May 16, 2007
Class of 2007 Reflects on McCombs
Experience
and Shares Future Plans
- BBA '07: Tim Hamilton
- BBA '06: Jasmine Liang
- BBA '07: Amelia Rey-Shannon
- MPA '07: Sherry Ma
- MBA '07: Shawn Beebe
- MBA '07: Adam Miner
- MBA '07: Michele “Mike” Raviscioni
Tim Hamilton, BBA '07
Tim Hamilton was born an entrepreneur. After moving to the U.S.
from South Africa when he was eight years old, he began teaching his
neighbors word processing systems and budgeting on Excel. By 14, he
was developing marketing materials and Web sites for local tennis
tournaments. Two years later, in 2000, Hamilton got a sole
proprietorship and started his own company.
How did he accomplish these things at such a young age? Hamilton is
a self-taught man.
“The best way to learn is just to jump in and do it,” says Hamilton,
whose company, Astonish Designs, has grown into a four-person
graphic design and Web development business with an office in
downtown Austin.
Now 23, Hamilton credits his success to self-discipline. In high
school, he spent his lunch hours in the library reading Adobe
Photoshop tutorials so he could come home and build his design
portfolio.
When his tennis coach asked him to develop a Web site in one week,
Hamilton (who had no experience in the area) dashed to Barnes & Noble, bought a book called “Teach Yourself HTML in 24 Hours,” and
spent eight hours a day working on the Web site until it was
complete. Soon after, Hamilton—eager to learn more about Web
development—started Astonish Designs.
“I really wanted to create a context to learn,” Hamilton says. “But
I didn’t have a green card and was too young to be employed, so I
started my own company.”
Hamilton, who goes to school full time and works between 50 and 60
hours a week, says he learned most of his skills through trial and
error. But he credits McCombs Management Lecturer Mihran Aroian for
teaching him how to manage employees.
“I’d never been managed by others, and I’d never had to manage
people,” Hamilton explains. “The challenge is to create a framework
and boundaries for relationships to ensure that the relationships
are productive.”
Hamilton hopes that by creating a framework for his employees, he
will eventually be able to leave Astonish Designs in search of his
next challenge. He would like to get into real estate and is currently
looking at land with an investor to build a town home development.
But holding true to his past, he doesn’t plan to go back to school
to learn about the real estate business.
“I think the best way to learn is to get it wrong,” Hamilton says.
“Looking back, I couldn’t have done it any other way.” — Andrea
Ferdinand
As a McCombs business honors student, Jasmine Liang wanted to
break free from her comfort zone at The University of Texas at
Austin and explore the Japanese culture and language. By the time
graduation rolled around, Liang was a double-major in Japanese and
marketing and had positioned herself to take on a full-time
international assignment in Tokyo with IBM.
It all started with a year of study at Sophia University in Tokyo.
While learning the language and the culture, Liang took on a
leadership role at her adopted university, organizing a forum for 70
Chinese and Japanese students from six universities to discuss
cultural differences and their business implications.
As she says, she wanted to give back to the university and community
that nurtured and supported her as an exchange student.
“It was an unprecedented effort at the university,” Liang recalls.
“I spoke the least amount of Japanese but still somehow managed
meetings in Japanese and English.”
After graduating in December 2006 and completing an internal audit
internship with IBM, Liang was offered a full-time position with the
company. Wanting to expand her experience abroad, Liang asked her
manager if the company had any openings in Asia.
To Liang’s surprise, her manager told her of an internal audit
opportunity in Japan. Liang applied and was offered the position.
After working only a few months in Japan, Liang has gained
significant international work experience.
“It has been a challenging and fulfilling experience,” Liang says.
Liang’s experience at the McCombs School and abroad not only helped
her land a job, but also gave her the resources to excel in her new
career.
“Nine out of ten interviewers were intrigued by my study abroad
experience during interviews,” she said. “The ability to speak the
language and having lived in Japan were probably the main reasons
why I was offered such an amazing opportunity.”
