Texas McCombs MBA Insider

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Student Spotlight:
Jennifer Boone, MBA at
Dallas/Fort Worth Class of 2021

March 11, 2021 / Divina Ceniceros Dominguez / Comments Off

Jennifer Boone, Texas McCombs MBA Class of 2021

Jennifer Boone has dedicated her life to changing the world. She works for Brighter Bites, a nonprofit that provides healthy meals to underprivileged students in cities across the country. Through her Texas McCombs MBA degree, she’s learning leadership skills to better serve those communities — one meal at a time.

New Beginnings

After graduating from Texas A&M University with an Ecosystem Management undergraduate degree, Jennifer pursued a career focused on agriculture, the environment, and their intersection within society.

In 2013, Jennifer was appointed lead Agriculture and National Resource Policy Intern for Congressman Pete Sessions, TX 32, with the U.S. House of Representatives. Afterward, she stayed with environmental work at Oncor Electric Delivery in their waste management department where she got a better understanding of the issues of waste in both natural and business ecosystems.

In 2017, Jennifer moved to the produce industry and became a Regional Sustainability Coordinator for PRO*ACT where she implemented “Greener Fields Together,” a program with the mission of cultivating a transparent seed-to-fork supply chain of responsibly-sourced produce in 13 states with 10 wholesale produce purveyors.

She is now working at Brighter Bites – a nonprofit organization that provides healthy meals, fresh produce, and nutrition information to low-income elementary school students and their families in cities in the U.S. She was recently promoted to Director of Sourcing where she directs all of the organization’s procurement and supply chain activities.

Jennifer’s background in agriculture has provided her with valuable skills in her new role and industry, but her passion to learn new things hasn’t ceased. She says getting her MBA gives her the tools she needs to do her job better.

“Understanding the business levers to pull and being able to apply the concepts I learn in class to the fresh food and produce world has allowed me to more effectively solve problems, develop higher-level strategies for future growth, and move more food to people who need it. “

Why McCombs

Jennifer’s interest in McCombs started when she was introduced to the power of the alumni network at Texas A&M. When determining what would be the best business school for her, she was surprised to experience firsthand that the “McCombs network is even stronger than the Aggie network.”

“I chose McCombs for a lot of reasons: the rankings, the faculty, the students I met at the open houses, the weekend format. But the number one reason I chose McCombs was so that I could join the world-class network of alumni doing amazing things across the world.”

Photo of Jennifer Boone in a balcony in front of the UT tower. She has shoulder length blonde hair and is wearing a black shirt with a grey blazer.

Jennifer Boone at the McCombs School of Business, Rowling Hall, in front of the UT Tower.

With her May graduation date quickly approaching, Jennifer’s workload hasn’t slowed down — especially with the transition to Zoom classes. She says that figuring out how to juggle a heavier professional workload while still handling rigorous MBA coursework has been a challenge.

“Learning to navigate the combination of these things while still setting aside some time to be with my family is a great exercise in time management and prioritizing — valuable skills that will serve me well in future leadership roles.”

Jennifer Boone (center) surrounded by classmates. They're all in front of a business named "Stoneleigh"

Jennifer Boone (left center) with her by classmates and the Sr. Assistant Dean and Director of Working Professional & Executive MBA Programs, Joe Stephens (bottom left)

McCombs has also strengthened Jennifer’s leadership skills. Outside of her schoolwork, Jennifer is the Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion for the Graduate Business Council (GBC) and an officer with the Graduate Women in Business (GWiB).

“I’m learning a lot about leading people in the classroom (thank you Dr. Harrison!) and being involved in these groups allows me to put those lessons into real-world practice, guide how our class engages with the program, and shape the program for future years.”

The Road Ahead

Jennifer Boone is wearing a red Brighter Bites T-shirt and black pants. She's holding up two bags full of produce from Brighter Bites.

Jennifer Boone with bags of produce from Brighter Bites.

Jennifer’s role at Brighter Bites allows her to lead procurement efforts across all of their partner cities and work with their farmers, freight companies, and food banks to ensure they get healthy, good quality products for consumers.

