Insider information
Current professional roles:
- Kim: Purchasing Manager for Christian County, Missouri
- Chase: Managing Director for Higginbotham Insurance
- Haley: Senior LIHTC Credit Officer at Legacy Bank and Trust
Their professional accomplishments
Kim: “I was recently promoted to Purchasing Manager of Christian County. I have had some amazing jobs in my life, but I am exactly where I want to be right now.”
Chase: “Having the opportunity to become a shareholder in the company I work for and assist in directing the local offices with three other managing directors while serving partner organizations.”
Why did they choose the MBA program?
Kim: “My graduate program of study was business administration. I finished my undergraduate degree at Belmont University in Nashville. My undergraduate program was business administration; it seemed the perfect progression to continue my business education with the latest and greatest information in business. I have always been passionate about business and how it works.”
Chase: “M.B.A. in the graduate program. I moved forward with this program in order to further my understanding in applicable business concepts to be more effective in my professional roles and businesses in running them.”
Haley: “I chose the MBA because I received my undergrad from Missouri State in accounting and decided to continue pursuing additional education in my applicable field.”
Favorite class/professor
Kim: “My favorite class was ITC 761: Management Information Systems. I enjoyed the assigned articles that we read and researching the latest and greatest technological breakthroughs that are profoundly changing the world. It was also interesting to receive classmates’ viewpoints on something you wrote. My favorite professors are Dr. Dana Haggard and Dr. Stanley Leasure. Organization behavior and the law have always interested me. I took two classes from each of them. I learned so much about myself with Dr. Haggard, and the law has always interested me. I deal with contracts and negotiations daily in my job. Dr. Leasure provided some great insight on how to negotiate in the Negotiations, Arbitrations, and Mediations class. I highly recommend both professors.”
Chase: “I didn’t have a specific class or teacher that was my favorite, all the classes in the graduate program gave me perspectives that are applicable in my day-to-day professional life. Furthermore, the students we were able to connect and network with was an incredible experience to see the different perspectives on each class depending on the background of the students in the program too in all stages of their professional life.”
Overcoming challenges
Kim: “Juggling my schedule was challenging. I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother and a sister, and I took a new job during all of this. Most importantly my husband, Randy Will, found out last year that he had cancer. We discussed whether I should lay off a semester until he improved. He said, ‘Absolutely not. You have gone too far to stop now.’ I am glad to report that he is doing well, and we are taking it a day at a time. He has always been my greatest cheerleader.”
Chase: “The most challenging aspect of the program was the time commitment to the studies while having a full-time job. Having my wife and mom go through the program together helped with the understanding of the time commitment needed to be successful. We would block out times on Sunday evening and weekdays in order to make sure we completed all of the necessary work. Furthermore, we were pregnant and had our baby, Henry, in the second to last semester. Haley had a baby close to the final tests in the second to last semester, which was also challenging, but the professors were very graceful and we made it work.”
Haley: “The most challenging aspect of the graduate program was just juggling my full-time career, family and having our son, Henry, mid-way through the fall semester. I was able to overcome the time commitment through dedicating specific times throughout the week towards studies.”
Memorable experiences at Missouri State
Kim: “The CAPSIM project. I had phenomenal team members. We met every Sunday evening for a minimum of two hours to discuss our project strategy. It was a challenging environment that created an incredible learning experience.”
Chase: “The workplace simulation in one of our classes that simulated a full day of e-mails, meetings and notifications to assess how you would react to a ‘stress test’ during your day. This was very challenging to complete, but helped in teaching the areas that you can improve into better work through your daily tasks, which I was able to implement in my day-to-day professional workflows.”
Haley: “The business simulation was the most memorable experience as a graduate student. This was a challenging project and provided hands-on experience to the day-to-day aspects of the working environment.”
Capturing the family experience
Kim: “A semester after I started my graduate program, my son, Chase Marable, and his wife, Haley Decker Marable, began their MBA at Missouri State University. Side note: Chase and Haley met in class while attending Missouri State University. My husband, Randy Will, received his MBA in 1996. Randy still remembers how hard it was to work, have a family and get his MBA even twenty years later.”
Chase: “Going through the MBA with family was the biggest support system ever. It helped due to the understanding of the time needed to be successful in the program and the support to keep continuing even when studies were harder at times. I would recommend to go into this program with family and complete this educational milestone together.”
Haley: “Going through the graduate program at Missouri State with my husband and mother-in-law created a great support system and understanding environment for the time commitment required to be successful.”
MSU community supports students
Kim: “My advisors were great at guiding me through the process and provided insight on classes that I inquired about.”
Chase: “The advisors were incredible in planning out my calendar each semester and keeping me on track to graduate. The professors were always open and willing to help. The students were great to connect with and stay in touch with even after on business topics we learned from our studies.”
Haley: “The advisors and the professors were very responsive and helpful, for the most part. Working with the other graduate students through group projects helped to build a community and support.”
Their graduate education prepared them for the future
Kim: The diverse subject matter in the MBA program exposed me to ideas and vocations that I have not spent a lot of time on. It helped me to improve my communication and service levels when working with other offices in the county. I am working in my dream job at Christian County. I hope to continue to build the department into a world-class purchasing department, something the county can be proud of for years to come.
Chase: The program helped prepare me for my current and future goals by giving me the tools and knowledge on business processes that is applicable in running businesses. This helps in our strategy to create businesses in the future and run current businesses including real estate and insurance operations. This program has allowed us to do this effectively and implement processes that were taught and discussed in classes.
Haley: Classes in the MBA program provided a lot of information and guidance on professionalism and how to be an effective, good leader.
Advice for upcoming #GradBears
Kim: A thousand times I would tell them to do it. Going back as a sixty-one-year-old was difficult but exhilarating.
Chase: I would advise younger graduates to go directly into the graduate programs or get into the accelerated program as fast as possible. Waiting a few years before getting the MBA was applicable to gain real world experience, but I wish I had gained this MBA earlier in my college career.
Haley: You can never have too much education, and Missouri State really is a good program to pursue further education.
Follow them on social media
- LinkedIn: Kimberly Hopkins-Will, MBA, NIGP-CPP, CPPO, CPPB
- LinkedIn: Chase Marable
- LinkedIn: Haley Marable, MBA