Host – Dr. Amy Taylor Bianco
Director of the Online (MSM)
Guest – Maggi Karagosian
Ohio University Student
The Leader Lounge: Master Your Niche, Lead the Way!
A podcast series presented by the Ohio University Robert D. Walter Center for Strategic Leadership
In this episode of The Leader Lounge podcast, the focus is on the MSM (Master of Science in Management) program and the Walters Strategic Leadership Center. The guest, Maggi, shares her journey that led her to the program and her experiences as a student. She discusses her academic background, including her double major in journalism and economics, and her passion for working in higher education. Maggi also highlights the unique aspects of the MSM program, such as the opportunity to earn multiple certificates and concentrate in specific areas of interest. She praises the program for its practicality and real-world application, particularly in understanding different work styles and navigating professional environments. The episode showcases the collaborative and interactive nature of the program, challenging preconceived notions of online education.
Episode 6: The Leadership Lounge Series: Maggi’s Journey to the MSM Program
Transcript:
00:13
Welcome to episode five of the leader lounge with Robert D. Walters Center for Strategic Leadership. I said it right that time. Absolutely. That was a mouthful though. I think we need to shorten that for you. Awesome. And we’re here today with Maggie Maggie. I’m gonna butcher your last name. What’s What’s your last name? Hera
00:30
goes in Cara Gozi. It’s Armenian, Armenian.
00:33
I like it a lot. That’s fantastic. And also joined, of course by Dr. Amy Taylor Bianco. So this entire podcast is really focused on like the Oh, you experience revolving around that medicine program, and then also the water strategic leadership center. So can you run me through your journey that got you to this chair today?
00:49
Sure. So I am. I’m a bobcat alum. I graduated last April. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And I, so I started here in 2018. I was a double major. So I was in the Honors tutorial College in their journalism program. And then halfway through my sophomore year, I took an economics class. And I was like, this is pretty cool. And so then I just added it as a major. And I remember my advisor saying, Are you sure you want to add one like this close to great, like, you’re halfway there? And I was like, Yeah, it’s cool. Like, why not? I’m here anyway, I’m here, like. And that actually was really helpful, because I got to tie that into my my thesis for journalism. Oh, cool. And I probably wouldn’t have been able to figure out how to run all of that regression myself. So it was good that I took the classes that taught me how to do it. So that was my education. And while I was here, I was a student tour guide all four years. Loved it, super fun. It was it was a lot of meeting new people. And it was also a lot of learning because I did that through the pandemic, right. So it was giving campus tours on Zoom, which was really interesting is that really a thing you’ll did? It was a thing. It was like, we have a company that does like virtual tours for us. And you can click through it almost like Google map. So it was me clicking through it, but then you got to hear my voice over it, and then answer all of the questions. But that was really fun. It was for the first like two months. And then I was like, I want to be back on College Green, like I want to go walk around and really loved higher ed. And working in that there’s always new people coming in, you know, it’s like, there’s new students, there’s new faculty, new staff, like there’s this constant, like, new group of people to meet and get to know when people who are going to do really great things for the university. And I just really loved that environment. And so wanted to stay. And I I work here now in our Alumni Association and development, and in the MSM, so a lot of lot of oh, you going through me?
03:00
Yeah, seriously, you’re again, I think you made the joke earlier that if you fell and scraped your knee up great, yeah,
03:04
it would bleed green apps like everywhere.
03:07
It’s great. That’s awesome. No, why they mess up program?
03:09
It’s a really great question. So I, you know, total transparency had never heard of it. It was, I think when you drink it. When you look at like grad school, you know, it’s if you want to stay in something business, it’s usually an MBA or you know, there were a few I looked at the, the Master’s in higher ed. And then we have the college student personnel degree here as well. And what I really thought was neat about the MSM, I talked to a football player who was in the program. And he was like, oh, yeah, I have this certificate and this certificate. And by the time I’m done, I’ll have this too. And then I get the full degree, and the way that you’re like building, oops, building on it. And you get to do all of those certificates and really concentrate on something and then have that culminating degree I just thought was, was new, and not something that I had seen anywhere else that I had looked and for what I do professionally, a lot of of development and fundraising work is similar to sales there’s there’s things that are the same and things that aren’t but being able to you know, have a sales certificate and focus on that. while also having this degree that’s teaching about management and working with teams and leading teams and, and just different personality styles that you’re going to work with, I thought was really cool. So that’s what kinda sucked me
04:35
in. And Dr. B, that was by design, right when you went and design that you were trying to get all those certificates on there.
