MBA Alumni Profile: Scott Warren, Graziadio School of Business

Scott Warren shares his MBA stories from the Graziadio School with us, and shows us the many aspects of the school that have worked in its favour.

1. Why did you choose the Graziadio School?

- To have access to the Southern California/ Los Angeles area for career opportunities
- The small classroom setting with direct access to professors
- Access to the large alumni network
- Weather      

2. What were you doing before your MBA?

Sales Manager for Mercedes-Benz Canada      

3. What are the professional and extracurricular activities that you participated in outside the classroom?

- Mentorship Program - I built strong relationship with my mentor and stayed in close contact with him after graduation. My mentor has had a very positive impact on both personal and professional issues.

- The Executive Committee (TEC on Campus) - Very unique program that allowed me the opportunity to spend time with a successful entrepreneur while working together with my MBA peers sharing ideas and exploring possible career paths.  It's an excellent complement to the classroom setting.

- John Molson International Case Competition - It is the oldest and largest international case competition, where more than 30 schools from around the world competed in a 5-day event. I was the alternate team member the first year and the team captain the second year. The experience was definitely one of my MBA highlights.

- Elected Treasurer for the business student society - We organized speaker events and student social functions throughout the year.
      
- Friends of George Graziadio (FOGG) Annual golf tournament - I participated in the inaugural and second FOGG golf tournaments. These annual events raise funds for the program and bring awareness to the MBA program.

4. What are some of the projects you completed at the Graziadio School?

- Non-profit consulting for Make-A-Wish Foundation in Los Angeles - My team completed two large consulting projects for one of L.A.'s largest non-profit organizations.  We helped the organization preparing for an internal audit and completed an in-depth analysis of the role and requirements for the board of directors.      

- A real world project that had our marketing team design a new brand and implementation strategy for a large regional delivery services company. This strategy was presented to the CEO and VP of Marketing of the company and received excellent reviews.

- Completed a large scale extranet for an automotive dealership group. The project was specifically designed to help formalize and standardize company systems and policies on a web-based extranet for over 700+ employees.      

5. Is there anything that you consider to be a "beyond expectation" experience, while you were at the Graziadio School?

- Mentorship program
- TEC on campus
- Molson International Case Competition
- Going to school in beautiful  Malibu      

6. How has your Pepperdine MBA helped your career?

- It has helped me look at business decisions from both a long term perspective and a short term perspective.
- I have acquired a huge network of peers, professors, alum and mentors that have already helped me in my career progression. This network will continue to be invaluable as my career continues.
- The Pepperdine MBA has given me the extra credentials to be considered for several unique positions; positions that I would not have been considered for otherwise.      

7. Your current company and title.

I am the General Manager for Ferrari/Maserati Dealership in Vancouver.