But what you wouldn’t have seen were the questions I was starting to ask myself: Am I building something meaningful? Am I becoming the person I want to be? That tension between stability and purpose is what ultimately led me to Fuqua’s Weekend Executive MBA program.

A Global Path and Growing Questions

I was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and raised between different cities, cultures, and expectations. From an early age, I was drawn to leadership — captaining teams, organizing events, bringing people together. My path, like many, followed what made sense: study, build a career, grow professionally.

And I did.

I moved across countries, built a life in the United States, graduated at the top of my class, and worked my way into leadership roles at a global company. On paper, everything was moving forward.

But life has a way of forcing reflection.

Over the years, I experienced moments that challenged me deeply — loneliness, mental health struggles, career uncertainty, and the pressure of building a life far from home. Those moments changed me. They made me slow down, reconnect with my values, and start asking better questions: What do I actually want to build? Who do I want to become? What kind of life am I designing?

Assessing What Matters

Fuqua came into my life at a moment when I was ready to start something new. The Weekend Executive MBA had always been a dream, and I had to be very intentional. It allowed me to continue working, building businesses, investing in relationships, and taking risks in real time.

In class, I’d learn about strategy, leadership, and operations — whether through frameworks like breaking down complex problems into first principles or pressure-testing assumptions before acting. In one session on leadership under uncertainty, we discussed how clarity of communication becomes a leader’s most valuable tool when direction isn’t obvious. The following week, I applied that directly in my own work — aligning stakeholders across a new venture by simplifying the vision and over-communicating priorities. What could have been weeks of misalignment turned into immediate traction.

Outside of class, I’d attempt to apply these skills immediately — launching ventures, navigating uncertainty, and building something from the ground up. That real-time feedback loop has been one of the most powerful parts of the experience.

A good story to share with everyone about how my entrepreneurship life started. My classmate (now co-founder) and I were sitting in the back of a class. I wanted to learn how he became successful in multiple ventures. He walked me through his entire business ventures and set up, from his first company back when he finished medical school to his most recent venture. At the end, he asked: “By the way, a friend and I are launching a new company from an idea we have been thinking about for over 15 years. Would you be interested in joining us?”

That right there showed me the impact of Fuqua: the people.

There’s something unique about being surrounded by individuals who are equally ambitious and deeply human. People who are building companies, leading teams, raising families, all while showing up fully for each other.

The environment changes you. It challenges how you think about leadership, a deep sense of responsibility, not as individual success, but as collective impact.

Designing My Next Chapter

Today, my life looks very different than it did before my journey at Fuqua. I’m stepping into entrepreneurship. I’m building alongside people I trust. I’m prioritizing my health, my faith, and my family in ways I never did before. And for the first time, I feel aligned.

Not because everything is figured out, it is messier and more complicated in many ways — but it feels like I’m finally asking the right questions. If you’re considering an MBA, especially at Fuqua, my advice is simple: Don’t just think about what you want to do next. Think about who you want to become. Because if you approach this experience the right way, it won’t just change your career. It will change you.

The post Becoming Who You’re Meant To Be appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

So, having begun my career as a financial journalist covering investment banking and over-the-counter derivatives during the Global Financial Crisis, I had a strong set of basic skills that would serve me well in future roles.

A Career Built Across Markets and Roles

I joined S&P Global in 2016 to help shape digital development and content strategy for what was then Platts, a leading provider of energy news, data and analytics. The comfort I had built dealing with high-level stakeholders through years of questioning bank executives and regulators proved crucial when advising senior leaders on transitioning to a digital-first publishing operation. Through a series of internal moves, my work expanded to evaluating project plans, financials, and implementation timelines, where my reporter’s curiosity remained central, and I continued to apply the same rigor and quality I had brought to the publications I led.

