Julia Connly

“A tech-savvy food, healthcare and sports enthusiast who always finds time to hit the trails”

Hometown: Saint Paul, MN

Fun Fact About Yourself: My dog Pete and I race in a sport called skijoring, where he pulls me on cross-country skis

Undergraduate School and Major: University of California, San Diego – Cognitive Science (specialized in Human Computer Interaction)

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee – Manager, Digital Products

What has been your favorite part of the Twin Cities so far? What has made it such a great place to earn an MBA?

The Twin Cities has so much to offer, from its world-class parks and trails to an incredible variety of restaurants, to a wide range of companies in many industries: healthcare, CPG, airlines, and more. To top this, the people that live here are incredibly kind and supportive. My classmates bring different backgrounds to the program and there is much to learn in the Twin Cities.

Carlson MBAs spend a year in hands-on Enterprise programs for Consulting, Branding, Ventures, and Funds. Which program do you intend to enroll in? What excites most about your Enterprise program?

I have enrolled in the Brand Enterprise because it provides an opportunity to learn about growth and revenue, two areas in which I am interested. This is a skill that can take organizations to a new level and bring their mission to a broader audience. My background is in digital product management, and I’m excited to build upon this and take the next step to understand a birds’-eye viewpoint in the Brands Enterprise.

Aside from your classmates, experiential learning, and location, what was the key part of the Carlson MBA programming that led you to choose this business school and why was it so important to you?

The Carlson MBA programming includes opportunities to attend events with local companies. This provides a window into the business landscape in the Twin Cities. I have gained valuable knowledge around the types of projects that are happening across many different industries, plus met many talented leaders, and feel that this will prepare me well for my future career.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far:

I am most proud of my keynote presentation at a Content Management System (CMS) conference last year in front of 500+ digital media and content experts. This was a big moment for me as I learned to construct a presentation that was engaging and truly told the story of more than two years of work I led for the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. It reminded me how to pause, reflect, understand what worked well, and then continue to build this way into the future. It ended up being a blast, and the Team USA content I was able to share made it extra fun!

Describe your biggest accomplishment as an MBA student so far:

My classmates elected me the first-year representative of academic affairs, and with this, I planned and helped run our town hall. I pulled from past experiences and ran analysis on student survey data to identify key themes for program growth. Next, I introduced a sticky note activity where students worked in groups to “spend” sticky notes on the themes that they believed were most important to address in the next year. This activity went well, and I enjoyed learning from our assistant and associate deans as well as the vice president of academic affairs in the process. I’m excited to bring the results to the next town hall and work with the team on actionable improvements.

What has been your best memory as an MBA so far?

As cliché as it sounds, my best memory as an MBA so far has been getting to know my classmates and spending time outside of the classroom at group dinners learning about their backgrounds and goals. It has been fantastic getting outside of my digital product scope and learning from nurses, future lawyers, healthcare specialists, sustainability experts, and more. I can’t wait to watch my classmates continue to learn and build their careers.

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