Like many UNLV Executive MBA graduates, Greg Snyder entered the program with the goal of developing a more well-rounded, cross-functional understanding of business. However, the Cohort 15 grad had an equally greater goal in mind: expanding his professional and personal network.

“When I moved to Las Vegas from Los Angeles I was a tech professional working from home, and I had a hard time meeting people,” Greg explains. “Getting to work in a cohort was a big influence on my joining the program.”

An Area Manager for Apple, Greg oversees managers and staff in the company’s tech support business. He moved to Las Vegas with a bachelor’s degree in political science, but recognized that he needed to expand his business acumen in order to climb the career ladder.

Fortunately, his fellow cohort offered the professional perspective he was looking for.

“We were told we were the most diverse cohort up to that point – 25 of us, 13 men, 12 women, across multiple sectors,” Greg says. “There was a medical doctor, people from finance, hospitality, supply chain, and the federal government.”

The opportunity to work alongside people from different sectors – all coming together with the common goal of becoming better in business – remains Greg’s favorite memory of his EMBA experience. 

“I have some fantastic friendships from my cohort,” he says. “I learned a lot about myself and I’ve grown from those experiences.

“Don’t underestimate the value of the time spent with the cohort, even time that’s not school-related. We took trips together, and we went out and celebrated after finishing classes.”

Becoming a Better Decision Maker

Making friends was not a problem for Greg once he entered the EMBA program. Getting back into the swing of school, however, took a minute of adjustment. It had been six years since he finished his undergrad, and he admits rediscovering that “school mentality” while working full-time is not an easy thing for anyone.

The best way to overcome the anxiety? Building relationships.

“You have so much group work that you have to build trust with your peers, leverage the team aspect, and push yourself to handle the workload at a higher level,” he explains.

With his cohorts on his side, and the full support of Apple leadership, Greg emerged from the EMBA with a business education that’s made him a better leader and a better decision maker at work.

“The week after our statistics class ended, we had two analysts come in with a model they’d made recommending changes,” he recalls. “I looked at the model, realized they didn’t do it right and asked why.

“They came back and fixed it with my recommendations; if we had gone with their first model we would have implemented a process that would not have yielded the expected result, and would have wasted a lot of time, energy, and effort.”

Greg credits his classes and cohort members for instilling a confidence that has allowed him to grow in his position. Though he can’t be specific about behind-the-scenes processes at Apple, he says that he’s constantly working with leadership to develop new workflow and training methods that can help increase productivity and job satisfaction at the company.

And he’s still using the lessons taught to him to teach future leaders.

“The very first course we did, there was a book called ‘The Five Dysfunctions of a Team,’” Greg recalls. “Every time we get a new manager I recommend that book, it has become integrated into my leadership style.”

What Is a Dream Come True?

Though Greg already remains in close contact with his cohort, they saw more of him in February 2023, when he made his debut on the long-running game show Jeopardy!

“I’ve wanted to be on Jeopardy! since I was a little kid,” he says. “I took the first test in February 2022, they brought me in for an audition and interview, and then they called me pretty quickly after that to come in and tape the show – it was a whirlwind.”

Show business was nothing new to Greg, he’d been on The Price Is Right about 15 years ago and won a car. But this was a different game, and, in a way, it was kind of like going back to school. Sure, Greg had the benefit of expert-level business knowledge from the EMBA, but Jeopardy! was an entirely new level of learning.

“It’s hard to practice for it,” he says, laughing. “They don’t give you a guide, instead you’re responsible for all of human knowledge!

“How do you study for that?”