Today’s guest, Mary-Patton Davis, earned her BA in Government and French from Georgetown in 2010. She worked in marketing in the U.S. and in Rwanda, started a yoga business in Rwanda among other things, and earned her MBA from Wharton in 2016. While there she co-founded and led LeadUp, a mindful leadership program emphasizing health and wellness for ambitious young business leaders Since August she has worked in San Francisco for NerdWallet, a personal finance start-up. Welcome, Mary-Patton!

Can you tell us more about your background and your path to Wharton? [1:40]

It’s a non-traditional background. I majored in international relations and French at Georgetown – at the time, I was very interested in political communications. I stayed in DC right after graduation for about a year and a half. Then my sister was launching a women’s college in east Africa, and she asked me to help with communications, so I moved to Rwanda and worked with the Akila Institute. I loved living in the country and the work I was doing. Through that experience, I met leaders of family conglomerates, including one who asked me to create a digital marketing department in his advertising firm.

Why did you decide to pursue an MBA? [5:20]

As you can imagine, I never really had an MBA in my sights. After working in the nonprofit realm with my sister, I was working in the advertising agency and realized I really liked it. It drew on different skillsets. But I also realized I needed more training. The head of the family conglomerate I worked for had his MBA, and he was a big mentor for me – he really coached me and helped me identify the MBA as the next step.

Why did you choose Wharton? [7:18]

I targeted quantitative, finance-oriented schools because I knew I needed to build those skills.

It was definitely a steep learning curve my first year! But it was the right choice.

What do you miss from Wharton? [9:45]

There’s a lot of nostalgia for business school when I get together with my classmates in San Francisco.

I really miss the crazy international trips and the social life! From a more academic perspective, I miss the organized opportunities for intellectual stimulation – talks, clubs, etc.

What could be improved at Wharton? [12:45]

One thing that’s a function of the wealth of opportunities is FOMO – fear of missing out. You feel pressure to do everything. You have to remember to dole out your time according to what’s most important to you and spend your time appropriately.

Did you find the MBA valuable? Is it valuable in the tech world? [14:50]

For me, it was absolutely the right decision – I was transitioning from a non-traditional background and from working abroad.

But the MBA isn’t for everyone. If you just feel like you’re stagnating or don’t know what you want to do next, it may not be the best option. It’s a big investment and a big decision – don’t decide to do it by default.

What is LeadUp and how did you found it? [18:10]

It was a fun project I started with a friend at Wharton. The idea was to provide immersive experiences for young leaders to help them develop their skills and reflect. It was for grad students across Penn – not just MBA students.

We came to this after realizing how intense the MBA experience is – we started from wanting to create ...