Pressure Makes Diamonds feat. Rzan Yunus ’17
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Pressure Makes Diamonds feat. Rzan Yunus ’17
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About this listen
As a first-generation American from Saudi Arabia, Rzan Yunus ’17 learned from an early age what ambition and perseverance can lead to.
She credits her immigrant father’s determination to build a successful career and life for his family in the U.S. as inspiration for her own strong work ethic and drive. It was that drive that led her first to a career in insurance at American International Group (AIG), and eventually all the way to Rice Business. Since pivoting from insurance into consulting, Rzan has put her Rice MBA to use as a senior director at Alvarez & Marsal, where she’s helping companies solve tough problems.
Rzan chats with co-host Brian Jackson ’21 about how her father’s pursuit of the American dream inspired her, the critical skills she picked up at AIG, why she was drawn to the Professional MBA program and how her experience at Rice has left a mark on her forever.
Episode Guide:
00:00 Introduction to Rzan Yunus
01:00 Early Life and Family Influence
05:39 Career Beginnings at AIG
09:40 Pursuing an MBA at Rice
18:28 Transition to Consulting
23:07 Current Role and Consulting Insights
35:40 Balancing Career and Personal Life
39:46 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
The Owl Have You Know Podcast is a production of Rice Business and is produced by University FM.
Episode Quotes:
Finding community, support, and belonging at Rice
[12:32] When you learn entrepreneurship, you learn to hustle. You learn to think like an owner, or take accountability to be resourceful, to drive results. I really appreciated Rice's pathways with other organizations and other companies, particularly consulting. I knew I wanted to explore that eventually and knew that they recruit based on certain programs. And then my favorite thing about Rice, and when I went and visited, is the team and peer atmosphere. You know, you spend so much time at work, but you also spend so much time in this program. And the people that I met and the camaraderie and the collaboration and the fact that you rarely ever achieve anything alone in life. I really wanted to be surrounded with people that were smart and hardworking and capable and collaborative and supportive. Very similar to the support system that I think everybody needs in life to be successful.Why the MBA program was an important investment in Rzan’s future.
[16:17] My two years in the program, and I think I said this earlier, it really changed my life. I am becoming and am the person now that I never thought I could have been 10 years ago, 15 years ago. I mean, the program is hard. It's a top MBA program for a reason. Balancing school and your personal life is difficult. Working full-time while earning an MBA is not a casual commitment, but it's the most important step that you can take to invest in yourself. Surround yourself with people that reflect the ambition and the dedication that is contagious.
Why she chose to pivot to consulting
[19:11] I chose consulting because I loved the variety of work that they got to do, you know, in every year, and this was something that really attracted me to it when I was meeting with people from Alvarez & Marsal. You know, you work in different industries and different projects. One year you might be doing a transformation for a media company. The next, working on a financial services operational improvement. The following year on a manufacturing cost reduction. And I think that continuous learning really appealed to me.
Show Links:
- Transcript
Guest Profile:
- Rzan Yunus | LinkedIn
- Rzan Yunus | Rice Business