ExecMBA Podcast #432: Student Spotlight | Jasmine Latour

0:00Welcome to the Executive Aid Podcast. I'm your host Brett Twitty and you're listening to a new episode. On the steps of the podcast, I'm excited to share my recent conversation with Jasmine Latour. Jasmine is a member of our part to M&B class of 2028 and she and I recently connected to talk more about her background and to system pursuing M&B A. What attracted her to Darden's part to M&B A program, what she's enjoyed about the programs of R and so much more. I think you're really going to enjoy this conversation. As always, if this conversation is helpful for you, please like this episode and subscribe to the Executive Aid Podcast so you never miss an update. Remember you can always check that out. So description for links to Darden blogs, social channels and more. Now that further ado, here's my conversation with Jasmine Latour. Jasmine, welcome to the podcast. Hi Brett, thanks for having me excited to be here. Great to talk with you. How's everything going? How are you doing? I mean, I am living on cloud nine right now. My little one just turned one over the weekend and

1:00we threw him a nice party and I mean, we're in the middle of decision analysis and not decision analysis and operations. So, you know, not not much to complain about there. So really, I am doing great. I'm very excited to be here and to talk with you. Yeah, year two of the parts and the program. Does it feel different from year one? It feels maybe a little bit different. I feel much closer to all of the classmates. I think we jumped right in and we're trying to kind of get our grounding over the first year. So now we all feel a little bit more comfortable in class. So I'd say that it really makes the experience maybe a little bit more enjoyable, less nerve wracking. But yeah, I mean, it was really great from day one. So that part hasn't changed. Well, before we get too far into your garden story, tell us a little bit more about you. Who are you and what's your background? Yeah. So my background is in financial

2:00services. I started my career over at PWC and their financial markets, think like valuation, transaction, a little bit of consulting work. And then went over to capital one where I wore a lot of different hats. And right now I'm actually in the servicing strategy space. So we're envisioning what it looks like to make the highest quality customer experience. So that's a little bit about like what I do and some of my background. But who I am, well, that's very existential question for a Monday morning. But I'd say I'm a mother first right now, a wife, a student, a leader at work, a reader. I'm a believer. And yeah, I mean, I'm a survivor right now in terms of like very little caffeine in the morning. But yeah, I mean, that's a little bit about me. You mentioned being a reader.

3:01Have you still found time to read even with all the cases and things that you have to do for school? That is the great thing about audiobooks, right? And so I know folks have different opinions on if that counts as an actual reader. I do have my books behind me, which I know folks listening won't be able to see. But I love to read physical books. My attention span is not so much there with a one-year-old like yelling out to me and then reading all of the actual cases for class. But I've translated a little bit more to audiobooks. I live about an hour away from campus. And so every time I drive to class, I have a new audiobook and then can chat about it with some of the classmates. So still getting time to read even if it's not eyes on a page. Fiction or nonfiction? Both. So I tend to rotate the types of books that I read.

4:03There will be, I went through a bunch of audio, so audio biographies. But then I started to get kind of sad about some little lives that I was listening to. And so I needed a little bit of a pick me up. So then dabbled into some historical fiction. There's a couple of really amazing books about inspirational women around World War One time frame. And so that's been really interesting to either read physical copies or or listen to. And then I dabbled in some just like fun fiction. So it's I try to keep keep it rotating to not get bored with any one type of book. Yeah, I'm with you. I prefer the physical book, but sometimes audiobook is what you got to do. It's all that you have time for. So you know, why not? Yeah, it's it's funny because I saw something online where somebody is like, oh, this is like,

5:04what did they call it? My trophy case. So they refer to like the physical books as just like the audio books equivalent to to show that you have read it. So it's a good reads, but in real life. So I think that's funny. I just funny. Well, thank you for sharing more about your background. How'd you decide that you wanted to pursue an MBA? Yeah, I'll I'll say that. I really knew that I wanted to go back to school from my junior year of undergrad. I remember sitting in class and I was like, they're going to force me to leave one day. And it was just like the saddest realization. And I have been lucky in my career so far. Capital One has a lot of really great learning resources. And so I'd like to think of myself as a lifelong learner, but really wanted to get back to the structured classroom environment. I wanted to explore what breadth of possibilities I'd have for this next phase of my life. And I felt like this would be the quickest, definitely not the easiest way.

