A large acquisition at her tax-focused firm inspired Emilia Banks to be part of the broader strategic conversation. To level up to her professional goals, she needed an MBA from Vanderbilt Owen. In this Real Humans: Alumni, Banks explains how the program taught her the skills she uses daily in her new career at Bain & Company and more.
Emilia Banks, Vanderbilt Owen MBA ’23, Consultant at Bain & Company
Age: 33
Hometown: Franklin, TN
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Washington & Lee University, Physics Engineering & Accounting (double major)
Graduate Business School, Graduation Year and Concentration: Vanderbilt Owen, Class of 2023; Strategy, Operations, & Marketing
Pre-MBA Work Experience: Tax Manager (started at intern, left at manager), EY, 6 years, multi-industry; Global Tax Manager, Campaign Monitor (now Marigold), 1 year, marketing tech
Post-MBA Work Experience: Bain & Company, Consultant, not quite 2 years, multi-industry
Why did you choose to attend business school?
As I moved up in tax and began engaging more in client management, I realized the most interesting problems taking up our clients’ time and energy weren’t the ones I was working on. After moving into industry and seeing our company through a large acquisition, I learned that I wanted to be part of the broader strategic conversation — why did we make this acquisition? Why now? Simply recording the tax impact wasn’t cutting it anymore. Business school felt like the right next step to pivot into strategic finance, which is what I expected to pursue when I began my MBA.
Why Vanderbilt Owen? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
I was already living in Nashville with my husband, and I wanted to move only once more — presumably after school for a job. I also had several friends from the Junior League of Nashville who had gone through both the full-time and executive programs at Owen, and they all spoke highly of their experiences. Lastly, I have family connections to Vanderbilt, and they encouraged me to become a fellow Commodore.
What about your MBA experience prepared you for your current career? How do you feel that your MBA has been an asset when it comes to navigating new challenges, such as AI?
The MBA program prepared me with soft skills I use every single day — how to think critically, how to organize and communicate my thinking, and how to get started even when I’m not totally sure of the destination. Because of my time on campus, through case competitions, case discussions, and group projects, I learned how to quickly identify what I need to know and how to learn it efficiently.
When it comes to navigating new challenges, I left the MBA program feeling confident in my ability to build my own approach, one that combines ethical reflection, analytical thinking, and a clear desired endpoint. That toolkit is relevant every time I begin a new case or deploy a new tool in my current role.
With regard to AI, it was just emerging toward the end of my time at Owen. I remember speaking with a few professors about how they planned to navigate it, given how easy it had become for students to upload a case and prompt and generate papers. It seemed clear that programs would trend toward more in-class discussion and analysis, which I think is essential to ensuring candidates graduate with the “thinking” toolkit expected post-MBA.
What was your internship during business school? How did that inform your post-MBA career choice?
I interned with Bain in Atlanta, where I returned full-time after graduation. I loved working with driven, brilliant people on clients’ most pressing challenges and opportunities. I worked with a retail client to build a new sourcing strategy. Much of my time was spent on change management — how to communicate and roll out a new strategy globally, how to motivate employees, and how to define new ways of working — which I found endlessly fascinating.
The work happening at Bain was exactly what I had hoped to find in leaving tax, so it was an easy decision to return full-time.
Why did you choose your current company? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to work?
I met an Owen graduate during recruiting, and she was the biggest reason I chose Bain. Her account of her own decision, and her learning and growth trajectory on the job, quickly moved Bain to the top of my list. I visited the Atlanta office in December of my first year, and the warm welcome, coupled with candid conversations throughout the day, sealed the deal.
After having worked for several years before business school, I knew the culture and environment that would suit me best. I don’t like to take myself too seriously, I love diving deep into new topics, and I enjoy being around other people. Bainies consistently showed up friendly, curious, and willing to laugh. That gave me confidence that I would enjoy both the work and the learning alongside these incredible people.
Advice to current MBA students:
–One thing you would absolutely do again as part of the job search?
I developed a very clear story about what led me to consulting – one I could tell in about 30 seconds, with a bit of humor – and it made all the difference. It made it easy for practitioners to ask follow-up questions and quickly get a feel for my personality.
–One thing you would change or do differently as part of the job search?
I wish I had kept a more open mind earlier in the process. I came in thinking strategic finance and ended up loving what I learned about consulting, just a bit later than some of my peers. Starting earlier with case prep and networking might have made the process a little smoother.
–Were there any surprises regarding your current employer’s recruiting process?
I didn’t have many surprises as a recruit, but on the other side of the table, I’m surprised by how often I still feel the nerves of wanting to make a good impression and communicate clearly – both in coffee chats and in casing. It would have eased my mind as a recruit to know that there are nerves on both sides of the equation.
–What piece of advice do you wish you had been given during your MBA?
Relax – you are way too stressed for something that will surely work out in the end! Sleep more, exercise more. This is the best time to make your health the priority and build great routines before you’re in a very demanding job once again.
