How the assistant director for MBA programs has brought lessons from music to higher education
Each Friday this summer, the Daniels Newsroom is telling the stories of the behind-the-scenes staff who empower students, faculty and the College at large. Read past stories on our blog.
Give Ruby Pierce a microphone and a stage, and she’ll feel at home.
No, she isn’t a standup comedian. Pierce is a trained opera singer, who studied music and history during her undergraduate days at Vassar College. Now, music isn’t a huge part of her life, but there are notes from her past that Pierce has taken with her.
“I’m pretty good at thinking on my feet,” she said. “For performers and musicians especially, we have to be trained to think creatively and quickly. Because when you’re on stage, there’s only so many moments to make a decision about something.”
Pierce uses those skills every day at the Daniels College of Business, where she works as the assistant director for MBA programs. She works closely with students and alumni in the Part-time Professional MBA and Online MBA programs.
Before arriving at Daniels, Pierce was working at Warren Village, a Denver-based nonprofit that provides housing and human services to support single-parent families experiencing homelessness. For a year and half, Pierce managed the property, helped people find housing and, ultimately, transition into permanent living arrangements. The job made her an “essential employee” during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning she was working on-site most days.
She learned the value of customer service and what it means to provide value to someone in need. She’s applying those lessons at Daniels, ensuring that every student she connects with is given the resources they need to thrive. That may mean sending an additional reminder to register for an upcoming event or offering to meet with students that have questions about their program.
“I wanted to continue helping people in the day-to-day because that’s what inspires me to get up and go do something,” she said.
While the population at Daniels has different needs than the families at Warren Village, Pierce says her approach remains the same. She tries to consider the needs of every student, no matter their circumstances.
“If I’m going to develop an event or a program, I think about who may not enjoy it. Who might find it stressful? Who are the people who are not going to have an easy time accessing it?”
And when it comes to public speaking, that’s nothing compared to belting out a song in front of a giant crowd.
“I don’t have to sing in conjunction with an orchestra or piano. It’s not in a foreign language. I’m not singing at all. This feels easy,” Pierce said with a smile. Speaking of foreign languages, she does speak a bit of German, something she acquired when living in the country for three months.
With her extensive background in music, you might assume that Pierce is a prolific car performer, singing on her commute to and from campus. But she prefers silence, using that time to think or be present. While some might find that peculiar, Pierce enjoys the quiet time.
“Yeah. I actually love it,” she said. “I find that when I’m listening to music, it feels like someone’s talking to me.”
When she’s not working, Pierce’s passions are a blend of baking and literature. Winter breaks spent at college led her to develop a perfected chocolate chip cookie recipe that balances a soft, yet crisp texture with a sweet and salty taste. College gave her more than a cookie recipe, as she’s translated her history minor into a zest for writing historical fiction.
Last year, she finished a novel, “A Garden in the Snow,” that follows a young, multiracial woman living in Jamaica in the early 19th century. It required three years of research and patience, but Pierce’s hard work has yielded something she’s immensely proud of.
“I wanted to write something that I wanted to read, but didn’t exist yet,” she said.
When she’s not working, baking or writing, Pierce is taking classes at the University of Denver and hopes to begin a master’s degree in public policy this fall. She calls her classes the “perfect synthesis” of everything she’s learned in her career thus far.
It is truly wonderful how Daniels staff bring their diverse perspectives and lived experience – not just their expertise and higher-ed experience – to the benefit of our entire community. Ruby is a great example; so glad she’s with us.