6:09To expose myself to a bunch of different backgrounds, people, and just possibilities. And so yeah, that's that's really what inspired me to to get my MBA. And I'm also considering returning in either an adjunct or full-time position for being a professor. So this would also be a step towards that. What interests you about being a professor? So I my whole family is fairly nerdy and this is not saying that all professors are nerdy. But one of my uncles is a marketing professor over in Washington state. And I just look up to him so much. And from a young age, was just so inspired by his dedication to his students to, you know, research to really, I mean, his version of making the world a better place. And then in undergrad, I had so many inspirational professors, you know, ones that would pull me aside and say, hey, I see that this

7:13might be an area that you could shine. Let's figure out a way to, you know, bring that out in you. Or what can I do to help find that path for you? And having that investment throughout my young adulthood, it has been transformational. Like it's given me a lot of like courage and direction I needed to really get started. And I can't imagine a better way to give back than to be a professor to invest in students. And honestly, like being in the classroom with all of these tremendous professors through Darden has only furthered that excitement. You mentioned that you had always known, I guess, since your junior year that you'd wanted to go back to school, but had you figure out when was the right time for you to go back to school? You mean, it's just not natural that around seven and a half years, Brett, that I like, it's like an alarm clock that I have, or that, you know, I have a kid in the first year.

8:15Yeah, it's, I'd say that the timing was an interesting one. I think getting to a stable part of my career was really important to me. I didn't, some folks are able to go straight out of college to get their MBA. And that's definitely a right choice for some folks. I was really focused on what role I could play in the MBA or how I could give back to the class. And so I really wanted to have a couple of years under under my belt so that when I entered those discussions that I felt like I had a perspective to provide to my fellow students. And you know, seven is not necessarily the lucky number of, you know, wait this long to go get your MBA. I think it really is whatever works best for you. But I just started to feel like, okay, I am an expert in my area. I have done a lot of the work to like explore my options within my own

9:21company. And so now is a very natural time to expand some of my connections to give back to other working adults. And it just, upon further reflection, it felt like a really good and natural time to re-enter the classroom. I appreciate that point. And most of our part to be students are somewhere between three to eight years into their career. So to your point, there's no one right time. It all is very subjective and personal. But it's helpful to hear and how you thought about it. What about Darden in particular appealed to you? Yeah, I actually went to a forte event. I think it was held over at Georgetown the year before I applied. And I'll be honest, I was a little intimidated by UVA. I was, I've heard such amazing things. And I was like, I don't know, I don't know if I'll cut it. But I spoke to a lovely young lady named Natalia. And she just shined. She was

10:24so energetic about the program. I hadn't seen any, any comparable representative of any other schools. That's not to say anything negative about any other school. But she was just so excited to talk about the program. And I remember saying, if I could just have an ounce of whatever she has, you know, as balancing all of the other, you know, the work stuff, the family stuff, everything, and still just be so energized about entering the classroom. That was super inspirational. And so I remember that being like the initial like fire set behind me to pursue Darden. And then honestly sitting in on a class. And so I would 100% recommend anybody who has the opportunity to come and sit in the class because it is going to change the way you think about taking, especially nighttime classes for your MBA. I sat in with Jim Norton on an accounting class.

11:32And I remember talking to my folks and I was like, I'm sorry, like, I don't know how accounting is going to convince me to go to this program. I was like, nothing against my accounting professors and undergrad. But accounting is not my specialty. And I remember sitting in class and I was leaning forward. I was like on the edge of my seat. I was like, I want to engage. Like I know I'm just a perspective student. But yeah, I want to be a part of it. This is amazing. And so I left the classroom and thanked you obviously for sitting up. And then on my way to the metro, I called up my husband. And I was like, you won't believe it. I enjoyed an accounting class. And he laughed and laughed. But really, I think it's not a exception. It is like the rule of Darden that you have just a amazing class experience. Like everyone was engaged, even in a subject that you don't feel 100% equipped to handle on your own. Like the way that it's set up gives you enough of the leeway