“Healthy food is a right, but fresh food is not available to everyone equally. Even if it is available, the lack of education around what to do with fresh produce can keep people from incorporating it into their diets.”

Because of the pandemic, Jennifer says that food insecurity has disproportionately impacted Black, Hispanic, and Indigenous people — making her job all the more urgent.

“It has been critical for me and my organization to focus on how we can get more fresh food to these communities specifically. Our operating model had to pivot to safely continue reaching families in need of food, and my procurement strategy had to adapt with the quickly changing food system.”

Jennifer Boone holding a box with produce from Brighter Bites

Jennifer Boone surrounded by boxes full of produce from her work at Brighter Bites.

Since the second week of May 2020, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jennifer and her team at Brighter Bites have almost quadrupled their reach: They’re now serving 50,000 families each week with fresh produce and nutrition education across all six of their partner cities and have distributed over two million pounds of fruits and vegetables.

Jennifer’s not new to problem-solving. In addition to her job as Director of Sourcing, she recently designed and found funding for a project at Brighter Bites that works with growers to fight food insecurity by redirecting food waste. This grant would allow her to rescue half a million pounds of produce over the course of two-and-a-half months. After a month into the project, Jennifer had already rescued more than 215,000 pounds of cabbage, romaine, green leaf, kale, and broccoli from farms in California! In the final leg of the project, Jennifer hopes to move some of those greens into the Navajo Nation, which has also been severely affected by the pandemic.

“It’s definitely something I’m very proud of, as it’s a pilot program that would allow a more sustainable flow of produce and would unlock a whole side of the produce supply chain that is not currently accessible through straight donations. Supporting our farmers is incredibly important for the continued health of our domestic and global food system.”

Her role in the senior leadership for Brighter Bites is more involved than before. “Guiding strategic decisions about empowering families with good nutrition and how we can build a robust, resilient supply chain has been the highlight of my career,” she says.

“My MBA has given me new problem solving skills, equipped me with more analytical chops and has given me the ability to contribute more meaningfully in my role. More importantly, I know my MBA from McCombs will help me lead with impact for the rest of my career.”

Visit Texas McCombs MBA to find out more about all our programs, events, and community, or take a peek into student life on Instagram.

Hook ’em!

Celebrating Lunar New Year 2021

February 12, 2021 marks the first new moon of the year and the start of the Lunar New Year. The holiday is celebrated by many communities in Asia and around the world to welcome the spring season and is a time for families to reunite and honor ancestors.

In China, it is commonly known as Chinese New Year, or chunjie (春节) meaning “Spring Festival.” The festival is the longest holiday of the year beginning on the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ending on the first full moon. We talked to a few of our current MBA students from the McCombs China Business Association to learn how they celebrate the new year.

“First, Chinese New Year is for family,” says MBA student Sujian Luo. “We get together with parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters and relatives. And through this, we maintain and even create deeper bonds with each other. In the past year, we received help from people at work, in life, or somewhere else. This is the time to express sincere appreciation to them. Last but not least, it’s a time for every individual to take a pause, reflect, and prepare for a new sail.”

Sujian Luo
Texas McCombs MBA ’21

Sujian Luo was born and grew up in Sichuan Province in the southwest part of China. He remembers playing with fireworks when was younger during celebrations.

He learned about McCombs from his girlfriend who graduated from the program in 2019. He is currently the Case Competition VP of Operations Fellows and a member of the McCombs Ambassador Committee (MAC), China Business Association, and the Tech Club.

“Geographically, Sichuan’s location is similar to that of Texas in the United States. My hometown is a small city called Mianzhu. It has a long history and it can be dated back to the time of Three Kingdoms, more than 1000 years ago. My family has been living in Mianzhu since my great grandparents.

When I was young, the most impressive activity was playing fireworks with friends. These fireworks are not the same as those for shows and displays, they are fireworks played by hands. We used them to create different patterns in the dark.”

