Biography
“I was sold,” says Christopher, describing his feelings about the Goizueta MBA after participating in the school’s Super Saturday event. Already impressed with the school’s top-20 ranking, its strong marketing analytics program, and its location in business-friendly Atlanta, Christopher received further reinforcement during the day’s activities.
He had lunch with a marketing professor whose course since has become his favorite elective. Throughout that meal, says Christopher, “He explained in depth the growth happening in the marketing department and how my interests would align with that growth and with developments in the city of Atlanta.” As if that weren’t enough, Christopher continues, “I was greeted by extremely kind current students and got to see a live, case-based class in action.”
Having been accepted, Christopher’s first order of business was the Summer Experience, which gets students accustomed to working in diverse teams and tackling complex problems in a concentrated period of time. Come fall, students who have excelled in particular classes can serve as TAs for core courses. “To maximize the experience,” says Christopher, “students should be willing to absorb as much as possible and be open to broad perspectives that will help you succeed and grow as a leader.”
There’s more on that favorite elective, Product and Brand Management. For Christopher, it has been invigorating because “it really marries the science, theory, and creative means to develop effective marketing campaigns and market successful products.” He also has high praise for his IMPACT classes, which emphasize experiential and case-based learning, and are designed to build the bridge from theory to practice. According to Christopher, “IMPACT classes strengthened my ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity in high-pressure situations.”
Having worked as an IT consultant for Deloitte Consulting in the New York City area for six years, Christopher confesses that he at first wondered if Atlanta could hold a candle to the Big Apple. He was pleasantly surprised by the diversity and vibrancy of the city. Atlanta Tech Village is just one example of what he considers to be “the city’s thriving entrepreneurial landscape.” He also has noted the Career Center’s success at building out technology relationships with smaller tech firms in the area as well as giants such as Amazon.
As he nears the end of his time in the program, Christopher has accepted a position as product manager with the technology company Workday out in the Bay Area. What he has taken from this whirlwind year is considerable. As he describes it, “Goizueta has helped me maintain strong ethical values, equipped me to be a strategic leader, enabled me to be a self-starter who approaches problems creatively, and given me the tools to impact both business and society positively.”