MBA Statement of Purpose:
BYU Marriott School of Business
A successful CEO once said, speaking to one of his employees and standing in front of his new Porsche, “You know, I got this car from working hard, and if you work just as hard, put in all your hours, and strive for excellence, then I will get another one next year.”
When I first heard this joke years ago, my response was not so much laughter as it was motivation. I wanted to become the CEO of my own a business in which hundreds of employees put in thousands of hours to grow my company and provide me with a very wealthy lifestyle.
Then I entered the workforce and found myself in the role of the employee. Today, my desire to be the CEO has not changed, but my inspiration behind that goal is drastically different. Embracing the employee role over the last five years, I have come to learn very intimately that while I still want to run a business, I want to do it to lift and build the ones who actually make the business work.
I want to be the successful CEO who says to his employee, “How is your family doing? We need to get you a new car, let’s go set goals for this year and see what we can make happen together.” Receiving an MBA from a faith-based institution with the values BYU lives by will undoubtedly lead to this desire becoming a reality.
The most recent three years of my work experience have been filled with wonderful opportunities and challenges. After one year of assisting in growing partners like Wal-Mart and Overstock as a lower-level sales administrator in a small but rapidly growing company, I was quickly promoted to regional sales manager with the responsibility of taking over all operations in Europe. This was an amazing work and cultural experience for both my wife and me.
My responsibilities in Europe stretched me greatly. I soon found that the new skills needed to grow the business in that region were so diverse and varied from what I had learned managing accounts in the United States. Ranging from needing to establish warehousing facilities to negotiating contracts and determining which products would appeal to several new markets, I found myself wearing many hats.
All these new considerations were exacerbated by the necessity to also understand the cultures and nuances of communicating with buyers of major retailers in Germany and France whose native languages were completely unknown to me. Although gaining a bachelor’s degree in Entrepreneurship has given me deep insight into creating new business opportunities and improving existing business efficiencies, nothing can compare to the real-world experiences I acquired on my assignment in England.
MBA student Ryan Price explains how he put his MBA application essay together, what types of MBA essay questions to expect, and how to communicate your personal brand
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During the company’s first year operating in Europe (the year before I assumed the role), the region had a single partner, and the annual revenue was about $150 thousand. Clearly, the company would need more dedicated and local efforts if Europe was to become a significant branch of the business. My first year in the role, I secured two more major retailers and finished with $1.2 million in sales.
At the end of 2019, just before I left the company to pursue admission into BYU’s MBA program, our London office had increased by four more employees and we had onboarded another eight big-name retailers which brought our sales to $4 million. This was accomplished amid the cultural intricacies that exist even in the ecommerce market.
One of those intricacies that I adapted to was that Europeans are much more traditional and slower to adopt the online shopping concept, particularly for bigger ticket items like furniture. This required careful efforts to work closely with my supply chain team to keep inventory at optimal levels for profitability.
Since the challenges faced overseas were decidedly different in many cases from what we had been used to seeing in the U.S., my pattern for success was to actively listen to my British colleagues to gain their perspective, plug in concepts that made the company successful in the U.S. during its previous 10 years, and bridge the gap between the two continents. Following this process allowed for proven techniques to be tailored to the unique circumstances that prevailed in Europe. As a result, we consistently grew an average of 350% during my time as the regional sales manager for Europe.
In order to illustrate what I will bring to the BYU MBA program, I would like to borrow the words of my previous company’s Vice President of Sales when he told me, “You bring out the best in others.” Projects, teams, and companies fail when a dictator takes over. Collaboration, humility, respect, and confidence of each team member are non-negotiable elements to a successful business, and that is a philosophy I have internalized.
I truly enjoy working in positive environments and I feel like I can create those environments. Everyone should have a voice and should feel comfortable using that voice for the betterment of the team.
I am also eager for the opportunity to have access to the vast wealth of resources offered by the program itself. I mentioned that I want to be an employee’s CEO. I want to be the leader that people want to work with. From my point of view, this is what BYU teaches its students. Being a leader in business requires acute understanding of business generally, something that BYU clearly gives to its students as evidenced by its globally lauded academic status.
But even more than that, being a leader requires empathy, faith, and charity, among countless other traits. Without question, BYU is the foremost university at helping its students acquire these immensely important qualities in a business setting. Ultimately, my career goal is to successfully launch, run, and sell my own company or companies. But along the way, my true passion is to be able to attain an ability to provide meaningful and impactful help to those that join me on the journey.
Nothing would make me happier from a career perspective than to give employees a job that they love. To give them a place they can come each day and not get the “Sunday night stomach ache” thinking about having to go to work the next day. I want to give them back what they deserve, which is more than just a paycheck.
When I graduate from the BYU MBA program in the spring of 2023, I anticipate leaving with all the tools necessary to build, lift, improve, grow, and succeed. I believe I have the experience, acumen, and character to be admitted, but I do not yet have the tools to become the leader that can give those future employees what they deserve.
That is why I am applying to this program. This program is the key to my becoming the future business leader that betters the lives of each employee that walks through the doors. I look forward to the opportunity to call myself a candidate for a Master of Business Administration from BYU.
Read the BusinessBecause MBA Essay Guide 2023: How To Write A Successful Application Essay
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