Marie T. Johnson

University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management

“I am an old soul with a curious mind who values relationships and preserves them.”

Hometown: Banjul, The Gambia

Fun fact about yourself: I have perfected my mango salsa recipe (dare I say, award-winning at the summer associate conference during my summer internship).

Undergraduate School and Degree: Undergrad: Meredith College, BSc. Business Administration & Fashion Design

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? Lenovo, Account Manager II (supporting Large K12 School Districts)

Where did you intern during the summer of 2025? Deloitte — Minneapolis, MN

Where will you be working after graduation? Deloitte, Senior Consultant

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School: Co-President of Carlson4Community (C4C is the largest MBA student organization); Vice President of Carlson Consulting Club; Principal of Carlson Consulting Enterprise; Frequent moderator for panels for prospective students

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? Being co-president of C4C is a huge honor and something I am very proud of doing. Each year, we pick a local non-profit in the Twin Cities to raise money for, and this is our way of living out how business can be a force for good. From organizing the board to donations outreach and community events, orchestrating C4C has been a rewarding experience, one that not only grew my passion for community engagement. At the same time, it is one that has given me tangible experience as well. This includes managing a budget, leading a diverse group of peers, and engaging with stakeholders very different from a traditional business setup.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Completing my MBA with a full-time role lined up, on a full scholarship, has been a proud achievement for me. For many, this might just be the next step in their career or lives in general, but for me this was more than both of those. Coming from a very small country, having moved to the U.S. by myself at 16 years old, this achievement is a testament to hard work paying off and unwavering support from my family, friends, and community.

Why did you choose this business school? Carlson’s Enterprise programs are so unique, and I do not know of any other schools offering a similar program. During my experience in the Carlson Consulting Enterprise (CCE), I led a team of student consultants to deliver work for C-suite executives for the large clients we served. Now, having the opportunity to do one more Enterprise semester with our Funds Enterprise — the second-largest Student-Managed Investment Fund (SMIF) in the country — I am stretching a whole new set of muscles as I learn about capital markets and make investment recommendations based on the work we are doing as student analysts.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? This is a tough one. I have had many professors who have had a positive impact on my Carlson experience, but one that keeps coming to mind is Professor Jeffrey Kaufmann. From asking me to speak up on the first day of class to now being his teaching assistant, Professor Kaufmann has taught and challenged me, along with being an advocate for me in rooms I otherwise would not be in.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? My favorite class was Power of Story. While this is not your typical business course, storytelling is an art form that transcends so much. Storytelling has been such a huge part of my upbringing, from hearing griots (oral historians) growing up to now. Learning how to incorporate storytelling as a more mainstream business activity from one of the best storytellers (Professor Vlad Griskevicius) was so impactful. This class was taught from a traditional storytelling perspective, and applying that to business has been a passion of mine, especially in explaining complex topics in simple and accessible terms.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? C4C hosts an annual charity auction gala, and this is by far one of my favorite events. This event, primarily meant to raise money for our non-profit partner, has become an event not only for the MBA students, but for our community as well. The support we get from staff, faculty, alumni — who now use the event as an opportunity for reunions — truly shows how giving back is embedded in the DNA of our program and more broadly at Carlson.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Like many MBA students, we fill all our time with classes, extracurricular activities, coffee chats, and more. All of these are so important in landing the job — the reason for the MBA. However, I wish I had taken the time to slow down more and enjoy the journey of my MBA program a little bit more. There is much to enjoy about the journey as well when we take time to look around and engage more intentionally with those walking a similar journey as us. This is something I have been channeling more in my last semester of grad school.

What was the most impactful case study you had in business school and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it? While not a traditional case study, I worked on a supply chain case study competition in February of my first MBA year, and the experience was nothing short of amazing and unusual in the best way possible. This was a 24-hour case, where we had to present on the case a few hours after submission. For the competition, we had to complete a quick in-depth learning of the supply chain for a mega event (the upcoming FIFA World Cup) and use tools I have never used before (ArcGIS & more).

During the 24-hour competition, there were both technical and soft skills challenges we had to overcome as a team. From the technical side, we learned about tools, developed frameworks for analysis, and built forecasting tools in such a short period. We couldn’t have gotten there and placed on the podium (third place in our first year at this case competition), without the tension and struggles we faced as a team. From wanting to quit to disagreeing on approach and workstreams, we had to work past many differences, primarily through open dialogue to make it through this case study. It was a journey, but this journey made for a great story, presentation, and lifelong friends.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? The food. When one thinks of Minnesota, quite frankly, I thought the food scene would be mediocre when I moved here, but it has been anything but that. Multiple award-winning restaurants of various cuisines, different budget options, and experiences have been pleasantly surprising. The best part is, you never know who you’ll bump into. I have met so many friends and alumni out-and- about in the city, and that has been a sweet addition to the already great food scene.

