Hometown: Lake Forest, CA
College: University of Southern California; Business-Operations
Pre-Business School: Operations Manager at Kingston Technology
Post-Anderson: Ruling the world! OK maybe I dream too big. After June 2014, I hope to continue working my way towards a general management role. I've had exposure to many aspects of business and would like to work in a position where I can be involved with various groups of an organization. I'm still at Kingston (in a business management role now) and feel that there's a lot of room for me to grow here so I'm looking forward to the opportunities ahead!
Aside from work, I'm looking forward to spending more time with friends, family, my wife, and my daughter. It's amazing how fast my daughter is growing up, so I want to experience all of her life's events and be the best dad I can.
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PRE-ANDERSON
Childhood dream job: Cleanup Hitter for the Dodgers. After seeing Kirk Gibson hit the game winning homerun in game 1 of the 1988 World Series, I knew I wanted to be a professional baseball player. Unfortunately that didn't work out so I became a FEMBA!
Why business school? Ten years into my time at Kingston Technology, I asked myself, "what more can I do for my career?" I learned a great deal from David Sun (Co-Founder) and my colleagues at Kingston but realized that I needed that extra edge to reach the next stage of my career. I figured that spending three years with 280 other twenty/thirty-something year old mid-career professionals in business school would be the perfect solution.
I chose the Fully Employed MBA (FEMBA) program because I wanted to apply the things I learned in school to real business situations in real-time. Also, I felt that I still had a lot to accomplish at Kingston and enrolling in the FEMBA program would allow me to do so.
Why Anderson? The vast alumni network was a key factor in my decision to attend Anderson. Prior to starting my first fall quarter, I attended an alumni lunch in Orange County hosted by networking guru Ken Tudhope (MBA '91) where I met fellow Andersonites from all walks of life. It was amazing to see how much the Anderson network impacted both their professional and personal lives. The connections made during their short time at Anderson lasted well beyond their school years in the form of lifelong friendships and business relationships. After spending two and a half years at Anderson, I've experienced the beginnings for these types of lifelong relationships.
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ANDERSON
Anderson Activities & Leadership: President of the Strategic Operations Management Association (SOMA) 2012 - 2014, Vice President of External Affairs - FEMBA Council 2012 – 2013
Favorite class and why? Global Macroeconomics (MGMT406) with Sebastian Edwards. Few people get the opportunity to discuss world economic issues with a former Chief Economist from the World Bank. This class gave my classmates and me that opportunity every Saturday morning for ten weeks last spring quarter. Professor Edwards was able to make the course even more enjoyable by finding ways to relate subjects such as monetary policy to things us students can relate to such as Chilean wine. In the end, I walked away with a strong understanding for the way our world's economies work and how economic policies can impact business.
Applied Management Research Project: I completed the FEMBA equivalent to AMR (GAP - Global Access Program) in December 2013. My team and I had privilege of working with an Italian digital marketing firm to explore an international expansion plan. Along the way, our team had the opportunity to learn an industry that none of us were familiar with and talk to over 120 digital marketing experts, including a handful of Anderson alums. As part of the program, Mohammed Hashmani and I had the privilege of traveling to Italy to visit our company and engulf ourselves into their culture. In addition, we found the time to meet with a few other GAP groups in Monza to watch an F1 race. After conducting 220+ hours of primary research including trips to New York and Milan, our team completed an investment grade business plan and presented to a panel of expert judges.
Favorite Anderson Event: Beijing March 2013 - Last spring's Beijing course provided me and 50 classmates with an opportunity to see China in a way that we've never seen it before. Being able to talk with leaders at companies such as Air China, Sina Weibo, and Sony China gave our class different perspectives of doing business in China. Also, the level of access we were given to these companies as representatives of UCLA Anderson was an added perk! In addition, international electives are a great way to network with classmates from other years and programs (EMBA, FT MBA) in a non-classroom setting.
Best Anderson memory so far? The five months I spent as a consultant with my dear friends Anthony Chan, Dr. Jeremy Watson, Manuel Ambriz, and Mohammed Hashmani during the Global Access Program aka GAP. Despite the long hours and stressful times, I wouldn't trade the GAP experience for anything.
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RECRUITING
Hardest interview question you've been asked? What is your favorite song to sing at karaoke? Why?
Parting Advice: Business school is hard enough as is. Adding work and family life into the mix makes things unbearable at times. Luckily I had the support of my wife, Nancy, throughout the whole process. Just want to say thanks to her for being strong (and understanding) during the past three years!
-Sandra Nguyen, Communications Manager, Parker Career Management Center
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