applying the lesson to real life
Lolita Walker is a motivated and determined woman. When she sets her sights on something, she typically achieves it.
Entering the Gillette Company as an industrial engineer in 2000, Walker quickly set her sights on management and determined the best way to accomplish that at Gillette was to secure her MBA and demonstrate sound managerial decisions.
"With Gillette's 100 percent tuition reimbursement program, I knew I could go just about anywhere in the Boston area," says Walker. "But after informally polling dozens of women managers at Gillette, I knew there was only one place for me to go."
Hesitant at first to consider a business school designed specifically for women, Walker researched the SOM with caution, but found the endorsements from SOM alumnae to be compelling and convincing. "Everywhere I looked at Gillette, there were SOM alumnae working confidently in management roles and they raved about Simmons. Now I rave about it, too."
Pursuing the part-time MBA track while working full time at Gillette was challenging, says Walker. "I found the program to be rigorous and the professors to be demanding, but I was able to immediately apply what I was learning in the classroom into my work at Gillette, which made my efforts worthwhile."
Walker particularly liked the school's case study-method approach. "It allowed me to examine actual business scenarios and dilemmas and to discuss solutions with my classmates - many of whom were professional managers or business owners - that produced new ideas and suggestions I wouldn't have always considered."
Three months after receiving her MBA, Walker was appointed project manager for a manufacturing assignment that involved a cross-functional team responsible for relocating production equipment from Gillette's Boston facility to an international site in South America. And she was just recently promoted to senior industrial engineer/manufacturing project manager.
"Securing my MBA from Simmons gave me the tools to maneuver in corporate America and allowed me to look into myself to leverage my strengths for advancement. I have no doubt that attending the SOM was the catalyst for my transition to managerial responsibilities. And, I'm confident that the experience will prepare me for my long-term career goals."