Monica Perkins forged a strong early career, first in investment banking with Credit Suisse, and then in the consulting space with The Topline Strategy Group. She says it was a difficult decision to leave an environment she loved and return to school.

“Ultimately,” she explains, “I went through a process of reviewing where I was, the trajectory I was on, and how that aligned with my long-term career vision.” She concluded that she wanted to pursue opportunities in industries she was passionate about, such as travel/tourism and wellness. She also believed that taking specific business classes in strategy and operations would equip her with the toolset she needed to accelerate her career.  

As Monica looked at MBA programs, she says, “The culture of Owen really set it apart for me. I love that part of the recruiting process is looking for people who are collaborative and want to build each other up.”

For Monica, collaboration outside of the classroom felt especially rewarding. As a member of the student-run Owen Strategy and Consulting Club, she and three classmates won an SEC case competition in 2024. “I loved breaking down a real-world problem for FedEx—and that we were able to put together a quality idea and present it to FedEx executives within two days,” she says. During her second year, Monica volunteered as a leadership and development coach for the club: “I loved being able to take the knowledge I had built during my first year and share that forward with the next year’s cohort.”

Monica also combined her passions and focus area with Project Pyramid, a multidisciplinary program through which students from various schools within Vanderbilt collaborate to help alleviate global poverty. “It was extremely rewarding to work on a consulting project with students from Owen and Peabody in a different country,” she says. “It was one of the highlights of my experience.”  

Looking back, Monica recalls that she came away from Vanderbilt with much more than having achieved her original goal of pivoting careers. “The Owen community accelerates your growth, both as a business leader and an individual,” she says. “There is not another business school that takes such an interest in making sure the leaders they put into the world are well rounded and good people.”