Today, I lead a global editorial team responsible for the quality and direction of news and research across multiple products and regions. This role, which I enjoy, has been the culmination of a 20-year career in business-to-business media, journalism and research management. It’s a journey that has taken me from the UK to the US and back again—making stops in various places in between. Among the most memorable of these were South Africa, where I once rode in a taxi that had a plastic crate instead of a passenger seat, and the spotless, gleaming streets and skyscrapers of Singapore, Asia’s commodity trading hub.

I took some detours. This included a foray into UK politics. Although it came just as Brexit was beginning to suck all the oxygen out of the country’s political debate, I consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to forge positive change as a local elected official and candidate. I’ve also enjoyed moving things forward as part of my work with many voluntary and community groups.

Deepening and Broadening My Skills

Despite my varied and interesting career, which has taken me to different countries and through a range of different organizations, I had long been keen to find a way to deepen and broaden my business and leadership skills. With the Weekend Executive MBA program at Fuqua, I found this.

I embarked on the program relishing the challenge and little expecting just how useful and immediately applicable many of the things I learned would be. The impact was to overlay my existing experiences and skills—picked up from journalism, and a few other places—with a new set of frameworks and tools:

1. Understanding Innovation Strategy

A particular highlight was our elective term class on managing innovation in a global organization, in which we learned about the different types of methods many successful companies use to manage and drive innovation. These concepts have proven very valuable to me in my full-time role as we increasingly look to integrate new technologies such as generative AI and automation into our editorial workflows and customer-facing products.

2. Applying Operational Thinking

Another class that was something of a revelation was operations management. As the senior leader of an operational function—one that our stakeholders and clients rely on to deliver subscriber products—the concepts were highly relevant to my day-to-day role. Among other things, the class involved a memorable trip to the factory floor of Machine Specialties, Inc., a North Carolina-based precision parts manufacturer. Many of the course learnings about capacity, bottlenecks, service times and wait times can be just as validly applied to content and data products.

3. Becoming a More Reflective Leader

Elsewhere, the work we’ve done on leadership and development has made me vastly more effective as the leader of a large and geographically dispersed team. I’ve become more self-aware and conscious of the need to occasionally step outside of my comfort zone, be vulnerable, and ask for my team’s feedback and support.

As someone who manages large, complex projects involving cross-functional stakeholders, I’ve become better at reflecting on my leadership skills and the areas where I can improve. I hope and believe that my manager, colleagues and direct reports would say the same thing!

4. An Introduction to Lifelong Connections

Finally, my Fuqua experience has filled the gaps for me in another big way: I have met some of the most talented, clever and fun people I’ve ever had the privilege to meet. I’ve enjoyed studying alongside my classmates and being part of their MBA journeys for the past two years. And their personalities, life stories and experiences have shaped and enriched my learning experience. I hope the friendships we’ve built will endure long after our time in Durham is finished.

These highlights barely do justice to the wide range of courses we took together, along with all the accompanying late-night study sessions, frantic team assignments and lively social activities. I don’t know if that young journalist would recognize all of it, but I think he would approve. The curiosity and thirst for knowledge are still there, but Fuqua has given me new perspectives and tools that I didn’t even know I was missing.

The post What Journalism Taught Me—and 4 Gaps My Executive MBA Filled appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

The good news is that the Career Management Center (CMC) team is here to help every step of the way. Whether a student is looking to accelerate in their current organization, pivot into a new function, or launch something entirely their own, there are strategic actions that can position anyone for success.

Start With Self-Reflection

Before exploring job titles or recruiters, we suggest students invest time in clarifying what they want. Executive MBAs often come to the program with a decade or more of experience, and that can make it easy to focus on external factors, such as compensation, titles, or prestige, rather than on internal drivers like purpose, leadership style, and long-term fit.

Tip #1: Write down three career goals that excite you and three that no longer serve you. This exercise helps you focus your time and networking energy where it matters most.

Engage Early With Career Resources

Executive MBA students have access to many of the same career development tools as our full-time MBA students, including one-on-one coaching, résumé and LinkedIn reviews, negotiating an offer, and targeted programming on executive networking and storytelling. The key difference is that everything is tailored for a professional audience.

