Brandon Marchy
University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business
Age: 35
“Passionately committed to empowering others, leading with humility, and creating a more human world, together.”
Hometown: Waterford, California
Family Members: Tom Marchy (Dad), Michele Marchy (Mom), Jordan and Brooke Marchy (Brother and Sister-in-Law)
Fun fact about yourself: My family owned and operated a dairy until I was twenty-two years old. I worked on the dairy and would wake up early to feed the cows and calves before my 8:00 AM Calculus 2 class. I am grateful for that upbringing! While it was tough, working alongside my parents taught me the value of hard work and responsibility.
Undergraduate School and Degree: California State University, Stanislaus; Bachelor of Arts in Political Science
Where are you currently working? Orange County Medical Association, Chief Executive Officer
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: Beta Gamma Sigma Honors Society, Dean’s List 2024 & 2025
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? The capstone is the academic achievement I’m most proud of because it brought everything together in a way that truly clicked for me. It was my defining moment—the point where the lightbulb turned on. Coming into the program with only a basic understanding of subjects like finance, marketing, and operations, I often felt overwhelmed trying to make sense of how it all connected in the real world. But the capstone allowed me to apply what I had learned in a meaningful way. It underscored the value of collaboration—how we go further when we build off each other’s strengths and perspectives. It also taught me the importance of research-driven decision-making and the humility to adjust course when the data points in a new direction.
It was more than just an academic exercise; the capstone showed me how to lead in complexity: listening, learning, and presenting together. It required us to think critically, communicate clearly under pressure (thank you, Tom Chang), and make decisions that balanced competing priorities—skills I now carry into my daily work. Ultimately, it reminded me that leadership is less about having all the answers and more about creating the conditions for a team to thrive.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Prior to relocating to Orange County and running the regional medical association, I worked in politics in Sacramento. I was an advocate on behalf of physicians and their patients. The term “Lobbyist” carries a negative connotation most of the time, and politics can be very transactional and superficial. I was determined not to pursue that strategy and would create genuine relationships with legislators, staff, and other lobbyists built on shared interests, mutual respect, and authentic connections.
As my thirteen years in Sacramento drew to a close in January, I was blessed to have an overwhelming outpouring of support from friends who had become a part of my family. Several legislators pulled me aside and said that while we fought with each other over policy and politics a lot, they appreciated that our relationship was built on more than that and was not just superficial. It proved to me that even though I was a small part of a very large industry and community, I could still be myself, treat people the way I knew was right, and make a difference.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Dave Logan. Dave’s class is where it all came together for me. He was able to demonstrate, in every class, that although you have the best accountants, financiers, and strategists on your team, if you do not value them as people, you will never sustainably be the best! Your culture will decide the direction your organization takes, much more than your strategy ever could. The exercises and guest speakers provided real-time examples of how things went wrong at thriving companies and the actions taken to align the culture with the values and mission statements to get it back on course.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? At my previous organization, I was lucky to have several mentors in the C-Suite who graduated from this program. I worked for one of them as they were in the program, and he shared the lectures with me and would often have our team be a test subject for change based on the education. I recognized that the program would propel them forward in their professional careers and connect them with a network that was collectively rooting for their success. How could I not want to be a part of that?
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? The importance of strategic clarity – the ability to clearly articulate a vision, communicate it effectively, and align stakeholders around it – is essential for driving meaningful, lasting change. The program reinforced the age-old proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” Even more, it reflected that even the best ideas fail without stakeholder and staff buy-in. I am grateful for the new role I have at OCMA. I can apply this lesson by engaging my board of directors one-on-one to create a new path forward and align around a shared vision for our medical association’s future. The goal is a more unified vision, collaborative decision-making, a sharper focus on physician advocacy, and measurable increases in member engagement and policy impact.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? My family is very large, but a tight-knit unit! We are there for each other from the small things like monthly dinners and holidays to births, weddings, and memorial services. Everyone in the program has a demanding job and other responsibilities. I am forever thankful for my study group; We’ll Figure it Out (WFIO). Joe, Kara, Michelle, Rahmeen, Will, Amit, Rick, Desmond, and Jeremy stepped in on every occasion! It was a fundamental principle in our group that we needed to be at those important events outside of class! We communicated and stepped in for each other. When my brother proposed to his girlfriend, I wanted to be there for it all (even if the wedding was in one of the toughest themes we would have). When my Great-Aunt passed, my team was not just there to comfort me; they helped with class notes and helped me study for the exam we had the following Tuesday. Like most things in life, teamwork makes the dream work, and we had a great team!
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Be humble and curious. Be open to unlearning, relearning, and being wrong. That’s where the magic happens. Sharpen skills you already have to utilize more information and tactics in real time and in an ever-changing environment. If you truly let your curiosity run wild, you will find a new energy that will motivate you and propel you to accomplish even greater things. And it goes by fast—too fast—but it will change your life in ways you cannot imagine. The EMBA journey is not just about attaining new skills and knowledge. It’s about becoming the leader you were meant to be.
What was your biggest regret in business school? My biggest regret was not realizing early on that the power of the program came from my colleagues in the room with me! My cohort was…stubborn, in the sense that we were determined to learn about and discuss topics which were relevant or interesting to us. They were the most genuine, curious, and brilliant people I’ve ever met. The best courses were often the ones where the professor facilitated the discussion, and we learned from each other. I would develop deeper relationships with more of my classmates sooner by spending time outside class to learn their stories, to understand them, and to learn from them – because they are masters of their field in their own right.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Cara Esposito. As part of the first week in the program, Cara and I were assigned to get to know each other and report out to the group about the person we had just met. I have been obsessed, quite frankly, and an admirer of hers since then. She has been an attorney, a catalyst for policy changes, and runs an amazing foundation that impacts the lives of thousands. But that was not enough for her. She joined the EMBA program because she wanted to master how to make an impact that is lasting and how to use corporate and business interests to effectuate even greater change for everyone. She is professional, kind, charismatic, prepared, intelligent, and a loyal friend who has made a lasting impression and has motivated me to succeed and use what I have to help people.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? The executive program immediately spoke to me. I wanted to be around people who were driven and in a similar situation as I was. I loved the practical aspect of the course material and the realistic approach taken by the professors when they taught their courses. It was not only about regurgitating facts or understanding the nuances of debits and credits in accounting. The EMBA program offered a real-world perspective with aspiring leaders interested in practical knowledge and skills in which I tend to thrive. There are many theories in politics, and they are helpful, but politics is more than theories. It is practical and has a real-life impact. That is what drew me to USC’s EMBA program over the others.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? I aim to hold a position in an organization, company, or entity that allows me to do right by people and build bridges. That allows me to connect people with similar values, skills, or experiences and enable them to share information and build together to form a better tomorrow for actual people. There’s a lot of noise out there right now—so many voices trying to tell us what’s best and acting like they have our best interests at heart. I want to be in a place that can make tangible differences in people’s lives. Currently, as CEO of the Orange County Medical Association, I get to be part of health care solutions that mean more coverage, better treatment, and lives saved for my community. In this role, I work with physicians, patients, hospitals, the Board of Supervisors, and other community organizations to treat people with respect and recognize they are worthy of the same dignity as I am.
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