Liang will spend the next 15 months in Japan. Once her current
assignment ends, she plans to use her skills and international
experience to advance to a managerial position within IBM. — Andrea
Ferdinand
Amelia Rey-Shannon can summarize her country of birth and her
family with four simple words: Food is our life. Born in
cuisine-loving France to French parents—both chefs—her childhood was
spent in Australia while her mother and father continued their
careers in the kitchen as owners of a food service company. Her
sister also became a chef.
Growing up, Rey-Shannon worked in the biz as well, but she was
steadfast in not wanting to make a career out of it. “I watched how
hard my parents worked, and I said I’d never own a restaurant,” she
says.
Yet Rey-Shannon did just that. In 1995, she and her husband, Jon
Shannon, were asked by an investor to move to Austin from Houston to
help launch and be co-owners in a new restaurant venture. The couple
opened the original Austin Java on 12th Street and Lamar.
Soon she was putting in the same type of grueling hours her parents
did. For five years, the couple managed Austin Java. Along with the
heavy workload, however, Rey-Shannon learned a lot about running a
business, all without the benefit of any formal training. In 2000,
the couple needed a break, so they sold their stake in the
company.
“We got rich on experience,” Rey-Shannon jokes.
After working for a small furniture-importing company, Rey-Shannon
took a breather from the business world entirely and got an
administrative job at The University of Texas at Austin.
“It was the first time I had ever been on a college campus,” she
says. Being around the students and the academic world changed her
perspective. “I got the confidence that I could do this,” she says.
At the age of 31, Rey-Shannon enrolled at Austin Community College.
A year later, with a 3.9 grade point average, she transferred into
the McCombs School of Business. “I was always looking to go to
McCombs,” she says.
This year, Rey-Shannon will graduate with a BBA in supply chain
management. She said her education at McCombs has been a great
complement to what she learned in her earlier business life. Core
classes like finance and accounting were especially helpful.
“As difficult as they were, they helped me not to be intimidated by
other parts of business,” she says. “I may not want to do my own
accounting in the future, but I now know enough to know the type of
person I’d want to hire.”
She hasn’t yet determined what type of business to be a part of
after graduation. Though one thing is certain—it won’t be the
restaurant business. “My husband and I have a pact,” she explains.
“If one of us suggests a restaurant, the other is allowed to slap
them.” — Rob Meyer
Sherry Ma, MPA '07
Sherry Ma is no ordinary accounting student. She’s also a
romance novelist. Her first novel, “Schemes of Love,” was accepted
for publication last summer—about the same time she began the Master
in Professional Accounting program at McCombs.
She never planned to be a writer, or an accountant for that matter.
In 1997, after reading a library book she deemed “the worst-written
book ever,” Ma was pretty sure she could do better. Writing under
her married name, Sherry Thomas, she finished her first book in 2000
and began querying agents.
“It was soundly rejected,” Ma laughs. “One agent did say I had
talent, but as it stood, the book just wouldn’t fly.”
Rather than undertaking a revision, Ma decided to send in a second
novel she was working on. But that one didn’t sell, either. By
summer 2005, Sherry had submitted three more manuscripts that were
also nixed. With two children in grade school and no book contract
on the horizon, Ma felt it was time to put down her pen and look for
a more lucrative career.
About that time Enron was writing a complex tale of its own, a
misadventure involving power plays, deception and dishonor. News
coverage of the scandal introduced Ma to the world of forensic
accountants, who combine accounting, auditing and investigative
skills as they assist in disputes and litigation. With her keen eye
for details, Ma could envision herself in that role.
She was familiar with the Texas MPA program and sailed through
the admissions process with a perfect GMAT score and a B.S. in
economics from Louisiana State University (with a 4.0 undergraduate
GPA, no less).
“Then, inexplicably, my very first manuscript called to me from
its dusty box,” Ma says. Taking the original premise, she embarked
on a total rewrite. In June 2006, Ma made a last-ditch effort and
submitted it to a new agent.
Ten days after entering summer school last July, “Schemes of Love”
sold to Bantam/Dell, a division of Random House, in a two-book
contract with an option on a third. Her second book was due April 1,
so Ma’s school year has been a blur of studying, writing and family
life. One highlight was winning the prestigious Harrington
Fellowship from the university last October.
