From Startup to Strategy: How One MBA Student Built Her Leadership “Shield”

Rosaly Negrón ’24 G’26 balances a full-time career, special-needs parenting, and Bay Path University’s online MBA +Certification Program — and says the return on investment has been immediate.

Rosaly Negrón’s MBA journey began with a decision most people would call risky: leaving a stable path to join a startup while finishing her bachelor’s degree in business at Bay Path University. Five years later, that decision has carried her from an undergraduate classroom to Bay Path’s online MBA +Certification Program, where she is now completing a concentration in her field alongside a certification in Organizational Leadership & Negotiation.

“From day one, I was able to apply what I was learning directly into my role, which made the experience feel real and impactful,” Negrón said. “Continuing on to the MBA was an easy decision because the return on investment had already been incredible.”

Balancing career, family, and school

Negrón is doing all of this while working full-time and raising children with special needs, an experience she says shaped how she approached the program from the start.

“As a special needs mom, this was really important to me,” she said. “The flexibility of the program makes it manageable to balance school, work, and my family’s needs. It takes planning and commitment, but it is definitely doable, and honestly, it has been really rewarding.”

That flexibility, she’s quick to add, doesn’t come at the expense of structure. Clear deadlines and a user-friendly online platform — accessible through a mobile app — have made it possible to stay on top of coursework on the go, even for a student who had been out of school for a while before starting the program.

“The program does a great job easing you back into it,” she said. “The professors are supportive, and over time you build your confidence again. You realize pretty quickly that you are more capable than you think.”

Building a leadership “shield”

Academically, Negrón points to transformational leadership as the area where she’s grown the most, to the point that she describes assembling her own set of tools and frameworks as a kind of armor she carries into real-world situations.

“I have been able to build what I would describe as my own leadership ‘shield,’ something I carry with me like a hero, made up of the tools and frameworks I can apply in real-world situations,” she said.

Alongside that has come a sharper command of financial analysis, strategic thinking, and data-driven decision-making skills she says have strengthened not just how she leads teams, but how she connects strategy to data in her day-to-day role.

A support system built for online learners

Negrón is emphatic that the program’s online format hasn’t meant going it alone. Between discussions, group projects, and consistent, detailed feedback from professors, she says she has built genuine relationships with classmates and faculty alike including a close working relationship with her advisor.

“While you are assigned an advisor, you truly gain a full support network,” she said. “You genuinely feel like this person is fully in your corner, and they will go out of their way to connect you with the right resources and people to support your MBA journey.”

That sense of community, she says, is amplified by classmates who understand exactly what she’s balancing — careers, families, and responsibilities of their own.

Looking ahead

Negrón graduated from the MBA+ Certification Program in May 2026, capping a five-year journey that began the day she decided to pursue her bachelor’s at Bay Path while working for a startup. She says the program has already reshaped how she leads and makes decisions, both professionally and personally. Her advice to prospective students weighing the same leap she took five years ago is simple: the structure is there to support you, and the confidence comes with time.

“Through the MBA Program, I have become more confident in how I approach business problems,” she said, “and I feel prepared to support any organization in roles that directly impact growth and stability across a variety of functions.”