Craig Norris
The Paul Merage School of Business, University of California-Irvine
Age: 43
“Husband, father, entrepreneur, and veteran: Mapping new systems designed to unlock boundless human potential.”
Hometown: Irvine, CA
Family Members: Lauren, Riley, and Chloe; Bo and Kobe (canines); Lexi and Astro (felines)
Fun fact about yourself: I once had to free-climb a 40-foot-tall bluff at Crystal Cove with 25 pounds of camera gear on my back because the rising tide made my entry impassable. And, yes, it was worth it.
Undergraduate School and Degree: UC Irvine: BA Philosophy, Minor Political Science
Where are you currently working? Founder and CEO at Muir North Corporation
Extracurricular Activities, Community Work and Leadership Roles: Outside of school, I am passionate about the outdoors – fishing, hiking, golf, landscape photography – just get me outside. In the community I was the go-to fill-in EMBAssador when others couldn’t make it, hosting prospective students’ class visits. I also served as a panelist for the incoming EMBA class’s orientation and helped coordinate a handful of other cohort events.
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? My proudest achievement was leading a team to develop a four-part satirical ad campaign for SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union. Inspired by the mockumentary style of Abbott Elementary, we crafted a dynamic between a seasoned ‘elder-stateswoman’ teacher (Barb) and a novice colleague (Jeanine) to demystify complex financial products the credit union offers to school employees.
The project’s success was cemented when we screened it for our cohort in our final presentation; the spontaneous applause and cheers after each segment proved that we had successfully combined strategic brand positioning with genuine human storytelling – turning a dry academic requirement into a moment of collective relief and entertainment for the class.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? Navigating entrepreneurship can be full of unknowns and surprises, but my experience in the U.S. Coast Guard gave me a professional foundation to “adapt and overcome” in any situation, no matter how challenging. It was an experience that I would recommend to anyone who is unsure where they are headed in their life. Enlisting after graduating high school, traveling across the Pacific Ocean by ship, and working with people from all walks of life from everywhere in the U.S. and beyond was truly the best way to begin adulthood. It taught me skills – trade skills included – that I still use every day.
Who was your favorite MBA professor? This program is full of accomplished professionals who genuinely care about their students’ success. My interests in systems design rooted in data-informed insights led me to Hope Schau, the Gilly Family Endowed Chair in Marketing. Hope’s coursework and mentorship reminded me that, despite beginning my career as a Coast Guard Machinery Technician, I am deeply creative good at placing myself in the consumer’s shoes to design high utility products, services, and experiences. Her way of teaching simplifies marketing concepts and frameworks that unlocked new ways of understanding what makes a marketing campaign convert to sales.
Why did you choose this school’s executive MBA program? As a UC Irvine alumni, the university is the heart of our community, making it an easy choice for that reason alone. Initially applying to the program in 2021, I had the opportunity to see the curriculum and was attracted to the digital transformation emphasis that permeated the coursework in every class. Coming from a technical service background in an industry that was only beginning to leverage data in a meaningful way, I saw this is an opportunity to differentiate myself as a digitally-minded leader. Fast-forward to joining the program in 2024, I had been using generative AI for the year prior, but without a foundational understanding of how it could be leveraged in a precise and consistent way. Professors Gurbaxani, Houldsworth, and Sahota were great stewards in helping me see the potential of these powerful programs.
What is the biggest lesson you gained during your MBA and how did you apply it at work? I learned two related lessons that I’ve brought into my practice. I learned to trust the connections I was making between human behavior and the case studies and readings. At the same time, I learned that working with great teammates is a force multiplier. As entrepreneurs, we often find ourselves thinking about business ideas alone and without input from others who will most certainly have something of value to contribute. My EMBA teammates are multidisciplinary dynamic leaders in supply chain, finance, medicine, and technology, and they brought perspectives that have contributed greatly to my education.
Give us a story during your time as an executive MBA on how you were able to juggle work, family and education? This story doesn’t begin without acknowledging the support of my wife and daughters, the EMBA staff, and my teammates. There were times when each of them picked up the slack in one way or another.
As an entrepreneur, my primary challenge wasn’t a lack of time, but the friction of mental switching costs. My energy is generally focused in a state of perpetual solution finding – constantly scanning for inefficiencies and solving system-level problems.
Early in the program, I realized that sitting down to study required a deliberate gear-shift. I had to learn how to temporarily silence the problem-solver to make room for the learner. I developed a ritual of re-engagement, often getting outdoors to reset my mental state. Whether that meant going for a 30-minute walk to listen to a case study at 1.5x speed, or heading up to the mountains for a weekend without the internet, that’s how I was able to let the curriculum soak in. This cognitive discipline allowed me to bring a more balanced perspective into class discussions.
It also helps to understand and accept that sometimes there is only so much you can do. Being in a cohort with such amazing people – even if you feel you aren’t coming 100% prepared for class – trust that someone there did. Trust that they have a great perspective that maybe you weren’t able to consider and will be able to fill in the gap for you.
What advice would you give to a student looking to enter an executive MBA program? Be ready for class discussions that surface new perspectives and ways of thinking. Having taken electives with other graduate business students, EMBAs bring a combination of work experience and personal insight that will contribute in ways add an incredible amount of value to the experience.
What was your biggest regret in business school? If there was one thing I had to rethink, it would be my engagement with the UC Irvine Alumni Association. I wouldn’t call it a regret, but I certainly would have engaged more, both as an alumni and a student. The good news is, I have a second alumni association I can give back to now.
What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Merage offers a rich curriculum related to AI, business use cases, and intra-company governance. Having real companies come and present about how they are implementing AI-enabled systems helped me better understand how seemingly daunting traditional corporate tasks can be more easily dealt with in a small business.
While my time at business school highlighted AI’s strategic potential, I realized that it is the sole responsibility of the individual business leader to examine the ethical vacuum left by ideologies that prioritize technological determinism over human rights. The Silicon Valley adage “move fast and break stuff” may be suitable for startups when the only thing at risk is the viability of a business idea and founder or investor money. However, current technological development and capabilities have outpaced our ability to adequately protect human rights from the abuses these systems enable.
What was the main reason you chose an executive MBA program over part-time or online alternatives? My learning style necessitates that I be in a classroom environment. I couldn’t imagine that I would get the same level of instruction and interaction with an online cohort. Furthermore, the quality of discussion in an executive program is beyond anything that an online or other part-time program could provide. The Merage School of Business admissions folks know the applicant profile well and do a great job recommending the right program based on work experience.
How did you finance your EMBA and what did you do to make tuition and associated costs more affordable? Scholarship and financing
What is your ultimate long-term professional goal? My ultimate professional goal is to lead the design and implementation of systems that serve as a force multiplier for human agency rather than a replacement for it. Drawing on my background in philosophy and technical systems, I aim to establish a paradigm for “privacy-first” infrastructure that prioritizes data sovereignty and protects the social contract. Whether through Muir North or future ventures, I want to build high-utility systems that unlock boundless human potential while ensuring that ethical oversight remains an inseparable component of the technological lifecycle.
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