04:41
Absolutely. So we were trying to get in different certificates that you could put together to really fill you know, kind of open job positions, so desperate things right, unlike things to put together. So it’s not two masters degrees because we probably don’t need two masters degrees, although maybe we do.
04:59
I could go into domains Don’t
05:01
be that person. But uh, but the skills that we need usually come from different areas. So it’s like walking those boundaries. So you’re doing as your certificates. You’re in management leadership now, but then you’re doing sales and human resources, human resources. Okay, great. And where else could you take the sales and human resources together? Really important, really great combination, but probably just not offered? No,
05:25
no. And thing and then things that you don’t think of, in terms of your education. Like when you’re when you, I always joked with students, when I was a tour guide, it was like, when you’re in high school, you’re under this impression that you can be a teacher or a doctor or a lawyer, and like, that’s it. And then you get to college. And you’re like, oh, there’s so many different things that I can do. Like, you don’t realize that you can be the person who’s out there studying criminals and what their thoughts were and doing the psychology of that, like, people don’t realize that that’s an option. And when you think of grad school, you don’t think, Oh, what if I really want to focus on HR, what am I going to do, but having those skills to be able to take into your career is invaluable? It’s it’s perfect. So I thought that that was just I mean, it’s, it’s something that not a lot of people are going to have and I get to have that which is really needs. Great.
06:16
Sure. I’m looking at the your two courses in zone I heard earlier. Yeah, two courses. So which wish Have you taken so far? I took
06:22
Dr. B’s class at the at the very beginning. So it was individuals and T Yes, thank you. I was like it’s 5001. And then I took 5003, which was with
06:36
Dr. Chameli. Yes, I
06:37
can’t remember. There we go. See, this is why I have you to here to fill me in.
06:45
Someone else important than
06:48
so yeah, two courses and just finished up the last one about a week and a half ago. And they were I mean, I really enjoyed your class like it was I so I went to a conference in December. And they had this whole workshop that was for people who were new to the profession. So if you are new to fundraising, alumni relations, whatever. They had it specifically for us, and we varied in ages, you know, there were folks who were fresh out of college, there were folks who made it a career change 20 years in, and we took a DISC assessment. And so we were looking at these different, these different ways that people operate in the workplace. And what they ended up doing was splitting us up into our groups, oh, my gosh, I am an ID. So I was at the loud table in the back where everybody was like cheering and having a lot of fun. This Caesar ever nervous Caesar in the corner, and like the Ss are just watching. And then the DS, all of their hands shot up and they’re looking at each other like I want to talk. I’m the spokesperson, I am the main character Exactly. And that was really neat, because I was there with two colleagues. And one was a C and one was a D. And I was ID. And so we were all different. And as they’re going through reading through all of these things, I’m like, yep, that’s how that person operates like 100%. I get that. And so then when I started your class, and we’re looking at like, these are how different people operate in these different environments. I was like, Whoa, it’s connecting to the real coming all the way around. And I must have, I must have driven my coworkers crazy, because I was like, last night in class, I learned about this, and you’re doing this today. And we talked about like meetings and how we have so many meetings now. Oh, it’s like everybody’s, you know, you’re on for 30 minutes, and you get 10 minute break, and you have another meeting. And it’s like, there’s got to be a purpose behind this. And I’m reading about it in class. And I’d love to tell you what my thoughts are. So that was really cool. That’s
08:52
now looking at 5003 then so that was filling scores as well, which you like better? I’m just kidding. I have to ask though, because we just talked about this with a life raft, who did you saved your bomber? Did you have to do life raft, but
09:06
I did do the life raft thing I cannot fly for you remember? I want to say I saved the married couple. Because all I could think of was they had children orphaned, and I was like, they gotta be saved. And then I think I saved the I saved the convict who was the only one who knew how to steer the ship. Otherwise, they’re all gonna drift off and die anyway. So like, you might as well have somebody who can at least bring you back. And maybe I saved the doctor. And then there was one more
09:42
