For five years, Flozelle Roberts worked as an engineer on the design of water and sewage systems in the New Orleans area. While she found her career both challenging and rewarding, she says, “I often also found myself more interested in the management of projects and personnel than in the completion of the design.”

She had  reached a point in her career where she faced roadblocks — in the form of business acumen she lacked — to reaching a higher level of management.

Thinking like an engineer, Flozelle had mapped out an approach toward the next phase of her career. “I arrived at Owen thinking I knew the career path that I would take,” she explains. “Since matriculating here, I learned of the many different paths that my career can take. Owen has given me insight into these paths and the ways in which my skills fit.”

Along the way, Flozelle immersed herself during her first year in a wide range of student organizations, from the Strategy & Consulting Club and Operations Management Club to the Owen Black Student Association, the Women’s Business Association, the Christian Business Association, Project Pyramid and 100% Owen. 

She says she has benefited from being a part of all of them. But she particularly values the support she found through her colleagues in the Women’s Business Association. “There is always someone with whom I can connect and chat about the goings-on with classes and life in general,” she says. “Our support for each other begins in the classroom, where we encourage each other continually to participate in class discussions. Being here with this remarkable group of women, I am able to build the foundation for my support network that I will need post-graduation.”