Anthony Francis Gets What He Earned With Charlotte MBA
Growing up on the east side of Buffalo, N.Y., Anthony Francis ’21 MAT sometimes joined his mother for her evening nursing classes at SUNY Erie Community College. They took the crosstown bus, then transferred to the train that bisected downtown near campus.
“I remember walking up these stairs in this huge building and seeing all these different classrooms and heading with my mom to her class,” Francis reflects. While his mom pursued a nursing degree, Francis sat quietly at the back of class, absorbing his own lessons about education and its ability to transform lives.
Now, he is imparting similar lessons to his own children, as he completes an MBA through the Belk College of Business and prepares for his next career step in finance with Bank of America.
Recently, Francis and his daughter traveled to the UNC Charlotte campus to pick up his cap and gown for commencement. As they climbed a flight of stairs on campus, he was struck by memories. “It really was a full circle moment, bringing my daughter to my school and walking with her through campus,” he says.
Francis, who previously completed a master of arts in teaching through the Cato College of Education, currently teaches English with Cabarrus County Schools. His experiences earning that degree, and his time working on the MBA, have sold him on Charlotte.
“I just always felt that whenever I was at UNC Charlotte, it was my opportunity,” he says. “It was like I was at the right place at the right time.”
Francis has had many supporters walking with him on his educational path. Foremost are his family members, especially his wife, Kettheany, who is an accountant, and their children. Others who inspire him include his younger siblings, who are finding success in sports, education and early careers. “They inspire me to continue to grow and continue to want to push forward,” he says.
Life is busy in the Francis household. “My day is structured,” he says, describing how the family works as a team. “I’m up at 4:30 in the morning. We get ready, make sure the kids are ready. We go to work, I teach throughout the day, and with my planning periods, I am making sure that I’m using my time wisely.”
Back at home, he switches to being a dad and a student. “It’s like ‘let’s clock into shift number two,’ but the kids have so much energy that even if you’re tired, you just grab onto their energy and keep rolling,” he says. “It’s all about balancing and organizing my week and my day, just to ensure that I’m able to meet the deadlines and requirements. It is not easy; it’s definitely challenging.”
Through the years, he has kept his parents’ commitment to education top of mind. After working in the nursing field, his mother, who also lives in Charlotte, rose to research roles and now works in pharmaceuticals.
“From my mom I learned it’s not just hard work, but it’s continuously doing the things that you’re supposed to do, and being a good person throughout the process,” Francis says. “You don’t necessarily get what you deserve. But you get what you earn, and when you’re constantly doing the things that you’re supposed to do.”
His father helped him see that creativity and exploration should extend beyond the classroom. “In order to be successful, you have to not only do what your teachers say to do in school,” he says. “When you come home, you need to research things that you’re interested in and try things that you’re interested in.”
Francis finetuned his ability to balance tasks and demands in the restaurant industry. “I had a chance to work not only as a team member, but also to work my way up into management and being able to see business from all different aspects,” he says.
Just as he was ready to take on management of a restaurant in Center City Charlotte, COVID-19 and the shift to work-from-home hit. As his future in the restaurant business evaporated, he considered his next career move. He realized that the English class credits he had stacked up with a bachelor’s degree in television and film arts from Buffalo State University set him up to pursue a teaching degree.
While he has found his teaching career rewarding, his thoughts kept returning to his own children. He considered how his management and teaching experiences, a year in banking early in his career and his ability to work with a variety of people could be combined. He also saw opportunity beyond himself.
“You’re doing these things because you love the people that you’re doing it for, which for me is my family,” he says. “You’re also doing these things to set those people that you love up for the future, the same way that my parents were able to set me up for my future.”
Francis attended an information session for the Charlotte MBA and he quickly realized he had found his next challenge.
“I fell in love with everything that the program could offer,” he says. “And, there was the opportunity of being in uptown Charlotte, and being surrounded by the business world. I’ve seen it as an awesome opportunity, so I jumped on it.”
In the MBA classes, Francis has drawn upon his practical knowledge. “I feel like the MBA program really allows you to connect real-world experiences with the content,” he says. “That was very, very rewarding and refreshing for me. The content is new and it’s fresh, but you connect it to things that are not only going on in real time in the world, but you’re connecting it to things that you’ve done in your career.”
One of his final classes is “design thinking and innovation,” taught by John Tuders, Belk College adjunct faculty. “He has this way of giving you all the tools that you need to complete your assignments,” Francis says. “But you know that you’re missing the one tool, the most important tool — which is your brain, which you have to bring. This is probably my favorite class I’ve taken.”
The class has extended his preparation for his role as a full-time Bank of America employee in strategy and business ventures. “I feel like I’m taking Dr. Tuders’ class at the perfect time and preparing myself for the idea of strategy and being able to speak to stakeholders,” he says. “All those skills that I will need for this role, I feel like I’m learning right now, which is awesome.”