Orchestrating a Career Change

During the 2020 pandemic when the world locked down, Kent Doerries ’22 stepped up. He decided it was time to make the career pivot he’d long been considering. A high school choir director, Doerries applied for the Professional MBA program and completed it while teaching during the pandemic, describing it as “the most fun I never want to have again.”

After seeing a friend complete a similar career change, Doerries was inspired. “He had pivoted from nursing into technology consulting,” says Doerries. “Seeing the way that his conversations changed and the way that he carried himself differently even after one year of his MBA program, I knew that was something that I also wanted to pursue.”

Doerries learned the power of the Aggie Network early on, through several connections and coincidences leading him to Mays Business School. An encounter with an acquaintance at the grocery store led to him texting with then-director of the PMBA program Mike Alexander hours later.

 “It was just immediately clear through the application process that there was something different about Texas A&M,” says Doerries. “There was an entire process to review and strengthen my resume and prepare for the interview. I really just felt like Mays wanted me to be a part of the program and I felt wanted there.”

While Doerries admits to feeling some impostor syndrome at the start of the program without the business experience of his peers, he honed in on the leadership and listening skills he’d developed as a teacher and choir director and embraced the challenges presented by Mays’ expert faculty. He describes the education he received as transformational, teaching him to think more strategically and master the business skills that paved the way for his successful career transition into consulting. 

The PMBA program opened the door for him to pursue career avenues he always hoped were possible, including his first role upon graduation with a national business and technology consulting firm where he helped business leaders in a variety of industries identify and submit federal tax credits and incentives. Today, Doerries continues to apply his program knowledge through a new opportunity, working with organizations to determine C-suite compensation plans.

Building off his own experience, Doerries is now committed to helping Mays however he can, including talking to prospective students and serving on the advisory board for Mays’ Houston MBA programs. “It’s so cool to have the opportunity to give back in a way that’s forward facing,” he says. “There are some things in the program that I had suggestions for and getting an opportunity to implement those for future cohorts is fantastic. We’re coming up with tangible items that add value to both current students and former students that I’m very excited to implement.”