Our advice? Don’t wait until graduation to engage. Students who begin working with a coach in their first term tend to build stronger momentum and uncover new possibilities early on.

Tip #2: Schedule an initial career coaching session within your first month of the program. Even if your goals aren’t fully formed, those early conversations often unlock clarity.

Build Relationships, Not Just a Contact List

Our students find that their classmates are one of their most valuable professional assets. The cohort brings together leaders across industries and functions, from technology and finance to healthcare and manufacturing. Those relationships can yield partnerships, mentorships, and career opportunities long after graduation.

Tip #3: Set a goal to have five meaningful conversations with classmates outside your industry during your first term. It’s an easy way to expand your perspective and practice articulating your professional value.

Apply Learning in Real Time

The beauty of the Weekend Executive MBA format is that what you learn on Saturday can influence how you lead on Monday. Use class projects and team assignments as testing grounds for new frameworks or leadership approaches. When students share their learning back at work, it also signals initiative and professional growth to their organizations.

Tip #4: Choose one course concept each month to apply directly in your workplace. Capture the outcome and discuss it with your coach to refine your approach.

Stay Open to Possibility

Career growth rarely follows a straight line. The most successful students are the ones who remain curious, exploring both expected and unexpected opportunities with equal enthusiasm.

Tip #5: Revisit your goals every six months. Your perspective will evolve as you move through the program, and that’s part of the journey.

Career transformation begins long before graduation. It starts the moment you decide to invest in yourself, and our team at the CMC is ready to support you through every stage of that transformation.

The post Maximizing Career Value During Your Executive MBA Journey appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

Evaluating Fit

I reached out to Adam without much expectation, and he offered to hop on a call. That conversation became a turning point in how I approached the MBA decision, before I was ever admitted. I asked Adam what felt like the biggest question at the time: how did you figure out where to go? His advice was to treat the interview as a culture test. Yes, schools are evaluating you, but you are also evaluating them.

That advice stuck with me. Coming from the military, culture is critical. It shapes how people operate when things get difficult or uncertain. With that perspective, I approached interviews differently. I listened closely to how people answered questions and how comfortable they seemed being honest. I paid attention to whether values felt practiced rather than stated.

Beyond Surface-Level Impressions

Over time, patterns emerged. Some conversations felt transactional. Others felt more thoughtful and grounded. What mattered most to me was consistency. Were people saying the same things in different settings, and did their behavior align with those messages?

When I interviewed with Fuqua, those dynamics stood out. The conversations felt natural and unforced. People were willing to speak candidly about their experiences, including challenges, without presenting a polished version of reality. One conversation included a candid discussion about balancing work, family, and coursework. It was not framed as easy. That honesty stood out and demonstrated the alignment between words and actions, which mattered more to me than any single feature of the program.

After enrolling, I saw that same consistency play out in day-to-day interactions. In group work, accountability mattered, but so did protecting one another when things did not go perfectly. Disagreements focused on ideas rather than individuals. The environment made it easier to speak up, take risks, and learn from mistakes.

Experiencing the Culture Myself

Now, just a few short months from wrapping up my MBA, I often think back to that original blog and the phone call that followed. At the time, I was trying to decide whether business school was the right next step. What I learned instead was how important it is to choose an environment that aligns with how you want to operate and who you want to become.

If you are considering Fuqua, or any MBA program, I would encourage you to approach the process as a two-way evaluation. Pay attention to the culture. Ask questions that matter to you. Notice how people treat and interact with one another. And do not be afraid to reach out. Sometimes, a single conversation or even a single blog post can shape a decision that changes everything.

The post Choosing an MBA Based on Culture appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

We’re the kind of people who look at a full-time job, a family, a mortgage, and an already packed calendar and think, “You know what would really round this out? Graduate school.”

About halfway through my first term, the honeymoon ended. Virtual info sessions were behind me, and the excitement of orientation had faded. What remained were weekly team meetings, case preps, monthly flights to Durham, and late-night assignments squeezed between bedtime routines.

