Georgia Tech Scheller College of Business students come to learn, explore, and build community. As they move forward in their careers, they take everything they've learned and use it to power innovation in industries and businesses across the globe.
In celebration of Spring 2025 Commencement, we sat down with a few students to learn about their experiences and the wisdom they've gained in the process.
Meet Dallas Charles, who is graduating from the Full-time MBA program.
Hometown:
Washington, D.C.
Undergraduate School and Degree:
Bachelor's in Global Management, Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University
M.S. in Business Analytics, Arizona State University
Describe yourself in 15 words or less:
A driven and motivated leader with a passion for community, knowledge, and world experience.
Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school?
Before Scheller, I worked as a revenue management analyst at American Airlines. I was on the domestic pricing team, working on strategy and competitive pricing implementation for low-cost carriers and leisure markets.
What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career?
I am proud of a project I led that changed how we approached competitor pricing. This project introduced new data metrics not previously used in pricing decisions, making them central to how we engaged competitors. It’s an exciting honor to know that a project will live on, expand, and improve after you leave your role!
Why did you choose Scheller?
I chose Scheller because of the community. When people hear you are getting an MBA, they ask about the competitiveness between students in the program. This is not the case at Scheller. From the moment I stepped on campus, I felt welcomed and supported by every person I encountered, from staff to students to professors.
Going to undergrad at a school where there were 300+ people in a single classroom, and I was just a student ID number, I never expected to be able to name every person in my class, tell you something about them, and have a personal relationship with my professors. The decision to come to Scheller was connecting my passion for integrating business with technology while gaining a new network and community of incredibly talented and inspiring people.
Community Work and Leadership Roles at Scheller:
- President, Graduate Business Council (GBC): I represented the Full-time MBA cohort as an advocate of the student body to multiple campus stakeholders, such as MBA career services, the MBA program office, and the Scheller Advisory Board. GBC ensures that the community, clubs, and committees host events, promote culture, and enhance the MBA experience and career journey.
- Graduate Research Assistant, Recruiting: I began working for the Scheller MBA Recruiting team in my first year. This involved reaching out to prospective students, planning their visits, assisting in recruiting sessions (virtually and in-person), and sharing relevant information with top talent to make Scheller their top choice.
- CHARGE Leadership Fellow: I was selected as a CHARGE leadership fellow to help hone my leadership skills and abilities. Fellows can access exclusive events with executives, coaching from alumni and executive coaches, and group activities.
- MBA Ambassador: As an MBA Ambassador, I conducted admissions interviews, sat on panels, and helped guide prospective students through their Scheller application and admittance journey.
- Peer Mentor: I mentored two first-year students, providing advice on personal and academic issues and helped to guide and encourage them through their first year at Scheller and their internship search.
- First-Year Representative, Blacks in Business and Marketing Club: During my first year, I worked closely with the club boards to gain leadership experience through event planning, member engagement, and an understanding of what it takes to run an MBA club.
- Club Member: Blacks in Business, Marketing, Tech, Strategy and Innovation, Latin, Operations, Net Impact, and Women in Business
Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during your time at Scheller?
I don’t have one specific achievement I am proud of during business school. Instead, I am proud of how I have grown and challenged myself throughout the program. In my admissions interview, I started my Scheller journey, telling my interviewer that while my future career goals involved running a company, I wouldn’t be one of those students who raised their hand to lead a club or host an event.
Being in the Scheller community, surrounded by such incredible people, gave me the desire and passion to be more involved and help my classmates have a successful and transformational MBA journey.
Who was your favorite MBA professor?
My favorite MBA professor was Aaron Hackett, who taught my Strategic Brand Management class. Professor Hackett was not only incredibly passionate about his subject but also about his students. He took the time to understand your level of knowledge and accommodate his teaching with what you wanted to gain. Professor Hackett shared his trust and belief in my ability and encouraged me to participate in case competitions and activities that I wouldn’t have otherwise pursued. All I can say to him is, thank you for everything.
What was your favorite course as an MBA?
My favorite course as an MBA was Consumer Behavior, taught by Sam Bond. Professor Bond does an incredible job of making a dense subject interesting and digestible. Knowing consumers is imperative to the roles I’m pursuing post-MBA, and having the understanding is crucial. This class does an incredible job of placing you in the mind of a consumer and helps you understand what makes them tick, good and bad. Expanding the knowledge of the “how” and the “why” behind behavior is necessary for furthering your product and, in time, your company's reputation.
What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at Scheller?
