Participation in the Walton MBA Program Benefits EMBA students Simone Schwarze and Amy Hopper.
First-year EMBA students Simone Schwarze and Amy Hopper hold positions with more responsibility in their companies after one year in the Walton EMBA program.
Schwarze was promoted within Nestle, and Hopper transitioned from Winrock International to the Arkansas Research Alliance.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in economics from University of Hagen, Germany, Schwarze worked for both Walmart Germany and Dr. Oetker before starting at Nestle, where she has worked for the past nine years. At Nestle, she worked as a business effectiveness manager in data analytics and as a business development manager for Walmart International prior to starting the Walton MBA.
Obtaining an MBA was one of Schwarze’s long-term goals, and she started at the program
in August 2020. “When I attended an informative EMBA session at Nestle I thought,
‘This is it.’ I’m able to work on my MBA while continuing my career and personal life.”
Since joining the Walton MBA, Schwarze has been promoted to category account manager of U.S. eCommerce, where she practices both shopper marketing and business analytics. Already, she feels as though she applies what she has learned in her marketing, finance and methods and decision making classes to her professional and personal life.
Hopper had a similar experience, though her new position was at the Arkansas Research Alliance rather than her previous company, Winrock International. Hopper earned her bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Oklahoma and spent four years working in finance departments for INVISTA and Newell Brands.
In 2017, Hopper moved to Arkansas to scale a program for early-stage entrepreneurs in the Mississippi Delta. Using her experience in budgeting and financial analysis, she worked to build project management, entrepreneurial coaching and grant writing skills.
Hopper enrolled in the Walton EMBA program due to its ties to the University of Arkansas’ Office of Entrepreneurship and Innovation. “As someone who hasn’t built my own company from scratch, I was in search for more credibility and a higher level of know-how in teaching innovators how to successfully run businesses,” Hopper said.
After entering the Walton MBA program, Hopper decided to transition from her role at Winrock International, where she managed three economic development projects, to a program manager at the Arkansas Research Alliance. At the alliance, her first project is to build the ARA Core Facilities Exchange, which she describes as “a program that will boost the state’s research enterprise by helping our universities compete better for funding, seek new collaborations and reduce redundancies in capital expenditures.” Hopper will build this project from the ground up while interacting closely with the organization’s board of corporate leaders and university chancellors.
In her time at the alliance, Hopper has watched several presentations by Academy members on their research. She feels as though her experience at the Walton MBA has allowed her to better interpret these presentations.
“Dr. Aloysius’ class, Methods and Decision Making, has allowed me to better follow their results and the statistical significance of their findings. Dr. Murray’s class helped me understand the importance of storytelling, which I now weave into nearly every presentation I give. Dr. Kali’s class has helped me stay up to date on global economic events and given me a better understanding of the events that led to federal regulations to protect consumers.”
“I definitely would recommend the Walton EMBA program to other working professionals,” Schwarze said. “Not only does it provide a certain flexibility but also because it is in the heart of a strong and diverse business community.”