12:40to kind of lean in and ask questions and then bring whatever you're learning to the outside world. So as you can see, like I'm already like getting excited about excited to remember walking out of that classroom and being like, man, Darden, something special. Well, we always encourage folks to come for a class visit because a lot of people don't know what the case method looks like. They have questions about that. You also get to meet a bunch of current students too on your their perspectives. And sometimes you sit in on a class like accounting where you wonder how could this possibly work in the case method and you get to see it up close and personal. So it covers a lot of bases. There's a lot of value in coming to them a couple of hours with this and observing a class. Curious Jasmine, one of the common questions we get from perspective students who are thinking about our parts in MBA is old time versus part time. How did you decide that you wanted to work while pursuing your MBA? That was something that you wanted to do? That's a great question. My sister actually talked to me about this the other week because I was driving back and something to kind of just give folks a heads up for. If you're an overachiever like

13:42me and you take on school and work and for me motherhood, it can sometimes feel like you're not giving the 110% you would normally give to everything. But what my sister said that really changed my perspective on the matter is I want a very full and broad life. Like I want a lot of diversity in what I'm doing and I want to stay busy. And so I chose to add MBA to my list of both weeknight and weekend activities because I truly wanted to learn but I didn't want to give up the other stuff. And I wanted to carve out time, carve out space to invest in myself but not give up on the other stuff. And so and I think that like that is just as right of a decision as somebody who decides to take a step away from their full-time jobs and return to school. I think they both again fit depending on sort of your motivations, your priorities, etc. But for me,

14:48I do love my work. I love my colleagues. I need a bit of the stability that a paycheck provides to me in my growing family. And it was something that like I had to sit down and talk to my husband about because I knew that something would have to give. Like I wouldn't be able to necessarily invest in all of my hobbies outside of work. I would have to substitute some of the time to to focus on on school work and investing in the relationships that I've been building in Darden. And so I would just encourage folks to take a step back and say or consider what they want to invest in. Like is it you want to go 100% 110% into a education then like you know part-time can be challenging in that respect. Like you will have to sacrifice some of the extra curriculars outside of work. And so I think it's all a balancing act. And I'm really glad I

15:56chose part-time. The folks that I'm surrounded with are incredible. And that's another benefit. It's like you're surrounded with also busy people. Everyone understands how challenging it is to show up to class on you know a week night after a long day. And we are all supportive of one another. We message each other. We encourage each other and the chats. And yeah it's just it's a totally different type of community. It's kind of hard to put a finger on it. But yeah did that answer your question again like I get so excited talking about my classmates. They're really amazing. Absolutely. And I think one of the things you noted that's very real for any working professional student is you can be 100% in every direction all the time. And I think that's really hard for people. We talk about it a bunch here on the podcast. And I think sometimes people hear it and they're like oh well that won't be me. That is everybody in one of these programs. And probably one of the most psychologically channel-changing things. I think people experience but also very empowering too

16:56that you kind of challenge that assumption. You go through it. You realize the world doesn't fall apart. Everything's actually okay. And what else can you possibly do with this kind of new found frame on one thing? Yeah I mean like it's life though. It really is. There's if it wasn't an MBA it's going to be something else. There's always going to be new a new challenge that surprises you and challenges how you set your priorities. And so it's I think the great thing about the part time MBA is it's just like constantly a lesson on life. It's constantly you know reevaluating rebalancing. You might give up maybe one opportunity at work for an opportunity in the program. And so it's challenging but it's fulfilling. And it's it's a way to grow. So that's how I try to look at it. Especially if I'm you know feeling less than with the 100%. So. Yeah which again comes for everybody and something that I think everybody grapples within these kind of programs whether

17:59you're part time MBA or executive MBA student. It's definitely a very real thing. So you're in the part time MBA class of 2028. You are now basically a year into the program. If you remember back you know August starting the program. That was a suspicious for you for a variety of reasons not just beginning the program. What was that transition like into an MBA program probably maybe even a little bit more challenging for you than for some of your classmates. Yeah you mean me waddling through the residency down in Charlottesville at eight months pregnant. Yeah I gosh I remember feeling very intimidated. Again like there's such a blessing in being surrounded by intelligent and like just really wonderful classmates. But jumping right into that can be a little scary because if you talk to any other of the of my classmates like they really have impressive backgrounds. They

