Marissa Streng and Nicole Hite, the first alumni of the Kelley School’s new Master of Science in Management Program, graduated in December and landed associate consulting roles—Streng with PwC in New York and Hite with Bain & Company in Chicago. They earned Kelley bachelor’s degrees in May 2024 and became fast friends as they completed their MSM degrees in half the normal time.
Building a consulting career path with MSM
Nicole, hailing from Fishers, Indiana, initially planned a career in law but she fell in love with what Kelley had to offer. The MSM program rounded out her technical undergrad degrees in finance and law, ethics, and decision-making (LEAD).
“All the HR, strategy, people-based courses were entirely different disciplines from what I studied in undergrad,” Nicole said. “The people-focus in the MSM program really honed these skills for me and added a lot of light to different elements that I hadn’t considered; now I feel like my toolkit is in full color.”
Building on feedback she received for a consulting internship as an undergrad, she wanted to focus on improving her storytelling skills, pushing a narrative forward in a way that makes sense to the client.
“In our consulting class and practicum in MSM, I had the chance to be the team lead and focus on a higher-level strategy perspective that I can apply to my consulting career,” she said. “I now feel confident in approaching my work on both a granular and comprehensive scale.”
Marissa, from Tampa, Florida, has been an entrepreneur since grade school. Though she studied management in undergrad as an international business and management co-major and has led her Puff-N-Fluff company for more than a decade, she learned many valuable lessons during her time in the MSM program.
“The opportunities to develop my leadership, communication, and teamwork skills were invaluable,” she said. “Along with learning how to approach diverse teams or teams with ever-changing compositions, like in our classes with MBA students, these are all skills I’m taking with me into my career.”
Note: The MSM program is open to all undergraduate majors regardless of your business background. Email msm@iu.edu if you have questions or would like to arrange an in-person meeting.
Friends in the business
Nicole and Marissa followed parallel paths in their Kelley undergraduate careers and ran in similar social circles, though they were complete strangers when they began graduate school at Kelley. Now, they finish each other’s sentences. How do they describe the MSM program? It’s “energetic, rewarding, people-focused, and collaborative.”
They share a focused drive and growth mindset—and they realized they were neighbors in Bloomington, too.
“I’ve never met someone like Nikki who is so driven, and at the same time compassionate and funny,” Marissa said, although she saw similar characteristics in her MSM peers.
“I’ve heard there are friends of time and place and then there are friends of soul, and both Marissa and I knew we were friends of soul early on,” Nicole said. “I would not have been able to do this program without her.”
A supportive culture
Marissa and Nicole said close connections are found throughout the MSM program, and both graduates capitalized on the widespread sense of community and support among students, faculty, and staff.
“We really embrace each other in this program, and a win for one of us is a win for all of us,” Nicole said. “Kelley undergrad is tight-knit as well, but here in MSM, we have so many people coming from different academic backgrounds. There’s no one mold for an MSM student. It’s been really refreshing to gain new perspectives in a way that’s collaborative and reflects the diversity of the working world.”
She mentioned a notoriously competitive game in a negotiations course that was completely upended by the cohort’s inclination to share things with each other.
“Our professor was completely shocked,” she said.
Marissa said their cohort clicked quickly and that the program is designed to encourage this kind of connection.
“Our staff and faculty are excellent; Richard (Ash) and Danielle (Richie)—MSM faculty chair and director respectively—made themselves very accessible to every single one of us, which really speaks volumes about the program,” she said. “They have been mentors and rocks for both of us, and all the MSM students feel their support daily.”
Supportive faculty is one of the reasons Nicole considered the MSM program, giving a shout-out to Business Law and Ethics Professor Joel Rubin, whom she worked with on case competitions and in workshops as an undergrad. Rubin and other MSM faculty and staff encouraged her to pursue all her passions no matter the scope, including her decision to take the LSAT prior to beginning the MSM Core classes last fall.
“Through Kelley, I was still able to balance my interest in LEAD while honing my other skills, and law is still something I still plan to pursue,” she said.
Marissa said the supportive MSM culture affected how she views herself, her leadership style, and imposter syndrome.
“I have a tendency to undermine the things I do, but everyone in MSM always made me feel celebrated for my hard work. Just knowing we all supported and celebrated one another is a really great feeling.”
This post was written by Katie Kobold, MSM’25. Katie began the MSM program after earning bachelor’s degrees from Indiana University in Psychology and English and a neuroscience certificate.
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