President of Lucy Activewear and Berkeley MBA for Executives student Laurie Etheridge made the Poets & Quants 2017 Best EMBAs list. Laurie sees herself moving from exec to entrepreneur in the next phase of her career and told Poets & Quants, "I realized I was reading and studying about all of these topics on my own...so I thought: why not formalize this education, supercharge the capabilities I am seeking, place myself in a world-class environment with the best thinkers and teachers?
The question brought her to Berkeley Haas, whose core values align well with her beliefs. “The strong reputation of the Berkeley EMBA program was very appealing, and my experience with the program office was incredible,” Laurie told Poets & Quants.
While Laurie had concerns about how she would balance an MBA with work and life, she discovered that the biggest myth about going back to school is that there won’t be enough time. “Somehow you find the time for homework and studying,” she says. “You repurpose time and become much more productive quickly. You figure it out!”
She's also seen synergies between school and family, as she and 14-year-old son, Harrison, share study tips and reading material. “Being students together has given us an entirely new world to enjoy at the same time. It’s been so fun to show him that learning never ends.”
A leader who is most proud of the teams she has built and the integrity and courage she has shown, Laurie's ultimate goal is “to create and lead a business with an inspired team of people...solving big, global problems.” Fitting for someone who describes herself as a “driven by the cause.”