What Is My Purpose Here? feat. Mike Dey ‘20

Owl Have You Know

English - December 14, 2022 10:00 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MB - ★★★★★ - 22 ratings
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Previous Episode: Hard Work and Flexibility Lead To Success feat. Natalie Smith ‘17

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Growing up, Mike Dey had a passion for planes. So it was only fitting that when he got older, he would pursue a career doing what he was good at (mechanics) in the field he loved (aerospace engineering).

Mike is a Houston native and Rice Business Class of 2020 online MBA graduate. He received a BS in aerospace engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and began his career as an engineer for flight crew operations integration at Boeing in 1996.

Mike initially wanted to get an MBA to advance his existing corporate career by adding business tools and knowledge to his engineering background, but Rice Business exposed him to the concept of entrepreneurship through acquisition, inspiring him to pivot to business ownership. He is now based in Seattle and is the president and owner of American Spray Technologies, a manufacturing company that invents and manufactures drywall texture spraying technology.

He talks with host Maya Pomroy about building a cohort community in the online MBA program, how flight communications have changed during his career in the industry, and the importance of networking and connections.

Episode Quotes:

How the Rice MBA program prompted Mike to make a big change

14:20 - I kind of felt like my skillset was locking me into my career in some ways. I knew I was good at a lot of things. I liked coaching and mentoring, you know, I'm good at problem solving. But I wasn't sure that I could pivot out of that industry into something totally different. And so, a number of the classes in the MBA program were expanding my thinking there, but then when I got to Enterprise Acquisition, it was – a light bulb went off.

On pivoting to a new career path

21:08 - How do you do something you've never done before? Well, you just do it. You just start. You get advice. You follow people, find people you admire who have done things like that, and learn what they did.

What Mike liked about the online MBA option

07:43 - What most impressed me was how well, even over Zoom, those connections were formed among my cohort. Working on group projects remotely and spending the time together in class, it really was amazing how well everybody was connected.

Show Links:

Episode Transcript

Guest Profile:

Mike Dey on LinkedIn