I remember sitting at my laptop one evening thinking, “This is more than I thought I signed up for.” And then, almost immediately, “Maybe that’s exactly what I signed up for.”

When Purpose and Program Intersect

Alongside my corporate career, my wife and I co-founded TapUStry Collective. What began as an effort to preserve a story she grew up hearing from her grandmother became the documentary The Paris 3, which tells the story of three young Black girls who, in 1961, took a stand against segregation, changing the small town of Paris, Kentucky, forever.

After our first screening, we realized the town hadn’t openly talked about that moment for more than 60 years, never fully processing what happened in their own town. And if one small town hadn’t healed, how many others across the country were still carrying stories in silence?

This year marks the 65th anniversary of that moment. We recently acquired the very bus station with plans to restore it into a living legacy museum. A space that challenges us to look beyond our own experience and lean in to understand someone else’s.

And that’s how Fuqua is equipping me to meet this moment in my life…

Expanding My Capacity

I started this MBA with a mindset pointed at advancement. I saw the program as a tool that would open doors and position me for the next professional move. However, my thinking has shifted.

For me, this experience isn’t just about professional advancement. It’s about expanding my capacity to build something that lasts and the capacity to lead when outcomes aren’t guaranteed.

In Professor Ashleigh Shelby Rosette’s leadership course, we explored how leaders operate in environments defined by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The takeaway wasn’t about adopting a fixed leadership style but developing judgment and the ability to assess the moment and adapt accordingly.

That framework resonated with me deeply because the work we’re building through TapUStry exists in exactly that kind of environment. Conversations about history and identity are complex and outcomes aren’t straightforward. Progress doesn’t follow a predictable playbook. At Fuqua, I’m embracing that mindset with sharper thinking and stronger judgment. In the process, I’m honing my ability to expand not just what I know, but what I can carry.

Carrying What Matters Most

At home, I’m a husband and a father of two boys under four. I think often about what it means to model conviction over comfort. To choose responsibility over ease and long-term impact over short-term stability. Expanding my capacity has meant learning to hold both: building professionally while stepping more fully into work that carries weight beyond a title.

If you’re considering an MBA in the middle of a full life, expect it to stretch you. Expect it to humble you. Expect to wonder, at least once, what you were thinking; I did.

And then lean in. Because growth isn’t measured in titles or degrees, it’s measured in the capacity you build to meet the moment in front of you.

The post Stretching My Capacity and Carrying Legacy Forward appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

I had already built an extensive career in medicine. I had led teams, mentored others, started a solo private practice, and managed complex, high-stakes situations in the office, the operating room, and the delivery room. And yet, despite that experience, I wondered if I was stepping too far away from my comfort zone when I considered pursuing another degree. My inner voice questioned whether my season of growth had already passed.

When I attended Fuqua’s prospective student weekend, I arrived hopeful but guarded. Sitting in the lecture hall with my name tent in front of me, after being out of the classroom for more than 25 years, I became acutely aware of how visible I felt, older, seasoned, different. I wasn’t sure whether those differences would be seen as assets or liabilities.

It didn’t take long to find out.

Striving For More

During one conversation, another prospective student told me that I didn’t really need an MBA. By applying, he said, I would be taking a spot from someone who needed it more than me. The comment wasn’t cruel. It was calm, almost practical. But it landed with force, as if my desire to learn required justification, as if education were something you age out of, as if growth were a finite resource meant to be rationed. I smiled politely and moved on. But later, I sat with a question I hadn’t expected to face: Was I allowed to want more?

That moment revealed how ageism can quietly show up for women in professional education, not loudly, but subtly, through recalculation and concern framed as logic. For mid-career women especially, ambition can invite another sharp question: Haven’t you already done enough?

Expanding How I Understand Health Care

That question followed me into the program in another form. I was often asked what I hoped to gain from an MBA. The assumption was that being a physician should be enough. But over my 25 years as an OB/GYN, I’ve seen firsthand how leadership decisions, financial incentives, and organizational culture directly shape patient outcomes. I didn’t come to Fuqua to leave medicine behind. I came to learn how to bring the lived experiences of patients, providers, and communities into rooms where decisions are made.