Traditions and Customs

Chinese New Year traditions include putting up red and gold decorations, eating reunion dinner with family on New Year’s Eve, popping firecrackers and fireworks, and giving red envelopes.

“The Chinese New Year traditions and procedures all have significant meaning, from the New Year’s greetings we share with each other to the food we eat, and I am proud that these festivities are still very much a part of my life,” says Nicole Fung. “For the most part a lot of what we take part in helps to bring prosperity, luck, and longevity for the upcoming year.”

Nicole Fung
Texas McCombs MBA ’22

Nicole Fung was born and raised in Hong Kong. Her father was born in Shanghai, and her mother was born in Hong Kong. Her ancestors are from the Guangdong province which lives along the Pearl River Delta.

Nicole chose McCombs because of her interest in tech, the growing city, and the McCombs network.

“When I was younger I celebrated New Year’s Eve with my family for our annual “reunion dinner”, typically feasting for hours over a nice hearty home cooked Chinese meal together. Then we would spend New Year’s Day visiting my parents’ elder siblings and grandparents’ home to wish them happy new year, a Chinese tradition called “bai nian”.

A picture of Nicole Fung and her family.

Nicole’s family

“My mother loves decorating our home with Chinese New Year flora (lucky bamboo, orchids, narcissus), Chinese couplets written in beautiful calligraphy, and kumquats,” says Nicole. “Every year our living room always has a CNY candy box that is filled with sweets, Chinese seeds and nuts to signify togetherness.”

During the New Year celebration, Nicole prepares dumplings.

“I would love to disclose my recipe for homemade dumplings, but honestly I always go with the flow and my gut. Definitely get pre-made dumpling skins to save a lot of prep time! Traditional fillings include ground pork and cabbage, and tofu, carrot, mushroom, and cabbage for a vegetarian option. For the filling’s marinade I use plenty of soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, and a little Chinese vinegar.”

Fay Sheng
Texas McCombs MBA ’21

Fay Sheng grew up in a mid-sized city in East China where her parents were born. She celebrates with her family by eating fish on the eve of Chinese New Year and saving part of it. After dinner, they watch China Central Television’s Spring Festival Gala.

Fay chose McCombs for the culture and growing city. She is also a member of Texas McCombs Labs.

“The reason [we eat fish on Chinese New Year] is that in Chinese, fish sounds like “surplus” and we always like to have a surplus at the end of the year,” she says. “And if we manage to save something at the end of this year, then we can make more in the next year.”

“Chinese New Year is a time for families to reunite and for people to celebrate and appreciate the achievement in the past one year and also look forward into the coming year.”

Fay’s niece writing couplets.

In preparation for the celebration, she would get a haircut, clean the house, shop for new clothes, and hang up traditional red decorations such as Fu, couplets, and paper-cut art.

“When we hang up Fu, we sometimes hang it upside down because “upside-down Fú” sounds nearly identical to the phrase ‘Good luck arrives.'”

The Year of the Ox

This is the Year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac calendar. Nicole shares the story behind how the 12 animals in the zodiac came to be.

“The zodiac is a core part of Chinese New Year,” says Nicole. “There are a total of twelve animals in the zodiac and each New Year celebrates an animal from the roster. 2021 is the Year of the Ox. The fable behind the zodiac is the Jade Emperor, a Chinese deity, wanted twelve animals to serve has his guards. The animals on earth were asked to race to the Heavenly Gates to win their place beside the emperor. Met with a river with a swift current, the Rat had trouble crossing and jumped on the ox’s back for a safe ride. The Rat was cunning and jumped off the ox at the last moment to reach the Jade Emperor and won the race, consequently the ox placed second. The ordering of the zodiac is as follows according to their place in the race: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and finally the pig.”

Sujian says the Ox is important in ancient Chinese agricultural society.

“It’s a symbol of wealth. And in modern society, Chinese people often use Ox as an adjective, for example, if a student gets 100/100 points in a difficult example, we’ll say: ”you’re so Ox(你真牛)”—like, you are so great.”

