Student Perspectives

Student Perspective

Dalton Thomas

Dalton Thomas

EMBA 20

Executive Sous Chef
Ensue by Christopher Kostow
Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

"I'm seriously Questioning the Status Quo regarding the hierarchy in restaurant kitchens. Do I want to foster that or do things differently?"

Business lessons now on the menu

I honestly didn’t think I would get into the EMBA program, so agreeing to help open a new restaurant in Shenzhen, China seemed like a great opportunity. Now, I’m doing both!

I’m responsible for marketing the new restaurant: Ensue. Our Marketing class gave me further insights into how to draft a marketing strategy for a new business—which is literally what I was doing for our restaurant, so I was able to implement what I learned right away.

Learning net-present-value calculations in our Finance class helped me make more informed, data-driven decisions at the restaurant: Should we offer lunch service? Open a casual concept place next door? Now I can back up ideas with data and research.

Copenhagen calling

I happened to run into my pal Marcus Krauss, EMBA 18, when he was with his EMBA cohort on their Copenhagen immersion week. As a fellow chef, what he was doing intrigued me. Applying to the program was a big step that is already having a big pay-off.

I would like to be the class rep who helps organize our Copenhagen immersion. It’s a city I love and know well. And it will take me full-circle to where I first learned about the EMBA program.

Cohort forged at Leadership Communications

It was during Leadership Communications immersion week that our cohort stopped being a group of individuals and really became a cohort. Everyone put 100% effort into that week.

The week was intense. At one point, I wondered if I was in business school or a cult. I’m not an emotional guy, and the EMBA program is all about getting out of my comfort zone.

The Creating Effective Organizations class brings the lessons of Leadership Communications onto a bigger stage: companies instead of individuals.

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