My favorite MBA traditions at Scheller are our Annual Crawfish Boil and the Bell Ringing Ceremony. Crawfish Boil brings alumni, current students, faculty, staff, and incoming students together to connect and engage with one another.
The Bell Ringing Ceremony brings us together to celebrate the community's accomplishments. We get together twice yearly to cheer on and encourage our classmates who have accepted full-time positions and internship offers. These traditions show Scheller's strength and focus on community while offering an opportunity to network, and celebrate, in non-traditional environments!
What is the biggest myth about Scheller?
A huge myth about Scheller comes from the overall reputation of Georgia Tech. People believe everyone is an engineer and interested in pursuing careers in the tech space. While this may reflect some of my classmates, it doesn’t reflect everyone. Scheller is for everyone, and we have students with super interesting, non-engineering backgrounds.
Having the overall GT reputation does help connect us to more alumni and industries that aren’t traditionally pursued. I’ve had an easy and wonderful time connecting with alumni from all parts of campus who share the same support as the Scheller community.
What did you love most about Scheller’s location in the heart of midtown Atlanta?
What I love most about Atlanta is how accessible everything is! From the companies surrounding Scheller to the diversity of culture, you never run out of things to do, people to meet, places to explore, and food to try! We’ve explored classmates' cultures and interests through events hosted by both Scheller and the greater Atlanta community. These experiences have been a great way to explore, learn, and build connections!
Where did you intern during the summer of 2024?
In the summer of 2024, I interned at Toyota Motors North America in Plano, Texas in the Product Planning and Strategy department on the Lexus Product Planning team.
Where will you be working after graduation?
Currently unknown, but I am recruiting for product and brand management roles in the Washington, DC area.
Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why?
Looking back on my MBA journey, I realize there isn’t much I would have done differently. That said, I wish I had connected more with other MBAs outside of Scheller. There are so many significant MBA events throughout the year that allow MBAs from all schools to form connections and network with one another. If I had to redo my MBA journey, I would attend more case competitions, conferences, and social events that bring different programs together to gain more meaningful relationships.
What movie or television show best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it?
My answer may seem left field, but business school has taught me to embrace my think-out-of-the-box thoughts. A movie that reflects the realities of business well is The Godfather. The Godfather, though a crime syndicate, shows the grey areas of business but also offers a good reflection of business principles we learn and educate ourselves on to become successful leaders.
The movie shows the importance of balancing influence and power, the necessity of strategic planning, the complexities of leadership, the art of negotiation, the extreme importance of adaptability, and the thin line businesses walk when considering ethics.
There are many lessons to learn from the film's events, but the ones that stand out most are the benefits of your network, decisive decision-making, responding to change, the value of branding, and long-term vision. It's a great movie with some great lessons (as long as they’re ethical)!
What is one way that Scheller has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI?
Scheller has done a great job integrating AI into programming. In our first semester, we were introduced to the concepts of AI and learned how to incorporate it into our daily tasks reliably. This knowledge continues as professors have incorporated AI-based assignments and class activities into our lessons to help encourage a healthy relationship with the tools.
The insights I have gained from AI include aligning AI with my goals, approaching the tools appropriately, and knowing where the shortcomings lie. Implementing AI into our curriculum has allowed me to enhance my knowledge, hone my skills, and be more creative in assignments (especially marketing-based classes).
Which MBA classmate do you most admire?
This is a tough one. Many of my classmates have incredible stories and life experiences. One that has continuously stood out to me is Sarmy Saad. Sarmy’s resilience and perseverance through life is highly admirable. Sarmy has always shown determination and adaptability throughout the program, which translates back to his pre-MBA experiences. He has been a great addition to our cohort as a friend, sounding board, and giving you a great laugh, even when you don’t feel like laughing.
He has continued to be a support system for his friends in the program while balancing his program challenges with grace and aptitude. Sarmy has been an asset to the classroom with his knowledge and willingness to challenge the status quo. It’s been great to see someone who embraces the journey and accepts all the experiences it has to offer. Watching Sarmy navigate his time at Scheller and accomplish his goals has been admirable and inspiring.
Fun fact about yourself:
My mom's favorite fun fact about me is that she has never had to help me with or tell me to do homework. Even as a kindergartner, I would buckle into my car seat and get straight to work, no questions asked!
What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?
My professional bucket list is split into short-term and long-term goals. As for the short term, my goal is to graduate from the MBA and break into the product management space. Product management has been my area of interest since before the MBA and working in that industry will take a significant professional milestone off my bucket list.
In the long term, I want to be a CEO at a Fortune 500 company. I’ve had this goal on my professional bucket list since childhood, and I will work hard in my professional journey to see it come to fruition.