

Following the Hybrid MBA, Willoughby secured a leadership role at Rick Steves’ Europe. Now based in the Seattle area, she manages a large network of guides and oversees a core part of the company’s operations.

Applying MBA Coursework To Business In Real-Time

For current Hybrid MBA student Luke Grigg, the connection between coursework and real-world decisions is constant.

Based in Central Washington, Grigg is a fifth-generation onion farmer and documentary filmmaker. He manages both his family’s farm and a production company, balancing the demands of agriculture with the creative and operational challenges of filmmaking.

“Scaling the farm means taking care of the people who have worked with us for decades,” he said. “I want to make it better for them, not just bigger.”

That responsibility shapes how he approaches the Hybrid MBA, bringing business challenges into the Foster classroom during immersions.

“When something comes up, I can bring that directly into class,” he said. “You’re not working on hypothetical problems. You’re working through real ones that affect real people.”

Pivoting From Tech To Entrepreneurship

For Elijah Berry, Foster’s Hybrid MBA offered both the opportunity to advance at Amazon and the chance to pivot into entrepreneurship.

When he began the Hybrid MBA, Berry was working at Amazon Web Services in Seattle, supporting cloud solutions for large-scale enterprise customers. In that role, he was responsible for everything from managing complex sales pipelines to acting as a trusted advisor to clients.

To succeed, he had to learn quickly—and he began to see where he needed to grow.

“I had reached a point at Amazon where my peers had illustrious careers in technology and often had MBAs,” he said. “I chose the Foster Hybrid MBA because I needed to fill in the gaps in areas where I didn’t have that background.”

The program’s impact extended beyond coursework into his next step.

During the program, he was considering a bigger move: buying a business. The Hybrid MBA gave him the structure and support to move forward.

“It gave me the confidence to take what felt like a big step and approach it with a plan,” he said.

Berry built the financial, operational, and strategic foundation needed to evaluate and run a business. Then, he applied those concepts as he explored opportunities.

Today, he is the owner of Vashon Island Baking Company, where he oversees everything from financial performance and operations to staffing and long-term strategy. The bakery employs a sizable team and serves as a central gathering place in the community, where Berry is just as likely to be making coffee as he is reviewing financials.

The shift from Amazon to entrepreneurship is significant, but for Berry, it was a deliberate move, supported by the Hybrid MBA.

What The Hybrid Experience Adds

For anyone considering an online MBA, flexibility is often the starting point. What becomes clearer over time is the value of in-person connection.

For Elijah Berry, that meant choosing the Hybrid MBA.

“Getting to know my classmates was huge,” he said. “It made me feel like I am someone who graduated from the Foster School of Business, and not just did online coursework.”

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Explore how the Foster Hybrid MBA combines flexibility with in-person learning here.

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