that you said. It cracks me up because I done obviously. So I have three courses left on MSN program. I’ve done a lot of homework, a lot of work. I don’t think I’ve spent more time agonizing about something than that one thing and it’s the smallest little Excel document ever but I’m literally laying in bed at 3am being like that. Nurse like she’s addicted to drugs, but it’s not that bad. Right? Like, Okay people, right? But the same time she has a right it’s like she’s. So I’m like unless she’s having issues. I’m like, why am I thinking about this? Right. But the challenge is you’re thinking right, and that’s the entire course is just about challenging thinking. Yeah. So I know you’re not super far into it. Yeah. But what’s your MSM experience been like so far overall,
10:21
I mean, it’s been so coming into a program that is, that is this kind of virtual, there’s some hybrid components. But you’re you’re online, I was under the impression that it was like asynchronous, you’re not really talking to anybody, like you log on, you do your work, you turn it and you call it a day. And both of these classes that I’ve taken so far have had an a virtual component where we’re actually sitting in talking to each other. And 5003, we had a group project to work on. And I got to know, three of my classmates who I probably wouldn’t have talked to otherwise. Because I’m just not the type of person to send an email and be like, if you would ever like to chat about class, like happy to do it. I am just kind of like, I just don’t do that. And so your ID personality? No, that’s what they said at that conference. They were like, so all of my eyes, you guys were super excited for networking. Right? And I was like, No, I wasn’t no, the DS like, a
11:20
waste of time. Yeah,
11:21
I was just, it’s not for me. But yeah, so getting to know all of them and, and what their different experiences, we all have different jobs. We we varied and age. There were there was another Bobcat in there. And her and I overlapped a little bit in undergrad, but we never knew each other. And it was just that kind of collaboration was not something I thought I was going to get out of this program, I really thought that it was going to be individualized and, and you’re just, you know, working on it yourself. But looking back on it, it makes sense, right? We’re talking about teams, we’re talking about working with other people, of course, you’re going to have that, you’re going to need to have that interaction. And so that’s been one of the biggest takeaways for me was just, you’re meeting people online, like who you’ve never talked to before, which can kind of sound creepy, but it’s like, and then you’re just working with them. And, you know, putting a lot of energy into a project. And I was really proud of the project that we ended up sharing too. So it was just, it was unexpected, but it was, I think really beneficial to the learning process overall.
12:30
Nice. Now I know you picked up what’s your two certificates ago?
12:32
So sales and HR,
12:34
why did you pick those.
12:35
So I picked sales because of my job, I thought that it made sense to at least have someone of that foundation, I wasn’t in the CHE as an undergrad. My brother is in the CHE right now. And he has all the cool sweatshirts. And I will have to steal one from him at some point, just pretend as but I thought that that would be really beneficial. And then what I ended up doing, as I was going through to pick to pick my other one, I talked to my supervisor, and was like, Okay, if you are looking at a job application, what would you want to see on a resume and talked to quite a few people at work. And I think that suit like data, data is not my strong suit, I am more of a calculus girly than a statistics girly. So I didn’t want to jump into crunching a lot of numbers and, and analyzing all of that. And as I as I talked to more people and kind of narrowed it down, I was like, okay, HR, I think having a foundation in that. And just being able to understand it at a basic level and then go forward from there is is extremely helpful in a career, you’re never not going to deal with HR. Like they are always there. I’ve served on search committees at work and being able to, I haven’t taken an HR class yet, but being able to learn about that hands on here are the questions you can ask in interviews, here’s what you should be doing to make sure that it’s a blind process and you’re evaluating everybody equally. I think that it will translate really well into the into those courses and certificate because you can cross education and career and see how you can apply that like
14:23
hands on. Absolutely, it’s huge. And Dr. B with any questions you get.
14:25
I am excited for you to do the HR certificate because I think it’s going to be interesting. It’s really strategic HR so it’s people that all have 20 to 25 years of work experience that are our teaching and just came back to be professor so I’m really curious to to see what you see is the relationship with HR and sales. But you mentioned some of the like most surprising things about the program before and that interaction. Was that a good surprise or was that a not like how did you how did you feel about that because you could write not go like And just, you could just do your thing and get through the program, right? Or you could create those relationships and go to those things. So how did it play out for you?
