AMANDA BAKER

Nonprofit

Deputy Director at Real Art Ways

“I really needed to get some structured business fundamentals under my belt.”

The unfortunate thing about a degree in the arts is it teaches you everything you need to know about actually performing and doing that art, but it doesn’t teach you business skills. A couple of years ago I started a nonprofit and realized that I really needed to get some structured business fundamentals under my belt.

“There are the numbers-based people, and there are also ‘the poets.’”

It was a friend of mine who suggested that I get my MBA. I thought he was crazy. I mean, I’m a flutist! But he explained to me that in business school, there are the numbers-based people, and there are also “the poets.”

These are the people who are really great at seeing the bigger picture and theoretical concepts. Because they have this creativity, they have this ability to think about things in a less analytical, in-the-box kind of way. It was after that little pep talk that I felt like, okay, I can start to think about this!

“I needed a program that offered me flexibility, but also one that gave me a great education.”

I travel a lot. It’s difficult for me to predict what my life is going to look like six months down the road, so I needed a program that offered me flexibility, but also one that gave me a great education. I’m the “greedy only child.” I wanted it all.

I ran across the MBA@UNC program and I was like, “Perfect! A program from a top-ranked school that is designed in a way that I can complete it almost entirely on my own schedule.” It’s what basically made me say, “Yes, this is the program for me.”

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