My name is Mike Brazil, and I have recently entered my second year in Chapman’s Flexible MBA program focusing on strategic management. Having a background in Army Aviation and a desire to land a position within commercial operations, my path to landing a Technical Program Manager role at Amazon was far from expected.

In September 2021, I was fortunate enough to make the trip to Chicago, Illinois for the NBMBAA Career Expo, where Amazon first came on my radar. Before making the trip, I met with Tuanni Vasconcelos from the Argyros Career Services team to make adjustments to my resume, which proved to be the difference-maker in getting my foot in the door. After approximately a total of 5 hours of interviews, I was told one week later that I was approved for the position. This position will be in support of Amazon Web Services Data Center Demand Planning, and I couldn’t be more excited to learn from industry titans in one of the most up-and-coming areas of business.

I can credit my original interest in data to Chapman Professor Charu Sinha! During my time in Professor Sinha’s Statistics for Business Decisions and Business Analytics class, we were shown the extensive use of analytical modeling and numerical analysis, including explanatory and predictive modeling and fact-based management to drive decision making. I am confident that Professor Sinha’s impact on me during my time here at Chapman drove me to pursue a career in data management.

I am greatly appreciative for Chapman’s Career Services Center, Professors, and other staff and faculty that have granted me the ability to land this incredible opportunity. It is an honor to say that I will one day be an Amazonian, let alone have this position kickstart my civilian career.