Katie Anderson
Arizona State University, W. P. Carey School of Business
Age: 38
“I am perpetually curious, a loyal friend/sister/daughter, and devoted to kindness above all.”
Hometown: Chandler, Arizona
Family Members: I spend a lot of time with my parents, brother, and adorable nephew. And my 9-year-old shar-pei/boxer mix, Kona, keeps me sane.
Fun fact about yourself: I was born on Thanksgiving and get to share my birthday with turkey day every 7 years!
Undergraduate School and Degree:
Undergraduate: Texas Christian University (BS Political Science, 2009)
Graduate: Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law (JD, 2012)
Where are you currently working? General Counsel at Mosaic Building Group
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: Currently, I’m very involved in my local political party and my sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. Through this, I have received awards such as ADPi Alumnae Volunteer of the Year.
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? I am most proud of the grades I got during school. I know that grades are not the priority in graduate school but they are, nonetheless, an indicator of success. Especially in a program that is centered around group work and learning from your peers, my grades are a reflection of my ability to work effectively with others so we can push each other to excel. Ultimately, my GPA is a numerical representation of my connection with my cohort.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? In my professional career, there’s not one specific achievement that sticks out to me. Instead, I am most proud of my resilience and ability to pivot throughout my career. I have been able to carve a path from government legal work, to the top of the ladder as a partner at a law firm, and now to the top legal job in-house. This winding road required intelligence, ambition, and a strong belief in myself.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? While I truly enjoyed all of my professors, Jon Bundy sticks out as the one that made the most impact on me. It’s not surprising that I loved Jon’s public policy class and the traveling practicums given by twin loves of politics and travel. But what sets Jon apart is his ability to walk the tight rope of being both a peer and a professor. I imagine it can be difficult to teach students who are generally your same age, but he was able to impart knowledge while also making the effort to learn from us.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? I chose ASU because I was seeking a highly-respected program that would also allow me to expand my personal and professional network. Having recently moved back to Arizona, I felt my local connections were underdeveloped. ASU’s executive MBA program stood out as the ideal opportunity to meet like-minded, driven individuals and build a strong network within the Arizona business community.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? The most critical lesson I learned during my time in the EMBA program is that people skills are the future of work. Of course, accounting, finance, and other quant skills are important, but to truly succeed in your career at the highest levels, you need exceptional people skills and a high EQ. Especially with the advent of AI, it will become more important than ever to develop the skills that AI never can. I have incorporated this learning in my work by leaning into my role as the executive who is charged with developing our people strategy. I am in a position to make a positive impact by incorporating what I have learned about leadership, mentorship, and effectively exercising soft skills into the DNA of my company.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? The first semester of my executive MBA was very challenging for me as I was undergoing a major restructuring at work that required long work days and was simultaneously taking two very quantitative-heavy courses that required a lot of mathematical muscles I was not used to flexing. To be honest, I came very close to putting my EMBA on hold. However, I spoke with my family and friends and made the decision to push through. There wasn’t any trick to getting through this time, it was just pure stubbornness and the support of my loved ones.
Which MBA classmate do you most admire? I really admire my classmate, Katy Harkins, on numerous levels. On a personal level, she is that friend WHO reaches out just to see how you’re doing and will help organize a birthday party for you just so that you feel special. On a professional level, I am amazed by the way that she thinks. She is a true creative and is able to approach problems from a perspective that is wildly different from my own. Through my relationship with Katy, she has taught me to think outside of the box and be more creative in my approach. She also makes one heck of a slide deck!
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? I chose an in-person Executive MBA program because I really wanted to make in-person connections with people at similar stages in their career as me. I knew that I could learn a lot of the actual material through self-study or online resources, but the connections with people would only be possible with this type of program. I also knew that being in a full-time, in-person program would force me to prioritize school in my life and prevent me from pushing it down the long list of competing obligations.
How did you finance your EMBA and what did you do to make tuition and associated costs more affordable? I utilized federal student loans to pay for my executive MBA costs. While there wasn’t necessarily a specific trick I used to make it more affordable, I was able to find a high yield savings account that offered a higher interest rate than the interest rate on my loans. So I was able to find an arbitrage that worked in my favor.
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? If you had asked me at the beginning of the Executive MBA program, I would have said my goal was to be General Counsel of my company. I was able to achieve that during the program, so I am now in the midst of pivoting. At the moment, I am leaning towards a total career shift into public service. I have always wanted to be in the foreign service and am now taking the initial steps towards making that a reality. I really credit the EMBA program and my cohort with giving me the clarity and courage I needed to take that leap!
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