President, LINUS
Sometimes, it’s the offer you don’t accept that winds up changing your life.
As an MBA student, Kristin Apple wound up interviewing for an internship at a consulting firm specializing in innovation and strategy—an opportunity she credits to her professors, who encouraged her to explore that path.
“In my second semester, I took a course in new product development—and even though I did my undergrad in marketing, I had no idea that the type of work that I learned about in this class existed,” she said. “I turned down the offer, but started looking closer to Boulder to see if there were other companies that did this kind of consulting work.”
In fact, the start of her 11-year career with Egg Strategy—which ended with her as managing director of its health vertical—started “with me just calling to see if they needed an MBA intern, and they said yes,” Apple said.
‘The love continues’
And, as she put it, “the love continues with Leeds.” Apple and her family moved to Boulder for her MBA, and still live near campus, giving her plenty of options to stay connected to Business Buffs. That’s not just giving guest lectures—it’s her book club, the friends her kids make and the talent she’s been able to hire at LINUS, a strategy and innovation consultancy focused on the life science, health and wellness industry.
“We’re always looking for talent from Leeds,” she said. “They’re curious, they’re driven, they go above and beyond.”
And she knows firsthand the incredible faculty students get to learn from.
“The reason I chose Leeds was the close-knit community—and it has paid dividends that I never even imagined.”
Kristin Apple (MBA’08)
“I chose Leeds because it was a small program, so I’d be able to get to know all my classmates and develop relationships—but I didn’t realize how much of a meaningful impact that my professors would make on me and my career,” Apple said.
That career has put her on the front lines of a healthcare industry undergoing rapid transformation, thanks to technology, regulation and the aftereffects of the pandemic.
“I love focusing on what’s next and asking how can we deliver healthcare in a better and more meaningful way,” she said. “How do we use what we’ve learned during the pandemic to be healthier, to be more informed and to alleviate the burden on our front-line clinicians?”
As she and her company continue to help innovate in this industry, she’s grateful to do so with a group of thought leaders and scholars just a short walk away.
“The reason I chose Leeds was the close-knit community—and it has paid dividends that I never even imagined,” Apple said.