19:00have really really high aspirations. And I remember being like oh no like did they make a mistake by admitting me. So like a little bit of that sort of self-doubt and stuff that tends to creep in when you start a big program like this. And so I remember feeling very intimidated. But within a day or two of hanging out with the classmates and all of the really great events that were planned during that residency. It was I knew that I had made the right decision. We would all hang out in the lobby and open up like our case notes and chat through some of the challenges that happened in class and encourage one another and dive deeper into backgrounds go and get dinner together. And that that soft launch of the program was really needed because when we transitioned back to normal classes that's me jumping into accounting again. That's me having to dust off some of my

20:02note-taking skills. And so I'd say that that week beforehand really set us up for success. And then honestly it truly did feel more natural when we entered the physical classroom and then got kind of into the routine of things. So yeah I mean it was intimidating but within a week or two it felt like the most natural thing. And you're navigating all this and having a small child at some point I mean that's a lot on your plate. How did you do all that? We do joke that it's how we measure time for our class is how old my son Oliver is. It's great. Gosh it was after one of Shane's classes actually we were walking to the elevator Breveink and he's like oh when are you do? So yeah I mean any day who knows when home and had a baby. And then the next Monday it was a virtual class and I do not recommend this we I will say

21:06Darden has an amazing policy to accommodate for new parents. We actually have a couple of new parents now in my class. But I jumped into the Zoom session the next Monday because I was like well what else am I going to do? Like the baby sleeping and you know I want to be in class. And I remember joining and holding him up to the camera and everyone was just so amazing and excited to see him. And so he'll make an occasional guest appearance in classes and all of the professors are very kind about him you know putting his face up to the camera. But yeah it was it was surreal. I think that's probably the best way to describe it is just having a baby but then showing up to class. I think there's like an element of a bit of like mom guilt sometimes that folks will probably feel and I do encourage if anybody is at this stage of life like obviously you can reach out to me or to the other parents because we're all going through it where we do

22:09have to leave our family at home and drive into to a physical class. But what I would encourage folks to remember is that your kiddos are watching and even from like such a young age they're seeing you invest in yourself and that's really what keeps me going. I want him to know that I deemed my education as worthy of investment just like I would hope that one day if he has that choice he can go and invest in himself. And so it's it's challenging. It definitely in those early days it was funny because my husband actually had to come with me because I couldn't leave I couldn't leave Oliver alone in like the first month or two. And so they would just like sit in a spare room while I was in class and during break I would run and say hi to them and go back to class and so you make it work. It's life like we're learning life and it's beautiful it's messy and it was challenging but it was a great time. Thank you for sharing all of that and being a parent while

23:15pursuing your MBA does have unique dimensions to it it takes a whole support team you know both at school and at home it is very much when people get to graduation and they have kids you hear it very much like a family accomplishment is that how I oftentimes will hear it from student I wonder I know you're still a little away from that but I'm guessing you might say the same thing. Oh yeah I mean it's it is so sweet so the class bought him like a little book when we had started the program and whenever I show up to class they they ask for pictures of Ollie and um he truly is like I wouldn't call him a mascot because I might be a little bit greeting him but he is a part of the class like he's an honorary in Jordan uh darting classmate and when he's there during graduation like he will be all smiles and everyone will want to hold him yeah you sort of expand your family with class anyway um so again it's just like one more one more

24:19classmate in the mix. I'm curious you've been in the program now for about a year how are your career goals or interests changed your evolve maybe they said the same uh curious. Yeah I will say that they've kind of deepened my so the way that I would describe it is that I have built a lot more confidence over the past year and I think initially I was like oh I don't know how many options are actually available to me you know like I have a very financial service heavy background so if I ever wanted to explore something in nonprofit I was like I don't know like is there an avenue for that I think is is mostly where I I fell before the program and so kind of thought of like hey there's probably two lanes I can go down now I feel like there's like 50 it's crazy you just your eyes get open so much during the program and it's only one year in but between the amazing professors we had

25:20some really great practitioners come in for one of the hot topics and marketing uh elected that I took over the summer and so I might LinkedIn has just like grown substantially and I feel like these are folks I would really feel comfortable reaching out to not necessarily you know maybe for a future option or opportunity for a new job but also just to understand more about different industries and and I think now I'm a little bit more in the exploratory phase where I'm like oh I didn't even realize this was a thing um which is really exciting uh but also I'd say that it deepens my position in my current company too like I mentioned wanting to have a little bit of experience behind me before going back to the classroom because I wanted to be able to softly engage in conversations I can now bring that to work too so being surrounded by such amazing intelligent people in the classroom professors and students alike I bring those learnings immediately the next day

