Sydney Dunavant: From Biology to Business

Because of an extended stay in Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City while in elementary school, Sydney Dunavant wanted to be a doctor. She wanted to help people. With that in mind, Dunavant enrolled in biology classes when she pursued her bachelor’s degree at Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri, a short jaunt away from her hometown of Rogersville.

“I had such amazing doctors and care, that I knew I wanted to be just like them one day. I saw those doctors once or twice a year until I was 18,” said Dunavant. “They really made such a huge impact on my life.”

While she loved science during her stint at Evangel, she wasn’t sure that medical school was her final destination. She completed her biology degree while deciding what her next step would be.

“I loved science and truly enjoyed my classes, but I began to feel like I could still help people in many other ways,” she said.

Dunavant played volleyball for the Evangel Valors throughout her undergraduate years. It was through her position as captain of the team and as a resident assistant in the dorms that she began to think about leadership. As a junior, she added a minor in leadership into her studies.

“I was trying to decide how I was going to smash my love for science with my love for leading and helping others and ultimately decided that one day, if I ended up and worked in a hospital, it would be more on an administrative side of things,” she said. “This is when I decided to become serious about obtaining my MBA to learn the business side of things and be open to the opportunities at where the MBA could take me.”

Sydney was drawn to the MBA Program at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas for several reasons: location, leadership and the overall requirements.

“I first knew that there was truthfully no better place than NWA to obtain my MBA. I have so many companies around me with so many opportunities. Secondly, I loved Dr. Stoverink’s passion for leadership. This is evident through the book he wrote and the class that he teaches within the program,” Dunavant said. “Lastly, I loved that there were no prerequisites and that they really valued the different perspectives that each individual in the cohort brings to the table. Being a biology major I knew I would be at a disadvantage; however, I also knew that I would see things in a totally different perspective than my peers.”

The Walton Advantage
As part of her Walton MBA experience, Sydney interns at Henkel, an international consumer-packaged goods company specializing in adhesives, laundry, home care and hair products. She serves on the sales team, but is involved in elements of supply chain, marketing, category and finance as well.

“The biggest thing I am learning in my internship is just how real life each and every one of our classes are to the business world. Every single day is something new, but it has been so awesome getting to apply everything I have learned directly to the business.”

The MBA class of 2025 visited Chile in May to learn about the economy and culture of multi-national corporations. The students toured seven organizations, while learning about their challenges and rewards.

A second advantage to the Walton MBA Program is the focus on global business immersion. During the first year of the program, each cohort is given a goal relating to a multinational firm. As part of the project, the cohort travels overseas to explore a business problem in depth.

Sydney’s cohort visited Chile in May and visited seven multinational organizations to learn more about their economy and culture. Students toured:

• co, a freight company.
• Karün Eyewear, a sustainable eyeglass frames company.
• Walmart Chile, a supermarket leader with the largest distribution center in Chile.
• Unifrutti Chile, a leader in fruit production, marketing and distribution.
• Agunsa, a logistics company.
• Empresas AquaChile, which produces and markets salmon, trout and tilapia.
• The Southbridge Group, a consulting firm.

“We went to Chile to be globally immersed in their economy and culture,” Dunavant said. “All-in-all, the businesses in Chile weren’t all that different than those in the United States.”

The trip helped Sydney tie the subject matter in the classroom to practical applications on the job. It also connected her to other parts of the world, an 8-hour flight away from home.

“In another sense, it showed me how small the world really is,” she said. “The biggest thing to me was just being able to immediately implement and see everything we have talked about in our classes right in front of our eyes in another country. It is easy to get in the groove of the way things are done in the United States, but seeing the business practices in another country was really amazing.”

“The global immersion trip is important to the industry in general because most successful businesses people know and understand the way other economies work and operate. While I know I saw so many things similarly done to the U.S., there were ways that Chile was more sustainable, efficient, etc., and it is important for individuals to see this with their own eyes.”

Next Steps
Sydney plans to graduate with her MBA in May of 2025. She has enjoyed her internship and all that she has learned with Henkel and is looking forward to her continued internship the coming year.

Her global immersion visit to Chile also has presented her with opportunities to learn and grow professionally.

“I do know that any experiences I get while I am young will definitely help me learn and plan for other life goals down the road,” Sydney said.

Learn and plan. That is what the Walton MBA program is all about.