MBAA is a student-run organization affiliated with the LSU Flores MBA Program.

Flores MBAA Student Spotlight

The LSU Flores MBA Program is made up of bright and unique students. Each week, MBAA likes to spotlight some of the students that make up our membership.

Katherine Blackburn

Hometown: Baton Rouge, LA

Favorite thing about Baton Rouge: We love to eat here!

Friends/Family: I have a huge family in all sorts of industries - it can make for pretty lively (but intimidating) family gatherings.

Age: 27

Undergraduate University & Major: LSU, Electrical Engineering

Favorite Undergraduate Memory: I'm honestly not much of a football fan but our university has so much passion and love for the sport that it's contagious.

Specialization: I’m interested most in leadership, specifically at the C-level but know I need a lot of experience and growth to get there. I have a lot of ideas and a lot of drive to succeed so I'm hoping I'll find a great company and be successful.

Dream Job: Astronaut - who didn't want to be an astronaut as a kid? I wear glasses and get car sick so I'm probably not a good candidate but it would be SO COOL!

Unique Fact:I'm very creative even though I'm an engineer. I do have to follow patterns but I love having a creative outlet like sewing, knitting, crocheting, etc. I can't make boring things like trivets, though, I make little characters and crazy-patterned skirts.

Emily Fisher

**Hometown:** Clark, NJ
**Favorite thing about Clark:** Well, my entire family has since moved 1300 miles away from home so, not much. But if I have to choose, I guess how small it was and being able to graduate with the same friends you went to pre-k with.
**Friends/Family:** My mom and dad just moved down here officially a little over a year ago. We were affected by the flood so we are still house hunting in Denham Springs. My sister and brother in law live in Denham Springs now and I have a 2 year old nephew Mason with a niece on the way!!
**Age:** 22
**Undergraduate** **University & Major:** LSU, Marketing
**Favorite Undergraduate Memory:** So many. I was on the powerlifting team all four years, so I guess being on that team, meeting my best friend and being able to climb in leadership positions there.
**Specialization:** Marketing Analytics – I find the topic very interesting and love to follow market trends and dive into consumer behavior.
**Dream Job:** It’s always constantly changing, but in the end, a job where I am happy and excited to go to work every day is my dream job.
**Unique Fact:** I actually had no idea what powerlifting was until I got to LSU. Since I was from so far away, I had no friends, so I decided to try out for a sports club that was still accepting members. Low and behold, I made the team and they were stuck with me (or should I say I was stuck with them) for four years.

Taylor Roberts

**Hometown:** Shreveport, LA
**Favorite thing about Shreveport:** Southern Maid Donuts. Best donuts ever! Also in the 50's, Elvis Presley sang the jingle for their commercial (it was the only commercial he ever did!).
**Family/friends:** I have 2 half brothers and 2 step sisters! My family is pretty small but I love spending time with everyone. I still talk to some friends from back home but one of the best things I've gained from going to LSU is all of my new and wonderful friends! I like to surround myself with people who challenge me and lift me up!
**Age:** 22
**Undergrad University & Major:** LSU -- Marketing
**Favorite memory from undergrad:** My favorite memory from undergrad was storming the field when LSU beat Ole Miss. Fun times.
**Specialization:** Marketing Analytics
**Dream job:** Real Housewives of Dallas or the CMO of a major company.
**Unique Fact:** In high school I forgot my speech at graduation in front of thousands of people. It was supposed to be about our school's Alma Mater but sadly nobody ever heard it and it gave me stage fright for years.

Carlee Bourque

**Hometown:** Lafayette, Louisiana
**Favorite thing about Lafayette:** Food
**Family/Friends:** I am lucky to have two great parents, who both come from big families, and two (okay-ish) older brothers. I have great friends from my sorority, high school, and living in Australia. I miss them all so very much.
**Age:** 22
**Undergraduate** **University & Major:** LSU Geaux Tigers!!! Business Management
**Favorite Undergrad Memory:** My favorite memory as an undergrad was doing sisterhood events with my friends in my sorority. We had so many fun activities, like 90's night or Halloween Parties! It was great time because we all got to be ourselves and spend time together.
**MBA Specialization:**Human Resources and because I have really grown to love the subject.
**Dream Job:** Human Resource Professor, teaching about HR using the TV show the Office or Parks and Recreation
**Unique Fact:** I lived in Perth, Australia for two years. My sophomore and junior year of high school. It was great for my HR experience because I was able to connect and learn all about different cultures, religions, and personalities.

