Mark Coles

When students join the Evening MBA program at Goizueta, there is a common understanding that work and life will need to find balance. As someone who is currently serving as a captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, Mark Coles understood that balancing act coming into Goizueta. “You have to manage your career, personal life, school, and for those of us who are in the reserve, you're always wanting to find balance.” 

After serving in the military for more than 14 years, Mark is now a civil affairs team chief in the Reserve managing a small team of highly specialized soldiers. His military and leadership experience complemented the MBA program in many ways. “As a Reservist, I'm leveraging what I'm learning here almost daily,” Mark says. “It's nice to see that what we're doing in the military professionally is very similar to what we're doing in the academic world, and there's a very high caliber professor and very good content being taught on both sides.” 

One of the deciding factors for Mark coming to Goizueta was the large support the school offered to veterans, including the Yellow Ribbon Program, a scholarship opportunity for eligible students. “The community builds around the military here, so as a potential student, I came to a Goizueta veterans’ event,” Mark says. “I met a lot of the students who are currently in the Full-Time and Evening programs, and some of those guys and girls are good friends of mine now, and they made me feel immediately at home. There's a huge level of support both financially and community based for veterans.” 

Along with his military background, Mark comes from the world of accounting with a specialization in tax. With the help of business school, Mark hopes to expand upon his business knowledge and skills by learning more about negotiations, management, marketing and more to enhance his consulting experience with his clients. “In the role I'm doing now as a consultant, I'm now able to provide that knowledge base to my clients, whereas just a year ago, the only thing I could have consulted on is tax and accounting,” he says. “Now I can help my clients on growth strategy and marketing projects.” 

Mark has enjoyed capitalizing on his experiences and his skillsets to better his work and school environments, something he hopes to continue in the future. “What we're learning in the Evening program is very valuable to take back to the workplace almost immediately,” he says. “It's not necessarily a big divide between academia and the practical business world. You're able to do both, and they’re really intertwined very well.”