By Nathaniel Luce
For Vanderbilt Master of Accountancy (MAcc) student Sarah Felmly, the chance to meet and hear business advice and life lessons from Warren Buffett was an experience she’ll never forget.
Felmly, Vanderbilt MAcc class of 2016, graduated from Furman University in 2015 with a degree in Business Administration and Management. In February, she took a day off from her audit internship at PwC in Washington, D.C., to fly to Omaha, NE, with 16 other students from the Vanderbilt MBA and Master of Science in Finance programs (See pictures from the trip). The trip was the second consecutive year that students from Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management have meet with Warren Buffett.
“Going on a trip like this was an awesome opportunity to network with other students and form some relationships outside of the classroom,” Felmly said.
The highlight of the day was an intimate two-hour Q&A with Mr. Buffett in a small conference room at Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s multinational conglomerate. Buffett answered the students’ questions thoughtfully and thoroughly, Felmly said. In prepping for the trip, Vanderbilt students read and discussed as much as possible about Buffett’s life, work and business practices. Despite all the reading and research, Felmly was surprised by Buffett’s warm personality.
“I wasn’t prepared for Buffett’s earnestness, modesty, and tendency to answer a business question with a life lesson,” Felmly said. “He spoke about his passion to learn, and reading a 1951 Moody’s anthology one security at time.”
He told the group about his family and friends, how he married a woman “much better than him,” and instructed the students to do the same.
While in Omaha, Felmly and her classmates toured the massive showroom of Nebraska Furniture Mart, a subsidiary of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, and learned about the business behind nightly price updates on every item to ensure they are beating their competitors. Then the students gathered with students from six other universities at Berkshire Hathaway’s headquarters and heard from the CEO himself.
“He told us about seizing opportunity, and the famous story of meeting GEICO executive Lorimer Davidson as a student, after banging on the locked front door until a janitor let him in,” Felmly said. “I’m still processing all the information I was able to gather from this experience, and will continue to learn and interpret how I can heed Buffett’s advice.”
Buffett then treated students to lunch at the Field Club of Omaha, volunteering to drive a few Vanderbilt students in his own car (you can see a short clip here).
“I am beyond grateful for the chance to meet Warren Buffett, all made possible by Owen,” Felmly said.
Contact Person: Brett Israel Director, Business News & Communications Vanderbilt University Owen Graduate School of Management
Contact Phone: (615) 322-NEWS
Contact Email: brett.israel@owen.vanderbilt.edu