Graduation will bring a much-needed hiatus.
“This year has been so crazy, I will probably take a year off
just to write,” she says. Then she intends to pick up where she left
off in anticipation of sitting for the CPA exam. She says she is
looking forward to the stability of a job in accounting that will
offset the more tenuous aspects of being a writer.
And so Ma’s double life continues. But don’t belabor the obvious
dichotomy between accounting and historical romance novels—she’s
ready for that: “Just wait until you hear about the futuristic
science fiction romance I’m planning,” she laughs.
Ma will graduate with her Master in Professional Accounting in
August 2007 and “Schemes of Love” will hit bookstore shelves this
fall. — Dorothy
Brady
Shawn Beebe doesn’t think of himself as exemplary. He’s just too
stubborn to quit something once he’s started.
In addition to working full time as a project manger for Applied
Materials, Beebe is also a student in the Texas Evening MBA program,
a three-year program designed for working professionals at the
McCombs School of Business. While many students in this program have
their hands full with a full-time job, classes and family, Beebe has
an additional responsibility to balance—he manages his own business,
a beef cattle ranch in Beaukiss, Texas.
“What amazes me the most is that people never stop to consider the
family farm or ranch as a business,” he says. “In my capacity as
owner, I am responsible for profits and losses, vendor and supplier
selections and negotiations, logistics coordination, sales,
training, maintenance and operations scheduling—basically overall
management of my farm. It is another full-time job.”
While the Texas Evening MBA program is very demanding of Beebe’s
already scarce free time, he manages to stay on top of his many
tasks by conducting conference calls during his two-hour commute to
and from work and by designating time for his schoolwork.
“On school nights, I usually don’t get home until 11 p.m. or later,
and there is always something in need of attention,” he explains. “I
reserve early mornings and late nights to get anything done for
school since the house is quiet, and I am not so tempted to go
outside and work on the ranch chores.”
Beebe—who grew up on an Arkansas ranch with beef cattle, milk cows,
chickens, dogs, cats and several horses—has always been quite
disciplined.
Prior to starting his own ranch in 2001, he spent nine years in the
military—four years at West Point and five as a commissioned officer
traveling all over the world.
And though his military background surely helps him stay focused, he
says spending as much time as possible each day with his wife and
their animals is what truly keeps him sane.
“I find that at the end of the day, this gives me the strength and
perspective I need to continue,” he says. “The cows and horses don’t
care about what happened at work or school, and that helps me relax
and release a lot of the anxieties and pressures that build up.”
Beebe is already searching for his next great opportunity. After
graduating in May, he hopes to land a senior management position in
the financial industry.
“The Texas Evening MBA program reinforced my strongest skills and
traits while helping me develop skills to overcome my weaknesses,”
he says. “I feel that I am in a superior position to compete against
anyone for current job opportunities and quite possibly to start my
own non-ranching business.”
While he wants to take a couple of months off in the summer to
recuperate from the past two-and-a-half years of working, ranching
and taking classes, his hiatus won’t last long. He is already
considering expanding his ranching activities. Call him what you
like—stubborn or exemplary—but Beebe refuses to turn down a
challenge. — Andrea Ferdinand
Adam Miner, MBA '07
Adam Miner, MBA ’07, says working in the sports industry is his
dream, but it’s not about the glamour or fame.
“You have to be willing to put your nose to the grindstone and work
through the business issues in the sports industry,” he says. “It’s
not just about understanding the teams and their players. It’s about
marketing, sales and how a team operates its business from a
financial perspective.”
Miner’s interest in sports management began in 2002 when he became
president and head coach of the Irvine Youth Lacrosse Program in
Irvine, Calif. The growth of that sport over the past decade “really
sparked a curiosity in developing sports, connecting with fans and
growing sports from a business standpoint,” he says. As the
president, Miner established the program as a nonprofit organization
and began managing the team’s first budget.
At the same time, his full-time job with Deloitte & Touche gave him
the opportunity to work on the Major League Baseball Authentication
Team. He collaborated with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to
witness and authenticate game-used and autographed merchandise, as
well as coordinate events and product delivery with MLB.