What business leader do you admire most? I would have to say my mother, Monica Johnson. She would not see herself as a “business leader,” however, I believe her to be a fine one. She has run a successful catering and real estate business (very small) for more than 20 years without any formal training, and she does it with unimaginable grace and kindness. I come from a very small town in The Gambia. As such, this means varied across families, but weddings, birthdays, and celebrations were plentiful. My mother catered cakes for so many events and made them for free more times than I can count, but still managed to remain afloat. When making the cakes for free, she did it in such a way that protects the dignity of the recipient — no one needed to know.

She has truly been a force to be reckoned with, a matriarch not only of our family but the whole community. She will go without if it means uplifting the community. She will let tenants miss a month if things are tight and so much more — all of which has gained her deep loyalty from the people, and these people have time-and-time again been our customers. Loyalty is not talked about enough for small businesses and it is a strong reason why many small businesses continue to thrive, even in challenging situations. A business leader’s ability to build this loyalty is so important, and my mother did it so well. Sure, it is not a sophisticated business model or one that makes heaps of money, but it is one that is enough to get by, one that preserves dignity, and one that transforms a community.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? AI is here to stay and, as such, Carlson is leading the charge here. We have a variety of classes that introduce us to AI and AI tools, and ones that are a little more technical, such as looking at AI infrastructure. AI is definitely here to stay. I believe, as a business professional, there is a right way to use and interact with AI. For me, going into consulting, my primary thoughts revolve around how I can better use AI as my thought partner to do menial tasks, so I can focus more time on doing impactful work for my clients.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Audrey Kiefer. Audrey is a quiet force of leadership and something that I admire for her deep sense of community. When one of our classmates was detained by ICE, as an immigrant, it was a concerning time for me. As we figured out what was going on, Audrey shone brighter than I could have imagined. She stepped up coordinating material, setting up groups to visit our colleague and be there for court trials, giving regular updates, and so much more. As someone who was considering options to leave the country due to the hostility immigrants were facing, Audrey’s dedication and support for our colleague was a refreshing reminder of the support and appreciation that our community embodies.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list? I would like to make Manager at Deloitte (I want to take my career one step at a time rather than planning many years ahead, as I have been accustomed to). In addition, I want to revamp my family’s small business at home in The Gambia, not only for growth, but as an opportunity to invest in the youths in our community.

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

“Marie Johnson is one of those rare people who makes everyone around her better without anyone quite realizing how she did it. In her role at the Carlson Consulting Enterprise — first as a Team Lead, then returning as a Student Principal to guide other teams through the same crucible — she demonstrated a level of team development sophistication that I’d expect from a seasoned executive, not a second-year MBA. She doesn’t just coach individuals or cheerfully run team-building exercises. She reads a team — the dynamics, the gaps, the friction points — and then quietly, patiently reshapes what she has into the highest-performing engine possible. She does it through observation, astute insight, and canny maneuvering. Most of the time, her teammates don’t even know it’s happening.

Out in the consulting world, a cartoon is circulating that perfectly describes the team lead job: a duck floating serenely on a placid lake, paddling furiously underneath the surface. That’s Marie. She sees the problem clearly, understands its magnitude, and isn’t afraid to confront what isn’t working — but she does it with an unshakeable calm that brings order to even the most difficult situations. Leading a team of your own classmates — as CCE asks MBAs to do — is a structural challenge that trips up many talented people. Hierarchy is ambiguous, egos are significant, and the stakes feel very real. Marie navigated that minefield with a grace and effectiveness that stood out immediately.

What distinguishes Marie most, though, is her persistent investment in others. She refuses to write anyone off. She sees her teammates clearly — what they’re capable of, and what they aren’t — and she keeps modifying her approach until she finds the lever that helps them deliver at the edge of their abilities. Even when it would be faster and easier to just do it herself. That’s the kind of leadership that builds capacity in others rather than just producing output. Marie Johnson is exactly the kind of leader who will make organizations better long after she’s left them.”

Marja Fox
Associate Director of Carlson Consulting Enterprise

 

“Marie Johnson is simply a force of nature who not only represents the best of the Carlson School of Management and the University of Minnesota but also what it means to be an MBA.  She is extremely intelligent, thoughtful, poised, and a gifted leader. After finishing at or near the top of three of my classes and being the clear choice of my previous TA’s, Marie became my TA for her second year in the program. She has excelled in this challenging role that involves being a role model for the first-year students in how to be a student, professional, colleague, and person. Her explanations of complicated concepts are clear and accessible, her feedback on assignments is detailed, and she managed to sit down with a significant portion of the new students for one-on-one conversations about how to succeed in the program.

Marie’s impact spreads throughout the program. As a leader in the Carlson Consulting Club, she put in numerous hours teaching others how to do a case interview. An effort that led to multiple consulting offers. Marie co-chaired the annual charity gala, which was another success with a raised total near the record (still counting).  As part of Carlson Consulting Enterprises, she has served as both team lead and is currently in a project advisor role as a Principal. In short, Marie is that rare combination of an exceptional IQ, a more impressive EQ, and character. Marie is exactly the type of person who makes Carlson and the University of Minnesota proud.”

Jeffrey Kaufmann
Senior Lecturer

 

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