New members of the MBA Class of 2028 at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business join the latest Real Humans: MBA Students to share their stories and advice.
We lead off with Brian Newhouse, who arrives at W. P. Carey with an especially varied résumé. His career has taken him from Peace Corps water projects in Cape Verde and Zambia to farming, home repair, sustainability education in Thailand and India, and advising on wind turbines for GE. A Peace Corps Coverdell Fellowship helped lead him to W. P. Carey, where he hopes to combine his sustainability experience with business training. Then, for Rachelle Dietzel, business school marks a major transition after nine years as a U.S. Army Field Artillery Officer. Having reached a natural decision point in her military career, Dietzel chose to step away from an environment in which she had established herself as a leader and build the business knowledge necessary to translate that experience to the civilian sector.
We also hear from Shieun Kim, who brings an international perspective shaped by experiences across South Korea, Turkey, Europe, and the United States. After four years in education program management and corporate training, Kim recognized that her strengths in empathetic, people-centered leadership could be amplified by stronger quantitative and strategic skills. Next, Matthew Vail’s journey to the W. P. Carey MBA began at ASU, where he completed his undergraduate education after an unconventional path that required him to rebuild both his academic and personal trajectory. Professionally, Vail moved from hospitality and medical-device R&D into marketing and strategy, eventually leading growth strategy, post-merger integration, and executive analytics for a consulting firm.
Their stories also share a common thread: each is using the MBA to translate substantial life and professional experience into a new chapter. Read on to learn more about their paths to W. P. Carey, their impressions of the community so far, their advice for future applicants, and what they hope to accomplish as Sun Devils.
