MBA Degree Transformed Restaurant Exec's Life

Renée Underwood, EMBA 2007, knew that enrolling in The University of Texas at Dallas School of Management’s Executive MBA Program would enhance her career; she just didn’t realize it would change her life.

“By the end of orientation, I could already feel the beginning of a totally new mind-set,” she says. “Things happened every weekend that continued to change my perspective, week after week.”

Ms. Underwood began classes in September 2005 and graduated in May 2007. Along the way, a funny thing happened.

“The summer [2006] semester was pretty intense,” she says. “We had a very challenging entrepreneurship course. I had never even thought about running my own business, but that course made me realize that I had spent my whole career making money for other people. Now, I wanted to use what I’d learned to make money for myself.”

She took a leave of absence from her job to re-evaluate her priorities. She also took full advantage of the program’s unique executive coaching opportunity.

“Before I knew it, I was talking to [executives from the restaurant chain] Abuelo’s and negotiating an equity position in the company.”

Today, she is vice president of marketing for Food Concepts International, Abuelo’s parent company.

“It wasn’t just an education, it was a transformation,” she says. “It made me realize I’m the driver for my own career.”