Davi Gordon, '21 MBA: Career Pivot to Marketing

Program 
'21 Full-Time MBA

Current Job Title and Employer
Associate Marketing Manager at Land O’Lakes

Defining Carlson School Experience
Raising $40,000 for two nonprofits in the Twin Cities as co-president of Carlson for Community

Meet the Carlson School community and learn about the experiences and career connections we offer.

What was your initial reason or motivation for pursuing an MBA?

I decided to get an MBA because I knew my career then wasn't what I wanted to do forever. In order to make a really big career pivot from tax accounting to either marketing or consulting, I knew getting an MBA would be a pivotal step in building the foundation I needed and gaining skills and leadership experience.

Why did you choose the Carlson School?

Location

Minneapolis and the Twin Cities are so great from a professional and personal standpoint. I love that there are so many large companies. There are startups, really something for everyone here. And personally, you can be in the city and then 10 minutes away you can be walking along the lakes or going for a hike. So I liked the environment. 

Curriculum

I loved that experiential learning, like the Enterprise Program, was rooted in the curriculum. I love the ability to work for real businesses—working on real projects for them, solving problems, and doing it in a space where you have support from your classmates. You learn how to work together to scope out a project, create a timeline to present to clients, and deliver results. 

Culture 

Before I started, I connected with current students and alumni and attended info sessions. I could tell that the environment was incredibly collaborative, really supportive, and that it would be a place where I would be able to bring my experiences, be my authentic self, and meet people whom I could form lifelong relationships with.

How has your Carlson School experience helped you change your career path and get to where you are?

The Carlson School gave me the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone, try something new, and succeed. I was able to discover and explore what I would be doing in the future. This is a place where it's okay to fail and it's okay to take chances. It's okay to make mistakes because you have classmates, staff, and professors to support and teach you how to fix them, and also learn and understand what you can do next time. I feel both the personal and professional network I’ve built and the chances that I took here set me up to be successful in the future. 

Also coming from a completely different background where I wasn’t working on project-driven assignments, I found the experiences I got in the Enterprise Program really valuable. It gave me a ton of confidence going into my internship at Land O’Lakes. I already had one project under my belt so I had an idea of what to expect. I knew what my manager was expecting of me, how I could perform to my best level, and also what Land O’Lakes would be looking for in me. Now as a full-time employee at Land O’Lakes, I'm able to apply my experiences working for different clients during the Enterprise Program to my current work with different people and to solve a variety of problems.

What would you tell prospective students considering the Carlson School?

Talk to current students and alumni to really get a sense of the culture and what the Carlson School means for them. Attend info sessions, do your own research, and figure out what you're looking for in an MBA program. 

Trust your gut and if you feel like the full-time program is either going to help you accelerate your career or pivot into something new, that is such a great decision to go get your MBA. And if you do it at the Carlson School, you'll be around people, staff, and faculty who are going to support you all along the way.