Jason Ellison, BS’03, MBA’06

Entrepreneur – Founder, Ellison Consulting

While Ellison began his professional career at KPMG in audit, he now is on his second (or third) career, as owner of Ellison Business Consulting in Allen. His company specializes in small business consulting, specifically helping owners grow their businesses in “a healthy yet aggressive manner.” Ellison, who earned his BS/Accounting, played on the UT Dallas Comets soccer team while an undergrad student and was an ASC Academic All-Conference player. He still volunteers as a Comets assistant soccer coach, specifically working with goalkeepers.

What is your best learning experience at UT Dallas?

Sometimes you must fail to ultimately learn and/or succeed. Because of this, I would say that a bad decision or bad business deal, specifically where you lose a customer, or even worse, directly lose money, is going to be the best learning experience of your life. It can be painful, and downright unpleasant, but if you take the time to reflect and learn, you will come out better in the long run.

Since graduation, what surprised you about your UT Dallas MBA education?

While the information that I learned at UTD was invaluable, more than anything UT Dallas taught me how to learn in an efficient and productive manner. It is this skill that has allowed me to continually improve my knowledge and adapt to the ever-changing world around us.

What advice do you have for college students looking to succeed professionally?

Never stop learning, work hard and enjoy it along the way. A career will have many ups and downs, and a lot will have drastic changes in course over a lifetime. Embrace them and learn from them and you will be fine.