As part of that commitment, I chose to complement my MBA with a certificate in Health Sector Management. Once again, I was asked if I really needed it. Medical education teaches us how to diagnose, treat, and care for patients, but it offers little exposure to the business of medicine, pharmaceutical development, or health policy.

While I have deep expertise in the clinical space, I recognized that I did not have the same mastery in these other domains. By then, I had grown accustomed to being questioned, but I no longer let it deter me. The Health Sector Management curriculum has been an essential part of my Fuqua experience, helping me see healthcare as an interconnected system shaped by policy, economics, technology, and strategy.

One of the most formative components of that experience was the Week in DC. Engaging directly with policymakers, thought leaders, and institutions responsible for shaping health policy crystallized my interest in policy as a lever for change. It helped me see how my clinical experience, business training, and leadership perspective can converge to influence healthcare beyond individual patients, practices, and hospitals.

Where Growth is Shared

What I feared most was that the mindset I encountered that first weekend would define my experience, that I would be tolerated rather than welcomed. That fear has proven unfounded.

I have come to appreciate the power of intergenerational learning, both inside and outside the classroom. Some of the most impactful learning at Fuqua has happened outside formal class time, through long conversations in the café, spontaneous debates in the lobby bar, late-night reflections after group work, and candid exchanges that extended well beyond our in-person and virtual classes. Those moments built trust and perspective, reinforcing that learning at Fuqua is shaped through relationships, shared curiosity, and community.

Within that environment, intergenerational learning feels natural. My classmates bring fresh frameworks and technological fluency. I bring context, synthesis, and perspective shaped by years in practice. I didn’t take a seat from someone else; I added a voice, just as my classmates added theirs.

Trusting My Voice Again

When I first arrived at Fuqua, I was hesitant and quietly uncertain about whether I belonged. Over time, that weight lifted. Through this program, I’ve gained business skills, but just as importantly, I’ve learned to trust my voice again. Leadership, I’m learning, doesn’t require starting over. It requires integration.

That lesson came into sharper focus when legendary Duke men’s basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, Coach K, spoke to our class about growth, humility, preparedness, and the discipline of continual improvement. When he said, “Success is not about being the best. It’s about always getting better,” it felt like a reflection of my own journey.

Fuqua hasn’t asked me to justify my age, my path, or my timing. Instead, it challenges me, supports me, and affirms that learning is lifelong and leadership continues to evolve. In doing so, it reinforced a simple but powerful truth: growth has no deadline, careers are not linear, and choosing to keep learning is not something you take from others. It’s something you claim for yourself.

I no longer ask permission to want more.

The post Returning to the Classroom After 25 Years: A New Season of Growth appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

Markets, teams, and organizations operate according to dynamics no microscope or mechanical model can fully capture. They require a panoramic perspective, an understanding of people, incentives, strategy, and uncertainty. Only by bridging these different scales of thinking can an innovation move beyond its inception and fully realize its real-world impact.

Seeing Innovation Through a Wider Lens

I came to Fuqua because I wanted to develop that panoramic perspective in a structured way. What I have found most distinctive about Weekend Executive MBA program is the deliberate blend of analytical rigor and human-centered leadership development, what many think of as the “quants and poets” of business education, integrated into a single experience.

On one hand, the curriculum builds fluency in the tools that shape analytical decisions, such as economics, accounting, and business analytics. Even in just the first two terms, these courses have given me a new lens for understanding processes that scientists typically encounter only indirectly; for example, how resources, incentives, and timing influence what gets adopted and what gets left behind.

On the other hand, leadership coursework and executive coaching turn the lens inward, offering the structured approach many scientists crave for skills often learned informally. I have systematically reflected on how I lead, how I communicate under pressure, how I build trust, and where my blind spots are. For someone trained to specialize deeply, I have come to appreciate the value of developing both capacities at once, the ability to analyze decisions clearly and the ability to lead people effectively through them.