Samantha Bologna

**Hometown:** Baton Rouge, LA
**Favorite thing about Baton Rouge:** LSU football and crawfish season
**Family/friends:** I come from a large Italian family. My family imported the first box truck of wine and spirits into Louisiana and has been in the wine and spirits wholesale industry since the repeal of prohibition. As a result, I am a child of business and love wine and pasta (a little too much). I've had the same group of friends for a decade now. We went to an all girls high school, and going through that experience together has allowed us to continue to empower and encourage each other as we advance in our professional lives.

**Age:** 25

**Undergrad University & Major:** Graduated from LSU in 2014 with a BS in Economics

**Favorite memory from undergrad:** I spent time in Harare, Zimbabwe in the summer of 2014 doing mission work with a group of my sorority sisters. The experience was life changing. Any time I feel as though my days are challenging, I remember those children's faces vividly. It serves as a reminder to live every day grateful for the opportunities before me.

**Specialization:** Internal Audit. I chose to enroll in LSUCIA because the program provides unparalleled preparation in public speaking, professional development, and critical thinking. I find that having a solid understanding of organizational risks and controls will prepare you to take all factors into account regardless of your chosen profession.

**Dream job:** I interned in the Deloitte Houston office this summer. I will be starting there full-time in August 2018 in the FRTR group- Financial Risk, Transactions, & Restructuring. My ultimate goal is to make Partner within the practice.

**Unique Fact:** I am overly passionate about health and fitness (competitive bodybuilder), an extreme Harry Potter (I've read the series 6 times) and football enthusiast, and a former harpist

Alexis Newkirk full.JPG — Alexis Newkirk

**Hometown:** Palm Beach, Florida
**Favorite thing about Palm Beach:** I only go home about 3x a year but I love being able to go the beach no matter the season, visiting with family and friends, and being able to make a quick drive down to the Keys for the day to go diving!
**Family/Friends:** I am an only child and back home I live with my parents, grandma and our three cats, Tink, Gypsy and Freckles. My mom is a teacher and my dad runs his own marketing and sales consulting business.
**Age:** 22
**Undergrad University & Major:** I did my undergrad at LSU in Mass Communication with a concentration in Digital Advertising and minors in Business Administration and Psychology.
**Favorite memory from undergrad:**My favorite memories from undergrad were rushing the field after the Ole Miss game sophomore year and living in my sorority house for three years!
**MBA Specialization:** I'm thinking of pursuing specializations in Marketing Analytics and Global Entrepreneurship or Information Systems.
**Dream Job:** My dream job would be working in brand development within the marketing and advertising industries, helping to develop new marketing and advertising strategies and developing new products.
**Unique Fact**: Something a lot of people don't know about me is that I really enjoy playing blackjack and poker.

Keller Quinn

**Hometown:** Baton Rouge, Louisiana
**Favorite thing about Baton Rouge:** LSU Football
**Family/Friends:** I have a very large family, over 50 first cousins, aunts, and uncles, and most of them live in the Baton Rouge area.
**Age:** 24
**Undergraduate University & Major:** LSU - Biological Sciences
**Favorite undergrad memory:** Running the shooting ranges, a major safety area of camp, at the largest summer camp in the country, it was awesome and intimidating to be entrusted with so much responsibility while I was still a college student.
**MBA Specialization:** I plan on specializing either in management consulting, internal audit, or healthcare management, I'm still keeping my options open but the career paths offered by all three interest me.
**Dream Job:** Probably either an executive level position at a good sized company or founding my own consulting/strategy firm.
**Unique Fact:** For 10 years, my family participated in Cradle Care for 2 local adoption agencies, we took in 56 newborn babies and took care of them until their adoption paperwork was finalized, which took anywhere from 2 weeks to 8 months. I also wrote a dissertation on epidemiology in high school on my way to becoming class valedictorian.