Trish Gorman
“Trish Gorman is a perfect example of why the faculty of business schools have a mix of industry professionals and academic staff. She brought her rich experience to bear in the consulting platform seminars. She invited consultants and industry leaders, bringing to life the theories we learned in class and offering insights into life after MBA. She’s an amazing value add to the Olin consulting platform.” Austin Archibong, MBA
In her role as Director of Olin’s Consulting Platform, Trish brings deep experience from her own successful career, along with insights from practitioners and future-focused experts. “There are so many career opportunities in traditional consulting, as well as numerous high-potential roles relying heavily on consultative skills like strategic collaboration and problem-solving. It’s my privilege to help students find ways to showcase their potential to achieve their post-grad goals.”
“She cares for us like her children. She is caring, authentic, and committed.” Maralmaa Chinzorig, MBA 2024
Trish is a content creator and strategist. She has built and shared reusable content and scalable strategy processes in various academic, industry, and client-facing settings. As a boundary-spanner, translating academic research to practical applications is one of her key strengths. She wrote the first business novel Harvard ever published: What I Didn’t Learn in Business School, with Jay Barney, and has written and presented to diverse audiences.
Trish has enjoyed engaging with students of strategy and lifelong learners on international study trips, in MBA/PMBA/OMBA/EMBA courses, speakers’ series (e.g.; WOBI), consulting for Fortune 100 multinationals, advising founding teams and startups, and coaching executives. Her varied roles have included: Strategy Specialist and Director of Global Strategy Learning at McKinsey thought leader at Deloitte, North America (Director of Eminence was one of her favorite titles!), Director of the Goff Strategic Leadership Center, Dean of the Jack Welch Management Institute, and more…
If you’ve noticed a small tattoo on her forearm, it is a Buffalo, for her hometown. She minored in music and was a Big 10 athlete at Northwestern. “Participation in sports and music from an early age shaped my approach to teams, practice, performance, and community.” Her commitment to supporting women in leadership stems from the years she was the only or one of the few, women in her work environments in industries including Steel, Textiles, Aggregates, Investment Banking, and Consulting. She pursued her MBA and her Ph.D. while working and balancing family obligations – giving her an appreciation for the many pressing demands students face.
Prior to moving to St Louis, she lived in Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Philly, Rochester, Chicago (3 different times), CT, Columbus, Utah, Boston, Cleveland, NYC, LA, and, very briefly, Virginia. Trish has spent time in all 50 states and approx. 35 countries, largely for her work in consulting and executive education. Over the past few decades, she has seldom spent 14 consecutive days in one location. Now, she’s enjoying getting to know the St Louis area and particularly enjoys following the Cardinals and Blues.
When she’s not working, you might find her hiking, skiing, playing tennis, or walking in Forest Park or the Botanical Gardens, she is quite proud of her three children, who are successfully pursuing careers in politics, law, and medicine. She might be just a bit happier if one had decided to pursue a career in business, but that’s another story. She spends time with her siblings in upstate New York whenever possible.
“Trish is a delight, truly. She makes class so fun & engaging and is an overall wonderful person!” Kelsey Arends, PMBA
Trish says, “I’ve been active in the conversations around sustainability, impact investing, environmental justice, and conscious capitalism for several years. I feel there is great potential in courses at the intersection of strategy and corporate social responsibility. To enrich my teaching, I am actively collecting examples of social innovation and profitable sustainability. I’m also taking short online courses on permaculture and sustainable forestry.”
Currently, Trish is working on curating her content on consulting and strategy into accessible formats – including a workbook on women in leadership and a guidebook for consulting engagements.