Visit Texas McCombs MBA to find out more about all our programs, events, and community, or take a peek into student life on Instagram. Hook ’em!

Tower lit up in orange with number 1 on it with text reading "national case competition win"

Texas McCombs Wins National Black MBA Association Case Competition

February 10, 2021 / Divina Ceniceros Dominguez / Comments Off

Every year MBA students have the opportunity to participate in case competitions and challenges. Student teams are given a business problem to analyze, and they present their recommendations to a panel of experts who offer industry-specific feedback and select winners.

The 2020-2021 case competition season kicked off in September 2020 when Texas McCombs MBA students Christopher Williams, Sean Stallings, Tyrone Smith, and Ingrid Zagzebski competed in the annual National Black MBA Association (NBMBAA) Graduate Case Competition and took home the first place prize.

The Team

Christopher Williams, MBA ’21

Sean Stallings, MBA ’21

Tyrone Smith, MBA ’21

Ingrid Zagzebski, MBA ’22

McCombs teams have had strong showings at the NBMBAA competition in the past, but this was the first time the Texas McCombs MBA team won first place.

In 2019, Christopher Williams and Sean Stallings competed with another MBA team. They persevered to come back this year and win it all. Chris is a former transportation engineer, and Sean was a tech consultant, so they formed a strong foundation and were looking for a well-rounded team. They recruited Tyrone Smith, who had experience in automotive sales, and Ingrid Zagzebski, who had worked in marketing, to join their team.

We felt like we could do better a second time around and decided to compete this year. We recruited two other team members — Tyrone, another second year student, and Ingrid, a first year student. They brought energy, creativity and a wealth of automotive and marketing experience to the team.

— Christopher Williams, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

It was the perfect blend of talent: sales, marketing, tech, consulting and engineering!

— Tyrone Smith, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

The Competition

For over 25 years, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has partnered with the National Black MBA Association to provide a challenging case for students from top business schools to compete for $50,000 in cash prizes and employment opportunities. The competition challenges MBA teams to dissect complex, real-world business problems, come up with a thorough solution and present their findings to a panel of Fortune 500 executives.

The McCombs MBA team, along with over 30 other teams from universities around the country, were faced with the need to problem-solve innovative digital retailing solutions and car delivery options. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 competition was hosted virtually, which added another challenge for students.

What was the key to the McCombs team’s success? Sean thinks it was their team’s diversity and experience.

I think our diverse backgrounds were a strong differentiator for the judges.

A big reason McCombs did so well that was Chris and I competed last year. Having made some mistakes, we internalized a lot of the judge’s feedback. We also learned from other top-tier MBA school presentations, and felt we could outdo them. It didn’t hurt to have completed coursework in Corporate Strategy, Tech Strategy and Operations — those frameworks definitely set us apart from other first year heavy teams.

— Sean Stallings, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

Even with having a strong team and prior case competition experience, the group had to overcome a set of challenges. For one, there was the issue of time management: How can four Full-Time MBA students juggle their coursework, extracurriculars, and personal life on top of this competition? Tyrone, who is also a professional Olympic athlete, was still training and competing while the team was in the beginning weeks of planning and strategizing. Because of that, he correlates his team’s overall success to their synergy in those crucial early stages.

It feels absolutely incredible to be a part of this team. We worked our butts off with all of us having exceptionally full plates. We started meeting before school started and myself, being a professional Olympic athlete, I was still training and competing during the first few weeks. This team covered for one another excellently and we pulled together in perfect harmony

— Tyrone Smith, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

A First Place Victory

The team worked hard and made sacrifices. Their efforts paid off abundantly — in addition to new employment and networking opportunities, the team was awarded a $25,000 scholarship. Here’s how they felt when they got the news:

I literally screamed when we won although, if I’m being completely honest, I very much expected us to win. Chris and Sean competed last year and had a solid idea of the quality of presentation they would take. I was confident that knowledge — combined with the insider info, recommendations and our expertise in tech —would be difficult to beat.

