A Kellogg alumna embraced her non-traditional MBA background to build her career

By Allison Howard ’19 MBA 

A lot of people are surprised to learn that I have my MBA given my unusual career trajectory of being a screenwriter in Hollywood and running a VC-backed consumer start-up — not the likely pairing, I know.  It has been a wild ride to my current job, but what I think is most interesting is the concept of opportunities and success.

My professional career is still evolving, but a large part of the foundational learnings I’ve had took place at Kellogg and have helped launch the subsequent chapters of my professional life.

Blending creativity, technology and business sense is never easy, but the time at Kellogg gave me a path to figure out how to create opportunities and work with people who eventually became strong mentors and champions for me.

My hope is that some of the lessons I learned at Kellogg can help others define what success means to them and help them achieve their personal goals.

People are all that matter  

Kellogg has a reputation for being very collaborative and groupwork-focused. I wanted more experience in this, as much of my career pre-Kellogg had a sense of flying solo. I also found Kellogg alumni were very honest and engaging, so the alumni engagement was another aspect that really spoke to me when looking into Kellogg.

People are gatekeepers in life, and people can also give you opportunities.  Kellogg taught me how to work with people.  I didn’t have a traditional playwright background when I sold a show to HBO, and I didn’t have a traditional gaming background when my company fundraised from Andreessen Horowitz.  But what I learned from my time at Kellogg is how to collaborate with people and understand what is important to them.  That way you can find a way to work together that is beneficial to both people.  

Most lines are flexible 

Most careers get painted as a straight line and to get there, you must make binary decisions.  There are a lot of false dichotomies that people will tell you.  Before Kellogg, I worked in entertainment for six years, and I knew I wanted to combine creativity and business in some sense.  Most people will tell you that this is not possible and that you have to pick one.

Being at Kellogg, I was exposed to a lot of interesting scenarios. I learned that if you want to work with start-ups, you can; if you want to create your independent studies you can, and if you want to intern with a corporation, you can.  An MBA is the best time to experiment and lay the groundwork for what you want to do.

Before and during business school I knew that my long-term plan was to be an entrepreneur and creative who could have opportunities and outputs in the tech and entertainment ecosystems.  To this day, this is a specific path that requires a lot of internal motivation and planning.  And the best thing that your Kellogg MBA is going to give you is ownership, autonomy and greater control over your career path.   

Get on the rocket ship  

Having worked in the entertainment industry before entering business school, my background could be considered somewhat “untraditional” for an MBA degree. However, during business school I came across a lot of different perspectives, and this opened my eyes to all the different ecosystems in the business world.

Kellogg gave me amazing opportunities to engage with multiple companies and is the reason that I was able to work for McKinsey after graduation.  Both McKinsey and Kellogg exposed me to a myriad of viewpoints, different companies and differing industries. Working in business and start-ups helped me pitch TV shows about the finance/crypto/tech worlds and write movies about complex characters.  Furthermore, the emphasis on group work at Kellogg and teams at McKinsey prepared me to recruit and build a startup that could be nimble and proactive.   

Doors don’t look like doors sometimes  

While your MBA is invaluable it does require a high degree of focus and commitment — time you won’t get back.  So, it’s crucial to think about how an MBA gives you opportunities to move forward. One of the best things a Kellogg MBA can do for you is put you into situations that create unique opportunities. While at Kellogg, I did a multitude of independent studies that ranged from creative industries to machine learning to venture capital.  Kellogg had that flexibility, which is often very rare, so I was able to build relationships in the venture capital world, meet other founders and collaborate with other creatives (writers, directors, artists, agents, etc.). 

I am always surprised by how relationships and hard work compound over time.  Even now, I’ll reach out to classmates for start-up advice or inventive feedback.  Maintaining an open-minded mindset at Kellogg is essential because there are avenues and opportunities everywhere if you’re willing to search.   

Read next: ‘Take the call when it comes’ and other takeaways from the top job