The host discusses the ROI of an MBA degree and its value for career growth and learning. Topics include the relevance of an MBA education during COVID-19, challenges in upskilling, the significant difference in earnings potential with an MBA, alternative options to an MBA, and determining if an MBA is the right choice for individual goals and circumstances.

Mentorship is a critical element of success in the career journey of many leaders. So how can mentorship facilitate learning and transformation during business school so that an MBA student can achieve their unique goals? Founded over a decade ago, the Executive Connections Program at the ASU W.P Carey Business School was designed to provide MBA students with relationships, knowledge, and confidence personalized to their unique career goals In this episode, you’ll hear from Jenny Tang (Mentee)) Amy Hillman, (Professor, and Program Director) and Anna Thomasson (Mentor) as they dive into the Executive Connections program at the Arizona State University W.P Carey MBA Program, and how specifically it helps MBA students as they navigate through their MBA experience and beyond.Throughout the conversation, Amy, shared her perspective as the Program Director of how the program is designed to help a student navigate to achieve their goals, while Jenny (a former student) shared her own experience of her mentor relationship with Anna (an Executive in Residence) and how it helped Jenny throughout her time in business school and even now as an MBA graduate.Note: This episode was produced in collaboration with the ASU W. P. Carey MBA ProgramListen Today on Apple Podcasts or SpotifySpeakersAmy HillmanRusty Lyon Chair of Strategy, W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State UniversityJenny TangW.P. Carey MBA Graduate, 2018Anna ThomassonExecutive in ResidenceW. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State UniversityLinks:W. P. Carey Full-time MBA programW. P. Carey Executive Connections

Stephanie Movahhed is Business and Mindset Coach, and an MBA Graduate from the Michigan Ross School of Business. Prior to her time in business school, Stephanie spent time at Google before deciding to pursue an MBA to get formal business training. In her time post business school, Stephanie found ways to follow her interests and curiosities, even if it meant taking her down a path that she didn’t always expect. This has allowed her to create a life and career that she finds fulfillment and meaning in.During our conversation, Stephanie spoke about how after graduating business school, she was able to take advantage of following her interests and curiosities which led her to first working in consulting and tech startups, including spending time at LinkedIn during periods of high growth. Stephanie also spoke about how she found her interest in coaching, eventually decided to become a business and leadership coach, the power of investing in building relationships in school and how it's helped her in her career, and her advice and lessons for other professionals who are looking at an MBA to help them find opportunity and excitement in their career.Links:Stephanie’s Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/smovahhed/Website: https://www.stephaniemovahhed.com/

MBA students go to business school to achieve their career goals. But how does that actually happen? In this episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with Simone Bayfield and Joey Kimes about the MBA program at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Consistently ranked as a top MBA program in the United States, W. P. Carey offers MBA students the benefits of a community-driven MBA program with the scale and opportunities of the broader Arizona State University brand and network. During our conversation, Simone, a W. P. Carey MBA Graduate,  shared her journey to W. P.  Carey, and the steps she took to uncover her career aspirations in business school and how she was able to utilize her time and the resources at W. P. Carey to achieve her career goal to work in brand management.As the Executive Director of the Arizona State University WP Carey Career Development Center, Joey shared how he and his team of Career specialists support all students in a personalized and unique way, along with offering his own perspective of  his experience directly working with Simone in guiding and supporting her in her own journey through the MBA program at W. P. Carey. Speakers:Simone Bayfield W.P Carey Graduate, 2019 Joseph Kimes - Executive Director, W.P. Carey Career Services CenterLinks:W. P. Carey Full-time MBA programW. P. Carey Executive ConnectionsNote: This episode was produced in collaboration with the ASU W. P. Carey MBA Program

A common question that career driven professionals have is “how do I know if I am ready for an MBA?” In this episode, Al walks through how by taking stock and reflecting on where you are in your career, you can determine if an MBA could be the next step. Make sure to listen in to learnHow the workplace and careers are changing, and why an MBA could be valuableCommon reasons why MBA students choose to go to business schoolCommon scenarios for when you might be ready to pursue an MBA as the next step in your careerCriteria for how to evaluate if you are ready for an MBAA list of tactical actions to take if you want to know if you are ready for an MBA

In this episode, we explore the opportunities that come with MBA rotational programs. This episode features Jack Brynes (UNC Kenan-Flagler) Cindy Zheng (Wharton) and Adam Tomasiello (UNC-Kenan-Flagler) three MBA graduates who pursued MBA rotational programs after graduating from business school. During this episode, we’ll unpack what a rotational program is, some of the benefits of rotational programs, and hear from Jack, Cindy and Adam about how their experiences in rotational programs and how they are helping them grow in their respective careers.Links Jack Byrnes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jackbyrnes/Cindy Zheng: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cindy-b-zheng/Adam Tomasiello: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-tomasiello/ 

In this episode, Al shares four specific actions that all professionals can take in order to grow their career today.

Jess Stokes is an MBA Graduate from the Wharton School of Business. Prior to going to Wharton, Jess was a teacher, and decided to get an MBA to broaden her business knowledge and find opportunities to learn and grow. During our conversation, Jess spoke about her decision to attend business school and how she took a non-linear approach to learning, experimentation, and growth while an MBA student. Jess also shared how she was able to turn her interest in education into a career an EdTech, starting her podcast (Teach Me EdTech) and her advice for those thinking about pursuing an MBA degreeLinkshttps://edtechpodcast.buzzsprout.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jess-stokes/ https://www.jess-stokes.com/ 

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Kathy Oneto is a UC-Berkeley-Haas MBA Graduate, and the Principal Strategist at the Agency Oneto. She is also the host of the Sustainable Ambition Podcast. After starting her career in advertising, Kathy decided to pursue an MBA to continue learning and growing and finding other opportunities to explore new paths and explore more opportunities.During our conversation, Kathy spoke about how after graduating from business school she went from working in the consulting and CPG industries to eventually pivoting to a path in solopreneurship and entrepreneurship. Kathy also shared her thoughts around Sustainable Ambition a concept and movement that she built, why she came up with this concept and how she uses it in her work, as well as her own advice to MBAs about how they can use sustainable ambition to make meaningful and impactful career decisions throughout the entirety of their careerLinks:Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-oneto/Podcast: https://sustainableambition.com/