Like many college-bound high school seniors, Andrew Chen ’85 didn’t have any idea what he wanted to do with his life, but he knew he’d be continuing the family tradition/legacy his grandfather, father and uncles started by attending the University of Maryland.

Nadine Payne, MBA ’15, believes understanding complex business problems means understanding how the pieces all fit together, studying, and assessing their functions.

Entrepreneurs beat long odds when they launch a company and sell it to investors. Jason Cohen ’96 has done it many times. It’s not how he started his career.

What does a typical work day look like for Kristie Curameng Bradford, MBA ’05? Well, there’s really no such thing — and that’s precisely why she loves her job. “No days look similar,” says Bradford, director of intellectual property at IBM. “There are so many things I could be doing in one day.”

Stephanie Catherine ’14 has always sought out the next hard problem to solve, the next challenge. It’s why she so enjoys the work she’s doing at Deloitte, where she works as a manager. The tasks and challenges she faces vary from day to day, and the changing nature of her work, she says, keeps her motivated and intellectually stimulated.

Marguerita “Rita” Cheng ’93 knows what it means to find success on her own terms. Early in her career, she was working at a large firm, when her sales manager expressed a concern. He said she spent too much time listening to clients. “He led me to believe that being empathetic and patient was a liability,” she said. “I was devastated when he told me that I was a lousy financial planner.”

As a soccer player, Yewande Balogun, ’11 and MBA ’16, has always wanted to play against the best of the best. In the summer of 2021, she got that chance.

Villanova management professor Quinetta Roberson, PhD ’99, has always been fast. She won races as a University of Delaware sprinter. And later, during her Smith PhD years, she competed against undergraduates on the Terrapins intramural track team.

Entrepreneur Jitin “Miki” Ahuja ’97, MBA ’02, calls himself a late bloomer. He grew up in Bowie near the University of Maryland and stayed in his comfort zone during his freshman year.

Entrepreneurs beat long odds when they launch a company and sell it to investors. Jason Cohen ‘96 has done it several times. After graduating from Maryland Smith, Cohen pursued his passion for food and co-founded Mamma Says Biscotti, which he sold in 2005 after partnering with Kellogg’s.