Innovative program gives Trulaske students a first-hand look at Wall Street

Meredith Aslin Imber, a 2002 graduate of the University of Missouri’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business, was working in finance on Wall Street when she noticed that she was not getting many visits from Mizzou students.

“She was beside herself about that,” said Mary Beth Marrs, an associate teaching professor in the management department at Trulaske. “How can we grow a Mizzou footprint in New York City?”

Imber brought it up with her father, Mick Aslin, BS Ed ’69, MBA ’72. She knew other professionals who had visited New York as undergraduates. The students’ experiences opened their eyes to the opportunities available in the financial sector in New York. If Mizzou was going to grow its presence there, she decided, it needed to build a bridge from Columbia to New York. 

“I told my dad that we needed Mizzou students to visit Wall Street firms if they were ever going to be competitive in this market,” Imber said. “They needed to be able to see themselves here. He was on board from the start.”

Aslin, retired chairman and CEO of Aslin Group Inc., had been a long-time supporter of the Trulaske College of Business and currently serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board. Aslin helped secure funding through fellow Mizzou alum Harvey Eisen, and with leadership by Marrs, who also serves as director of the Cornell Leadership Program, Trulaske took its first Tigers on Wall Street trip in 2008.

“From the beginning, I have been committed to the concept of providing students with an opportunity to interact with the leaders, including many Mizzou alumni, of some of the world’s largest and most profitable companies,” Aslin said. “Students can see first-hand that graduates of the Trulaske College of Business can and are competing with graduates of the most prestigious business schools of the world.” 

For some students, the experience has proven to be life changing.

“It was a whirlwind week that felt pretty surreal,” recalled Brenna Noble Henderson, BSBA ’09, who participated in that first trip. “It was my first time in New York so that was an experience in and of itself.”

The trip out east inspired Henderson to chart a new path for herself. Though she had planned to be an actuary, the experience introduced her to a wide range of careers in finance. It also enabled her to shadow fellow Mizzou alum Rob Ehrhart, who encouraged her to apply for an internship at Goldman Sachs. After an extensive interview process Henderson landed the internship and, as she put it, “never looked back.”

“I would have never applied or been able to find a way to get my foot in the door without the job shadow and Rob’s mentorship,” said Henderson, who now serves as a portfolio manager for the Public School and Education Employee Retirement Systems of Missouri.

Tigers on Wall Street Program continues to open doors for Missouri students

The trip has become an annual tradition for Trulaske, which takes a group of approximately 14 students to Wall Street each fall for a four-day tour that features three days of visits to financial offices, and a fourth day of job shadowing. 

“Experience-centered learning is one of the pillars upon which we’re building student success,“ said Trulaske College of Business Dean Balaji Rajagopalan. “Tigers on Wall Street is a remarkable example of that, giving these students a rare opportunity to experience first-hand the inner workings of one of the world’s most influential financial districts.”

Aslin noted that the program provides Trulaske students — both current and prospective — greater clarity about their professional path.

“Tigers on Wall Street has been a successful showcase of the quality of Trulaske students, leading to increased internships and employment opportunities for those interested and making the college more attractive to the best and brightest incoming students,” Aslin said.

For Anna Hankins, a senior studying finance & banking, Tigers on Wall Street was a significant factor in her decision to 

attend Mizzou.

“I come from a very small town where people have the tendency to stay close to home,” said Hankins, who grew up in Wardsville, Missouri. “When I saw that Mizzou could open doors to opportunities in places like New York City, I was sold.”

In addition to a Broadway show, the trip includes a reception with other Trulaske alumni who are now working in New York. Over the years, the group has grown to dozens. 

“Tigers on Wall Street has been very successful, but it’s because of the alums reaching back and opening doors for students at the offices where they’re at now,” Marrs said.

Students selected for the Tigers on Wall Street Program are members of the Cornell Leadership Program, a Trulaske initiative that provides high-performing students with an opportunity to develop leadership skills and business acumen over four years. Students may apply to the program their senior year in high school and must complete a rigorous application and interview process. 

Before attending Tigers on Wall Street, students also meet for three hours weekly over the course of six weeks to research the offices they’ll be visiting and prepare questions. The sessions are led by Greg Stringfellow, an alum of the Cornell Leadership Program who now works at Charles Schwab.

“We came prepared each week with market research and our drafted questions for each company that we would be visiting in New York,” Hankins said. “Each bootcamp started off by discussing the news of the past week, and Greg clarified any questions we had. We then dissected and perfected each of the questions we planned to ask during the trip so that we would put our best foot forward in New York.”

Chase McQueary, a senior studying finance & economics at Trulaske, enjoyed participating in discussions on investment strategies and receiving guidance on navigating today's everchanging market environment, including risk assessment and portfolio diversification techniques. But what McQueary found most beneficial was learning about the power of networking and personal branding.

“We learned to emphasize the importance of a degree from Missouri and how to use the nontraditional, hardworking background as an advantage in going through interview processes,” he said. “I discovered the critical role of personal branding and networking in finance, understanding how building authentic professional relationships can open doors and create lasting career opportunities all across the street.”

For participants, the highlight of the trip is typically being on the floor of the stock exchange for the opening bell alongside traders and CNBC reporters, and meeting notable figures in the world of finance, like Peter Tuchman, “The Einstein of Wall Street.” But for Marrs, the real reward is the impact it has on her students.

“The highlight for me is seeing it through the students’ eyes,” Marrs said. “Seeing them see that there’s a big world out there, and that they can compete with a kid from an Ivy League school. Being from the Midwest actually gives them a competitive edge. Trulaske students have the work ethic, the Midwest nicety. Our students can compete with anyone.”

Mizzou’s Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business prepares students for success as global citizens, business leaders, scholars, innovators and entrepreneurs by providing access to transformative technologies, offering experience-centered learning opportunities and fostering an entrepreneurial mindset.