Two Questrom Students Named Poets & Quants 2023 Best And Brightest Online MBAs
May 16, 2023
Kristen Lazard (Questrom’23) and Christopher “CJ” Epps (Questrom’23) were named two of Poets & Quants 2023 Best and Brightest Online MBAs. Both students demonstrated academic passion that continues to guide their robust career paths. Learn more about their stories and their perspectives of the Online MBA program at Questrom.
Kristen Lazard (Questrom’23), avid reader, wife, and mother lives in Winter Garden, Florida, and has just landed her dream job, at the Walt Disney Company as the Director of Vertical Planning. Lazard says the Questrom OMBA program was right for her because it “has a very non-traditional curriculum that combines standard disciplines into one course per semester that mimics real world more than most.”
She had an opportunity to attend an in-person admissions event and felt a strong connection to the faculty, staff, and students she met with. Her favorite part of being in an online setting was that she could participate even when she wasn’t at home. “I may have been on vacation or traveling for work, but my coursework and team were always accessible online.”
While Lazard’s previous job was eliminated during her studies, she emerged even stronger because of the Online MBA program at Questrom. “It gave me the courage to start my own consulting business – something I never would have even thought of doing before business school. Ultimately, I landed a corporate role of my dreams, working for Disney. I currently hold the most complex and challenging role ever in my career and I’m having the time of my life doing it.”
2023 Best & Brightest Online MBA: Kristen Lazard, Boston University (Questrom)
Christopher “CJ” Epps (Questrom’23), driven leader, lifelong-learner, and music lover lives in Norfolk, Virginia, and works for the Biden Administration as the Director of Office and External Affairs & Communications at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration. Epps chose the Online MBA program at Questrom because he liked how the curriculum is structured in that multiple topics are integrated into modules that would usually take several years for a part-time student to complete.
Epps said he also values “the distinction of a Boston University degree as well as a program that would not leave me in debt upon graduation.” During his time at Questrom, Epps served as a peer mentor and says he found it “extremely fascinating to be able to coach, support and uplift another student in a time zone 13 hours ahead of mine.”
Epps says the Questrom Online MBA program has facilitated his understanding of how organizations create and capture value. More specifically, “the module on risk assessment and management has proved valuable in real time as I’ve been able to incorporate learned concepts in my quarterly planning.” Epps landed a new role during his studies that transitioned him from a multicultural communications role to an external affairs role in the federal government.
2023 Best & Brightest Online MBA: Christopher “CJ” Epps, Boston University (Questrom)
You can learn more about these students at their respective Poets & Quants articles.
