Real Humans of Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Business MBA Class of 2025

Lauren Elcan Ingram, Vanderbilt Owen MBA Class of 2025

Age: 28
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Undergraduate Institution and Major: Princeton University, Cultural Anthropology
Pre-MBA Work Experience (role, company, years): Partnership Development, Frist Cressey Ventures, 2 years; Sales Director and Solutions Consultant, Quid Inc., 2 years

Why did you make the decision to attend business school? Why now?
I am passionate about healthcare innovation and helping companies grow in the space. But, I am even more passionate about rural health. I believe that the key to engaging rural populations with healthcare is through existing brands that already have a strong presence in these rural areas. While I have a lot of healthcare experience, I do not have any traditional retail operating experience. Business school provided the best way to obtain that traditional retail operating experience quickly so that I can obtain that knowledge and hopefully take it and apply it to addressing healthcare through trusted rural retail brands. 

Similarly, I loved my job and healthcare venture, but my expertise was only on the commercial and growth side. There were gaps on the financial and accounting sides that I had never received. I wanted to be more literate and informed in venture as a whole and realized that going back to business school is the best way to do that.

Why did you choose Vanderbilt Owen? What factors figured most prominently into your decision of where to attend?
Two factors solely decided my choice to attend Owen: First, location. Nashville is not only the best place to be for healthcare, as it is the healthcare capital, it is also a city that prioritizes community and connection. It is a community I did not want to leave and wanted to put down deeper roots. Second, is Owen’s intentional focus on being an innovative and high-growth environment. Owen creates an environment that creates the sense that everyone, students, faculty, and staff, are all linking arms together and running full steam ahead to be the best. It is a culture of collaboration paired with competition that creates an atmosphere of everyone is all on one team giving their all so our team as a whole will rise to the top.

What do you think is your most valuable or differentiating contribution to the Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Business MBA Class of 2025?
My background in venture and deep understanding of the healthcare payor and provider landscape provides me with unique insights, skills, and perspectives to add to the class.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself that didn’t get included on your application:
I love bartending because I am such a competitive person and you get immediate gratification knowing if you did well or not based on your tip. Last time I bartended as a job, I was the leading 1942 Don Julio saleswoman in the whole region. 

Post-MBA career interests:
Healthcare partnerships for a large retail brand that has a strong rural presence or, return to healthcare venture capital with a focus on companies that address health equity.

Advice for Current Prospective Applicants:
–What is one thing you would absolutely do again as part of your application process?
Talk honestly about my passion for rural health!

–What is one thing you would change or do differently?
Identify exactly what I want out of my MBA sooner so as to not waste time on applications for schools that do not align with what I want to get out of the MBA experience.

–What is one part you would have skipped if you could—and what helped you get through it?
I would have loved to skip the process of taking the GMAT so many times. Practice tests to get a better handle on timing helped me improve. 

What is your initial impression of the Vanderbilt Owen MBA students/culture/community?
Collaborative, growth focused, and innovative.

What is one thing you are most anxious about in your first year?
All the quantitative classes, I typically am not a quantitative person, but I am excited to become more literate in the areas of finance, accounting and statistics.

What is one thing you are most excited about in your first year?
The opportunity to dove into healthcare strategy classes to deepen and expand on my existing knowledge of the healthcare space.