Best & Brightest MBAs: Erika Hines of Duke University's Fuqua School

Last summer when 26-year-old Erika Hines interned at Bain & Co., she learned just how much impact she could have. Hines provided the information her client needed to decide not to pursue a $60 billion customer segment. The organization had struggled with the decision for several years. Within a few short weeks, she was able to provide the firm with the competitive intelligence and internal data analytics needed to make an informed decision.

Yet, Hines confides, she had been notoriously noncommittal as a child, taking exactly one lesson each of tap, modern, piano, clarinet, violin and guitar. But that was long ago. Before entering business school, she had worked at the Whirlpool Corp. as a sales training analyst. After graduating with her MBA, Hines is going back to Bain & Co. as a consultant.

“I knew I wanted to go to business school when…I looked at the opportunities it would afford me to make a serious difference both in and out of my organization.”

“If I hadn’t gone to business school, I would be… passionately selling luxury appliances to help people build their dream kitchens.”

What did you enjoy most about business school in general? I most enjoyed the freedom to jump into the areas that interested me with few requirements for things that did not. Whether that was in the classroom or through extracurricular activities, I had complete control over my level of involvement. Business school can be customized to almost any aspiration – from serial entrepreneur to general manager to government reformer, business school can be customized to prepare you for any future career.

What was the most surprising thing about business school for you? Business school is a much better experience for people who are comfortable being uncomfortable and willing to throw themselves into the unknown. The sheer amount of exposure to diversity of all types lends the experience to help those who are comfortable with being one--‐of--‐a--‐kind get more out of the two years.

What is your best advice to an applicant hoping to get into your school’s MBA program? Be yourself. Applicants who try to be the “model applicant” come off as disingenuous and make it harder for the team to advocate on his or her behalf.

Meet all of Poets&Quants' 100 Best & Brightest MBA Graduates of 2017