For me, as far as new doors, the finalists were all invited to speak with McKinsey&Co., and I had an excellent one-on-one info session with them. I was encouraged to apply and they genuinely seem interested in my experience and story, something they would not have been exposed to without the competition.

— Tyrone Smith, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

I felt AMAZING. Our team put in a lot of effort to prepare for the case and bring data-backed, well researched and feasible recommendations to address the case challenge.

The scholarship from NBMBAA & FCA has had an immediate impact on my financial health, helping to reduce my student loan liabilities. More broadly, the case allowed me to meet and network with other minority MBA students and continue building my network.

— Christopher Williams, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

I was speechless! It felt like I was inside of a dream. After the shock wore off, I wanted to scream and shout, but I was sitting at my gate at the ATX airport and didn’t feel like it was the place to make a scene.

The scholarship money was a big reason why we signed up to compete last year; however, as we got further along in the process, it was less about the money and more about proving ourselves on the national stage. The $25,000 will be split up evenly amongst the four teammates and will be used to pay down some loans upon graduation.

— Sean Stallings, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

Advice For Future MBAs

If you’re a current or future MBA student interested in participating in next year’s National Black MBA Association Graduate Case Competition, here are some final words of advice curated by the team.

Get ready early.

The case is typically released in mid-August. I attribute a large part of our success to preparation and giving ourselves enough time to fully flesh out our ideas.

From the start, we came to a consensus on expectations. We knew we wanted to position ourselves for a win and decided to dedicate several hours each week to prepare. Even so, we stretched ourselves to make things work. We had a great team dynamic and trusted each other to get the work done. That made it easy to prioritize and focus on specific aspects of the project, rather than having to worry about doing everything individually.

— Christopher Williams, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

Be meticulous and say on task.

My advice is to have someone on the team who is meticulous about planning and have them take charge. Chris did an amazing job getting us started early to plan, so we were always a head of the curve. When the inevitable, unforeseeable things came up and we had to miss a meeting or change a time, it was okay because we were one-to-two weeks ahead of schedule.

Everyone is going to have to sacrifice at some point, and when it’s your turn, don’t hesitate. Show the team that you are in this to WIN — not just to make the final, or hopefully top 3, but to WIN.

— Tyrone Smith, Texas McCombs Full-Time MBA, Class of 2021.

Visit Texas McCombs MBA to find out more about all our programs, events, and community, or take a peek into student life on Instagram. Hook ’em!

Redesigned Executive MBA
Program Experience Launching Fall 2021

February 3, 2021 / Texas McCombs MBA / Comments Off

We are excited to announce the Texas McCombs Executive MBA has been redesigned to meet the changing needs of today’s experienced professionals. The new program offers more flexibility and a stronger focus on leadership and organizational strategy. You can learn more about key updates below, which will take effect for Executive MBA students starting the program in August 2021.

More Flexibility

The Executive MBA program structure will offer more convenience and flexibility for busy executives and for those traveling from outside of Austin for the program with two delivery updates:

One 3-day (Thursday – Saturday) class weekend per month
Program completion in 20 months

The on-campus classroom experience, opportunities for networking, and strong community culture will remain as hallmarks of the program.

Diversified Curriculum

The Executive MBA curriculum will offer additional electives and new course offerings taught by world-class McCombs faculty. Topics have been expanded to give students a broader base of knowledge required for executives with an overall increased emphasis on leadership, strategy, and analytics:

Core curriculum additions, including Valuation for Executives, Business Analytics and Decision Modeling for Executives, Strategic Marketing, Strategic Human Capital, and Leading for Impact
An expanded slate of elective coursework offers greater customization. In the new program design, students will now take four electives from a choice of ~10-12 courses.
Increased leadership content including a new Executive Seminar course, an Executive Crisis Challenge simulation with an emphasis on ethics and communication, and a new capstone course “Leading for Impact” to develop executive leadership through introspection, practice, feedback, and opportunity to drive change in real organizations.

“Market research and feedback from employers helped inform updates to the curriculum and program format. This evolution will prepare our Executive MBA students for what’s ahead and will keep them competitive in high-level executive leadership roles.”

