Meet Emory Goizueta’s MBA Class Of 2020

Brendan Marschner     

Emory University, Goizueta Business School

I am a curious and tenacious person that loves learning and working with people.”

Hometown: Decatur/Huntsville, AL

Fun Fact About Yourself: In High School, I tied the state record for number of 3 pointers made in an Alabama Basketball State playoff game.

Undergraduate School and Major: Birmingham-Southern College, Economics

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group), Engagement Team Leader

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I was promoted to be the Team Leader of all New Business for GLG’s North American Financial Services division in late 2017. I was responsible for building a new client service framework for new clients and managed a team of 7 focused on onboarding and building client relationships with roughly 70 firms.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Collaborative. This summer, I reached out to two of my classmates to gauge their interest in working on a project on education innovation completely out of the blue. Not only did they get back to me immediately, but have become integral parts of the project. Keep in mind that this is a random project that takes significant time outside of their busy pre-MBA summers!

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The closeness of the school. Goizueta is a small school (~180 students per class) and the size allows people to get to know each other on a deep level. It was apparent that the administration, professors, and students all knew and cared about each other from the first moments I interacted with them. That made a huge impact on me.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Goizueta Consulting Association. But I am also excited for Case Competitions as well as the Center for Alternative Investments. GCA will be a great resource for consulting recruiting but I can’t wait to expand my horizons through many of the other activities and clubs that I don’t know a ton about yet.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? I really enjoyed my time at GLG, but felt it was time to develop other skills as I had hit somewhat of a ceiling (from a learning perspective). Business school offers a route to pursue those skills academically and is a great platform to launch me into my next career move.

How did you decide if an MBA was worth the investment? I think the argument for an MBA is very solid if you know what you are going to get out of it (or have a strong idea). There are a couple of tracks (consulting, I-Banking, Tech giants, etc) that have proven ROI. As soon as I figured out what I wanted to transition into, I simply backtracked on how to get there and the MBA was the best route. As far as cost analysis, it is a pretty simple math problem to figure out how long it will take for the investment to pay off if you know the benefits of the end goal.

There are also many benefits that are difficult to value such as expanding my network, exploring new academic interests, etc. that made the decision even easier.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? UT-McCombs, Duke Fuqua, Cornell Johnson, MIT Sloan, UVA Darden, Michigan Ross

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I focused on outcomes and job placement first, so I really studied the job reports (highly recommend!). Second, I tried to get a feel for the student-school cultures. Over time, it became apparent that a smaller, tight-knit school was very attractive so that further focused me. Obviously things such as prestige and geographic location also played a role as I didn’t really consider West Coast schools.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? One moment is difficult, but I would say my first year at GLG has strongly impacted my career aspirations and how I work with people. I was very lucky to have an incredible mentor and manager- the way she taught me to approach problems and opportunities has made me much more flexible in collaborating with others.

What do you plan to do after you graduate? Strategy Consulting- aiming for McKinsey, Bain, or BCG at the moment

Where do you see yourself in five years? I could see myself still in consulting and very much enjoying that line of work (specifically the problem solving aspect), but I have been drawn to Education Innovation for a long time and can definitely see myself transitioning into a role within that space.

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