Ashley Bruno
The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business
Age: 38
“I am a go-getter who loves a challenge and strives for excellence in all endeavors.”
Hometown: Clifton Park, NY
Family Members: Father: Rocky Bruno, Mother: Julie Naglieri, Sister: Amy McDonald and Jillian LeJeune, Brother: Joseph Naglieri, Step-father: Tony Naglieri
Fun fact about yourself: Division I rower at Northeastern University
Undergraduate School and Degree: Northeastern University, BS in Sociology
Where are you currently working? Director of Revenue Operations at Data.World (HQ in Austin, TX)
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: Graduate Business Council (Social Chair for EMBA Class of ’24), Member of GWIB (Graduate Women In Business), Member of LPGA Amateurs (all-female golf association)
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of my capstone project to help the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Dallas, which provided a change plan for the enhancement of their CRM system to allow them for the optimization of their fundraising efforts. This project will enable them to better track the fundraising activities and optimize their outreach efforts to increase donations by not letting prior donors lapse with annual donations.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? I am most proud of the leap I made from Sales to Sales Operations. While I was a mildly successful sales person, I realized that, while I love sales and anything related to generating revenue and making a company grow, I was never going to be an outstanding sales person. When a position in my company’s sales operations department opened up, I took what some saw as a step back in my career to shift into the operational side of sales and revenue generation. It was this leap of faith that led to me really finding my calling as someone who can implement the strategies behind a revenue team that make a larger impact than I would have ever had as an individual contributor.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? My favorite MBA professor was Eric Bickel. Professor Bickel brought business analysis and decision making to life with a real-world case that he used throughout the class. Not only was it incredibly engaging, but it also allowed students to care about the outcome and absorb the content in a much better way than it would have in a standard lecture scenario.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I moved to Austin a few years before making the formal decision to get my MBA. When I decided to go back to school it was the natural choice. It not only a top program, but it provided me the chance to be a Longhorn!
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? The biggest lesson I gained during my MBA is not necessarily from any one class, but from the amalgamation of the entirety of my coursework. It’s that to understand a business in its entirety, you cannot just look at a single piece of the business, you must look at all parts from finance, to marketing, to product, to org structure, and company culture.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? Sadly, my mother passed away in the late stages of getting my executive MBA. This led to a time of true hardship as I was (and still am) grieving her loss. All the while, I had work and school responsibilities to attend to. During this time, my EMBA study group rallied around me and made sure that they supported me in any way they could, including taking on additional portions of my work in our last group project together. It was with this immense show of support that I took away that not only are your responsibilities important, but the relationships you’ve built along the way will help get you through the tough times. This proved to be the case in my situation and I owe each of them and McCombs itself a huge gratitude as I would not have been able to complete my work without them.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? My advice would be to do it! It has been the single biggest investment I’ve made in myself and has also been the single most rewarding experience I’ve been through. In addition to the wealth of knowledge I’ve gained through the program, I’ve also built an incredible network with amazing people that I will stay in touch with for life.
What was your biggest regret in business school? I should have spent a bit more time connecting with folks outside of my study group between class weekends. While there were always social events that I attended each class weekend, I could have done a better job of meeting up with folks outside of class weekends. This is something I aim to do now that we’re graduating and have a bit more free time on our hands.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I admire Ann Dragovits the most. Ann is a marketing genius and carries herself with such poise and professionalism that it’s enviable. She is always caught up on school work and has intelligent and thoughtful opinions about all topics. She’s an amazing woman that anyone would admire.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? The main reason I chose the Executive MBA program is two-fold:
1. It was because the time commitment while I am juggling work was more desirable to be there just one weekend per month.
2. It was because of the years of work experience I had prior to entering the program. I wanted to be in a class with peers who had the same level of experience I do. I felt that I could more closely associate with folks who are at a similar level in their careers and have similar aspirations as I do so that we could learn from each others’ experiences on a higher level.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I aim to be a Chief Operating Officer or Chief Revenue Officer at a growth company where I can make an impactful difference in the growth trajectory of the company.
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