Daniel Martinez

Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University

“Always having a positive outlook on any situation. The glass is half full not half empty.”

Hometown: Sacramento, CA

Fun fact about yourself: I have a titanium role in my femur.

Undergraduate School and Degree: University of California – Los Angeles

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Apple – Product Specialist

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? The Dow Chemical Company – Midland, MI

Where will you be working after graduation? Ask most of us know that the current job market is challenging for most. As we all navigate this challenge, we must stay resilient and know that it’s not our knowledge or abilities that is keeping us from finding something. Currently actively recruiting.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

MBA Association

MBA2 Palmer Center Liaison

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I’m most proud of serving as my class’s MBA Liaison to the Eli Broad Career Center. It’s a role where I get to advocate for my classmates by connecting them with the right resources and opportunities at the career center. One of the highlights was assisting first-year students who didn’t have internship placements yet and coaching them on networking skills and identifying opportunities. Being someone my peers trust for advice on offers, negotiations, and career pivots – and knowing that feedback I bring back actually shapes the programming – has been the most rewarding part of my MBA experience so far.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I’m most proud of building Ora Living from the ground up. Starting a DTC brand from nothing and figuring out everything operations, marketing, supplier relationships, P&L taught me more than any single role I’ve had. What I’m especially proud of is the results: we hit a 21% social engagement rate in a space where 3-6% is the norm and drove a 2.7% site conversion rate that nearly doubled the industry average. I also built out a supplier process that cut inventory costs by 8% without sacrificing margins. It was scrappy and it was a lot of learning by doing. In the end, it showed me I could take something from an idea to a real, functioning business.

Why did you choose this business school? I chose Michigan State because of its reputation as one of the top supply chain programs in the country. When I started exploring MBA programs, I knew supply chain management was where I wanted to focus, so I researched the schools that were strongest in that space — and Broad kept rising to the top. Beyond the rankings, the program offered the right mix of strategic management and HR alongside supply chain, which aligned with how I want to build my career. Being here has confirmed it was the right call.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Michigan State has a great facility and it’s hard to choose just one professor. However, one who always stands out to me as my favorite MBA professor has been Kevin Markle, who taught my accounting course. I’ll be the first to admit that accounting was one of the tougher subjects for me, but Professor Markle made it enjoyable. He took the time to break down complex concepts in a way that actually clicked, and he kept the class engaging and fun. Having a professor who genuinely cares about making sure students understand the material not just get through it made all the difference.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite MBA course has been Financial Reporting Strategy with Professor Kevin Markle. Like I mentioned, accounting didn’t come naturally to me, so the fact that this ended up being my favorite course says a lot about how well it was taught. Professor Markle has a way of making the material click by connecting accounting concepts to real business strategy, not just numbers on a page. It pushed me outside my comfort zone and gave me a new appreciation for how financial reporting drives decision-making.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? My favorite MBA tradition has been the Alumni Tailgate. It’s a great event because it brings current students and MBA alumni together in a relaxed setting where you can actually have real conversations. Networking can sometimes feel forced, but the tailgate makes it natural. You’re just talking with people who’ve been in your shoes and are genuinely willing to share advice and connections. It’s one of those events that reminds you the Broad community extends well beyond the classroom.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? If I could do one thing differently, I’d take even more advantage of the networking opportunities available to me. Broad has an incredible alumni network, and the alumni I have connected with have been genuinely willing to help whether it’s career advice, introductions, or just sharing their experience. I think early on I underestimated how open those doors were, and I wish I had started reaching out sooner and more often. It’s a reminder that the relationships you build during your MBA can be just as valuable as what you learn in the classroom.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? The most impactful case study for me was the Southwest Airlines case in my strategy class. What stood out was how intentional they were about building a low-cost operating model from using a single aircraft type to streamlining turnaround times and how every piece of their strategy reinforced the others. The biggest lesson I took away was that operational efficiency isn’t just about cutting costs; it’s about making deliberate, aligned choices across the entire business so that your model is hard to replicate. It changed how I think about strategy it’s not just about what you choose to do, but how everything works together as a system.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? Coming from Sacramento, moving to a small college town like East Lansing was a big shift. Honestly, it’s one of the things I’ve loved most about my MBA experience. There’s a sense of community and school spirit here that you just don’t get in a bigger city. Whether it’s game days or just running into classmates around town, everything feels connected. It reminded me that the environment you’re in matters just as much as the program itself, and East Lansing made the whole experience feel more personal.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Broad has been proactive about integrating AI into the curriculum and we currently have a dedicated class focused on AI that’s building our skills around prompting and practical application. What I’ve gained from it is a better understanding of how to use AI as a tool to work smarter, not just faster. Learning how to prompt effectively has shown me that the quality of what you get out of AI really depends on the quality of what you put in. It’s a skill set I see becoming essential no matter what function you’re in, and I’m glad the program is making it part of our development early on.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? The classmate I admire most is Aaron Rusch. He’s someone who consistently goes above-and-beyond whether it’s helping out with coursework or just being there when you need to talk through the ups-and-downs of recruiting. What I appreciate most is that he’s the kind of person who shows up for people without being asked. He’s been a great classmate, but more importantly, he’s become a great friend. Having people like Aaron in your corner makes the MBA experience that much better.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? The top two items on my professional bucket list are working abroad and achieving a strong work-life balance. My time studying abroad opened my eyes to how different cultures approach business, and I’d love the chance to live and work in another country at some point in my career.

Beyond that, I want to build a career that’s fulfilling without coming at the cost of everything else having the time and energy for the people and things that matter outside of work is just as important to me as any title or achievement. Both feel like markers of a career done right.

What made Daniel such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2026?

“I taught Daniel in the first term of his first year in the MBA program…when students consistently have that wind-blown look of overwhelm and excitement and are wondering what they have gotten themselves into. My task was to introduce them to the fundamentals of financial accounting and it can be something of a jolt to those that are coming back to the classroom after an extended stay in the real world. That was Daniel’s situation, and it usually breaks one of two ways for the student: fake it and survive, or embrace it and thrive. Daniel was solidly in the second camp, fully willing to be vulnerable about what he didn’t know and to bring to bear his extensive experience. He is the kind of student that helps all of the learning boats to rise by being dogged in his curiosity and pursuit of genuine understanding. It was a privilege to teach him and to see his immense positive impact on our program as a whole and I look forward to seeing the greatness that lies ahead for him.”

Kevin Merkle, PhD
Associate Professor and Deloitte/Michael Licata Fellow in Taxation
Director, PhD Program in Accounting
Broad College of Business, Michigan State University

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