When Completely Different Worlds Collide

While the curriculum gives you the language, the cohort teaches how to have the conversation. Some of the most profound lessons have come from the sheer diversity of the room. Sitting between a classmate who manages auto parts e-commerce and another who oversees operations for a national restaurant chain might seem far removed from biomaterials research. Yet those conversations have repeatedly become the heart of my learning experience.

I have learned to listen for patterns that transcend sector and vocabulary. When someone in logistics describes how they diagnose bottlenecks, I recognize the same underlying logic in how we troubleshoot throughput and variability in complex experimental workflows. When someone in retail talks about customer behavior, I hear a more disciplined version of a question scientists often avoid: who is the end user, and what would make them adopt this, consistently, at scale? These exchanges do not dilute scientific rigor. They widen it, forcing you to see how strong ideas succeed or fail once they leave controlled conditions and enter real systems.

Innovation, I have come to realize, often benefits from collisions between unrelated worlds. Exposure to perspectives so far outside my own has helped me see scientific challenges with a clarity and creativity I did not know I lacked.

Learning in Real Time

One of the most valuable aspects of the Weekend Executive MBA format is how quickly classroom lessons translate into daily practice. In my work, I navigated budgeting and grant templates, entering direct costs, overhead, and cost-center codes, but much of that language felt procedural. I filled in the fields, submitted the forms, and moved on. In hindsight, it was almost a curtain, not hiding information, but hiding meaning.

The Managerial Accounting class pulled that curtain back. It helped me see that those terms are not just compliance, teaching me an understanding of the operating logic of grants and institutions, and enabling me to make more deliberate choices about how projects are structured and resourced.

The Managerial Economics course gave me a similar kind of clarity about collaborations and partnerships. Ideas from game theory made it easier to see how well-intentioned partners can still end up with outcomes that nobody wants if incentives are not intentionally aligned. I now pay specific attention to how responsibilities, timelines, and decision rights are structured, so that the best choice for each stakeholder is also the choice that advances the project.

Finally, Business Analytics made concepts such as diversification more deliberate, not only in investing, but in how you build a resilient research pathway across multiple funding routes and scientific approaches.

Looking Ahead

In science, progress often begins by narrowing the frame, zooming in until mechanisms become visible and materials behave in predictable ways. Leadership begins at the opposite scale. It requires stepping back far enough to see the full system: the people, incentives, pathways, and constraints that determine whether an idea can survive outside controlled conditions.

My Fuqua experience has taught me to move more fluidly between these scales. To stay rigorous in the details, and to zoom out toward strategy and execution. It is in this movement, between detail and direction, analysis and action, that real impacts emerge. As I continue this path, I see more clearly that the reach of my work will depend not only on what we discover, but on the leadership and collaboration that carry those discoveries into the world.

The post Learning To Lead Innovation at Scale appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

Everything changed in 2022. I was inspired by the clarity and vision of our CEO and CIO, especially an adage that stuck with me: “Always aim for the moon. Even if you miss, you will land among the stars.” That prompted me to ask myself a difficult question: Where do I truly want to be in the next 10 to 12 years?

Selecting a Program With Purpose

After reflecting on my strengths, gaps, and passions, I set a bold goal: to grow into a CIO role. I mapped a career path, shared it with my manager, and actively sought guidance, a turning point from working in my role to working toward a purpose.

I realized I needed more than technical skills; I wanted a deeper understanding of leadership, strategy, and people. My mentors guided me to Fuqua, reminding me: “This is one time in life, do it right, so you don’t regret it later.” Fuqua’s rigorous curriculum, collaborative culture, and focus on values-driven leadership immediately stood out. From day one, learning here has been about practical insights, reflection, and growing alongside a supportive community.

Term 1 was exciting and overwhelming. Initially, I focused solely on grades, studying day and night. But I quickly realized that the real value of Fuqua is the relationships you build and the lifelong bonds you create. That insight shifted my approach.