After three years of getting a glimpse at what working in the sports
industry could be like, he decided it was time to get a leg up. He
sought an MBA “because it was an opportunity to explore sports as a
career,” he says, thinking pragmatically. “If it didn’t work out I’d
have a more valuable degree.”
He set his sights on McCombs—and only McCombs—for several reasons.
“It seemed like the right fit for my personality,” he says. “Its
focus on teamwork and leadership appealed to me and the type of
manager I wanted to be.” The head coach of the Longhorn lacrosse
team was also interested in Miner’s coaching assistance.
But the biggest thing that attracted him to the school was the MBA
Plus Program, which would allow him to work directly on
semester-long consulting projects for big name companies outside of
the classroom.
“The support from the school to explore your dreams was a good
opportunity for me to experiment with little risk,” Miner says. As
captain of the Major League Lacrosse Plus project team, Miner
utilized his experience at Deloitte to help create a marketing plan
to expand and sell authenticated merchandise for MLL. The league’s
online merchandise revenue doubled within a year.
In addition, Miner worked on three other sports-related Plus teams,
tackling projects with ESPN, the San Diego Padres, and Capital
Sports and Entertainment.
Miner says the major benefit of Plus has been gaining exposure to
the industry and its people. “The people I have met through the
projects in the industry are very appreciative of the effort put
forth,” he says. “Making contacts that have seen you perform in a
professional environment is invaluable.”
He also believes that understanding the industry’s pain points and
having worked on solutions for them puts him ahead of others
interested in the field. Last summer, he landed an internship with
AEG Worldwide, a Los Angeles-based, sports, real estate and
entertainment management company. And after graduation from the
full-time MBA program this month,
Miner’s goal is to gain employment as a general manager or a
director of marketing or finance for a major sports team.
For now, he’s still searching for the dream job that will let him
fully address some of the industry’s biggest challenges
— and experience a few of the perks that come with it. “If you’re a
true fan, walking around a stadium with credentials is really
cool.” — Sandie Taylor
Michele “Mike” Raviscioni, MBA '07
Michele “Mike” Raviscioni’s busy business school schedule has
paid off. After graduating from the McCombs
School’s Houston MBA program in May, Raviscioni will begin working as an
associate with the prestigious management consulting firm McKinsey &
Co.
The native Italian will move to Belgium in June to focus on
pharmaceutical consulting, which will utilize both his M.S. and Ph.D.
degrees in pharmaceutical biotechnology and his McCombs-honed
business acumen.
“I see McKinsey as a springboard for my future career,” says
Raviscioni who worked full time at Rice University’s Office of
Technology Commercialization while earning his MBA from McCombs. In
his position at Rice, he worked with startups and investors wanting
to commercialize their biotechnology portfolios.
Raviscioni says he was able to balance the twin demands of work
and school because he was passionate about the process. He found the
motivation to be disciplined and well-organized.
“I learned that if you want to do something by a certain time,
you must plan for it and stick to that plan or you will find
constant excuses not to get it done,” he says.
Prior to enrolling at McCombs, Raviscioni worked in biomedical
research and says he was always attracted to the more applied sides
of science, such as drug discovery.
“I always wanted to do something that would make a difference in
the real world rather than the theoretical,” he says. “I originally
pursued science because it fascinated me. It can unlock aspects of
understanding the rules of nature, which can improve the quality of
people’s lives.”
Completing his transition away from lab work, Raviscioni will
now focus on the commercial side of science.
“(Getting) an MBA was a good way for me to learn the language of
business and industry to relate to them in a way that could leverage
my science background,” he says.
Raviscioni says one of the best parts of his McCombs education
was learning from the professional and personal experience his
classmates brought to discussions. Unlike most of his fellow MBAs,
Raviscioni had very little business knowledge when he started the
program.
“When I enrolled I knew nothing about economics and finance,” he
says. “I think I learned more than the average MBA with a business
background because every class was a revelation to me.” — Chantelle Wallace
For information on specific programs at the McCombs School, consult our contacts page. For media information, contact the Communications Director by phone at 512-471-3314 or by email at CommunicationsDirector@mccombs.utexas.edu.
