Recent MBA graduate combines skills with real-world experience

Anastasia Byrd uses STEM background with MBA education to grow into new professional role

Anastasia Byrd would describe her life as anything but linear. She completed her associate degree and worked as an implementation project manager for a few years before getting her bachelor’s.

Deciding to grow her aptitude for data and STEM, she came to KU to study engineering physics with a concentration in aerospace systems. It was there that she worked with flight dynamics and control, which later introduced her to the Garrison Flight Research Lab, where she worked as an Agile project manager.

“I’ve always loved aerospace and the complexities behind it,” Byrd said. “I decided to get a master’s in aerospace engineering while working at the flight research lab. It was starting to get a bunch of projects coming in, but there wasn’t a project manager there to facilitate the work.”

This gap led Byrd to consider a different path. She decided to switch her master’s program and get an MBA instead. There, she could combine her love of data with the bigger picture thinking she enjoyed doing on the job in the full-time MBA program.

“In the engineering mindset, it’s a very system and sub-system level of thinking,” she said. “I always had this big-picture perspective in mind and was looking for a way to combine the two. The KU MBA program gives you an outer view of everything. There are diverse business topics that gave me a top-level view of things. I thought it would be a great path forward.”

Going on that new path gave Byrd insight into an entirely new world. She left her job at the flight research lab to become a full-time student. Now, she was learning about and working with topics like leadership, management, marketing, supply chain management and more.

“As much as I loved solving problems by working through data and coding, I felt that I had a different view of those problems before me. I think the difference between the engineering and business programs is that the MBA requires you to have that different way of thinking.”

During her time in the MBA program, Byrd began an internship at T-Mobile that would eventually lead to a career switch. She worked on the 3G network shutdown, which all network carriers are currently doing. Putting her new skills to use, she provided analytics and visual analytics to a variety of teams that helped the company understand how its customers were handling the service shutdown.

Now in a full-time position, she built off what she previously learned in her internship and the MBA program. If she could have any title, Byrd would want to be a team optimizer, something she advocates for inside and outside the classroom.

“I’ve always enjoyed team dynamics; it teaches you a lot about conflict, resolution and the way people work together,” she said. “Some of the people management and leadership courses I took in this program have been beneficial in helping me figure out how to work better with teams and within teams. My biggest takeaway from this program is that people have different motivations, and to me, it’s important to figure out what motivates an individual and to work with them to boost them up. I want to help my team as much as possible, whether that is removing any impediments they may face or empowering them.”

Going from a full-time employee to a full-time MBA student while switching career industries can be daunting for anyone. Byrd has embraced the opportunity to grow. Equipped with her better understanding of those bigger-picture ideas she’s experienced, she is translating her knowledge in and out of the classroom.

As a nontraditional student for most of her education, Byrd has found that giving herself the ability to pause and understand what’s before her allows her to develop her best plan of action. The KU MBA program gave her the ability to have introspection and an environment where she could fail without fear.

“My advice to nontraditional students looking to advance their education and skills is to take a step back to leap forward. This is something that I really had to tell myself when I went back to school,” she said. “That’s my favorite thing about KU because if you can dream it, you can do it. And this program pushes you out of your comfort zone all while providing you a safe space to do so. Even if you do fail, you’re able to learn and grow from it and come out stronger from it.”

Byrd finished her MBA in fall 2022 after taking the full-time offer from T-Mobile. She is grateful for her cohort and the faculty and staff for helping her transition into a new career and industry. Every day she sees the importance of the program.

“Having an MBA holds a lot of value,” she said. “There are many disconnects between people who are data centric and people that are business minded, and you’re in a good position to bridge those two with an MBA. This program lets you ask questions that in the long term benefit the company.”

Learn more about KU’s full-time MBA program and other graduate programs at business.ku.edu/graduate-programs.