As an African American woman CEO and working mother – in information technology, an area heavily dominated by men - Holbrook understands the weight of her words. One thing she’s learned is that “companies and clients are really all about people.”

Ava Cyruli ’22 needed an outlet to fill the void left by stepping away from her dancing career, so she turned to weightlifting. Now, she’s sharing what she’s learned along the way with thousands of people online.

The Master of Science in Business and Management program felt like the best foundation for me to gain more business knowledge, while also easing back into talking to people face to face in a professional way again. I would have been too nervous about doing that if I’d chosen to work right after getting my bachelor’s degree.

“I let things happen and the jobs came to me. I did not seek them,” that’s what Richard O’Neill says about his path to success.

Most successful people wake up no later than 6 a.m. and Long Jiang is no exception.  He usually wakes up at 5:30, works out for 45 minutes then heads to his office. Jiang is CEO of Goertek, one of the largest China based companies in the world that designs and manufactures smart devices.

My Smith education has been an exceptional resource for me throughout my career. Smith is essential to enhancing soft skills as much as imparting core curriculum. Classes like business strategy and negotiations have been extremely important to my career as a management consultant, and then later as an entrepreneur.

I consider the education I received from the brilliant professors at Smith to be the most precious gift and valuable resource that has propelled my career forward all these years.

The Smith MBA program gave me the flexibility to get a degree without specialization. My focus had been finance and strategy, but as I worked at different roles within banking, the advanced courses in accounting and marketing that I’d taken in earlier semesters really helped.

My professors at Maryland Smith have been my most valuable career resource. I could reach out to them for advice, coaching and feedback. My favorite professor is Dr. Liao Hui, who I could easily talk to about my thoughts and bold ideas.

After graduating from Smith I met several Smith alumni, both in the U.S. and China. Some of them helped me with work issues, some offered me jobs and still others connected me with business opportunities. There is a natural trust among Smith alumni. I’ve been amazed by how much the Smith Alumni Network has grown in China.