26:24back to work to a meeting I I feel comfortable because of I mean honestly the case method speaking up for my opinion or questioning things not not being afraid of looking stupid and my leaders and my organization have seen it my co-workers have seen it and it just it's created I think a clearer path in my existing job as well so honestly I'm not sure what the next five to 10 years are going to look like but it's exciting because I feel like I have so many more options now than I even realize at the beginning of the program oh the course of this podcast you talked a lot about your classmates and sometimes we get questions with perspective students who are trying to kind of suss out what the community is like for part to make these students in razzle because of course saying family grounds is is not the quote-unquote base location for the garden school which is down in charles it's really in razzle and or other working professional students there but kind of curious about what the community is like what would you say if somebody asked you that question what's a community like for part time and they suits a garden it's it's a rich and wonderful I will say

27:28that with any investment you get what you put in so being a new mom living in ashburn it's a little challenging to hang out with everybody on a weeknight you know like I it for folks who live a little bit closer to the actual campus everyone tends to hang out after class like at the end of a quarter we'll we'll tend to go grab a drink with a professor so there there's definitely more of like those planned structured evenings but I'd also say you'll be surrounded by folks that you actually want to get to know like it's not just hey this is a connection for my LinkedIn it's like wow you're a really cool person I want to go and get brunch with you like last weekend I went and got brunch with one of the classmates and then we went to a kids toy shop afterwards and she helped me pick a first birthday present for my son you know like it's it's things like that and so you might have to to step out of your comfort zone a little bit to invest in those connections but

28:31it will feel more natural than anything you've experienced before because you are going through something so transformational in your life with all of these other working adults that you'll already have a common like ground to to work off of you know you don't have to like walk up into a mixer and be like so what's your favorite color you know like all accounting last week that was brutal and it is a little bit more natural and R1 definitely helps with that so it's there you just have to you have to make the investment back yeah I love that point about you get out of it what you put into it I think that is very true across all the gardens and via programs part to me being included and you're all right about that first week of school it's funny as I've talked with students as they've gone through the program invariably when asked about what their favorite part of the program was or is they would say that first week down in Charlottesville just meeting everybody for the first time being there together you know it's a very intense week but I think the best kind of intense

29:35where you are meeting a lot of people doing a lot of things and it's packed a lot in but that's why you came to business school yeah I mean you learn a lot about yourself and your classmates in that week it's like it truly is a crash course I remember coming in and to your earlier point about everyone's gonna face that 100% challenge I was definitely naive entering the program of like no but I'm an organizer Brett you don't understand I have a really really good calendar like I got this I got this R1 was like oh yeah that's my calendar doesn't move on that many axes and it's it was a great I think humbling experience of like this is actually gonna be a real big commitment and then being surrounded by it all the other deer in the headlight new students who are coming to the same realization so it was a great experience and it definitely I think helped to

30:37acclimate us to the new learning environment well Jasmine I'm curious what are you looking forward to in the in the months ahead you electives often arise not too far away yeah yeah I'm so excited for electives the the core curriculum is really fascinating I will say that I've learned so much and it has been like all applicable I was worried about some of the the core curriculum not translating as naturally if it was like especially particularly quantitative I mean more of the strategy space and so it was a bit worried that I would be out of my element but I am very excited to enter elective season there are so many really cool looking classes there's some that appeal a little bit more to the soft skills and there's some that you know think about where AI falls into the natural you know elements of work and there's just there's so much to choose from and so I am

31:41very excited about entering elective season I'll also say I'm excited about fall fall is an amazing time to bond with the classmates we tend to try to get together a little bit more I'm trying to organize a little get together with some of the other parents to maybe go apple picking it's hard over the summer because everyone is gone and it's hide and having you know a six-month-old sit outside when it's as human as it is in Virginia sometimes not as great but fall is Virginia season and so I think we're going to try to get some of the newer parents together and just celebrate all that we've accomplished in the year well jasmine final question for you what's the piece of advice you would share with our prospective student listeners let's please think about their own MBA journeys yeah definitely you would anchor back to like having grace for yourself and figuring out what your priorities are you are in a new exciting challenging stage of life it's okay to know that you won't

