As a volleyball coach holding down two full-time jobs in 2023, Annemarie Hickey (BA ’14, MS ’25) knew she couldn’t easily fit a traditional business master’s program into her busy schedule.
“I was coaching at a D1 level and striving to win national championships, while also effectively working for a startup company,” says Hickey. “But I wanted to earn a degree from the Wisconsin School of Business so that others could clearly see the level of preparation and commitment I bring. That was important to me, and I wanted to use my master’s degree to make my coaching life easier.”
Fortunately, she found the perfect solution through WSB’s fully online Master of Science-Business: Data, Insights, and Analytics (MSDIA) program, which offers a flexible, asynchronous degree for working professionals looking to break into analytics or advance their careers.
For Annemarie, earning an MSDIA accelerated the former student-athlete and college coach’s path to the pros. She’s now an assistant coach with League One Volleyball (LOVB), where she’s utilizing the technical skills she honed in the program to equip professional players with tools to adapt to any situation on the court. She’s also using her sharpened business acumen to grow the reach and impact of the nascent league and its players.
“Volleyball is growing, and people want to watch it at the highest level,” she says. “Joining LOVB was an opportunity for me to create a legacy. I’m not going to be a professional volleyball player, but I can be a part of creating and growing something new that’s huge for the sport.”