Nicholas Brown

Nicholas Brown, MBA '21

Solving Real-World Challenges with Real-World Impact

Nicholas Brown's decision to make a career transition required some serious thought. With a degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Tech and a recent promotion, Nicholas was in a good position at his current job as assistant project manager at Southern Company, Inc.

However, with a changing landscape at work, he wanted to move away from classical engineering applications and transition more into investment banking as it pertains to renewables and sustainability.

“I have always been interested in finance and investing since I was young. I learned about real estate investing from my grandfather and about running a business from my dad. I started getting into sustainability and renewables when I was choosing a college major. This was around the time when a lot of the conversation around climate change and air quality was intensifying.” 

As a next step in his decision to make a career transition, he decided to pursue a Michigan Ross Weekend MBA. 

Michigan Ross has a great reputation. They had the flexibility of a weekend program, which was a requirement for me. And it was Michigan. I didn’t even think of applying anywhere else.

Nicholas especially liked the collaborative learning process and action-based experiences that Michigan Ross offers students outside of a conventional education. A good example is the Multidisciplinary Action Projects (MAP) course. Through MAP, he was able to travel to Germany and work with a team of fellow Weekend MBAs to develop a digital marketing plan for an industry 4.0 enabling supplier in the areas of automotive and aerospace. It was an invaluable experience for him to be able to work with a team to solve a real-world problem and have a real-time impact.

Nicholas also put his classroom learning into action through the Leadership Crisis Challenge, a 24-hour simulation that asks students to take on the role of executives and address an unfolding corporate crisis in real time. Through the experience and collaboration with other student participants, Nicholas said he gained a deeper understanding of the stress level associated with crisis management. 

As one of my professors always said, “All of us are smarter than any one of us.”

He was also able to apply what he learned through the Crisis Challenge to his current job. “A good example is when our class was applying valuations and financial analysis in different applications. This happened right as company leadership decided that capital projects needed financial justification, not just capacity or engineering justification. I was able to take what I learned and immediately pivot to achieve the new company direction.” 

When he chose Michigan Ross, Nicholas expected he’d get a world-class education. But he was surprised by and equally impressed with the overall sense of camaraderie he felt in the program.

There isn’t a group or conversation that I have been in, whether it was a professor, student, or faculty, where people weren’t trying to work together for a better outcome.”

For students interested in Michigan Ross, Nicholas suggests to think about what you want to do with your knowledge. “There are a lot of places to apply where you are simply getting information out of a textbook. It’s all the other things you learn at Ross that really merit consideration. It’s the real-world application, the collaboration, and the alumni network that set it apart. Don’t limit yourself to what company you want to work for. Think about what type of organization you want to be a part of.”