After graduating from Tianjin Foreign Studies University in China with a B.A. in Spanish and English language study, Mandy He decided to continue her education but change her focus of study to business. Since then, she’s earned two master’s degrees from LMU - an MBA in 2020 and an M.S. in Business Analytics (MSBA) in 2021.
“Pursuing my MBA at LMU was the best decision because it allowed me to explore different areas of business,” said Mandy. “Through the program, I discovered an interest in information technology by taking analytics courses such as CRM and visualization.”
Mandy’s passion for data analytics grew so much that she opted to enroll in LMU’s MSBA program where she gained knowledge and skills in modeling, machine learning, Python, R and real case studies. She also worked closely with her classmates on a capstone project which gave them the opportunity to provide business analytics solutions to real organizations.
“For me, the most enjoyable part of my MSBA experience was the collaboration and friendships that developed,” said Mandy. “We studied together, learned from each other and helped one another for the whole year, even though we never met in person.”
Her most memorable class was “Business Intelligence” with Professor Greg Lontok. “We learned database management and SQL which are key skills that business analysts use on a daily basis.”
During her LMU studies, Mandy interned with RMDS Lab twice, first as a marketing analytics specialist and then as a business analyst. The company offered her a full-time position as a project manager which she happily accepted. Mandy says without an MSBA degree, she would not have received this offer.
As a project manager at RMDS Lab, she led business analytics projects to translate business requirements into analytical tasks, in addition to conducting marketing analysis and improving customer acquisition, activation, retention and monetization. By combining her business knowledge from the MBA program with data analytics skills acquired in the MSBA program, Mandy believes her business insights and recommendations are more credible and effective.
“My MSBA education comes in handy at work because I apply many of the skills I learned in class to my day-to-day responsibilities,” she shared. “As a project manager at RMDS Lab, I needed to have the technical skills as well as the business background.”
Mandy transitioned to BlackLine, Inc. as a go-to-market operations analyst where she partners with the global account management sales team to execute and drive efficiency across key processes.
Mandy’s advice for incoming LMU graduate business students is to “focus on time management and make sure to stay organized to improve your school, social and work life. Although it may be hectic at times, if you stay organized you will be able to do anything you set your mind to!”
By Mia Harder ’22