15:09
Um, so your class having the The Wednesday night meetings, it worked pretty well for my schedule, I’m done at work at five, I go home at dinner, and I’ve logged out for class, it was great. The class that I just wrapped up, we did the same thing. So we have that seven o’clock class. But we had the group project, and by some unlucky draw, it was myself and one of my classmates is outside of Cleveland. And then one of them is in Texas. So she’s in Central Time. And one of them is in New Mexico. So mountain time. Yeah. Talk about like schedule chaos. Yeah, because the ones who are in Texas in New Mexico, they work 10 hour shifts. And so they’re I mean, they were both off on Fridays, which was really helpful for getting everybody together. But that meant I was logging on at like, 830. At night. Yeah, that’s when it actually lined up. I’m not gonna say I was thrilled about that. The most exciting part. But as we got through the project, and you get through the awkward, like small talk phases of trying to somewhat get to know each other and then working, it was a lot easier, because you’re like, oh, no, I get to talk to Aaron and ally, and Deborah tonight about, you know, this project that we’re working on and pulling it all together. So it was a surprise. And at first I was like, Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me. Before we ran all this together, but then once you start to get into it, it was fun. And like I said, it was really proud of the project that we did. And I don’t think it would have definitely would have been a different experience with with other group members, because we so the project that we did was our decision was to keep a rental property or to sell it. And it was just, you know, you’re talking about a real life scenario. Yeah. And it was based on one of my classmates former experiences with selling a house, we get into these presentations, and I have classmates who are talking about like, the CEO made this decision and the plant blew up and 24 people died, would you have made the same decision and I was like, we could have gone way further. Really had some sort of surprise effect. But But yeah, they weren’t, they weren’t.
17:27
And I think it’s really interesting, because I remember that the first breakout we did with the toast conversation, I think that was like literally episode one of your and you put me with Jason or the the algorithm put me with Jason Radcliffe and Ma, Molly. She was she’s under her. Yeah. Okay. So with Molly in one small group together, too. And we bought it like it’s on the five minute break that we have, we got a text chat on our phones, and it’s live to this day. But again, it’s it’s less, let’s focus more gossipy. Now I chose life, but you can form relationships. And for me that I think that was the most surprising thing about the MSN program is I like you was like a online class log on, do the work log off, right. But the more that I got involved with it, the more I heard other people talk, I just sent a message on teams or whatever. And then suddenly, you start to build those relationships. And I was really surprised about how you can build relationships virtually. And that was a huge wake up call for me, because I was like, I’m never I’m like, I did not get involved with this to make friends. But I did very quickly, right? It’s very interesting. Yeah. Any other things you hit on? I know, you got like, less than a minute? Yeah.
18:32
What would you tell somebody who’s trying to decide whether this program is for them? You know, we’re talking about them about the program, and they’re just trying to decide like, whether to do it or not? What would you what would you have them think about? Or what would you tell them about your experience?
18:46
That’s a good question. Um, I think one of the things I always did as a, as a tour guide, was I would go to like the online catalog, where it’s like, this is the class, this is the degree program you’re in, here’s every class you’re going to have to take, here’s what your electives are. For me, that was really helpful because I can go okay, this is what I’m going to be actually working with every semester, you think of the MSM, and if you just read the word management, you’re not getting the gist of what the program is. That’s like that’s very overarching. It sums it all up. But that’s not the specifics that we need management to be like an acronym for something I think that it would, that’s a really, but then it would be the MSMA and then you really get too far into that. What’s your degree?
19:35
MSMA mg Yeah,
19:36
right. Like, it’d be like, what is that long story? But I actually sitting down and looking at the classes and saying, is this something that’s going to be interesting for me? As I work through the program, you want to have things where you where it piques your interest and you can say okay, taking that class I think is going to be really fun and it will apply to x company. On it you know if you’re a psychology major in undergrad than 5003 is probably going to be really cool class for you. Or if you never got to take a psychology class and you think that that decision making and that behavior is interesting, okay, like this is going to also be really cool for you, right? So looking at what those different breakdowns are and and what the program has to offer, I think is the best way to and then talk to other students who are in it right now and who can say this is what I’ve experienced? You know, you can’t you can’t learn everything about it on the internet. You can’t ask AI to tell you if you should take the classes or not. So talking to people who are experiencing it is probably a really great way to listen to a podcast or listen to a podcast saying a pretty cool thing we just came up with your advertisement we
20:47
did recently go and might drop there that that perfect. Do you have anything else want to share about your experience or anything else without you?
20:54
Um I don’t know. Can I just drop a Go Bobcats and
21:00
absolutely just cheer Yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh,
21:02
you Oh yeah. Wonderful.
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