Heather Ray, MBA '15

Heather’s MBA experience included researching the Grateful Dead and optimizing the visitor experience at Hudson Yards. It was fascinating, challenging, and most of all, useful for her future career

“Studying growth strategy in particular helped me make a confident transition into consulting, where I work primarily in growth and brand strategy. I still go back and read notes from Professor Aneel Karnani’s class.”

Heather’s independent study was a highlight of her time at Ross. “I worked with Professor Aradhna Krishna writing a case based on how the Grateful Dead engaged with their fans. The band sells tickets directly to the public using snail mail, and fans took to decorating envelopes in the hopes of increasing their odds of getting tickets. It was a fun exploration of both the music industry and using human senses in marketing.”

Another standout experience was working with Related Companies, Stephen Ross’ real estate development company, for her MAP project. “At the time, they were in the early stages of building the Hudson Yards mixed-use development. After a lot of research, we created a customer experience strategy for the observation deck.”

Now, when I work from BCG’s New York office in Hudson Yards, I look out the window and see this experience I helped to create.

Heather also loved being a peer coach at Ross. “I learned how to extract logic and reasoning to help people work through the case interview or business problems. It’s meaningful to me to see people I’ve coached go on and be successful. And, it was a practical experience — I use these skills now interviewing for BCG and coaching my teams day-to-day.”

She’s made it part of her mission to recruit more Ross alums to the Dallas office. “I want more Michigan alums here, and I’m making progress — I’ve gotten three already. I know it’s a good cultural fit. Building a home here for people from Michigan has been my greatest contribution as an alum so far.”