32:48you know kill it on every aspect of your existing priorities and I think also just being okay with going back to the drawing board and saying hey this is a new season let me write down what my new priorities are what what can I sacrifice in the next couple of months to prioritize this goal or this dream of mine and giving yourself a little bit of that that grace to explore and and really focusing on what matters most to you because it is like I said before it's a lesson in life like you were going to have to prioritize and that's what I would that's what I would encourage folks to do during this season yeah I think a lot of people would say you get a lot more schedule you get a lot more sort of planned and you get a lot clearer about what's most important to you as you go through a program like this because it forces you to make these decisions right you don't have an infinite amount of time or energy and so you have to really do some soul searching saying like where do I want to put my time and attention energy is I do this and I think you tend to come out the

33:51other side with a really clear sense of your priorities and what's added to you and what's maybe less essential for you. Will said Brett, Will said. Well Jasmine thank you so much and congratulations so excited for Oliver one year old now amazing and do you have you figured out you can try to finish the program in 28 months 33 months what are you thinking? I think I'm going to stick to the standard schedule so to to graduate May 2028 with most of my classmates I think most of them are aiming for that there's some overachievers that might try to do it a little bit quicker but yeah I've really enjoyed this current pace having one or two classes every quarter really fits my schedule and again scratches each of continuing education while still being able to survive at works it's the right it's the right choice for me. Yeah that's been our experience thus far most students finished the program in 33 months there's a few you out there that will finish in 28 months the past couple classes have been maybe 10 or so folks so you've been on that more accelerated

34:57schedule with 50 plus from each class on that 33 month plan because it does really allow you to keep the schedule you've gotten comfortable with as you go on through the course you move into the electives really typically take it about two classes at a time so yeah and I mean you can the cool thing about how the program is structured especially when you get into the elective season it's you get to you really get to choose what you want to do for a given period so as I mentioned like seasons there might be a season where you're like I can't like I just can't and so there are folks that might step away for one quarter instead of taking an elective like we did have the option to have a summer break I chose to take an elective like it's really whatever fits your schedule best and I think that's one of the really cool things about the part-time program is all of the amazing folks supporting us are very understanding that life happens and are willing to sit down and go back to the drawing board and figure out how to make it work on on your schedule

35:59so it's it's been great. Yeah I'm excited about that summer elective period during the first year previously the core was 18 months sort of uninterrupted core curriculum and I think that felt like a long time before being able to select classes to a lot of students and just to kind of change things up a little bit and you're right you know once you make the first year summer elective it does give students a chance to potentially take a break if they want to without having to do something formal like a leave of absence and so I was glad that your class was able to benefit from that obviously the incoming class the part time in class of 2020 29 they'll benefit from it too we've respected students looking at the class will start August 2027 about it but I think I think you did change yeah we've been a bit of a your guinea pig class I'd say like because I know that we've also been the the testers when it comes to untimed exams and some of the other ways to again going back to the accommodations like how much the program has changed even in the last year to make it

36:59more feasible for working adults like that it's phenomenal like no other program I've heard of is as flexible and accommodating and so it's been it's been cool to see the program change like as are going through it and be able to talk to classmates about the cool things that the next class is going to be able to enjoy well this driven very much student feedback you know any anything that we've discussed here about as a program update it was really driven initially by a student asking a question hey have you ever thought about or would it be interesting if we could or have you considered and here we are I think it's a program that takes you being nimble really seriously try to be responsive to student feedback and all these kinds of things and so we know a few other things that we introduced to the part time in the eighth class of 2020 29 24 month completion timeline if they feel up to it which is really aggressive but it's out there it's on the books a more elective opportunities earlier in the program starting in that first year with that first year summer and maybe even continuing into the second year so again excited about these things but all being

38:03driven initially by student feedback and ideas so thank you so much Jasmine for taking some time out of the podcast it's great to connect with you and so excited for you and your classmates almost through the core thanks Brad it's just it's been a blast I'm having the time of my life and that was my conversation with Jasmine Latour student in our part time MBA class of 2028 as always if you have the comments suggestions request anything like most to cover here on the podcast where all ears we can be reached that exact that's exc MBA at dartnavrginia.edu till next time stay safe be well and thanks for listening