Different environments pose different challenges, which is why international business developer Rashida Petersen ’03 says seeking information about local contexts is more important than ever. As the founder and CEO of 1847 Philanthropic, a Washington D.C.-based consulting firm specializing in the financial stability of organizations in developing countries, Petersen takes a “first, do no harm” approach to her work.

Former Terrapin golfer George Bradford, a 1997 graduate of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, had a quick response when people told him to “get a job” after college. “I have a job,” he told the skeptics. “I’m a professional golfer.”

What does a typical work day look like for Kristie Curameng Bradford, a 2005 full-time MBA graduate at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business? Well, there’s really no such thing — and that’s precisely why she loves her job. “No days look similar,” says Bradford, business development executive at IBM Watson. “There are so many things I could be doing in one day.”

Entrepreneur Evan Lutz ’14 hates to see food go to waste. So in 2014 during his senior year at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, he co-founded Hungry Harvest from his dorm basement in College Park, Md. “We’re a produce delivery service on a mission to reduce food waste in the United States,” Lutz says. Already the company has spread from Philadelphia to South Florida — while the waitlist of potential new customers has swelled into the 10s of thousands in other parts of the country.

In the past year Tekisha Harvey, MBA ’08, has visited Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Colombia, Argentina, the Netherlands, Bali, the Philippines, Thailand and Japan. “It’s crazy that this is my life,” she says.

Visitors to the National Museum of African American History and Culture can’t miss the restored Pullman railcar that dominates the Segregation Gallery in Concourse 2. The artifact has historical significance, pointing to an era when African American porters were required to live in separate quarters. Its placement in the museum also has engineering significance for Lisa Anders, a 1995 MBA graduate of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Some people claw their way into the sports industry. Ted Towne, PTMBA ’08, received an invitation to work in Major League Baseball while studying at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. “My evening classes gave me an edge,” says Towne, assistant general manager and vice president of finance for the Washington Nationals.

StackShare founder Yonas Beshawred ’09 stopped counting the rejections when he went looking for funding in Silicon Valley. “I got a bunch of no’s,” he says. “I stopped counting after like 50. At that point it doesn’t matter. All you need is one yes.” Now, after raising more than $7 million, his startup is thriving. The company, a Yelp-style social media network for engineers and software developers, builds on the entrepreneurial spirit that his immigrant parents brought from Ethiopia to Silver Spring, Md.

Leaders prove their worth during times of adversity, and Donna Blackman, EMBA ’10, got her first big opportunity just 100 days into a new job at BET Networks in 2013. As part of a reorganization, the Viacom subsidiary announced plans to dissolve Blackman’s position and lay off her team.

Ryan D. McCarthy, an executive MBA alumnus at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business, never thought he would be the chief executive officer of the U.S. Army. But his passion for the military’s mission and his mix of experience in service and industry prepared him to be a natural choice for the job of Secretary of the Army.