I started balancing classes, assignments, and networking, focusing on genuine connections with peers, faculty, and staff. Each interaction taught me something new about leadership, collaboration, communication, and understanding different mindsets and aspirations. Every term has been memorable, with lessons that extend far beyond the classroom.

The Duke family spirit, the sense of belonging, support, and shared growth, is unmatched. Seeing the transformation in myself and my peers has been inspiring and motivates me to continue pursuing my goals with clarity, resilience, and purpose.

The Human Connection Behind Leadership

Throughout my career, I have led global teams and delivered large-scale transformations. Fuqua has reinforced a key lesson: leadership is ultimately about people. In an increasingly digital world, empathy, trust, and human connection sustain teams. Here, I have learned to blend technical expertise with people-centered leadership and meaningful collaboration.

Across different organizations, I have seen how easily teams slip into blame, finger-pointing, and working in silos. Often, the real issue isn’t the process or the system; it’s that people aren’t talking to each other. At Fuqua, I have learned that leading with people means slowing down to understand how others work, what they are solving for, and what pressures they face. When you take the time to build relationships and create space for honest conversations, problems become easier to solve, and teams shift from defensiveness to collaboration. Blending technical expertise with empathy has become one of the most valuable leadership skills I have strengthened here.

Channeling Purpose-Driven Leadership in My Own Way

Mentorship and giving back have always been central to my journey. I focus on lifting others as I grow and aim to continue fostering mentorship, creating inclusive spaces, and contributing to the Duke community/family long after graduation.

Looking forward, I aspire to grow into senior leadership roles while pursuing entrepreneurial ventures that bring people together. I dream of opening a restaurant designed not just for dining but for meaningful connection, and of writing a book that shares the life epiphanies that have shaped me.

Fuqua has been transformative not just in building knowledge and skills, but in shaping how I see myself, others, and the future. This journey has taught me that true success comes from intentional growth, meaningful relationships, and making an impact along the way.

The post From Execution to Intention: Becoming a Purpose-Driven Leader appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

On a bit of a whim, I chose to go to Fuqua to broaden my network beyond Texas and challenge myself with the rigor I was craving. I had never set foot on campus and thought I didn’t know a soul in the program. It was exhilarating and terrifying.

Embracing the Unknown

Before orientation, I told myself I’d at least be open to conversations for new jobs. I decided to finally return a recruiter’s call that had been sitting in my inbox for a week, and the process accelerated quickly from there. Within days, I was shortlisted and interviewed with the CEO. What started as “I am just doing this for interview practice” became a real opportunity. Everything about the role felt right, and yet I had just made one big life change by starting the MBA. Was I ready for another?

The anxiety I felt during the flight began to fade as orientation week got underway. I realized many of my classmates were quietly asking the same questions I was: Can I do this? Will my family, work, and school all fit? Naming that uncertainty out loud created unexpected bonds.

Orientation week is a time to connect with classmates, learn about Fuqua, and meet the program staff who would be guiding us through our academic journey. Importantly, the program staff advised us not to make any big life changes during the program.

And yet, hours later, I was in a room at the JB Duke Hotel, receiving a verbal offer to become a Senior Commercial Manager at a new company. Shock. Joy. Fear. Could I truly take on a new job and school at once?

The Support of Team Fuqua

When I walked into dinner that night, my new classmates, people I had met days earlier, eagerly asked how my follow-up call with the company’s CEO went. They didn’t hesitate when I shared the news. They celebrated with me, toasted me, and offered the kind of genuine encouragement that makes Team Fuqua… Team Fuqua. They didn’t yet know my full story or aspirations, but in that moment, they were my first supporters.

Next, I needed to tell my assigned team — the people I would be working with on assignments. I shared my worry about changing jobs after 13 years with them. Not one person flinched. They saw my excitement and assured me we would make it work, rebalancing assignments as I onboarded in the new role. In one week, strangers became collaborators, friends, family.

