Nathaniel (Nate) Zimmerly

Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business

“There isn’t anything I wouldn’t try… twice.”

Hometown: Greenwood, Indiana

Fun Fact About Yourself: The first time I earned the title of Captain was on my college cheerleading squad.

Undergraduate School and Major: Bradley University, Bachelor of Science in Construction

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: U.S. Army, Brigade Assistant S3 (Operations Supervisor)

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: I had the opportunity to deploy to Liberia during the 2014 Ebola outbreak. This might sound a bit nerve-racking, but it was one of the most rewarding, defining professional periods of my life. I helped open two Ebola Treatment Centers in two, extremely remote locations deep within the jungles of the country. I lived and worked with the local population to open these two treatment centers. During this time, I learned firsthand about the struggles that the majority of the world’s population faces on a day to day basis. It was an extremely humbling experience and shaped much of my perspective of the world I hold today. In the future, I hope to return to these villages one day and contribute to their communities by making investments in their local industries and commerce.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? It’s hard to define the classmates I’ve met down to one quality but if I could, I’d say genuine. I spoke with A LOT of students from different programs before I decided to submit applications. My conversations for speaking to students followed an outlined, 30-minute format with questions specific to that program, according to the research I had conducted. My conversation with a Kelley student was entirely different. Spanning over two hours, at the preference of the student – I learned more about the program than any other conversation I had over my three years of MBA program research.

This was just my first taste of what I came to find with all the Kelley MBA students and eventual classmates that I would encounter. After I applied and accepted the offer from Kelley, I found it very easy to converse with my fellow classmates as they all seemed to hold this genuine characteristic. I have no doubt as my time in the program grows, I will continue to encounter this trait as it’s what drew me to the program from the start.

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? From my first visit to Kelley, I found the program uniquely invested in its students. From the program size to the highly-ranked career services, Kelley takes a holistic approach to ensure the success of its students. As I researched schools, I found myself reflecting on the same reasons I choose my undergraduate school: I wanted a small program where I wouldn’t get lost in the numbers and where I could develop close relationships with my classmates, professors, and the program staff – the Kelley program was just that. At around 200 students per class, Kelley is big enough to always meet new people but small enough to never go unnoticed.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? I am most interested in contributing to the Veteran’s Club, Energy Club, High Tech Club, Innovators Club, Systems & Operations Management Association, and (of course) the Beer Club. As I exit the military, I am looking forward to educating myself in as many industries as I can and I believe clubs are an excellent way to do that in a fun, social atmosphere.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? I came into the interview nervous as any MBA applicant. I’d prepared myself for as many questions as I could think of and entered the interview. When I sat down with a Kelley student, I found that by demonstrating I had a clear purpose and intent for pursuing an MBA, my responses came naturally. My interviewer asked me to describe what brought me to an MBA and why I decided to seek an MBA and if you can answer that question, clearly and concisely, you will be well prepared for a Kelley MBA interview.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? As a veteran, transitioning into the civilian world can be a daunting obstacle. Many of our soft skills give us a leg up in the civilian world, but only if you can translate these skills into a language that employers can understand. This is a challenge for any MBA student, but it’s an especially problematic challenge for veterans. Pursuing an MBA provides veterans with a space to refine and apply our skills into a civilian atmosphere in the most effective process.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? University of Texas, McCombs School of Business. I researched and visited Ross and Kellogg, both great schools, but when I got into the application process, I stuck with Kelley and McCombs to ensure I submitted quality applications over quantity.

How did you determine your fit at various schools? As many MBA students can attest, my search started with a spreadsheet and program rankings from Bloomberg Businessweek, U.S. News, and Poets & Quants. As I neared the end of my military service, I used a spreadsheet to prioritize programs based on fields such as location, ranking, size, and average starting salaries. As part of my research, I included notes about some of the non-tangible program aspects, which I used to ‘rack and stack’ programs over one another. By the end of my research, the amount of information and data I collected was rather intimidating.

As important as the research process was, I truly found a ‘fit’ for each program by visiting the campuses and interacting with students. These visits generated that ‘feel’ for a program that no spreadsheet can replicate. I’d strongly encourage anyone considering an MBA to not get too ‘caught up in the numbers’ when working through schools. The best way to determine a fit is to get on the phone with students and get on the campus. You’ll find out very quickly if the culture is a fit for you. Talk with as many students as your time allows and find students whose career goals are similar to your own. You’ll learn information not only specific to that school but information about industries that interest you and is transferrable between programs.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? Earning my commission as an active duty Engineer officer in U.S. Army. Being part of a smaller undergraduate program, I had the privilege to take my oath of office in front of my graduating class. Up until the moment, I had worked extremely hard to develop my active duty and engineer branch applications and, in that moment, I finally stepped into the shoes I’d worked so hard to earn. The two years up to that moment were full of lessons in maturity and integrity, a moment that ultimately led me to pursue an MBA. Part of my reasoning for joining the military was to ultimately pursue higher education and an MBA ultimately became that ideal degree. For veterans, an MBA is a great pathway to applying military leadership skills into civilian leadership roles. My career until now was defined by earning my commission and my pursuit of an MBA is a stepping stone towards greater accomplishments.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? In the next ten years, I hope to reach upper management, having achieved continuous high levels of performance and quality, and to continuous learning by obtaining credentials in PMP, Six Sigma & Knowledge To Go.  In my job, I will have reached positions of executive leadership, developing future leaders and pivoting my industry towards sustainability-centric practices.