– Joe Stephens, Senior Assistant Dean & Director of Working Professional & Executive MBA Programs.

Executive Immersions

Each semester will include one Executive Immersion class weekend, which will be held off campus and provide opportunities for in-depth experiential learning. Immersion weekends are currently planned for New York City, Washington, D.C., Dallas, and the Austin-area Hill Country. Each is linked to course content and will include executive/company visits, alumni networking, cultural experiences, and time to network and bond with classmates.

Immersions will provide real-time, real-place exposure, application to what Executive MBA students are learning in the classroom and will align with semester themes for content:

1st year, fall semester theme: “Language of Business” with Executive Immersion in New York City
1st year, spring semester theme: “Leading in the New Economy” with Executive Immersion in Dallas
2nd year, fall semester theme: “Leading at the Policy Level” with Executive Immersion in Washington, D.C.
2nd year, spring semester theme: “Executive Visioning” with Executive Immersion in the Austin-area Hill Country

“We wanted to be active and present in regions where there is significant business impact and innovation taking place and where students can easily access our strong Texas McCombs alumni network.”

– Joe Stephens, Senior Assistant Dean & Director

The Executive MBA program will also include a 6-day Global Immersion course in the summer between the 1st and 2nd year. The 2022 Executive MBA Global Immersion location is to be determined, but previous destinations include Southeast Asia, South Africa, East Africa, India, Eastern Europe, China, and South America.

Learn More

Sign up to receive Executive MBA news here, and register for an Executive MBA event to meet admissions and program staff, current students, and alumni.

The Executive MBA application for August 2021 is open now, and the final deadline to apply is May 25, 2021.

Learn more on our website, and contact us with any questions at TexasEMBA@mccombs.utexas.edu.

After Admission: Deciding Your
MBA Offer

February 1, 2021 / Texas McCombs MBA / Comments Off

Making it through the MBA application process to receive an offer of admission from Texas McCombs is a big accomplishment! But it is not the end of your MBA admissions journey. The decision process goes both ways and you must accept your offer of admission to be enrolled in the next class. As a driven and competitive MBA candidate, you may be deciding between offers at multiple business schools. Everyone’s individual decision is different, but a few common themes always come up when we ask our students, “Why McCombs?”

The City

Austin, Texas tops rankings for quality of life, growth, tech and innovation year after year. ATX was named the No. 1 Best Place to Live by U.S. News & World Report in 2017, 2018, and 2019!

The MBA program moved into a new, world-class facility in 2018. Robert B. Rowling Hall sits at the intersection of the university and the Austin business community, acting as a launchpad for ideas. Open, transparent, and flexibly designed, the building creates the physical space for you to engage, collaborate and learn experientially. Our dedication to excellence, plus our new home, made us a Top Ten Business School to Watch in 2021.

Robert B. Rowling Hall, Graduate Business Building, UT Austin

The Network

Right at the center of Austin is the McCombs School of Business– a tight-knit, driven community of students, staff and faculty, making up part of one of the largest university networks in the world:

Our MBA culture is famously welcoming and our students come from diverse backgrounds that make our community dynamic and inspiring. It has been said that McCombs MBAs are relentlessly driven, yet they are the first to jump in and encourage and support each other to excel. Connect with current MBA students to learn more about what sets us apart.

Texas McCombs MBA Consortium Students at Rowling Hall, fall 2018

Texas McCombs Consortium MBA students at Orientation 2018

The Focus on the Future

Texas McCombs is human-centered and future-focused, meaning we have our eye on what’s coming next in business– from the exciting research coming out of McCombs every day to the many rankings where we are among the best schools in the nation. We strive to be a top business school, giving our students the best possible experience. Recently, we landed on six Top 10 lists in Princeton Review’s 2021 rankings, including No. 1 Best Campus Environment for the third year in a row!

Visit Texas McCombs MBA to find out more about all our programs, events, and community, or take a peek into student life on Instagram. Hook ’em!