Pursuing a Career Change + an MBA

From there, I partnered with the Career Management Center (CMC) to negotiate the offer and ultimately accepted. An announcement went out to the cohort, and the steady stream of congratulations continued at each residency. My new employer has supported the MBA, giving me the flexibility I need for weekend residencies and finals. That alignment matters, and it has been critical.

Looking back, I was afraid of change. But going to Duke gave me the confidence to leap from what was comfortable and grow in a new place. Today, I look forward to each residency weekend and to reconnecting with my cohort. What felt daunting in June has flown by faster than I imagined. I’m grateful to be surrounded by people who are ambitious, kind, and unafraid to help each other win.

For prospective students wondering if a career change is possible during the Weekend Executive MBA program: it’s not the typical path and isn’t broadly recommended because of the demands on your time. But with the right support from classmates, your team, the CMC, and an understanding employer, it can be the right move at exactly the right moment. Team Fuqua made my pivot possible.

The post Navigating a Career Change with Confidence and Support from Fuqua appeared first on Duke Weekend Executive MBA Student Blog.

I was stuck in my career, and my life felt a bit routine. Work, family, vacations — everything was fine, but something was missing. I didn’t know exactly how the MBA would help, but I hoped it would give me the push I needed.

I chose Duke because it is a strong school and close to where I live. When I got accepted, I was happy but also unsure. I didn’t have all the answers, but I would soon learn that I didn’t need them to experience a big transformation.

Diving Into the Curriculum

The first few terms were exciting because I was back in a classroom after many years, surrounded by smart classmates, and learning from everyone. But as the program continued, the pressure increased.

Term 3 was especially hard because in addition to my three courses, I took on the Fuqua Client Consulting Practicum (FCCP). FCCP is a hands-on course where a few classmates and I worked with a real business client to complete a consulting project. Our client was Tapestry Networks, and our project focused on helping them shape a go-to-market plan for a new executive education initiative.

There were weeks when I told myself, “I can’t wait for this to be over.” Still, I kept going. Looking back, I now understand something important: the program will push you in ways you don’t expect.

Later in the program, we begin choosing our electives, and this is when I started to gain more clarity. Exploring new subjects helped me understand the gaps in how I think. Finance was a surprise because I enjoyed it more than I expected, and it made me look at decisions differently. For my last term, I chose Value Chain because I want to understand how companies work end-to-end. These choices made me more curious and gave me a clearer sense of the big picture.

Expanding My Capacity for Efficiency

But the biggest impact did not come from any single course; instead, it came from the overall rigor of the program. I started to understand how much time I was wasting in my everyday life before earning my MBA. I always said, “I don’t have time,” but the truth was that I was not efficient.

This program forced me to build discipline. I learned to break tasks into small steps, work early instead of late, and focus only on the things that truly mattered.

This new discipline also changed the way I work. People often ask how I manage full-time commitments at work, at home, and at school. Recently, I was given the responsibility of turning around a couple of struggling projects. I was able to handle them quickly, and a senior leader told me he didn’t know how I did it while studying at Duke. The answer is simple: I became more efficient. I stopped joining meetings where I could not contribute, and I spent more time in short one-to-one discussions where I could get real information. I also became more mindful of not wasting other people’s time.

I am an introvert, so I don’t always join big group events. I connect better through simple activities like ping pong or pickleball, or through one-to-one conversations where I can really understand the other person. Even with this style, I formed a few meaningful connections in the program, and I value those a lot. It reminded me that you don’t need to be loud to feel included — sometimes one or two strong relationships are enough.

Now that I’m near the end of the program, I can see how much I have changed. My next challenge is to keep this mindset alive and not fall back into old habits.

For future students who might be like me — uncertain, stuck, or wondering if the Weekend Executive MBA program can help — I would say that you don’t need to have all the answers at the beginning. Pick courses that stretch how you think. Build relationships in your own way. Stay open. At first, I was worried about the return on investment from the tuition I was paying. Now I feel that the personal growth I experienced is priceless.

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