There aren’t enough hours in the day. That’s true for many parents, but especially those juggling kids and work. It may be even more true for someone who is juggling kids, work, and getting an MBA.
But according to Pilar Urrego – now senior vice president and senior area manager for Florida at HSBC Bank USA – it's not impossible. When the financial crisis hit back in 2008, Urrego – then 20 years into her career – learned that her job at Merrill Lynch was being eliminated. She had the option of leaving or moving into a sales position. “I felt like my career was going into the pits,” she remembers.
But Urrego used the opportunity to do something her father had urged her to do when she got married in her early 20s: She got her master’s degree. She figured an MBA would help broaden her options should the financial crisis persist –and what the sales position lacked in prestige, it made up for inflexibility. She decided to follow one of her mantras: “Just do it.”
But how did she do it?
Find Support
Urrego knew that some steep sacrifices would have to be made family-wise – namely missing Saturday soccer games. She sat down with her two sons, then 7 and 9, and made them part of the decision-making process.
Bringing people on board doesn’t end with family. She made a concerted effort to build a support team at work, and one in her MBA program as well. “Surround yourself with good people who are like-minded,” she says. “It makes a world of difference.”
Plan Ahead
“Whatever you can get done today, get it done today,” Urrego advises. "Don’t wait until tomorrow.” Planning wasn't just a way for her, it was the only way – and even then, things didn’t always work out.
Planning was especially important when tackling team projects, which inevitably were due right when life’s other priorities reared up. "You’ve got to try to plan, to prepare, and make sure your classmates understand your situation,” says Urrego.
Make Time for You
Urrego made time to do one thing one day a week, no matter what: She ran. “It wasn’t long, maybe half an hour or 45 minutes, but it was my sacred time.”
Even with a few tricks under her belt, the two years she spent pursuing her MBA weren’t always easy – especially in the beginning. “You’re studying every night. You’re exhausted on a Friday, leaving work by
5 or 6 p.m. and you still have to read,” she says. But by the end of the two years, Urrego finally felt like she had it down. “And then it was over,” she explains. “It was a blink of an eye.”
When Urrego received her degree in 2011, it was with mixed emotions. She was sad to leave but thrilled to have come so far. “This had been my family for two years,” she says. “But I also felt a great sense of accomplishment to give my kids that example. Education is the one thing no one can take away from you. You have to sacrifice and work hard to get it.”
Ready to make a change? With the University of Miami’s online MBA, you can not only pursue an online master’s degree in business administration that is designed to fuel your career, but you will earn it from a top-ranked university that delivers high-quality learning experiences.
